J. Robb - Divided in Death

He nodded, seemed to drift off into thought. “I don’t like their use of private citizens in this maneuver. I don’t like them planting devices to spy on my officers, and circumventing the standards of privacy and decency and law to do so. These organizations have their purpose, and require a certain amount of latitude, but there are lines. Those lines were crossed with Reva Ewing, and she’s a citizen of New York, of the goddamn United States, and as such has a right to expect her government to treat her fairly. As such, she deserves the full efforts of this police force. I’m backing you on this, but I’m warning you, get it wrapped quickly. They’re bound to send bigger guns than Sparrow to knock you out.”

“Understood. Thank you, sir, for your support.”

Sparrow stormed back in, and his face was a study in barely suppressed fury. “You went to the media.”

Nadine worked fast, Eve thought, and kept her face blank. She’d just fall back on a little plausible deniability herself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You leaked Bissel’s association with the agency to the press. And Kade’s. You’ve involved the HSO in a goddamn media circus to protect your damn hide.”

Slowly, very slowly, Eve got to her feet. “I leaked nothing to the media to protect my hide. I can protect my own hide. You make accusations like that, Sparrow, you’d better be able to back them up.”

“They didn’t pluck it out of thin air.” He spun toward Tibble. “With this development, it’s more vital than ever that this officer be removed from the investigation and her case files be turned over to the HSO.”

“Media attention directed at the HSO doesn’t, in any way, alter the circumstances of my lieutenant’s position.”

“Lieutenant Dallas has a personal vendetta against the agency and is using this investigation to revenge herself for what transpired over twenty years ago in-”

“Hold it.” Her stomach shuddered. “Hold it right there. Sir,” she said to Tibble. “Assistant Director Sparrow is about to bring up a personal matter. One that has no bearing whatsoever on this investigation, or on my conduct as an officer. I’d like to discuss that matter with him, to resolve it. I request, respectfully, sir, that I be given that opportunity. In private. Commander…”

Don’t lose it, she ordered herself. God, don’t lose it.

“Commander Whitney is aware of the matter. I have no objection to him being present.”

Tibble said nothing for a moment, then rose. “Lieutenant Webster, let’s step out.”

“Thank you, sir.”

She used the time it took to clear the room to gather herself. And still, she couldn’t quite manage it. “You son of a bitch,” she said softly. “You son of a bitch, you’d throw that in my face. You’d use what was done to me-by him, by your precious agency-to get your way in this.”

“I apologize.” He seemed nearly as shaken as she. “I apologize, sincerely, Lieutenant, for allowing my temper to cloud my judgment. The incident has no place here.”

“Oh yes, it does. You bet your ass it does. You read the file?”

“I read it.”

“And you stomached it.”

“Actually, Lieutenant Dallas, I couldn’t quite stomach it. I believe in the work we do, and I know that sometimes sacrifices have to be made, that choices are made that seem-that are-cold. However, I could find no rationale, no purpose, no excuse for the lack of intervention in your case. Knowingly leaving a minor in that situation was… inhumane. You should have been removed, and the decision to leave status quo was ill-advised.”

“The HSO was aware of your situation in Texas?” Whitney asked.

“They were surveilling him, due to his connection with Max Ricker. They knew what he did to me, they listened to it. They listened while he raped me, and while I begged. While I begged.”

“Sit down, Dallas.”

She could only shake her head. “Can’t. Sir.”

“Do you know what I’ll do with this information, AD Sparrow?”

“Commander,” Eve began.

“Stand down, Lieutenant.” Whitney pushed to his feet, towered over Sparrow. “Do you, or your superiors, understand what I can and will do with this information if you continue to harass my officer, or in any way attempt to infringe on her duties or smear her reputation? It won’t be leaked to the media. It’ll be flooded to them. You will be washed away in the tidal wave of the public outcry. Your agency will need generations to recover from the legal tangle and the public relations nightmare. You take that back to whoever holds your leash, and you make sure they know who it came from. Then, if you want to take me on, you come ahead.”

“Commander Whitney-”

“You’re going to want to walk away now, Sparrow,” Whitney warned. “Walk away before you end up taking the punch for something that happened when you were still drooling on your bib.”

Sparrow walked over to retrieve his briefcase. “I’ll relay this information,” he said and went out.

“You need to pull yourself together, Dallas.”

“Sir. Yes, sir.” But the pressure in her chest was outrageous. In defense, she dropped into a chair, lowered her head between her knees. “Sorry. Can’t breathe.”

She waited until the worst of the weight eased and air squeezed down her throat, into her lungs.

“Steady it out, Lieutenant, or I’m going to have to call the MTs.” She sat up, had him nodding. “Thought that would do it. Need water?”

She could have swallowed a small ocean of it. “No, sir. Thank you. I understand that Chief Tibble may need to be apprised of-”

“If Tibble needs to be apprised of incidents that took place in another state more than two decades ago, he will be so apprised. But in my judgment this is a personal matter. I think you can rest assured it will stay one. You fired the first volley with the media leak. They’ll have their hands full trying to spin and swim through that. They won’t want to risk a second whirlwind. You’d already calculated all that.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then you’d better get back to work and close this up. And if you have to fry a few spooks along the way, that’s just a nice bonus.” He showed his teeth in a grin. “A real nice bonus.”

Eve walked out on the garage level at Central, and laid her hand on her weapon as Quinn Sparrow stepped out from behind a column.

“You take chances, Sparrow.”

“You don’t know the half of it. I shouldn’t be speaking to you outside of authorized parameters, Lieutenant. But between us, we’ve got a hell of a mess on our hands. You won’t back off so we have to find some level ground, some area of compromise.”

“I’ve got four bodies. Well, had four.” She eased her hand away from her weapon and moved toward her vehicle. “I don’t compromise.”

“Two of those bodies are ours. You may not think much of our organization, of me, of our directives, but it matters when we lose people.”

“Let’s get this straight. What I think or don’t about your organization isn’t relevant, but the fact is I’m not naive enough to think it doesn’t serve a purpose. Covert operations helped end the Urban Wars, prevented numerous terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, and globally. I might find some of your methods questionable, at best, but that’s beside the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“You wired, Sparrow?”

“You paranoid, Dallas?”

“Oh yeah.”

“I’m not wired,” he snapped. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”

“Your choice. Here’s the point. Four people are dead, and your organization is part of it.”

“The HSO does not murder its own operatives, then frame a civilian.”