The call disconnected.
Luke set the phone on his desk and rested his head in his hands.Lord, we need a miracle. Please help Sabrina find Park MiCha.
FAITH STILL HADN’T RETURNEDLuke’s call. Not because she didn’t want to, but what could she say?Janice is a jerk, and it all went sideways today.
Dale stopped by her desk. “Come by my office in a few minutes, okay?”
She didn’t look up but nodded.
Lord, I’m not sure you’re listening. Or if you care. Because, let’s face it, youhaven’t exactly been showing up a lot lately. And I know that may be a sin to think, but it’s how I feel, and it makes no senseto me why I would even bother praying to a God who isn’t big enough to already know what I’m thinking. I mean, if you don’t alreadyknow, then you aren’t really all that. But the simple fact that Iampraying makes me think that somewhere deep inside of me, I do believe you care. Anyway, it’s me. Faith. And yes, I can appreciatethe irony of a name like that under the circumstances. I bet you got a real kick out of it when Mom and Dad named me. You would have knownthat thirty-one years later my faith would be in tatters, and I would be sitting in a cubicle praying but also kind of wondering if I’m talking tomyself. I don’t even know what I’m doing. I need ... help.
Faith grabbed Cherry Coke number 3, her iPad, and her pencil and wound through the cubicles to Dale’s office. She tapped on the door, and he waved her in.
“Close the door.” He didn’t look up. Was he mad?
She stood behind the chairs in front of his desk, unsure of whether she should sit and settle in or if this would be brief and to the point.
Dale still didn’t look up from the computer screen, but he croaked out a hoarse laugh. “Good grief, Faith. Sit down. Sheesh. You’re making me anxious hovering like that. Give me a second and we’ll talk.”
She sat. Tried to still her mind and body. But how was she supposed to give off fewer anxiety-producing vibes?
With a resounding thump, Dale closed the laptop and faced her. “You sure poked the bear this morning.”
What was she supposed to say to that? She went with a respectful nod.
Dale laughed. Not a little chortle. No under-the-breath chuckle. A full-blown belly laugh that left him wiping his eyes. When he got some control, he leaned back in his seat. “You aren’t worried about this, are you?”
“I lost my temper this morning.”
“So? Have you paid any attention to the people you work with? Everyone loses their temper.”
“I don’t.”
“Then it was about time you did.”
Dale didn’t understand. To lose her temper, to lose control of her emotions? Those were unacceptable situations, particularly in a professional environment.
“It’s not the end of the world, Faith. So you yelled at some agents.”
“They could—”
“Could what? File a complaint? Get something on your permanent record? Please.”
“But—”
“Listen.” Dale leaned forward in his seat. “Could you have handled things better this morning? Maybe. But I’m not so sure. Whether you realize it or not, your coworkers simultaneously respect you because you outwork all of them and hate you because you make them look bad on a regular basis. None of them want to be compared to you. None of them want to have to live up to your expectations.”
“That’s my point.”
“No.” Dale fisted his hands on the desk, then stretched his fingers wide. “The point is that you’re always so in control. Always so efficient and effective. You’ve set a standard no one in this office can attain. And this morning, when you blasted Janice for the junk she sent you—and yes, it was junk. And when you lit into Troy for not getting the ATF file sent to you. And then asked Walker how long he planned to take to finish the simulation of the shooting because you knew for a fact that he’d gone to dinner and a late movie with some buddies last night, it shocked everybody.”
That had been the real low moment. Janice and Troy had failed. Faith didn’t feel sorry for them. But Walker? If she’d been in his shoes, she would have told her friends she had more important things to do, but she didn’t have a lot of friends blowing up her phone asking her to meet them for pizza. And it’s not like he’d left the office early. He hadn’t gone to dinner until 8:00 and then went to a 10:00 p.m. movie.
It wasn’t realistic to expect to have received significant information between 8:00 p.m. and midnight. But it didn’t sit well. Their fellow agents were spending the night in a safe house, and Walker was at a movie? It might not have made any difference in his ability to do his job, but it didn’t look good.
“Everyone in this place has been working double time all day.” Dale didn’t seem angry about that. “My guess is you’ve been inundated with information. More than you can handle. Am I right?”
“Yes.”
