Boston Blues - BLACKBIRD book 2

12. the profile

As Cook and his detectives flooded the place, Gillian grabbed her computer and strode across the office to the meeting room, where she closed the door and sat with her back turned to the inner window. Brock grimaced, understanding how she felt.

"Alright, Agent, here we are," said Cook, trying to fake a convincing professional pose.

Brock waited for them to find a spot to stand, then faced them all, as silence filled the crowded place. Aldana came to sit at Gillian's desk with Hank and Connor, on the first row. Three more backs turned on Cook and his men. He noticed their faces were scratched, like Gillian's, and Hank had his left arm on a sling.

Brock spoke in his usual calm, serious way, pausing to give them time to taking notes.

And in the meeting room, Gillian kept still, listening to him, absorbing every of his words.

"We're looking for a white male in his mid-forties. He applied to join the SCU and failed, so we know he's a law enforcement officer in active duty. He's a paranoid narcissist, someone with a distorted self-image, which makes him believe he's better than those around him, and that everything is meant to harm him," Brock said. "He's not able to keep any kind of relationship, so he's most likely single, and has no real friends. His social awkwardness makes his colleagues avoid him. He has a bad temper, irritable, prone to rants, and he usually complains about the supposed lack of skill of others. This contempt for his colleagues can be the reason why his professional achievements have never been acknowledged, depriving him of the recognition and respect he believes he deserves. And this, confronted with his distorted self-image, makes him take other people's achievements as a personal offense."

He took a moment to sip at the glass of water that Aldana handed him.

"He applied to join the SCU convinced that he has more than it takes to be a part of it. After failing, the Mayor's public recognition to this unit triggered all the grudges and imaginary offenses he's mustered over the years. Now he considers himself on a mission to vindicate his name by humiliating the SCU in the public eye. He's got a plan. He's committed and organized. And he won't stop until we catch him. Needless to say time is of the essence, in order to prevent more attacks. Agent Lawrence has the list of names we're working on, so please make sure you all take a copy with you when you leave. Thank you."

The moment he finished, Tanya and Kurt delivered copies of the list to everybody. Cook approached Brock with some men to ask him something. He lingered to answer their questions, mostly rephrasing what he'd just explained, since they didn't seem to have gotten any of it.

Unlike Gillian, he thought. He would've liked her to help him explain the profile, knowing he tended to be a bit too technical—and who better than her to bring his words down to an everyday language, with that mouth of hers. But seeing her reaction at Cook's arrival, he didn't want to upset her even more, forcing her to face these men who didn't like her and her team.

As soon as he could without being rude, Brock sent them all away, in case they had anything important to do—like catching a mad bomber with a generous stash of C-4. Then he turned to Aldana.

"Sergeant Miles, I'd like to ask you a few questions about the device you removed at the Memorial," he said.

"Sure," she replied, standing up, and headed to the meeting room with a slight limp.

Gillian insisted in leaving them alone and went back to the main office. Fred came back then, telling them Ron was out of the OR and in intensive care, stable but not completely out of danger yet. As for himself, he'd just gotten ten stitches in his back and some bruises, but had enough painkillers on him to run a triathlon with a good chance to win.

"So you better give me a face to fix my scope on, Reg," he said, not a hint of his usual placid mood left.

She smiled, handing him a coffee. "No luck yet but we're on it, lad, so you just sit tight."