Page 26 of Jep

He looked irritated in the photo. “That’ll do. Where to next, Pearce?”

“I’ll show you to your desk.” He led the way to the elevator. “You already know there are some here who aren’t fond of your return?”

“Besides Lawson, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“I’m aware. Although I wonder how many of those people actually know me. Based on Emery’s reaction, I’d say I’m going into enemy territory.”

“Truman and Lawson have both approved your return, and we all want the same outcome, so I don’t expect any trouble. But if you feel like you’re getting ganged up on, you can come to me. I’ll do what I can to support you.”

“I think I can handle it. As long as you all know I won’t compromise myself to make everyone else comfortable. I’ll do everything in my power to get these guys, but I won’t be stuffed into a box. There’s no point in me coming back if everyone expects me to toe the line.”

“I’m not sure how to respond to that.”

“You know they never fired me, right? I left.”

“Because they asked you to.”

“It was mutual. I didn’t do anything wrong. And I’ll continue along those lines because that’s what gets the job done.”

“I can work with that.”

“Then we should get along just fine. If there are any files I can take home with me, I’ll study up. Do you have any leads so far?”

“It’s been a strange one.” He ushered Jep out of the elevator. Most people kept working, but a few stopped and looked. “Normally there’s chatter.”

“Yeah. Someone’s always listening. FBI, CIA, MI6. I know the drill.”

“Then you’ll understand how odd it is when we have an attack or attempted attack of some kind with no forewarning at all.”

“Nothing?”

“No. And this has happened over and over again.”

“But you can confirm it’s terrorism?”

“There have been small groups from Malaysia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, you name it, who have taken credit for various attacks.”

“It’s not unusual for a group that’s not responsible to say they did it.”

“We haven’t been able to confirm or deny anything except that we’re confident they’re connected.”

“What about this latest one?”

“The intel we got was credible, but it was still unusual. Not through the normal channels. One was a letter that was found left at an abandoned site where a suspected terrorist group was meeting. Another was at a successful operation. We didn’t lose anyone, but we found more intel. I’ll give you the file to read through.”

“But your intel was bad.”

“Everything about it suggested?—”

“Good lord,” Lawson said as he approached. “What happened to your face? Was that from your scuffle in the park today?”

“Lawson.” Jep held out his hand, and his superior reluctantly shook. “No, this was from a previous altercation.”

“You have a lot of those?”

“Not if I can help it.”

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