“I understand that you have to make an example of me, and I’m okay with that,” Samiah said. “If this is what it takes to show the rest of the company how important security is, let’s do it.”
“And this is why it wouldn’t have mattered if youhadbeen working with the federal government behind our backs,” Barrington said. “I’d forgive you just about anything, Samiah. Your attitude and work ethic are far too important to this company.”
“We still have some things to work out with investigators, but after this is all taken care of and things are back to normal, I want to revisit our discussion regarding the Outreach Department,” Justin said. “You declined the position because you didn’t think you could devote time to building the new department while working on your current projects, but now that you won’t be working on those projects…” He waved his hand. “We’ll talk about all of this later. For now, unfortunately, we have to make an example of you.”
Samiah nodded and tried her hardest not to smile. “I understand,” she said again.
Could this really be happening? Not only was shenotgoing to lose her job, but she was going to gain the time she needed to work on Just Friends and would still be allowed to head the Outreach Department? What she thought would be the most dire moment in her career had turned into an embarrassment of riches.
“Is that it?” she asked.
“That’s it,” Barrington said. “Thanks for being one of the good ones, Samiah.”
This time she did smile.
***
The metronomic click of the external hard drive droned on within its slim black casing, the steady cadence thumping in rhythm to his own pulse. Daniel unsheathed a fourth hard drive and connected it to the final computer tower. With a few strokes of the keyboard, it joined the muted percussion of the other electronic equipment. In a matter of minutes, all the computers would be wiped clean.
The machines they’d seized from Trendsetters sat in a secured building at the DHS field office in San Antonio, preparing to be shipped to Virginia, but the computers he’d used in this generic apartment in the Triangle would remain here for use by the next set of undercover agents tasked with locking up the Southeast region’s bad guys and saving the day.
He’d spent much of the morning blocking out the racket from the movers as they carried in boxes and stacked them against the walls in the living room. The new tenants, two DHS agents out of Miami-Dade, would be arriving at the end of the week, which meant Daniel still had a few days before he’d have to close up shop and turn the apartment over to them.
He didn’t need a few days. His clothes were already packed. Ninety-nine percent of his loose ends tied up. All that was left for him to do was to board a plane and fly back to his bland cubbyhole at FinCEN.
That’s notallthat’s left.
Dread. Heavy, sickening, and profound. It rested in his gut, lodged in his throat; consumed his entire being.
The one final thing he had left to do tormented him, but he knew he couldn’t leave Austin without talking to Samiah. The knot in his stomach tightened at the thought of facing her. He refused to take the coward’s way out. He would weather her wrath and do his best to explain why he’d taken her trust in him and smashed it with a sledgehammer.
For now, he brooded in silence, watching the faces of his coworkers populate the computer monitor as they prepared for their weekly check-in—the last he’d have in this place he’d called home for the past two months. Despite the ever-present chill in the dark room, Daniel couldn’t bring himself to pull on his Phillies hoodie. He didn’t want to associate his favorite garment with the revulsion he’d been experiencing from the moment he’d made the call to bring in the DHS and FBI to make the arrests at Trendsetters yesterday.
As his comrades back at FinCEN gathered for their video conference, the accolades began to pour in.
“I didn’t think you had it in you, Collins, but you proved me wrong. Good job.”
“Same here.”
“I’m still not convinced he had it in him. I think this was just dumb luck,” Thaddeus Mitchum said with a good-natured laugh. He pointed at the computer screen. “And don’t forget to bring back my barbecue.”
Daniel made an effort to smile, but it was half-assed at best. He should be ecstatic. Doubts that this job would come to a successful conclusion had amplified as each week passed. Being able to prove the naysayers wrong was the kind of shit he lived for. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy any of it. Whenever he tried, all he saw was that look of betrayal on Samiah’s face yesterday. How could he celebrate anything, knowing that she hated him?
He should have gone to her the moment she’d arrived at Trendsetters, even if it was only to apologize.
But when?Whencould he have gone to her? He hadn’t had a chance to eat, to take a piss, to take a damn breath yesterday. And why did he think a simple apology would make any difference if it wasn’t followed by a clear explanation of exactly what happened?
Once they were done rounding up all the evidence needed and arresting those involved, they’d spent three hours huddled in the largest conference room at Trendsetters, discussing the details of the operation with Barrington—who, to Daniel’s utter relief, had no knowledge of the money-laundering scheme. After answering as many of the CEO’s questions as they could, they’d all headed to the local FBI field office for a joint debriefing between DHS, FBI, and the FinCEN personnel involved in the takedown. Where would he have found the time to give Samiah the explanation she deserved?
It was futile to think that she didn’t know yet that it was her secured access card that had been used to breach Trendsetters’ security system. It was even more useless to hope that she hadn’t figured out just how her access card had been obtained, especially after she learned he wasn’t who he’d claimed to be these past few months.
Shame burned in his throat.
If he wrote a list of his regrets, it would stretch from here to the Colorado River. Yet the one thing heshouldregret—the one thing that should never have happened at all—was the one thing he wouldn’t trade. He’d known from the moment she nearly crashed into him at the coffee station his first day on the job that he should have stayed as far away from her as possible. The attraction had been there from the beginning.
Attractionwasn’t the right word. It had always been more than just attraction. The potent, all-consuming pull between them was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Pretending he could have ignored it all these weeks was pointless.
It was inevitable that he would end up exactly where he now found himself, trying to figure out how to convince Samiah that everything between them had not been a lie.
