Page 23 (2/2)

“I bet so them”

“Yeah,” Bill said with a half sed to get a name and part of a Social Security number” He pushed a clear plastic folder across the desk, and Jared picked it up Inside was a s on it, but Jared couldn’t make it out

“Eden Palmer,” Bill said “That nas the crime lab could recover”

“Who’s he?”

“Her As far as we can figure out, she’s nobody” He pulled a piece of paper from the folder in front of hihteen, no husband then and not one since She worked at one low-level job after another until her kid started college, then she went back to school and got a degree” He looked at the paper “A couple of years after she graduated, Eden Pal house When we first heard about her, she didn’t know it, but an old woman she knew had died and left her a house in eastern North Carolina The lawyer taking care of the case was looking for her, but we fixed it so he was delayed in finding her We wanted to find out about her first” Putting the papers down, he stared at Jared

“So how did she get connected to so on the US for umpteen years?”

“We have no idea” He was still looking at Jared, as though he expected hi

“Maybe it was personal,” Jared said “Maybe the guy was in love with her Or is she too ugly for that?”

Bill unclipped a photo from the file and pushed it across the desk

“Not bad,” Jared said, looking at the photo It was her driver’s license picture, so Jared figured she was actually three ti He studied the picture and the inforood, and she was an organ donor Limp, blondish hair with a bit of curl in it surrounded blue eyes, a small nose, and a pretty

mouth She looked tired and unhappy in the photo Probably had to wait in line for three hours, he thought He gave the picture back to Bill “So where do I come in?”

“We need you to find out what or who she knows”

Jared blinked a couple of times Bill had said that only he, Jared, could do this, but this was a job for a rookie, not a senior agent They could bring her in for questioning and find out what she knew Probably so that she didn’t know she knew That wouldn’t be too difficult Where had she been in the last few years? Carried any packages for anyone? Jared allanced at Bill’s intense stare What was he ?

It hit him all at once: they wanted him to seduce the information out of her Cozy up to a lonely spinster, then ask her what she knew “Oh, no, you don’t I will risk ency, but I don’t kiss for it”

“But James Bond—”

“Was aBill’s smirk “James Bond doesn’t really exist He—” Jared ran his hand over his eyes, calmed himself, then looked at Bill “I respectfully request that I not be given this assignment Sir”