Pitch Black by Leslie A. Kelly Page B

there would be some record of his presence. Not when it was so easy to cruise around and steal access from any unsecured system. Sure, if they ever found a suspect, they would be able to link his computer to all the messages. But first they needed to know whom they were looking for.
    Smothering her disappointment, Lily listened to the report, even while wishing Parker would hurry. When she spied a familiar face, she knew the wishes hadn’t helped. Damn .
    “Hey, Fletcher, back so soon?”
    Cursing her luck, she offered a brisk nod to the agent—Anspaugh—who was heading up the very investigation she’d been helping on.
    “Caught another case,” she explained, hoping Brandon was paying careful attention to their own tech, and not her conversation.
    “Is it a big one?”
    She wasn’t sure how much Blackstone had shared beyond the walls of the Black CATs’ den. The BAU had to know they’d gotten a lead on the Professor, but that might be as far as it had gone. “Possibly.”
    Anspaugh smirked, reminding her of how little she liked the man. He had a big bully’s personality and a big bully’s body, and, unfortunately, a big bully’s brain to go with the package.
    She liked him even less when he added, “So, did Blackstone manage to find another Reaper to justify his team’s existence?”
    It wasn’t the first time Lily had heard snide comments from others in the bureau. Wyatt had burned bridges and made enemies by blowing the whistle on some of his colleagues. The evidence tampering and manipulation had run deep, from the forensics lab almost all the way up to the deputy director’s office, and a whole lot of heads had rolled. The friends of those heads placed the blame squarely on Blackstone, who’d done nothing more than the right thing.
    “Why do you ask? Hoping to nose in the way you did the last time, with Satan’s Playground?” The retort didn’t come from Lily, but from Brandon, who had obviously been listening. Double damn .
    “Cole,” Anspaugh said with a brief nod.
    “I’m not sure you guys have thanked us enough for handing that case to you on a platter.”
    Anspaugh’s body stiffened; he hadn’t liked taking somebody else’s leftovers, especially since the cyber playground had been belly-up before he’d gotten hold of the case. “Good thing you didn’t keep it yourselves. You mighta cost another teenager her head.”
    Direct hit. Brandon’s eyes narrowed. Lily instinctively put a hand on his arm, though she felt the sting of the accusation, too. Because it was true. They hadn’t found the Reaper in time to save the last young woman who’d crossed his path. Her headless corpse would haunt the team forever.
    “We were just leaving,” she said.
    “Yeah, right. Let’s hit it, Tiger Lily,” Brandon muttered, snapping his gum like he was trying to save his own tongue from being bitten off.
    Anspaugh, pleased with himself for inspiring a reaction, turned his attention back to her. “Stick around. We’re getting somewhere. It’s been a long trail, but we’re close to isolating Lovesprettyboys. We know his general vicinity; now we’re zoning in on his real identity.”
    Lily had longed for that day for months. But now, she had another case to work. Her team needed her, and she wouldn’t have the time to help anyone else until the Professor was captured. “Keep me posted, okay? I’d like to hear how it pans out.”
    His Cro-Magnon brow furrowed in confusion. Lily didn’t wait for him to ask why she was acting as if she had only an impartial interest. Her hand still gripping Brandon’s arm, she tugged him toward the exit, not releasing him until they’d left the room.
    “Asshole,” Brandon snapped.
    “Yes.”
    “Acting like Wyatt should hide and pretend he’s not even around anymore.”
    “That’s exactly what some people want.”
    Wyatt Blackstone had gone from rising superstar to ostracized outcast. After he’d blown the whistle and received public commendations, he