Page 12 of Girl, Empty
Ella stood and tucked the folder under her arm.One more trip with Ripley as a consultant.One more request fulfilled for Edis before presumably everything changed.Very soon there’d be a new nameplate on the door, and that brought new priorities and new politics.
But for now, they had a job to do.
‘We won’t let you down.’
Ripley was already at the door.‘Come on Dark, I’ll drive us to the airport.’
They were almost out when Edis's voice stopped them.
‘Agent Dark?Could I speak with you for a moment?In private?’
Ella turned back, catching Ripley's curious glance.‘Of course.’
‘Meet you in the elevator, Dark,’ said Ripley.
Ella stood there, folder in hand, watching her soon-to-be former boss move back behind his desk.Whatever he wanted to say, it wasn’t something he was willing to share with Ripley, and that alone made her nervous.
CHAPTER FIVE
Mia Ripley had never been one for introspection, and standing here in this marble corridor while she waited for Dark and Edis to finish their clandestine chat, she idly wondered what the FBI shrink would say about her returning to the job.
The truth was simple enough.Max had started kindergarten today, which meant Ripley’s days of being a full time grandmother had officially ended.She checked her phone for any messages from son, any saying that Max had cried all morning and just wanted to be with Grandma Riprip again.But there was no such text, as bittersweet as that was.
Just like that.Door closed, next chapter started, and suddenly Mia Ripley had seven hours a day to fill.
The elevator dinged and two suits stepped out, with their pressed trousers and identical buzzcuts.New recruits, probably.January always brought a fresh crop.They walked past her with their backs straight and chin up, just as they taught you in the first week of academy training.
‘Ma’am,’ they nodded at Ripley.
‘Boys.’
Did she miss this?Or was she so desperate to miss anything that she’d tell herself she missed this?Retirement had been the right call at the time.Hell, she'd been ready to burn this whole place down after what happened with Martin.Twenty-five years of perfect instincts and she'd missed the obvious because she'd wanted something good in her life.She'd chosen love over logic and nearly gotten herself and Dark killed for her trouble.
So she’d given it all up, but nobody had told her just how quiet retirement got.Ripley knew it would be an abrupt change, but spending three decades with your phone ringing at ungodly hours conditioned you to a certain way of life.She’d tried to play the part of the old retired grandma, but you couldn’t stop yourself being a cop any more than you could stop yourself being left-handed.
Ripley regarded Edis’s office door fifty feet down the hall.Whatever the director was telling Dark, it was taking longer than a simple goodbye.Ripley had her suspicions about what that conversation might entail, especially with Edis on his way out and the Bureau facing a complete leadership overhaul.
Which brought her to the new thought that had been gnawing at her for the past ten minutes.Maybe a lot longer, if she was being honest, because she’d known for a while that Edis didn’t have long left on his tenure.She’d seen five FBI directors come and go in her time, and Edis was the only one who’d reached the ten-year term limit.
Someone was going to replace him.Someone was going to sit behind that desk and make decisions that would ripple through every field office in the country.
It would probably be some political appointee who'd never worked a case but knew how to play the Washington game.Someone who'd turn the Bureau into another government photo opportunity, as they often did.Ripley had spent thirty years watching incompetent climbers get promoted while competent lifers got overlooked.She'd bitten her tongue through countless meetings where she knew more than everyone in the room combined but had to smile and nod while some suit explained her own job to her.
Maybe that could change.
Was she crazy for considering it?
Probably, but she had to admit:
Director Ripley had a nice ring to it.
***
‘What’s the problem, sir?’asked Ella.
Director Edis looked bigger than ever behind his desk, maybe because there was a notable lack of paper mountains on it for once.The man had clearly already checked out, and she didn’t blame him.She wouldn’t be too concerned with work if she knew she was being replaced any day now either.
‘This situation we’re dealing with.Austin Creed.You’re keeping well away from it, yes?’
