Page 72 of Operation: Sharp Angel

“Here’s the thing,” Brielle began. “You never really know what a person is capable of. Money and greed corrupt. Some people can justify selling off little pieces of their souls until there’s not much left. And then when they’re backed into corners of their own making and see no way out of, other than to commit horrible acts they would never have considered themselves capable of.”

Becca nodded, though she really didn’t want to believe that James Standish, a man her mother trusted, had become greedyand corrupt, and was capable of murder. “So what if he admits nothing to me and throws me out of his office?”

“We planted a bug and a camera in his office last night,” Shepherd said. “And we’ve tapped into their phone system. If he throws you out, we wait and see what he does.”

Becca was shocked to hear they had. “Do you have a warrant? Will anything we get be admissible in court?”

“Yes and no,” Shepherd answered without explaining further. Then his gaze shifted to Jackson and Tessman. “Give her instruction on how to use our comms and run her through practice scenarios so she’s ready.” He paused for a moment, and he scanned those at the table. “Anything else?”

Becca shook her head as the others, except for Shepherd, came to their feet. Evidently, the meeting was over. She also stood, as did Shepherd. And while Shepherd still intimidated the hell out of her, she felt a strange level of comfort with the entire routine.

“How’d they get into Well-Life to plant cameras and mics?” she whispered to Carter after they were in the hall.

“We walked through the front door with the overnight cleaning crew from the temp agency,” Flores answered. “Well, I personally didn’t, but two of our team members did.”

She was surprised he’d heard her. She thought she’d whispered quietly enough. She watched the other men and Brielle turn left and mount the stairs. Carter pointed her down the hallway, towards the kitchen and Angel’s desk.

“We’ll use Coop’s office to prep her,” Jackson said.

“I wish we had more time,” Becca said.

“Nope, three hours is perfect,” Jackson said. “Too much prep is worse than not enough. And don’t forget, Winston will be on comms feeding you prompts if you need them.”

***

“James will see you now,” Jill, Standish’s administrative assistant, said, breaking in on Becca’s thoughts. She was re-reviewing in her mind the points she needed to cover from the different scenarios they’d practiced earlier that day.

Jill stood in front of Becca and was motioning towards the door to his inner office. Becca hadn’t seen her get up from her own desk or walk over. “Thank you,” Becca said, shooting to her feet. She followed Jill to the door. Once there, Jill swung it open and then stepped back for Becca to enter.

“Becca, I was so surprised to see you on my appointment schedule for today,” James Standish said, rising from his desk. He crossed the office and extended his hand.

Becca reluctantly shook his offered hand as Jill closed the door.

“Come, sit,” he said, motioning to the small conference table to the right of his desk.

“I won’t be here long enough to get comfortable, James. I found it. I know. And for me to keep quiet, it’s going to cost you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.

“Nicole knew it. She left me the proof and made a recording in which she said that she was going to come talk to you. And then they were dead,” Becca said accusingly.

“Now wait just a minute,” Standish blurted. “Their deaths had nothing,” he began, but Becca cut him off.

“Their deaths had everything to do with it, and you know it. What I need to know is, was it deliberate? Did you know what the combination of those chemicals would do before they got sick? Or was your first instinct afterwards to cover it up rather than to get them help?” Her voice was demanding and unwavering. She was channeling her best trial attorney cross-examining a hostile witness like she’d seen in countless legal thrillers.

“Nick was careless. Nick poisoned himself,” James Standish insisted.

“No,” Becca argued. “We both know that Nick was just like my mother. He was methodical, careful, and risk adverse.” At the mention of her mother, she saw James flinch. “And let’s talk about my mother, too. She would never have allowed these chemicals to be used in the lab. If she was here, the development of this drug would never have taken place. Is that why you did it to her?”

“Careful Becca, you need to walk a fine line on this topic,” Winston’s voice came into her ear through the comms.

“I didn’t do anything to your mother and father’s plane,” Standish said, a bit too aggressively to be believed. “Nicole came in here with those same accusations. She was as wrong as you are.”

“Ah, so you confirm that Nicole came in here and confronted you about this before they were killed? That’s not a coincidence, James. How could you have had them all killed, my nieces, little girls, for God’s sake! Shot in their heads in their beds. Jesus Christ, James! You’re a father.”

“No, I didn’t do that. I have no idea who,” he said.

She interrupted him. “Bull shit! Don’t lie to me. You know exactly who ordered it if it wasn’t you, probably even know who actually did it. And had I not been at Nicole’s house packing their things up when those men came back to look for it, I would never even have known there was something I should be looking for.” Something then occurred to her that she hadn’t thought of before or mentioned to the people at Shepherd Security. “Something they were willing to die to get, willing to kill me for. And I would never have found it. But you couldn’t be patient and wait, could you? Why not? What was time sensitive in it? That’s what I can’t figure out.”

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