Page 44 of Jep

“This must be your first work injury,” Pearce said.

“I got a paper cut once.” She laughed weakly, her attempt to make light of the situation failing to lighten her mood.

“I’m sorry it happened.”

“It’s no one’s fault. These things happen.”

“No, they don’t. Not when he was supposed to be keeping you away from anything dangerous, and what does he do?”

“It’s not what you think. Jep’s a good guy. Maybe he does bother some agents by the way he works, but his motivation is all good.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’m positive.”

“Okay. I’ll take your word for it. I just hope he doesn’t still expect you to be his partner.”

“No. He apologized for that.”

“That’s one positive outcome from all of this.”

They both looked to Lawson’s office when his door opened, but Jep stopped and turned back into the room when Lawson spoke again.

“While I try to get my orders to have you here reversed, I am taking back control. You can sit at your desk and write up a report about today’s incident, and then you can write another report about how you would behave differently so that it never happens again. You will remain in this office until I know what to do with you.”

Jep shook his head and walked to his desk without looking at anyone.

The room remained silent as he tossed his badge on his desk and laid his weapon beside it before collecting his things. He looked around until he spotted Emery, and he walked over to her.

“I’m really sorry,” he said. “The thing I regret the most about coming back is what happened to you. You won’t have to worry about it happening again.”

He didn’t bother with the elevator. Instead, he yanked open the emergency door, causing the alarm to sound. He jerked to a stop and looked up, obviously not expecting that, then walked through the door and disappeared.

Em was frozen in place while a few scrambled and made phone calls to get the alarm turned off.

When the silence returned, a gaping hole appeared in its place.

“It wasn’t his fault,” she said to Pearce. “It really wasn’t. It would have been so much worse if he hadn’t been there.”

“But you have to understand Lawson’s position. You never should have been there in the first place.”

She turned on him. “Then wrap me in cotton wool, why don’t you?”

“Em—”

“No, we could have gotten in a car accident because of someone else’s driving, and Lawson would have blamed Jep. He was waiting for any opportunity to get rid of him. So was everyone.”

“Not everyone. He has some friends in here.”

“Does he? You mean all those people who kept him from walking out the door?”

“You say that like you wanted him to stay. I thought you didn’t like the guy.”

“I—I was wrong about Jep, and I don’t want to lose this task force. I think we can do some real good here.”

“Then let me put your mind at ease. What happened between Agent Booth and the assistant director was always going to happen. Those two needed to blow off steam at each other. I’m sure Jep will be back once he’s cooled off. He’s got a taste for it now. Trust me. I know the feeling. Tomorrow or a few days from now, he’ll turn up back here like nothing happened.”

“And Lawson will be fine with that?”

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