Page 42 of The Spy Ring

He had a point, but it was a point that was too sharp for me to stand at the moment.

“But a job can pay the hospital bills.” I tried to smile but it turned more lopsided than I wanted.

I left and went to the elevator as quickly as I could, not wanting any more of Dr. Randy’s hypotheticals.

When I arrived on my floor, I heard someone call my name. The voice made me uneasy. For a moment, I wished I hadn’t left Dr. Randy’s office so soon.

“Agent Chance. I need to speak with you in my office.” Katlin’s booming voice rattled the hall and my head.

Katlin Chester had two volumes, loud and glass shattering. When she broke out her crushing voice you knew something terrible was about to happen. Based on her volume just now, I assumed the world around me was about to fall to pieces.

I swiftly made my way into her office and took a seat before her head lifted from what she was writing on her desk.

“I suspect you know why I called you in here?” she said with a glare so sharp it could have sliced me in two.

Did Dr. Randy call her? If he did, then she knew I severed all ties with Tiffany. That’s a good thing.

“I’m sure you approve. I know it took me a little longer than I anticipated but—”

“Approve?” Katlin’s voice hit notes I didn’t realize could go that high. “Of using government-issued listening devices to eavesdrop on a citizen that may potentially affect the outcome of a case?”

Oh, that. Dammit Tenn and his big mouth.

“Actually, I bought the devices myself. They aren’t government property.”

“I don’t care if a genie from a bottle gifted you those devices as one of your three wishes, what did you think you were doing, Agent Chance?” She rose to her feet and leaned over, putting her fist on the desk.

“Good question.”

She blinked waiting for more. The trouble was I didn’t want to expand on it. But I knew I had to. And as awful as it was going to be to give the details of this to my boss, what would most likely happen after would be much worse.

“I’m waiting, agent.”

“I thought I was protecting Mrs. Blackburn and her son. By marrying her, I put her at risk. I only wanted to make sure they were safe.”

“Why didn’t you run this by me? We could have put an agent on her. Kept watch on her for a while,” she said, her voice coming back to normal.

“But I was already there and I had the devices, so I just figured . . .” I shrugged and began to pick at the thread on my leg again.

Katlin sat and watched me work the black fiber as if I was on the verge of discovering one of the great mysteries of life like the Bermuda Triangle or slow drivers.

“Did you remove the listening devices?”

“Yes, I did. After the date she had a week and a half ago.”

Katlin took a breath. “She doesn’t know you were spying on her?”

“No. It was stupid, ma’am, I know that. I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have come to you. I was worried you wouldn’t approve it.”

I didn’t mention that I couldn’t find one of the devices I planted in her kitchen. It must have fallen onto the floor and gotten swept up and thrown away. When I went to check on the device on my end, there wasn’t any sound coming from it. I wasn’t worried, sometimes that happened.

“You put this case at risk, Agent Chance. If your partner, Agent Golden, hadn’t told me what happened, there would be no way of rectifying it before Emma Hawthorne’s lawyers found out.”

“If they found out,” I said.

Her fist pounded the desk. “They are looking at you with a fine-tooth comb right now. Since Mrs. Hawthorne has implicated you, along with her daughter, they are trying to find anything that may look like you screwed up. And you know what this thing with Tiffany Blackburn looks like to me?”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “That I screwed up.”