Wolfe snorted. “I know. He’s probably having a martini or a mani-pedi somewhere in town. Can’t you track his phone?”
Ian looked at Jethro. “Mani-pedi?”
Jethro pressed his volume up. “Remind me to punch Wolfe later.”
Rutherford glowered, his anger easily visible through the camera. “You’re hindering an active investigation, Force. Not only is that grounds for dismissal, it’s a fuckingfederal crime.”
Wolfe kicked his boots up on his desk. “Is afuckingfederal crime different from a regular oldfederal crime?”
Angus crossed his arms. “I do believe it is, but I can’t remember the statutory differences.”
Rutherford kicked the nearest chair, which happened to be vacant. “Where is the restof your team?”
Angus looked around. “Huh. Guess I hadn’t realized I’d forgotten tocall them in.”
Agent Fields looked off camera. “Let’s see. If I were going to fire you, the most likely candidates from your team who would want to continue working with the HDD are absent right now. I have to say that’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”
Jethro leaned back as the statement smacked him in the head. Angus had arranged exactly who would attend the meeting. Only he and Wolfe would get canned, but that would effectively end the entire team. “You have got tobe kidding me.”
Ian shot him a sympathetic glance. “They probably figured thismight happen.”
“It had better not happen,” Jethro said, keeping his voice level. “Wolfe has a baby on the way, forbloody sakes.”
Ian watched the interchange on the computer, no expression on his dangerous face. “Did Angus just call Rutherford a spineless dickhead?”
“I missed it,” Oliver said, returningto his laptop.
Jethro watched the disaster unfolding on the screen as one of his oldest friends threw away his career. “This is crazy.”
“Meh,” Oliver said, shrugging. “It’s not like they can just turn you over. You’d be in Great Britain and we’d be here trying to figure out what to do with your sociopathic brother. No offense.”
“None taken,” Jethro said, still overwhelmed.
Rutherford scowled at Angus back in the HDD office. “If I can prove you’ve broken laws, I’lltake you down.”
Wolfe flicked a chunk of fake wood off his desk. “We haven’t broken laws, so I guess we’ll still keep making those massive paychecks. That’s good. I was hoping to buy an islandoff Scotland.”
Rutherford’s gray suit looked a little green through the camera, and his black tie was a washed out gray. “If I get an ounce of proof, I’ll come after your fiancée, Wolfe. She’ll never get another story in this town again.”
Wolfe plunked his boots on the floor in a motionof pure menace.
“Uh-oh,” Oliver said quietly.
“Tell me you didn’t just threaten my pregnant fiancée,” Wolfe said.
Angus looked at Wolfe, seemed to think for a moment, and then focused on Rutherford again. “If I were you, I’d clarify that last statement.”
Rutherford lowered his chin. “You want to play, Angus? Nari is barely holding on to her job here, regardless of her family ties. Is the woman willing to go down with you? I can make sure she never works in this town again.”
Jethro winced. “Do you think he’s trying to get punched?”
Angus stood, looking more dangerous than Jethro hadever seen him.
Now Wolfe was rising so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Angus. “How about we just fight this out?” he suggested.
Rutherford looked ready.
Fields just shook his head. “Nah. I need my pension.” He elbowed his partner. “We don’t have the evidence we need to do any of that.” He looked around at the sad office and then focused on Angus. “That should worry you, actually. It appears that you’re successfully hiding a person of interest in several homicides. If we get the evidence, which something tells me we won’t, your freedom is in jeopardy.” Then he grabbed Rutherford’s arm and yanked him toward the dysfunctional elevator.
