The Narrows

the scene, Rachel, but you have to step back. You're here as an observer, okay?"
    "What are you talking about? I'm an FBI agent, same as you."
    "But you're not in Behavioral anymore. This is not your case."
    "You're saying I am here because Backus wants me here, not you people."
    "Rachel, let's try to get off to a better start than we did in Am-"
    "Anything new come up so far today?"
    "We're up to ten bodies now. They think that's going to be it At least for this location."
    "IDs?"
    "They're getting there. What they have is tentative but they're putting it all together."
    "Is Brass Doran at the scene?"
    "No, she is in Quantico. She's work-"
    "She should be here. Don't you people know what you've got here? She-"
    "Whoa, Rachel, slow down, okay? Let's get something straight here. I'm the case agent on this, okay? You are not running this investigation. This is not going to work if you confuse that."
    "But Backus is talking to me. He called me out"
    "And that's why you are here. But you aren't calling the shots, Rachel. You have to stand to the side and watch. And I have to tell you I don't like how this is starting out. This isn't Driving Miss Rachel. You mentored me but that was ten years ago. I've now been in Behavioral longer than you ever were and I've booked more cases than you ever did. So don't talk down to me and don't act like my mentor or my mother."
    Rachel didn't respond at first and then she simply asked Dei to pull over so she could get her jacket out of her bag, which was in the trunk. Dei pulled into the Travel America on Blue Diamond Road and popped the trunk.
    When Rachel got back into the car she was wearing a baggy black all-weather coat that looked like it might have been designed for a man. Dei didn't say anything about it.
    "Thanks," Rachel said. "And you're right. I apologize. I guess you get like me when it turns out your boss-your mentor-is the same evil thing you've been hunting all your life. And they punish you for it."
    "I understand that, Rachel. But it wasn't just Backus. It was a lot of things. The reporter, some of the choices you made. Some people say you were lucky you still had a job at the end of it"
    Rachel's face grew hot. She was being reminded that she was one of the bureau's embarrassments. Even within the ranks. Even with the agent she had mentored. She had slept with a reporter working on her case. That was the shorthand version. It didn't matter that it was a reporter who was actually a part of the case, who was working with Rachel side by side and hour by hour. The shorthand version would always be the story that agents heard and whispered about. A reporter. Was there a lower breach in agent behavior and etiquette? Maybe a mobster or a spy, but nothing else.
    "Five years in North Dakota followed by a promotion to South Dakota," she said weakly. "Yeah, I was lucky all right." "Look, I know you paid the price. My point is that you have to know your place here. Use some finesse. A lot of people are watching this case. If you play it right it could be your ticket back in."
    "Got it."
    "Good."
    Rachel reached down to the side of her seat and adjusted it so she could lean back.
    "How long did you say?" she asked.
    "About two hours. We've been using choppers from Nellis mostly, saves a lot of time."
    "Hasn't drawn attention?"
    She was asking about the media, whether news of the investigation in the desert had leaked yet.
    "We've had a few fires to put out but so far it is holding up. The scene is in California and we're working it out of Nevada. I think that has somehow kept the lid on. To be honest, there are some people worried about you now."
    Rachel thought about Jack McEvoy, the reporter, for a moment.
    "Nobody has to worry," she said. "I don't even know where he is."
    "Well, if this thing finally hits the radar, you can expect to see him. He wrote a bestselling book on the first go-round. I guarantee he'll be back for the sequel."
    Rachel thought about the book she had been reading on the plane and that was now in her bag. She wasn't sure whether it was the subject or the author that had drawn her to read it so many times.
    "Probably."
    She left it at that and pulled her jacket around her shoulders and folded her arms. She was tired, not having slept since getting the call from Dei.
    She leaned her head against the side window and pretty soon she was out. Her dream of darkness returned. But this time she was not alone. She could not see anyone because she could only see