Her sense of unease grew even larger when Mackenzie walked into the station and saw Nancy sitting at the front desk. When Mackenzie came in, Nancy gave her only a brief smile and then looked back down to her desk. This was extremely uncharacteristic for Nancy, a woman who usually seemed to stretch her face to accommodate a smile for anyone that came in the station's front doors.
Mackenzie nearly asked Nancy if she knew what was going on but decided not to. The last thing she wanted was to seem weak and out of the loop as she tried to spearhead the closing to this case. So she bypassed the front desk and headed to the back, marching dutifully toward Nelson's office.
She opened the door and stepped in, trying to appear confident and as if she were fully in control. But even now, as she closed the door behind her, she knew that taking two and a half hours out of her afternoon to visit Holy Cross had been a mistake. She'd been jumping at shadows in an attempt to be as perfect as possible, making sure she exhausted every opportunity, especially ones offered by impressive FBI agents, to get to the bottom of this case.
Nelson looked up to her and for the briefest of moments, an anxious expression crossed his face.
"Have a seat, White," Nelson said, nodding to the chairs on the opposite side of his cluttered desk.
"What's going on?" she asked. The nerves were evident in her voice but that was the last thing on her mind as Nelson seemed to size her up.
"We've got a problem," he said. "And you are not going to like the solution. Our scum-sucking friend Ellis Pope has lodged a formal complaint against you. For now, he's keeping it quiet-just between us and his lawyer. But he says if immediate action isn't taken, he'll take it to the papers. Usually I wouldn't even care about such a threat, but the papers and even some of the television media have painted you as the head of this investigation. If Pope goes to the media with his complaint, things are going to get very bad."
"Sir, I was acting on impulse," Mackenzie pleaded. "A mysterious figure was lurking at the edge of a murder scene. It was private property. He was trespassing. He then took off suspiciously. Was I supposed to just let him run? All I did was stop him. I didn't assault him."
He frowned.
"White, I'm on your side on this. One hundred percent. But there's another factor that I can't get past. The State PD is involved now. They caught wind of the confrontation with Pope, too. There's also the fact that you were MIA when they showed up to the scene on State Route 411 this afternoon. I'm pissed about that one myself. But they saw it as sloppy work on your part. Not a good impression."
He raised a hand before she could talk.
"As if that wasn't enough, I got a call from Ruth-Anne Costello about half an hour ago. She complained about your being rude and aggressive. She, too, lodged a complaint."
"Are you serious?"
Nelson looked depressed as he nodded his head.
"Yes, unfortunately, I am. Add all of that up and we get a shit storm."
"So what do we do to fix this?" she asked. "What is Pope asking for to stay quiet? How can we appease the State and make the nun happy?"
Nelson sighed and then sneered toward the ceiling, making it apparent that he was not happy with what he was about to say.
"It means that effective immediately, I have to take you off of the Scarecrow Killer case."
Mackenzie felt her skin grow cold. The thought of the killer out there, continuing to kill, and her being unable to try to stop it, was just too much for her.
She didn't know what to say.
Nelson's frown deepened.
"I went to bat for you and tried to get them to ease up," he said. "I even tried to simply let them allow you to finish up this case and then get expelled for a week or so. But Pope and the State PD weren't having it. My hands are tied on this one. I'm sorry."
Mackenzie felt fury replacing the fear that had been boiling up in her stomach. Her first instinct was to lash out at Nelson but she could tell that he was pretty angry about this turn of events, too. Plus, given the way he had been showing her more respect in these last few days, she didn't doubt him when he said he had tried everything he could.
This was not his fault. If anyone was to blame, it was Ellis Pope. And, quite possibly, she herself as well. Ever since she'd heard that creaky floorboard three nights ago, she'd not been herself. Things going askew with Ellington had not helped, either.
Yes, this was mostly on her. And that was perhaps the worst thing of all.
"So who handles the case now?" Mackenzie asked.
"The State Police. And they've got the FBI on stand-by if they're needed. But being that we think we have the exact location of where the killer is coming next, we're hoping it's going to be a pretty simple case."
"Sir, I don't even…"
She stopped here, not knowing what to say. She had never been much of a crier, but she was so angry as she sat in Nelson's office that her body seemed to have no other way to express it other than the threat of tears.
"I know," he said. "This sucks. But when it's all said and done-when this asshole is behind bars and the paperwork is being done-I'm going to make sure your name is all over it in the best ways possible. You have my word on that, White."
She stood up in a state of shock, looking to the door as if it might transport her to some magical world where this conversation had never happened.
"So what am I supposed to do now?" she asked.
"Go home. Get drunk. Do whatever you need to do to shake this off. And when the case is closed, I'll call you and let you know. The State won't care about this ordeal once the killer is arrested. Ellis Pope will be all we have to worry about and that should be easy once you're not in the spotlight."
She opened the door and stepped out.
"I'm sorry as hell, White," he said before she closed the door. "I really am."
She could only nod as she closed the door behind him.
She made her way through the hallway, keeping her eyes on the floor so she would not have to look anyone she passed in the eye. As she made her way out to the front of the station, she looked up to Nancy. Nancy, apparently assuming that Mackenzie was now in the know, gave her a polite frown.
"You okay?" Nancy asked.
"I will be," Mackenzie said, not knowing if it was true or not.