“Oh, sorry,” he muttered, moving over a few inches. He peered at my computer. “What am I looking at exactly?”
Instead of growling in frustration, I held on to my patience. I had been paired with Perry because no one else wanted to work with him. Agent Sanders expected me to find it difficult. He hoped I would.
I wouldn’t give him, or anyone else, the satisfaction of seeing me lose it. So I was learning to find ways of dealing with Perry. And that involved lots of deep breathing and a good dose of self-control.
“That right there.” I tapped on the screen with my fingernail. “Recognize the name?”
Perry’s eyes widened. “Shit, it’s Freedom Overdrive! What is this? An email?”
“Nope. It’s transcripts from an encrypted chat. Read it and tell me what you think.”
Perry scanned the fragmented words and text full of acronyms. “Uh, it sounds like they’re planning something.”
I nodded, smiling. “Very good.”
Perry frowned. “But wait a second. There are two people here. Freedom Overdrive and someone else.”
Don’t roll your eyes, Mason,I thought to myself.
“Yes, Perry, there are two people. That’s the point of a chat room.” I couldn’t stop the sarcasm.
Perry flushed at my derision. “I just mean it looks like Freedom Overdrive has a partner.”
I patted Perry on the back. “Bingo. That’s exactly what’s going on.”
Perry grabbed my shoulder. “Damn, Mason, this is a big deal! This is a really big deal!” He turned back to my computer and pointed to a name on the screen. “And that’s the name of their target, isn’t it?”
I nodded, grinning at my partner. “Yep. I think it is.”
Perry laughed, slapping me on the back. “I can’twaitto see Chaz’s face when we report this in debriefing.”
I chuckled. “Me either, man. It’ll be sweet.”
I felt gloriously vindicated. Like maybe I hadn’t lost my touch. I had felt off my game since moving to Richmond. I could admit I had been floundering.
Not now.
Now I was getting somewhere.
I was eager to announce my findings in the status update meeting on Monday. It would feel great to prove Derek wrong in his dismal assessment of me as an agent.
—
“We’ve been able to track down Internet chatter between Sayid and Shameem Edris, another known affiliate of the SEA. Agent Armiger was able to isolate their location to a town outside of Damascus that is a well-known hub. We’re liaising with several assets in the area to determine whether they are indeed there,” Chaz reported smugly, his arms crossed over his bony chest with importance.
“What a douchebag,” Perry muttered under his breath, and I had to stifle my laughter.
“That’s great. Well done, Agents Armiger and Edwards.” Derek regarded the rest of the agents in the room before looking across at Perry and me. “And this is how you get a job done. I don’t have to tell the rest of you that anything less than success isn’t acceptable.”
Agent Sanders zeroed in on me. “Agents Kohler and Winston, any updates in the Freedom Overdrive case? Is it still a dead end? Do you need another agent to step in and help out?” His words were clipped and hard, our failure expected.
Perry and I glanced at each other.
“Would you like to share or should I?” I asked my partner.
“You go right ahead, Kohler,” Perry said, barely able to contain his glee.
He was practically bouncing in his seat. I gave him a sharp look and he stilled, crossing his legs and setting his face in grim lines. His attempt to be serious was humorous.
