While the US Marshals were not generally an investigative federal law enforcement agency, they did have a special operations unit that would undertake certain criminal investigations, and Tommy had to make the case that this case deserved their attention. He could already hear the objections—that the FBI had jurisdiction, that they would be causing friction with their FBI colleagues if they took the case—so he needed to be clear and compelling in his presentation—including his reasons for not trusting the local FBI office. No way was he sharing his information with those jokers—not until he could identify the bad cop among them.

Someone in the FBI was rotten to the core.

Once he double-checked to make sure he didn’t leave anything important behind on his desk, he went back to the kitchen, put his briefcase down, topped off his coffee, and went upstairs to retrieve his gun. After he’d holstered his service weapon, he pulled his phone from the charger on his nightstand. Hesitated.

He’d almost called Regan a half dozen times this week while assembling the facts in preparation for his talk with Charlie, but Tommy managed to stop himself. Now…dammit, he wanted her here.

Tommy wasn’t certain he could trust the information Regan’s ex-husband Grant Warwick had given him. Not only did Tommy dislike Grant, but in the past the man had lied to him. Regan was cool and methodical, she’d be able to assess Grant’s information without bias. It’s one of the many reasons Tommy loved her—the clear way her mind worked.

Not that he could tell her yet. He didn’t want to jeopardize their friendship by telling his former partner that he’d been half in love with her for years.

Regan knew that he was looking into Chase’s murder. She didn’t want to be part of it, but she hadn’t told him to stop. In fact, she’d told Tommy to get back in touch with her when he had something concrete. Now he’d assembled solid facts…he just didn’t know how they fit together. Would they be concrete enough for Regan?

Before he could talk himself out of it, he hit her name on his contact list. He almost hung up when he realized it was 3:00 a.m. there in Arizona, but then her voicemail picked up.

He waited for the tone, then said, “Regan, it’s Tommy. I’m close to the truth about what happened to Chase. I’m laying it all out to Charlie this morning, but I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible. I think I have a good case for the DOJ. Call me when you get this message. I—well, just call.”

Tommy ended the call before saying I love you. He couldn’t put that weight on her right now, and definitely not over the damn phone.