Page 115 of Jep

It was lying beside Pearce’s hand, so she kicked it away before retrieving it.

“You sure this is a good idea?” she said, handing it to Jep. “Your double vision won’t make you accidentally shoot me?”

“I’d never shoot you.” His eyes sparkled a little. That was a good sign.

She went back to Pearce and lowered onto her knee. Knowing Jep had the gun gave her more courage. Slowly, she reached under Pearce’s collar and grimaced as her fingers prodded his neck. She paused, then moved to another spot, just to make sure. “He’s dead.” She retracted her hand and moved back beside Jep, who’d dropped the gun into his lap once the danger had passed.

“Did you see that coming?” Jep said. “Because I am embarrassed to admit that I did not.”

“No. I mean, maybe if I go back through every single interaction, there might be something. But nothing obvious. Gardener I can almost see, but Pearce?” She sighed, then shifted to get back on her feet. “I should wait at the elevator so I can show the paramedics where to come.”

“Wait.” He reached toward her. “Just wait. They’ll figure it out.”

“But what if?—”

“Come here.”

She looked at the door. It wouldn’t be that hard to find this room. But she was desperate for him to be assessed so they could confirm for her that he would be okay.

“Em. Please.” She moved closer, and he put an arm around her, pulling her toward him. “I’ll be fine, but you lost your sister.”

She hadn’t realized how far she’d crammed that information away from any emotional part of her being until he spoke those words. Her body tensed when a fresh wave of grief hit her. She shook as tears poured down her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, Em. I got here as fast as I could.”

“I know.” Her body shuttered, and she curled tighter into his shoulder.

“Whoa!” There was a shout from the door. Jep and Em looked up.

Agent Bailey stood at the threshold with his weapon drawn. “What’s happened here? Is that Pearce?”

“At ease, soldier,” Jep said. “The threat is contained. Have you seen any paramedics, by the way? They should be here by now.”

Em wiped at her face but kept her eyes on the floor.

“What happened in here?” Bailey said, wide-eyed. “How’d the suspect get a weapon?”

“It’s a long story,” Jep said. “Is Lawson back yet? Where have you guys been?”

“I was the first to return. The rest aren’t far behind. They’re going to go nuts when they see this.”

“But where were you all?”

“We were sent out to a farm in the middle of nowhere. Code red. There was supposed to be a whole nest of activity. Turns out it was abandoned but rigged with explosives. Good thing we checked first.”

“We haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone.”

“Yeah, it was in a black spot. So…what happened?”

“You had better go get Lawson. And maybe give him a heads up about what he’ll find, so he doesn’t get startled like you did. I’d rather not get shot today. I’ve managed to avoid it so far, but my luck may be running out.”

“I didn’t get startled. Pearce is dead. And you’re pretty calm about all this. You also haven’t said what’s happened to you. You look awful.” Bailey shook his head. “Maybe I should stay here and?—”

“Just go get him, will ya? We’re not going anywhere.”

“This is bad,” Bailey said as he returned his gun to his holster. Then he ran his hand through his hair. “Poor Pearce. Man. As if we haven’t lost enough good agents already.”

“Yeah,” Jep said. Clipped. “Now, can you please go get Lawson? I’ve got a headache, and I don’t want to go through this twice.”

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