+18 - eps 22-27 - A case takes Russell and Brock to the brink of death. It'll be up to Gillian and the team to rescue them before they're killed by a white supremacist militia. And in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the threat of a bio attack fo...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
**picture: High Desert state prison, NV
"Let me see if I get it right. SAC means 'Special Agent in Charge'. So she gave you an A and now you're Acting Special Agent in Charge. What if you got a B or lower?"
"Maybe I should be glad I have to use that little office..."
Tanya approached Gillian, who sat on top of her desk because Aldana was sitting at it.
The girl pointed at the printer, spitting page after page. "Can I take those to Russell, Reg?"
Gillian held her eyes, very serious. "Russ isn't even here, T."
Tanya's lips moved as she tried to come with an explanation.
"If they're for Agent Brockner, just way so."
"They're for Agent Brockner," the girl muttered in a thread of voice. "D'you hate me for helping him?"
Gillian shook her head with a warm smile. "Not a chance, T. I'm actually glad you can help them."
The girl grinned with a quick nod, picked up the pages and hurried out.
She found Brock working on a bunch of reports from the smugglers case.
"Where did you find this?" he asked, flicking through half a dozen pictures Tanya gave him.
She pointed at two mugshots. "These are the only records I found for that tattoo, sir, other than the smugglers. They're both ex-Marines and went to jail in 2009 after assaulting a black girl in Reno. Their tattoos were added to our databases when they were sent to High Desert. I've already emailed you all I've found about them. They were paroled three years ago. One of them changed his name to Christophe Balken right before going under the grid. The other one disappeared just as he was, so he may go by the name of Adolf now, for all we know... I'm sorry, sir, shouldn't have said that."
Brock shook his head, dismissing her trip. "Last known address?"
"22010 Cold Creek Road, Indian Springs, Nevada—High Desert Prison."
He looked again at the tattoo pictures. Beneath the cross and the lightning, where the smugglers had one bar, these men had three. The one who'd changed his name had also three stars under the bars. The other ex-Marine had two. Were they the alpha and the middle men of the pack? These pictures had been taken six years ago. Yet they already had their ranks tattooed? Did they already have their little army back then? And how large was "little"?
Tanya was too used to Gillian's focused frown to miss Brock's. "I'll leave you to it, sir. Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."
Brock looked up at her, snapping out of his thoughts. "Thank you very much, Lawrence."
She smiled—he hadn't really heard her. "Sir, please let me know if there's anything else you need," she repeated. "We ain't taking any new cases until next week, and I already checked with Reg that I can help you and Russell with this."
Brock was too late to keep his face from reflecting his glad surprise. "Oh... Okay, then. That's good news."
"So can I search for the skinheads associates?"
She sounded as if he would do her a favor if he said yes. He nodded with a quick smile. Tanya nodded back with a big happy grin, spun around and hurried out.
Brock watched her leave, wondering how could she be certain no case would come up for Gillian's team over the whole week. He shrugged to himself. It didn't matter. Having Tanya on the case, instead of any other tech, would make things easier and better for him and Russell.
...And Gillian was okay with Tanya working with him? Odd...
Why odd? Why wouldn't she let Tanya lend a hand if they didn't have any case? She's not like you, Brockner. She doesn't allow her private life take over her job and cloud her head.
He sighed. Plain to see his mind wasn't about to stop lashing back like that any time soon.
Back to the fifth floor, Tanya went straight to Gillian. "Can I keep working with them? There's no available tech to assist them."
Gillian nodded, smiling.
"Can I borrow Kurt?"
"Only if you make'im turn his music off."
"Consider it done!"
The rest of the team watched the girl stride across the office and pull a wire behind Kurt's desk. A beatific silence fell down on them. Then she put Kurt to work on something, while he complained and argued. Gillian threw up her hands at their questioning looks.
"Call me Jon Snow: I know nothing."
A couple of minutes later, Hank grabbed the remote and turned the plasma on. It showed what Tanya was working on.
"Hey, T, didn't know you're into ex-cons," said Fred.
Ron read aloud from the screen. "Christophe Balken, formerly Ryan Longfield. Thirty-five. One tour in Iraq. Dishonorable discharge as soon as he set foot back on the States... Really, T? I mean, I know Brandon ain't exactly a rockstar, but at least he's safer than this ass."
"What?" Tanya glanced up. "Hey! Turn that off! This is none of your business!"
"It may, if you're about to date such a scum," said Fred.
"What!?" She looked over at Gillian across the room. "Reg!"
"Wanna go work in my solitary cell?"
"I hate working alone!"
"Then you should spill some beans, T," said Aldana.
"But it's not our case!" Tanya scowled when Gillian spun around and walked out. "Reg!"
Fred kept reading the records on screen, and tilted his head with a thoughtful frown. "He went down for a hate crime?" he murmured, and raised his voice. "Hey, guys, doesn't he remind you of those attacks in Maine, a couple of weeks ago? White guys posing as local cops, they beat two black guys to death in different towns."
Hank turned to Tanya, hands to his hips. "Isn't that Russell's case?"
Tanya blushed.
"But Russ didn't come yet," said Aldana.
Tanya blushed even harder.
"Meaning you're helping Brockner?" asked Ron. He turned around, just when Gillian came back. "Reg! Al is sleeping with Russ! T is helping Brockner! You're doing the acting thing! What is this? Are you girls trying to dump us? What about the team?"
"The team can go home," replied Gillian, soft and smiling. "And since we've been working almost non-stop for two weeks, you can take the day off tomorrow, too."
"But you're staying," said Hank, statement, not question.
"Yep."
"And T's staying."
"If she wants to."
"I'm staying!"
"And Al's staying."
"If she wants to."
"I'm waiting for Russ."
Hank turned to Ron. "You're right! They're trying to get rid of us!"
Fred zipped his jacket. "Have a good mourning," he said to the other two. He patted Aldana's arm, kissed Gillian's cheek and dematerialized.
Hank and Ron left too, still murmuring and shaking their heads.
"Hey! What about me?" asked Kurt.
"Don't you have work to do?" replied Aldana.
"You're good to go as soon as you finish it," said Gillian.
Kurt snorted and turned back to his computer. "Not fair!"
