Erased by Jordan Marshall Read Free Book Online Page B

make her into a killer, but something had happened. Something had gone wrong.
    “You think I don’t know Murphy was a reliable subject?” Stryker crinkled his forehead. “I’m the one that chose her, remember? Sara Murphy’s programming was intact. We tested her just today. The fact that she was there on the roof proves it. There was something else, something we missed.”
    “Like what?” said Lisa.
    Stryker folded his arms, his massive biceps flexing under his black t-shirt. Even at fifty, he was still hard as a rock. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter at this point. She’s thinking now. She was never supposed to start thinking. We can’t let this one escape, kids. I want her in custody ten minutes ago. Better yet, dead.”
    Chaz shook his head as he monitored the scanners. “The cops haven’t seen anything. The whole building’s almost evacuated.”
    Stryker pursed his lips and ran a hand through his crew cut. “Okay… she’s either hiding in the building or she’s outside. Smart as she is, I’m thinking outside. Murphy wouldn’t just wait for us to come find her. Pull her driver’s license photo and make sure everyone gets a copy.”
    “Sir, I have something!” Lisa said.
    “What is it?”
    “Sara’s using her phone. Hold on a sec, I’m triangulating… She’s headed west on Geary.”
    Stryker muttered a string of curses that made Chaz and Lisa both blush. “She’s in the crowd,” he said. He drew a deep breath. Stryker couldn’t sit back and play management anymore. It was bad enough pushing pencils all day long, he sure as hell wasn’t going to do it while a fugitive got away.
    “Keep circling,” he told the driver as he crawled into the passenger seat and stepped through the door. “Lisa, keep scanning that cell phone. Track Murphy’s every move. If she stops moving or if she leaves the area, I want you to call her and patch me through.”
    “You want to call her ?” Chaz said, perplexed. “What for?”
    “Because she’s going to come to us.”
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 11
     
     
     
    Special Agent in Charge Ben Ashcroft’s office door was open when Brandy arrived. He was at the desk, working on his computer. Brandy stood there a moment, waiting for him to notice her. When he didn’t, she knocked quietly on the doorframe. He raised his eyes.
    “Special Agent Jackson,” Ashcroft said. He nodded in her direction and gestured at the seat across his desk. “Please, sit.”
    Brandy smiled as she settled into the chair. Ashcroft didn’t smile back. He was an intimidating man. He was tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. He always wore a dour, almost angry expression. It didn’t help that Brandy was young and new to the Bureau. Since she’d been assigned to the San Francisco branch, Brandy had been working under the supervision of senior agents, helping with miscellaneous cases. She’d seen the SAC a few times in the halls, but they’d never been introduced and he had never so much as acknowledged her presence until today.
    She couldn’t help but notice that Ashcroft had paged her during lunch hour. She had been at her desk, working. She hoped that counted for something. After her conversation with Agent Smith that morning, Brandy had been on pins and needles all day. Now that the moment had arrived, Brandy was crawling out of her skin. Was this it? Was this the meeting where Ashcroft would hand Brandy her last paycheck and say, “Your services are no longer required?”
     “You’re twenty-eight,” Ashcroft said, tapping his keyboard. He didn’t look up.
    “Yes, sir.” Brandy mumbled.
    “You joined the Army after High School. You served four years overseas and received an honorable discharge. Then you went to Sonoma State University, where you graduated at the top of your class. Says you turned down a scholarship to Berkeley?” He raised his eyes expectantly, and Brandy’s mouth went dry. If nothing else, Ashcroft was thorough.
    “It’s not that there’s