"And a career killer. No one wanted to work with me after that. Even the people who knew me well, who privately said I was right, felt tainted by any connection to me. My fellow officers said I was too self-righteous, too ambitious, that I just wanted to get him out of the way so I could rise in the ranks. The smear campaign was superb," she said, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice. "I started to feel like I had done the wrong thing."
"But you hadn't. Surely, there were some people on your side."
"More than came forward publicly. It was a tough time for me, and when one of the FBI agents I had worked with on the case suggested I join the bureau, I said yes."
"Sounds like you ended up in a better place."
"In some ways." She frowned. "I don't want to give you the wrong idea. There are more good people than bad in the police department, and some incredibly smart and brave unsung heroes. I just ran into one bad cop and some of his unforgiving friends. But I have a lot of respect for the NYPD, and I loved working there for a long time, but that time was over."
"And what do you think about working for the bureau? Although you're working for some special team, aren't you?"
She was surprised at how much he actually knew about her. She'd been so focused on finding out about him she hadn't really thought about him wanting to know more about her. "Yes, I recently joined a special unit that moves more quickly and with less red tape."
"How did you manage that?"
"I guess I impressed a few people."
"Well, that doesn't surprise me."
"I don't know why you'd say that. I don't feel like I've done anything impressive on this case. It's been three days, and I'm still trying to find a lead that will help us find the bomber."
"You found Jonas Cray."
"Too late," she said.
"But we were close." He paused, his gaze shifting. "It is odd how close we were."
"As in you think someone realized we'd found Jonas?" She wiped her mouth with her napkin as she considered that. "We went to the gym. We talked to Elias and Spencer. And then we hit the Crimson Club."
"And Ava told us where to find him," Max finished. "But I don't think there was enough time between our appearance there and someone silencing Jonas before we could talk to him."
"It had to have been someone from the gym. And Elias Costa has basically disappeared, so that makes him look guilty."
"Well, it is also possible that the plan was always to take Jonas out. He was the one with the most visibility in the café. If he's dead, and the trail goes to him, then it ends there."
"We've been looking for Cal, but we haven't spotted him anywhere in the area." She picked up her fork and made her way through her salad as they both ate for a few minutes.
When she finished, she took a sip of iced tea and said, "I think it's your turn to talk."
He gave a heavy sigh as he sat back on the bench. "What's the question?"
"Same one I asked before. Why did you leave the CIA? And this time, I want the real reason."
"Everything I did for the agency was classified, Kara. That is the truth."
"Then paint a picture in broad strokes that won't break any laws."
He thought about that for a moment, clearly conflicted, then he said, "I brought in someone I'd been chasing for a long time, someone who had hurt many people. I thought I'd finally get justice. But this individual made a deal with the powers that be, suggesting he would be a better asset than an inmate."
"So they let him go?"
"Yes. They sent him back into the field. He had a handler, of course, and he was under threat of immediate confinement if he stepped over a line." Anger burned through his green eyes. "He agreed. And I quit."
"I can understand why you did that. Has he stayed behind that line?"
"No. Two months after he made the deal, he vanished. No one has seen him since, and it's believed he's now leading a terror network that has gotten a lot more dangerous with him in it."
"I'm sorry. That's terrible," she said, realizing that the man who had almost seemed completely devoid of emotion since she'd met him actually had a lot of rage hiding just under the surface. "The agency must be trying to catch him."
