Page 54 of Jep

Jep gave Slate a look when they passed him, and he waggled his eyebrows.

“Thanks for letting me borrow him,” she said to Slate.

“You can borrow him anytime. In fact?—”

“That’s enough,” Jep said, putting a hand on Em’s back to hurry her to the door. “There’s no telling what would come out of his mouth,” he whispered to Em. He’d worked hard to remove the crude from Slate’s conversation, but the young man would never pass up an opportunity like this one.

“He seems like a handful,” she said once they were outside.

“He can be, but he’s a good kid.”

She held out her hand to shake his. It was an awkward gesture that suggested she was stalling for time.

“So, uh…,” she said, fidgeting with her purse strap. “If you come back, does that mean this place goes on pause?”

“No. I’ve got others who can help run it.”

“I think it’s really good what you’re doing.”

“Thank you. I’m not always so sure, but it’s the only option I have, so I try to make the most of it.”

“Not the only option.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah. So…I guess I’ll see you. I hope.”

“I’ll let you know.”

Jep waved as she pulled out of the parking lot. Her visit raised a lot of questions. Most of those questions involved terrorists, but some personal ones muddied the water, and now was not the time to unravel them.

Chapter 12

Em had helped collatethe data recovered from the blast sight, so when Lawson called a briefing of the entire staff, she guessed what it was about.

“As you are by now aware, after we cross-referenced the names of those we’ve identified as well as bits of intel from various sites, we’ve pieced together what we believe may be the group’s next target. Obviously, after what happened last time, we’re being more cautious.”

The elevator dinged and opened, and Em looked over to see Jep step off. She rubbed her hand across her mouth to keep from beaming, then glanced at Pearce, who had noticed his arrival too.

“Welcome back,” Lawson said to Jep when he joined the group.

“Thank you, sir. It’s good to be back.”

“I trust you had a good break?”

So that’s how they were going to play it. Pretend like nothing happened.

“It served its purpose.”

Despite the scowl on Lawson’s face, he said, “Jep will take the lead on this op once he’s been fully briefed. As for the evidence—we now know that there is something planned for a park downtown. Jep, you’ve seen the summary. Do you have any initial thoughts?”

“A couple.” He looked at Em. “But Emery knows more. I’d be curious to hear what she has to say.”

Her face heated. “I, uh…” Her mind went blank. “Well, the data that we have. And the evidence—” She looked at Lawson, whose face was pinched in a confused glower. “—is timely. We should consider it carefully.” She looked back at Jep. His eyebrows were lifted, and all she could do was shrug.

“Right,” Lawson said. “Agent Booth, you can come to my office to go over the situation in detail. Then we’ll regroup and get you guys out there on the street. Let’s see if we can hunt these guys down and make them pay.”

“What was that all about?” Pearce whispered to Em as everyone dispersed. “Was he trying to get back at you for something?”

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