Heat circled into her face. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” She’d pretty much opened herself up to him, and he was still giving her a hard time. Enough was enough. “You have to believe me. I wouldn’t hurt the team.”
“I don’t believe a word you say.” He rocked back on his heels and quickly regained his balance, his face still hard.
She didn’t say a word. Nope. Not one word about what a stubborn jackass he was being. And his words cut deeper than she would’ve expected. But she held his gaze.
“Raider said something about coercion,” Force snapped.
“Yes,” she sighed. “They scared me with treason and Guantanamo and all of that, and I signed an agreement basically saying I’d work for the HDD without an end time, and that they could send me back at any time if I didn’t follow directions.” Which, frankly, she might have violated by not reporting everything Angus had just asked about. “Rutherford likes to threaten, but Fields is okay.”
Angus studied her for several moments, making her feel like a fruit fly on a slide. “I’m a good profiler, and I didn’t see that you were a mole. I mean, I thought I got you released and not that you were a plant.”
“I’m sorry.” She tried to hold his gaze, but it was difficult. The elevator dinged in the other room. “That should be the USB. Do I still have a job or not?”
Nari knocked and poked her head in. “We have a problem.”
“Great.” Angus limped around the desk and followed her into the bullpen. “Brigid, your job is temporary. You’re almost out of here.”
Brigid patted Roscoe and did the same, halting at seeing Rutherford and Fields. Her chest ached. Agent Rutherford had bruises along his neck from having been choked out, in addition to a swollen nose and two black eyes.
“What’s going on?” Angus snarled.
Rutherford smiled. “You’ve been running too many unsanctioned ops, and we’re here to pull you back. You are now officially off the Eddie Coonan case. Recall your team members.”
Brigid’s lungs seized. Called off the case? Why?
Angus stared down both men. Fields looked off to the side, his mouth turned down. Rutherford, the prep-school asshole, met his gaze with triumph. “Who got to HDD?” Angus snapped.
“Watch yourself, Force,” Rutherford warned.
Angus set his stance like one of those cowboys in an old Western. “Off the case, huh? Just who exactly has the juice to pull us off like this?”
The senator. The guy who already had an impressive mantle of power. Brigid kept silent. Oh, she had more digging to do. For now, while she still had a job.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The USB was delivered about thirty minutes after the two agents had left. Brigid took it immediately to the computer room, her mind spinning. Angus had been locked in his office making phone calls, often yelling rather loudly. At least she hadn’t been shown the door. Yet.
She inserted the USB, typed in commands, and watched information travel across the screen.
Her door opened, and Angus stalked inside, somehow even grumpier looking and paler than before. “Did Raider get the information?”
“I think so.” She pointed to the lines of code. “It’s encrypted, and it’s going to take some time to decrypt it.” She would gladly spend all night on the project. “How did your calls go?”
“Not well. Apparently the senator has some powerful friends. We’re supposed to stop working the case immediately, or we’re going to get shut down altogether.” He wiped a hand across the long bruise on his forehead and then blanched. “Rutherford would love to shut us down.”
She looked at the code, needing to decipher it. “You want to back down?”
“Don’t know how.” His gaze focused again. “Those girls are being brought in two days from now, and I’m not shutting anything down. And you should’ve made a better deal with HDD—like the one we thought we got for you.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But I was scared and didn’t have a lawyer.” Truth be told, she would’ve done anything to avoid being sent to Guantanamo for treason. “It hasn’t been too bad. This is my first major undercover op, and I hate it. I mean, I like the team and my role, but it has totally sucked having to report on you.” She swallowed, wanting to ease the pain she saw in his eyes. So she opened her drawer and took out a small bottle. “I sent you the reports a few minutes ago, and this is aspirin, if you’d like some.”
He took the bottle but his gaze didn’t soften. “You can finish this case, and then you’re out. I can’t have people I don’t trust here.” He snapped open the top and downed three pills before handing it back. “We’re probably all getting fired, anyway.”
“Not if we bust Eddie,” she said, using her best old-cop imitation voice.
He didn’t even crack a smile. “Nice.” He looked at the screen. “How long is it going to take you?”
She turned back to the challenge, her adrenaline starting to flow, tears pricking the back of her eyes. “All night. I’m hoping I can read it by morning, but I can’t guarantee it.” Though she wouldn’t sleep until she had answers for them.
