Read Chapter One of My New FBI Thriller, They All Confessed!

By six forty-seven, everyone had stopped answering her. Federal prosecutor Caroline Mercer stood outside the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Barnard Street in downtown Savannah with her phone pressed to her ear and listened to her investigator’s voicemail greeting for the third time. She disconnected. Three calls to Daniel. Two to her deputy. One to the duty number.

Nothing.

Her Lexus sat several blocks away in the parking garage she used when she worked late. Caroline slipped the phone into her bag and started walking.

Daniel had canceled their six o’clock meeting twenty minutes before it began. Her assistant had left early. An hour ago, the U.S. Attorney had told Caroline not to come in tomorrow. Take the day, he’d said. She had asked why, but he hadn’t given her an answer.

At the time, Caroline had blamed office politics. Now she wasn’t so sure. She entered the garage and took the stairs down one level.

Most of the commuter cars were gone. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. Her silver Lexus waited near the far end. Caroline pressed the unlock button.

Nothing.

She tried again. The car stayed dark. She moved closer. The driver’s door had been open less than an inch. Caroline stopped. She hadn’t left it that way.

Her hand moved to her phone. No signal.

A sound echoed from behind her. A step. She turned. No one stood in the lane.

“Hello?” Her voice carried through the garage.

No answer.

Caroline backed away from the Lexus and headed toward the stairwell. The overhead lights cut out. Emergency lights clicked on seconds later, casting the garage in dim amber and setting Caroline’s danger signals on fire.

She ran toward the stairwell and yanked on the door. Locked. She pulled harder but it wouldn’t budge.

Behind her, a man said, “Caroline.”

Recognizing the voice, she froze. A figure stepped out from behind one of the concrete pillars.

Caroline stared at him. “What are you doing?”

He walked toward her.

Something cold settled in her stomach. Her assistant leaving. The U.S. Attorney sending her home. Nobody answering. Daniel canceling.

Her voice trembled when she spoke. “You did this.”

“No.”

“You made sure I was alone.”

He stopped several feet away. “You made that easier than you think.”

Caroline tightened her grip on her briefcase. “What did you tell them?”

“Whatever they needed to hear.”

“You’ve been talking to people in my office.”

He didn’t answer. That was answer enough.

Caroline had spent weeks watching colleagues pull back from her. Meetings moved. Calls went unanswered. People who used to stop at her door no longer did. She had thought it was the case. Maybe it had been him. “You know I copied it,” she said.

His expression changed. Small, but enough. “Copied what?”

“You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

His eyes dropped toward her briefcase.

“Not there,” Caroline said.

“Where?”

“Somewhere you can’t get it.”

He stepped closer.

Caroline swung the briefcase. The reinforced edge caught him across the cheek. He stumbled. She ran. Barely ten yards separated her from the elevator. She made it five when his hand caught the back of her coat. Caroline twisted free and struck backward with her elbow.

He grunted.

She screamed. “HELP!”

No one answered.

He grabbed her again. Caroline drove her heel down onto his foot and clawed at his arm.

He released her long enough for her to fall forward. She scrambled toward the ramp. Something struck the side of her head. The floor came up hard. For a few seconds she couldn’t move. Footsteps approached. The man crouched beside her. Caroline saw blood on his hand. Good. Evidence. She tried to push herself up.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“No.”

“They’ll know.”

“They’ll know what I want them to know.” He reached into his coat.

“You don’t think I’ve got a plan?”

His laugh made knowing what was coming even worse. She saw the red cord. Thin. Braided. Nylon. She kicked. He caught her ankle and dragged her backward. Caroline screamed again. His knee pressed between her shoulder blades. The cord slipped over her head. She got two fingers beneath it before he pulled. Pain cut across her throat. She fought. Scratched. Kicked. Twisted. The garage narrowed around her. Her vision blurred. She thought about the copy. He still didn’t know where it was. The fluorescent lights flickered back on. For one second everything became painfully bright. Her shoes lay near the Lexus. Her briefcase had fallen open.

Papers covered the concrete.

And beside her hand sat a small red plastic bead that had broken loose from the cord. Caroline closed her fingers around it. The pressure increased, but she held on.

He waited until she stopped moving. The garage ventilation system kicked on overhead.

He removed the red cord and wound it around his hand. One bead was missing. He searched near her shoulder and beneath her coat.

Nothing.

A car engine started somewhere above them. He stopped looking and rolled Caroline onto her back. Her right hand remained closed.

But he didn’t notice.

He collected the papers and returned them to her briefcase. From his pocket, he removed a small brass key. Old and unmarked. He placed it beneath Caroline’s tongue. (This is the first version, stay tuned as it could change!) Order the book here: https://www.amazon.com/They-Confessed-Gabrielle-Redmond-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0HLM16VDB )