The Girl and the Unlucky 13 (Emma Griffin™ FBI Mystery) A.J. Rivers (historical books to read TXT) 📖

It’s a very vague step up from usual hotel coffee, but I’ll take it. Maybe in a little while, I’ll feel like walking down to the lobby to go to the much more elaborate coffee bar down there. They have several strengths of coffee, along with tiny creamer cups of half a dozen different flavors. Sometimes there are even teeny-tiny muffins in the acrylic cube display case.

I might be getting too familiar with this hotel.

“I know he’s not,” Ava says.

“Then don’t talk about him as if he is one,” I say. “He doesn’t have any obligation to you. He doesn’t even know you.”

“He’s standing right here,” Xavier says. “And feeling somewhat like a metaphor.”

“We were getting breakfast and Dean said he was going to come up here to see if you wanted to come down. You haven’t been eating with us.”

“Or maybe a simile,” Xavier continues.

“I’ve been busy,” I say. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m investigating a rather complex and sensitive case.”

“I have noticed,” Ava replies, her voice getting sharper. “Just as I’ve noticed I was specifically told to be a part of this and you’ve done everything you possibly can to exclude me from it.”

“You didn’t say ‘like’ or ‘as.’ Definitely a metaphor.”

“I’ve been investigating the way I always do,” I say.

“Exactly,” Ava says. “You’ve been doing it exactly the way you always do it because that’s what you want. Have you considered for even a second that having me be part of the investigation has been about you, too?”

I whirl around to face her. “Of course, I have. That’s the problem.”

The answer explodes out of me and I instantly wish it hadn’t. Xavier steps backward and reaches to his side to pick up the remote to the TV while I focus on sifting through the records and documents on the table. It’s more so I don’t have to look at Ava, and she seems to realize it.

“Emma, what did I do to you? I know there’ve been a couple of times in this investigation when you think I’ve overstepped, and I probably have, but you’ve been pushing back against me since the second we met,” she says. “Is this some sort of test? You keep saying the Bureau is going to treat me rough, and I get that, but you seem to be starting it yourself. As if you’re going out of your way to throw me under the bus for everything that goes wrong. Completely refusing to offer support or guidance. You refuse to tell me what you’re doing and why, and then you get mad at me for trying to take the initiative because you’re holding your cards too close to your chest. You’re right, Emma. I don’t know how to lead an investigation. And yeah, I’ll admit that I’ve gone about some things the wrong way. But I want to learn from you. That’s why I’m here. I’m not here for you to bully around.”

Ignoring her isn’t going to do me any good, so I look up at her.

“Look, I…I don’t want to be replaced,” I finally admit. “Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

She shakes her head. “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I let out a breath, running my fingers back through my hair as I drop down into a chair at the table and gather my words.

“When I started in the Bureau, I was twenty-three years old. Most people don’t start that young,” I say.

“I know,” she says. “The average age for a new agent is about thirty, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I confirm. “So, most people my age have only been working for a couple of years. I’ve had enough career packed into my almost ten years for two or three agents. But it’s my life. It’s what I chose a long time ago and what I’ve structured my entire existence around.”

“I know,” she says again. “I’ve been following your career. I’ve studied your cases.”

“That. Right there,” I say, pointing at her. “Do you realize how strange that is for me? How odd it feels to be at the age when I’m being studied? Or at least at the point in my career when that is happening? I don’t feel old enough be there yet.”

“But you’ve accomplished incredible things. They aren’t trying to force you out because they teach your cases,” Ava says.

“That’s how it feels sometimes. There’s always someone new. Someone fresh out of training who is ready to tackle the field. Someone who hasn’t been shot and stabbed, choked, beaten. I worked hard to build this career. I’ve dragged myself through hard times and fought through moments when the Bureau was losing faith in me. Because this is what I’m called to do.

“But the hard moments have left their mark. I still have pain from some of my injuries. I have memories I really wish I didn’t. And still, I don’t want to give any of this up. But having Creagan put you with me makes it feel as though he’s looking ahead to the new generation.

“I used to live right there in Quantico, but I moved back to my hometown a few years ago. Now I’m about to get married, and I think he thinks it’s time for me to settle down. Which means taking what I’ve worked so hard to build and offering it up to someone else. I don’t want that to happen. I see your potential, Ava. You’re smart. You do take the initiative, and you’ve got a good eye for forensic evidence, which is a great skill to have. With some experience, you’ll really take to this. I just don’t want you taking my position.”

“I would never do that,” she says. She hesitates, then lowers herself into the chair beside me. She gathers her thoughts for a second. “I’ve never been great with people. You know how adults love to label children?”

“The great conveyor belts of life,” Xavier chimes in.

“What?” Ava asks.

Xavier looks