“It’s hilarious and you know it.” Gil leaned against the wall. “This is the best thing I’ve heard in twenty-four hours.”
Luke could hear Zane filling Tessa in and the accompanying laughter. “You can all shut it,” Luke said. “She’s too young for me.”
“She’s thirty-one.” Zane must have put him on speakerphone, because Tessa’s voice came through the line at full volume.
“That’s older than you, Luke,” Gil pointed out. Helpful. Since Gil was already listening in, Luke put his phone on speaker too.
“Not by much.” He directed the comment to Gil and then turned back to the phone. “How do you know how old she is, Tessa?”
“I looked her up after I heard she’d been assigned the case.” Tessa did not add the implied “duh,” but Luke heard it all the same. “She’s received a lot of awards. And I talked to a buddy at the FBI, and he says she’s the rising star of the office. She’s worked some high-profile cases and has the support of upper management. My buddy says she’s already turned down a move to a bigger office. The suspicion is that there’s some family drama. She’s pretty closed about it. He didn’t have any other details. But he says whatever it is, it’s a problem she leaves at home. He also said if he had to pick one agent to have the lead, it would be her. I don’t think anyone in their office was surprised she got the call.”
Tessa hadn’t told Luke anything he didn’t already know, but he had to give her full marks for how succinctly she’d summarized the mystery that was Faith Malone.
“We need a rock-star agent on this case,” Zane said. “I don’tthink I could handle it if we had to deal with that moron who’s been working Thad’s case.”
“What moron?” Luke and Gil both turned to the voice that came from the general direction of Marty’s desk.
Faith Malone stood at the end of the hall.
How much had she heard? Based on the smirk she was fighting, he’d guess most of it.
“Janice Estes.” Zane’s voice rang through the hall.
Was it Luke’s imagination, or had Faith shuddered?
“Zane and Tessa, Faith has joined us on this call.” Gil, ever the master of diplomacy, smiled at Faith and beckoned her to join them.
“Wonderful,” Tessa said. “We’re at your disposal, Faith. Whatever you need.”
“Same for me,” Zane said. “Although in my case, it had best be something computer related.”
Faith shook Gil’s hand, then took Luke’s with a gentleness that surprised him, but he appreciated it. Both of his hands were scraped and burned from yesterday’s game of debris dodgeball.
“When can we bust you out of there, Zane?” Gil asked.
“I’m hoping within the hour.” Zane’s voice had a tinge of desperation. Luke understood.
“I’m going to wait for the doctor to come by,” Tessa said. “The nurse said it should be within the next fifteen minutes. Apparently, Zane made a compelling case this morning, and the doctor told him he’d consider letting him go. If the doctor turns him loose, I’ll drive him home.”
“She means she’ll drive me to the office.”
“I will not.”
“You promised everyone coffee. You have to go to the office.”
“We can discuss it later.”
The silence from the phone was so tense that Luke couldn’t stop from laughing. Gil joined him. Faith smiled. “Okay, you two,” Luke said. “I’m going to hang up. Tessa, update us as soon as the doctor makes a decision.”
“You got it.”
Luke ended the call and slid his phone into his back pocket.
“Are they a couple?” Faith asked.
“No.” Gil and Luke answered at the same time.
Faith’s eyebrows rose in obvious disbelief.
