“I beg your fucking pardon.”
She jabbed a finger toward me. “Don’t you dare act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I mean come on, Cameron, you’ve rescued me twice tonight.
That was the first time Tess called me by my first name, and even though I was trying my best to focus on her words, everything after “Cameron” was a bit fuzzy for a few ticks.
“First, you saved me from Sasha, who was all but prepared to turn me into a smoothie, and then from those punks in the park. I keep trying to prove to myself and the Agency that I can handle myself, but at every turn is a man reminding me that I can’t.”
“I wasn’t trying to swoop in and rescue you, I was trying to savebothour lives, because we’re partners,” I said.
“Why are you smiling?” Tess asked.
“What?”
“You make it very hard for me to be annoyed with you when you have that goofy smile on your face.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even realize I was smiling. I don’t exactly have a firm grasp on what precisely is going on here. Hell, I don’t even have a vague notion of what’s happening between us, other than we’ll probably both lose our jobs if anyone ever finds out about it.”
“I’m sure as hell not putting anything aboutthisin my report,” Tess said, motioning to the two of us.
“See?” I said. “We all omit details from the official record to put ourselves in the best light possible.”
“Not the same thing,” she replied.
“Bullshit it isn’t. Partners have each other’s backs. Teammates have each other’s backs. That’s it. Plain and simple.”
“I’m not used to that. I’ve always been Tess, the independent one, or Tess the problem solver.”
“How about you try ‘Tess the one who needs to get over herself,’ on for a spell and see how it feels?”
She threw her hands in the air. “Or, you could not be a dick about it.”
“I’m not being a dick. I’m pointing out that you’re taking way too much on and telling you to take the world off your shoulders for once. Jesus, you act like you’re responsible for global warming level catastrophes. That’s why we haveteams. That’s why there are two of us for this particular mission. It’s so we can see each other’s blind spots. It’s a goddamn safety measure.”
* * *
Tess
“Well, I sure as hell didn’t have Garner’s blind spot covered, and the director still handed me a velvet box with a goddamned medal in it,” I shot back.
He took a deep breath and changed tacks. “You’re from New England, right?”
“Live free or die,” I replied.
“Good, then let me ask you a question. At Superbowl thirty-nine Donovan McNabb fumbled the ball during the first quarter, but the Patriots still went on to secure a victory against the Eagles, right?”
“Okay, Gil Korman, what’s your point?”
“My point is, even though McNabb failed early in the game, the team still won, and he deserves to wear a Superbowl ring right alongside the rest of histeammates with all of their mistakes and glories.”
“We’re not playing football here,” I snapped. “I watched Garner’s wife take a folded flag into her arms instead of her husband. This isn’t a game.”
“Don’t pick a fight with me. You know what I meant,” he said, sternly.
“Do I?” I challenged. “I barely know you, Wallace.”
“Don’t dothat.”
“Don’t do what?”
