Keller made his way through the bullpen, exchanging pleasantries with Kevin, nodding to Wyatt. Normal. Routine. But his eyes kept moving, cataloging, assessing. When his gaze landed on Sam's closed office door, something flickered across his face.
Then he was knocking, waiting for Sam's gruff "Come in," and disappearing inside.
Jo watched the door close and felt her stomach tighten.
Inside Sam's office,Keller settled into the chair across from the desk without waiting to be invited. Lucy lifted her head, watching him with calm, assessing eyes, but didn't move from her spot near the window.
"Chief Mason." Keller's voice was pleasant, professional. "Got a minute?"
"What's on your mind, Agent?"
Keller leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Something's going on. I'm not blind. The closed-door meetings, your team going quiet whenever I walk in. People exchanging looks they think I don't notice." He spread his hands. "If this is connected to Cooper's murder, I need to know."
Sam kept his expression neutral. "We're following leads. Same as always."
"With respect, Chief, that's not an answer." Keller's jaw tightened. "Cooper was my partner. We worked together for three years. I have a right to know what's happening with his case."
Sam studied him for a long moment. The grief seemed genuine. The frustration too. But Sam hadn't survived this long by taking things at face value.
"What makes you think something's going on?" Sam asked.
Keller's expression shifted—something harder underneath the professional mask. "Because I've been doing my own digging and there is something fishy about agent Shaw." He said the name like it left a bad taste. "She's on personal leave. No official assignment, no Bureau sanction for being here. I asked around—quietly—and no one seems to know what unit she's actually with."
Sam felt something tighten in his chest. Keller had reached the same conclusion they had.
"Go on," he said.
"She's been asking questions. About cases I've worked, people I've talked to. At first I thought she was just thorough—new agent, trying to prove herself." Keller shook his head. "But it's more than that. She's digging into things that have nothing to do with Cooper. Old cases. Cold files. The same files your team has been pulling."
"You think she's compromised."
Keller met his eyes. "I think she might be working with the people who killed my partner."
The words hung in the air. Lucy shifted slightly, her attention fixed on Keller.
Sam weighed his options. Keller had come to him with information that confirmed what they already suspected. Either he was genuinely on their side, or he was very good at playing a long game.
"We're setting something up," Sam said carefully. "A meet. Tonight. Trying to draw out whoever's been pulling strings."
Keller straightened, his whole body going alert. "Let me help."
"This is a local operation. We're not?—"
"Cooper was my partner." Keller's voice hardened. "I've been chasing shadows for weeks while his killer walks free. If you're getting close to whoever did this, I want to be there."
"I don't know how deep this goes," Sam said slowly. "If Shaw is dirty, there could be others. I can't risk this operation on?—"
"I'm not dirty." Keller's voice was flat. "Cooper and I were close. Whoever killed him, I want them to pay. That's all I care about."
Sam held his gaze for a long moment. Lucy hadn't growled. Hadn't even tensed. She just watched, calm and patient, the way she did when she was reserving judgment.
"Alright," Sam said finally. "But you follow our lead. This is our town, our operation. You're backup, nothing more."
Keller nodded. "Understood. What do you need from me?"
"The meet is tonight. Midnight. Old mill on Route Seven.” Sam watched Keller's face carefully as he continued. "Wyatt will be the one making contact. He'll have a wire, and we'll have people in the trees. I want you as his shadow—close enough to intervene if things go sideways with all of us, far enough back that you don't spook whoever shows up."
Keller didn't ask how Wyatt had arranged the meet. Didn't ask what Wyatt's connection was, or why he was the one making contact. He just nodded.