“You have far more important things to worry about.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
“An ATF agent said a thing. About how he initially thought the bomb was directed at me and asked how I live with myself knowing my very presence here is a threat to the safety of everyone I work with.”
“When did he say that?”
“About fifteen minutes ago.”
“So, long after we knew who bombed us and why.”
“Yes.”
“Are you letting someone who’s jealous he’ll never have the swagger you’ve got make you doubt every choice you’ve made in your life?”
Now she felt silly. “Kind of.”
“Don’t be stupid. What do you care what some agent you’ll probably never see again thinks of you?”
“I don’t, but it makes me wonder if everyone else is thinking the same thing.”
“So what if they are? The people in here, the ones you deal with every day, are the only ones you need to be concerned about. And those of us who actually work with you are damned thankful you’re here, because you get the job done like no one else ever has—and anyone with a beef is jealous because they’ll never be you. I promised you I’d tell you if the White House gig was getting in the way of this one, and I will. Today is not that day.”
His passionately spoken words brought tears to her eyes. “Thank you, Cap.”
“Don’t give them five seconds of your time or energy.”
“Yes, sir. In other news, Nick has chosen a new VP.”
“That was fast.”
“It’s Graham O’Connor.”
“Wow, that’s great.”
“He’s hoping that having Graham on board will take care of some of the inexperience shit.”
“It definitely will. Good choice.”
“He’s announcing it at five and asked me to be there.”
“Of course you need to be there. That’s some exciting stuff.”
“It is. Nick feels he’ll get easy confirmation from the Senate.”
“I would think so.”
“I’ll come back after, if need be.”
“Let’s see what happens.”
“Was there something else you needed when you came in?”
“Only to say good job with the jackals.”
“Thanks. I’m gathering the team in the conference room to see where we are with Bingham and Ivanov, if you’d care to join us.”
“I’ve got a few minutes.”
