Chapter 4
Kate Richards shiftedin the sleek chrome and black leather seat, plucking at an invisible piece of fuzz on her black pant suit and trying not to squirm under the intense stares of Colonel Mack Grey and Ranger James.
Grey sat tall in his chair, his intense gray eyes seeming to peel back layer after layer of all of Kate's thoughts and memories even though no one said a word. Ranger, with his sandy blond hair and light blue eyes, leaned forward and steepled his fingers together, placing his elbows on the desk separating Kate from her potential new bosses. "So tell me Miss Richards, why did you quit the CIA?"
Kate hid a grimace and bit back her initial response, that her boss was a sexist asshole. Instead she offered them a tight smile, and the carefully blank expression which she'd honed over the years as an analyst for the CIA. "I had reached a plateau in my career, unable to advance further in my field, I decided my services would better serve my country elsewhere."
Kate’s giant F-you to her ex-boss, Agent Lamar Franks, when he’d told her he’d never allow her to be promoted, no matter how many extra hours she put in had been the first time she’d lost control since she’d flipped her car going down I-30 as a teenager. What she’d said had done as much damage toher career as she’d done to her little Malibu.
Grey spoke, drawing her back to his office. "I spoke with your previous employer. He stated that he consistently had an issue with your work ethic and with you having inappropriate relations with coworkers."
Kate’s heart ski sloped down into her belly, hit the bottom and bounced back up, sending a rush of hot blood to her cheeks. Frank's intent was to leave a permanent scar on her career. "I'm sure Franks told you all kinds of stories, except how he tried to force me to have sex with him to keep my job."
Grey’s eyes flared and Kate bit her lip, soundly cursing herself and her big fat mouth. It was like quitting her job had ripped off the tight lid of control she kept on every aspect of her life.
Kate opened her mouth to apologize, but Grey held up his hand. “You know, I kind of got that vibe, that's why I went ahead and spoke with some of my other contacts at the CIA, none of which had anything good to say about him.”
Surprise filtered through her. She’d been the only female in her unit, working quietly among a group of men who’d stood by in silence as Franks constantly harassed her. “They did?”
“After more digging, I found out there were three separate sexual harassment suits filed against him that had been quietly swept under the rug.”
“Those were sealed documents. How did you get them?” They were also highly classified. The CIA had witnessed the media’s field day with the military when the law suits accusing superior officers of sexual harassment and assault hit the courts and they’d done everything in their power to sweep their own little problem under the rug.
Grey offered his own tight smile, “That is what I do, Agent Richards.”
Kate sat back in her chair, her thumb immediately going to the simple silver ring she wore on her right hand and spinningit around her ring finger. She’d have to reprise her original assessment that Grey’s team was a group of mercenaries for hire.
For the first time in the interview Ranger cracked a smile. "Is it true you kneed him in the nuts when you quit?"
Kate spun the ring faster as she frantically reached for the appropriate response. If she glossed over that very true fact, they might take her as dishonest. If she agreed and told the truth, they might think she was some sort of rogue agent unable to work with others. Neither of those options were shining letters of recommendation.
Then again, she wasn’t a liar, and she couldn’t start being one now, even if it meant losing this opportunity. Kate uncrossed her ankles and sat straight. “Yes, I did, after he tried to feel me up.”
Ranger turned to Grey. “I like her.”
Grey didn’t answer his soldier, instead he continued to pin Kate to the spot. “You’ve been a CIA analyst for nearly seven years. How much experience have you had in the field?"
“I've had minimal field experience, sir. However, I am trained in hand to hand combat, evasion and weapons qualified. I’m also the best code breaker within the whole CIA.”
Grey frowned and Ranger gave him a slight head shake. A trickle of worry formed between Kate’s shoulders. “If you need references for my certification and qualifications in field training, I can provide them."
"I'm sure you can, it's not your qualifications that I'm worried about, it's the fact that you haven't actually been in the field since you first started with the CIA," Grey said.
"I train daily and hit the range at least once a week. I promise you, I can handle any physical task you assign me, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to meet your standards."
"Of that I have no doubt, Ms. Richards. It's your gutinstincts, your immediate reactions to threats – that's what is the unknown here. And I'm looking for a specific type of person, a female, for the next mission we've accepted. I have no doubt your brain capacity functions at a much higher level than mine – but do your reactions happen as quickly?"
As if his last word was some signal, Ranger bolted from his chair and rounded the desk in three strides, ripping a pistol from behind him as he came at Kate full force.
Kate’s lungs locked down and she rolled from the chair. She hit the ground and scissored her legs, tossing him to the ground. His pistol flew over his head and scraped across the floor, banging into the back wall of the office. Kate was on her hands and knees, heart thundering as she scrambled after the weapon, Ranger clawing his way right behind her.
What the hell was going on? Was this some kind of set up by Franks? She shouldn’t have threatened to expose the recording she had of Franks making a deal with Mr. J.
Kate stretched her arm overhead and reached for the gun. Her fingers closed around the butt of the pistol and Kate rolled to her back and raised the gun. Ranger paused up on his knees, hands held up in surrender.
Grinning, Ranger climbed to his feet and held out a hand. “I think your instincts are just fine."
Kate’s mind blanked. This was part of the interview? Her hand trembled and she gripped the gun harder, keeping it trained on her attacker. “You’re damn right my instincts are fine. Now, get back.”
