Let It Snow (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Chapter One

After Jack tried to lift de garage door manually, he re-entered his car and switched gear to reverse. He pulled back into his parking space, not that it made a difference where he parked since it was Friday night and the garage was totally deserted.

"I'll try maintenance." He used his cell to call, but he got an automated answer, not that it surprised him. There was a snowstorm outside. Anyone in his right mind had left the Hoover Building hours ago.

Not easily defeated, Jack dialled the emergency number. To his relief, a human voice answered.

"This is special agent Jack Hudson. I'm stuck in the underground parking, level 2. The outside door won't open— Yes, I tried manually lifting it— No, I didn't— And how am I supposed too get—"

Jack stared in disbelief at his phone. The battery had died on the only day he'd forgotten his charger at home.

"What did he say, Jack?" Sue had followed his side of the conversation, and picked the frustration in his facial expression.

"To exit on foot by the front entrance, that they would send a repair crew once the storm is over." He rolled his eyes at the ironic solution.

"On foot?" Sue's exclamation resonated in the car. "Has he looked outside? Transit has stopped. Taxis aren't running. How are we supposed to go home? Walk? We'll freeze to death before we even make it to the corner."

"Exactly my point, but my phone went dead before I could make it." The useless phone ended back into his pocket. "I'm so sorry, Sue. If it weren't for me, you would be home sipping on a cup of hot chocolate while packing to go to your mom."

She smiled at him.

"It's okay, Jack. I wasn't driving anywhere tonight anyway." Truth to be told, she hadn't minded spending the day in the archives room in the basement with him. They had shared lots of childhood stories while dusting old files searching for links to the assassination of a mobster. "Though I wish we could have found what we were looking for." She left the car and followed him in the staircase. "I was so sure I previously saw Mortinello's name in one of those files."

"Well... we had fun." He winked at her. "Even though we missed the announcement sending everyone home before the storm turned into a blizzard. But I bet they have hot chocolate in the cafeteria." He opened the door for her. "Now I get to know what happened when your brother caught Santa kissing your mom."

Sue wiggled her brows at him. "Maybe."

He liked it when she flirted back with him.

Warmth greeted them inside the building, a welcoming change to the cold and damp garage.

The door closed behind them in a metallic sound.

***

The sound of a door closing startled the janitor. Not expecting anyone to still be in the building, he peeked through the doorway of the room he was cleaning.

A dark-haired man and a blond woman advanced down the corridor; he walked normally, but she seemed to waddle along. Her coat was folded in her arms and she carried it in front of her, so it was hard for him to see if something was wrong with her.

"Let's leave our coats in the bullpen."

Though he didn't know their names, the janitor remembered seeing them in the building on many occasions. If his memory served him right, the man was an agent. The woman was more of a mystery, but he believed her to be the agent's colleague or partner.

"I'll meet you up there, Jack. I just need to stop there." The blond woman pointed toward the ladies washroom, which he hadn't cleaned yet.

"Go ahead. I'll wait for you by the elevator."