Page 18 of A Touch of Treachery
Percy shook his head, then strode forward.Desmond and I whipped to opposite sides of the aisle.General Percy marched right in between us, opened the door to the conference room, and went inside.The two bodyguards followed him.
I blinked a few times, but the outline of General Percy’s body continued to burn a bright, bloody red in my eyes, like a camera flash firing over and over.My inner voice also kept up itsdanger-danger-dangerchorus, but this time, the threat was my own roiling emotions.
Even with all my questions about the Mexico mission, I’d thought I’d made a tenuous peace with my father’s death, along with his blind devotion to Section 47, but General Percy’s stinging criticism of us Lockes brought all my old anger and disgust roaring back to the surface.
Anger at my father for getting himself killed and leaving Grandma Jane millions of dollars in debt.Anger at General Percy and the other Section higher-ups for not doing more to save my father and then blaming him for everything that had gone wrong after the fact.Disgust at my father for always—always—putting Section 47 above everything else, even me, his own daughter.
Jack Locke had been gone for more days of my life than he’d been present in it, and yet I still couldn’t shake the knowledge that I hadneverbeen the most important thing in my father’s world.And most of all, disgust at myself for still caring so damn much about him and what really happened in Mexico and all the rest of it.
Now that the big boss had stepped away, the tension in the bullpen eased, although the other agents kept sneaking looks at Desmond and me.
Desmond’s fingers flexed as though he wanted to reach for my hand, but just like me, he stopped himself.He couldn’t afford to look weak either.
“Ahem.”Joan cleared her throat again, stood up, and grabbed some folders off her desk.“You heard the General.Time for the debriefing.”
Joan didn’t particularly like me, but for once, her tone was neutral, and I could have sworn a bit of sympathy flickered across her face.She hoisted the folders a little higher in her arms and headed toward the conference room.
Worry creased Desmond’s forehead.“Charlotte, are you okay?”
“Of course,” I replied, grateful my voice remained calm and steady, unlike the sea of bitter, messy emotions still sloshing around in my chest.
I thought I’d been ready for any tricks Henrika Hyde might pull trying to steal the Grunglass Necklace, but I’d been no match for her cleverness, and I had a nagging feeling I was playing a similar losing game with the General.Jethro Percy being here wasn’t good for Desmond, but my synesthesia kept whispering that the General’s appearance was going to be even worse for me.
Igrabbedanotepadfrom my desk, along with a pen and the smoke-stained briefcase, and followed Desmond into the conference room.I was about to close the door when I spotted Evelyn hurrying in this direction, also carrying a notepad and a pen.In addition to her guise as a receptionist, Evelyn also played the part of an assistant, and she often took notes during debriefings.
I waited until she had entered the room, then shut the door, which locked with a soft click.A moment later, a buzz sounded, indicating that the room had also been soundproofed.
The two bodyguards took up positions beside the door, but instead of watching the bullpen, they both faced the conference room.Even more disconcerting, one of the men kept his gaze fixed on me, as though he thought I was a physical threat.Please.General Jethro Percy was a strong enduro and a ruthless assassin with years of combat experience.He could kill me with a paper clip before I could so much as brandish my pen at him.
“If everyone would find their seats, we can finally proceed,” Percy said.
The remark was directed at me, so I set my things down and took my usual chair.
General Percy was sitting at one end of the long, rectangular table, with several empty seats between the two of us.I was near the middle, with Desmond right beside me.Gia was at the other end of the table, Evelyn on her right side, then Diego and Joan on her left.
Percy made a couple of circles with his right index finger, a clear signal to get this spy show on the road, as the old saying went.
Diego started typing on one of his laptops.The overhead lights dimmed, and a large film screen dropped down from the ceiling and covered one of the walls.Diego hit some more buttons, and the security footage from this morning’s botched Vault mission started playing.Far more cameras had captured the action than I’d realized, so everyone got bird’s-eye and close-up views of just how badly things had gone, in high definition with crystal-clear color and sound to boot.Hurray for technology.
We watched the footage in silence.When it finished, Diego hit some more buttons.The lights brightened to a normal level, but the film screen remained in place.Diego had frozen the security feed on Bryce right before he lobbed the smoke grenade at me.
“As some of you know, this is Bryce Finkley, a former Section cleaner,” Diego said.“He was suspected of stealing drugs, cash, and weapons from raids, although nothing was ever proven.He left Section several years ago.”
Below the tabletop, out of sight of the others, Desmond’s hands clenched into fists.
“Bryce now runs a private contracting firm,” Diego continued.“But really, it’s just a semi-legitimate cover for a group of highly trained mercenaries.In the years since he left Section, Bryce has done jobs all over the world—kidnappings, political assassinations, even a few heists.”
“And now he’s working for Henrika Hyde.”Gia took over the briefing.“Bryce commanded the crew of thieves who infiltrated the Vault.”
General Percy drummed his fingers on the table.“Where are the other thieves?”
Gia checked her phone.“The strike team delivered the thieves to headquarters a few minutes ago.They are currently being interrogated on level four.”
Desmond glared at the frozen image of Bryce on the screen.“The thieves won’t know anything.Bryce will have told them just enough to do their jobs.Nothing more.”
Gia nodded again.“Agreed.So far, all the thieves have said is that Bryce paid them a large sum of money.Iris Berriston, the Section agent, is telling a similar story.She was to get Charlotte alone and steal the Grunglass Necklace.”
Gia gestured at me, and I opened the briefcase, revealing the glittering gold, emerald, and diamond necklace nestled inside the velvet compartment.
