Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 3 - Chasing Ghosts - I

  Getting lectured by his boss wasn't exactly new, but Jeremy sure seemed to be making a habit of it lately.

  "You diverted another task force to investigate a fucking Rallsburg lead?" Aderholt asked, holding up his requisition paperwork.

  Jeremy shrugged. Only doing my job, Mr. Station Chief sir. "Thought we had something."

  "The entire thing's a dead end, Ashe. Drop the case and let the locals chalk it up to their own stats. If those dumb fucks even keep stats. We've got more important work on our plates than a freak accident."

  "Sir, it was never ruled as an accident," Lani put in.

  "Do you want to get promoted out of this pit someday, Makaio?"

  "Yes, sir, but Jeremy's right." Thanks, Lani. Doesn't really accomplish much, but thanks. "We had several tips called in from Redmond that matched the description of one of the unconfirmed deceased."

  "Who?"

  "Ryan Walker, the prep kid from Walla Walla," Jeremy replied.

  Aderholt shook his head. "A blonde haired blue eyed white college kid shows up in tech town. Go fucking figure. Was there anything legitimate in those reports?"

  "No, sir," Jeremy answered, before Lani could speak up.

  "Look," Aderholt started, calming down. "I get it. This shit's still weird as fuck and no one's come up with an answer. Fire's stumped, staties are stumped, God Almighty himself is stumped. We all feel like we've lost this one. But there's nothing new. We haven't stepped in a single turd of evidence since May. So unless you've got something actionable, you've got to stop diverting resources. We don't get enough funding for what we can put away. I can't have you spending it on crap that's never going anywhere."

  "Yes, sir." He's not exactly wrong. I might be taking this personally. But fuck him, I'm not givin' up on her yet.

  He glanced down at the form again. "What about this kid required a full ten man tac squad to bring him in, anyway? You can't take out a single twenty two year old guy on your own?"

  Jeremy shrugged. "Like you said, sir. We've had no leads in months. I wasn't going to let it get away."

  He sighed. "Kid's dead, Ashe. They all are."

  "Haven't been declared that way yet, sir."

  "Don't remind me," Aderholt groaned. "I've got a shit-ton of pressure to declare that Price kid dead so the state can reclaim their assets." He sighed. "It's just a formality though Ashe. Drop it. Time to move on to something else."

  As soon as they'd returned to their office and closed the door, Lani spoke up. "Why didn't you mention it?"

  "Because it could still be nothing." Jeremy sat down and pulled up his email. The IT guys had finally sent him access to the rest of the video dumps and he was looking forward to a lazy, dull afternoon watching them all and listening to some music. It's better than paperwork or heading out into the heat, anyway.

  "But the report in Redmond said the guy's wallet had an ID with Ryan Walker stamped right on it. She even had the matching number from the DMV."

  "And when we checked the footage, he looked nothing like the social media pictures," Jeremy pointed out. "We couldn't track him down. The barista could have been wrong. Or just an attention seeker. Or someone stole Walker's ID before this went down. Plenty of reasons."