CHAPTER TWO
Ella stumbled out of the meeting room into the lobby and adjusted her eyes to the brightness.
It was the tail-end of winter in D.C., and pretty much everything was cold, dark, and wet.
Except for the man standing there waiting for her like her personal escort, who looked a damn sight better than he had first thing this morning.
‘Fancy seeing you here,’ Ella said.
‘It’s still weird,’ said Luca. ‘I’ll never get used to it. Maybe we should just avoid each other at work.’
He had his charcoal grey suit on, but he’d forgone a tie. The new director insisted that all agents come dressed in their best, and Luca was still struggling with that initiative. ‘That’s the idea, but you keep appearing, like outside meeting rooms.’
‘I hate to tell you this, Ell, but it’s not all about you. I’ve got a meeting in here in five minutes with the boys.’
‘The boys?’
‘The rookies. The R-Unit. Some people are calling us the R-vengers.’
‘Who’s calling you that?’
‘Just people. There’s talk of some of us joining the UVCU. What do you think of that?’
The UVCU was the Ultra-Violent Crimes Unit, the department that had absorbed the Behavioral Analysis Unit as of two weeks ago.
Not much had changed day-to-day, other than that Ella and Ripley could now be assigned to crimes without a serial component.
If a case was violent or high-profile enough to warrant FBI involvement, then it could fall into Ella’s lap regardless of body count.
‘I think it’s a good idea. Just don’t tell Ripley.’
‘Why? Doesn’t she like us?’
‘She doesn’t like the UVCU, so maybe.’
Another body moved into their orbit, and despite its tiny stature, it still somehow managed to dwarf both Ella and Luca. ‘Good morning, agents. More bad-mouthing of the UVCU, is it?’
Director Vernon. The new big man. His black hair was slicked to the nines, and he’d opted for a colorful suit that seemed at odds with his status.
Ella always noticed that new higher-ups did everything they could to distinguish themselves from the people they replaced, and Vernon was no exception.
His skin was tanned and moisturized to a high sheen, and Ella was almost envious of the glow.
‘Not us, sir.’
‘No siree,’ Luca added.
‘Glad to hear it.’ Vernon rotated a finger between Ella and Luca. ‘You two are an item, is that correct?’
‘Sort of. Is it obvious?’Luca asked.
‘No, it isn’t, and I encourage you to keep it that way.’ Vernon leaned in and lowered his voice. ‘It makes things easier, believe me.’
‘Roger that,’ Ella said. ‘I better get going. The paperwork is mounting.’
‘Ah, not so fast, Miss Dark. I’m glad to see that you’re healing up from your last assignment, but would you be able to see me upstairs in ten minutes? There’s something I need to talk to you about.’
Luca shot her a look that she couldn’t read. It reminded her of the look a teenager would give their friend when the teacher asked to speak to them after class. ‘Of course. I’ll be up there ASAP.’
‘Excellent. I’ve summoned Agent Ripley too, although she never replies to my emails, so it’s fifty-fifty whether she appears or not.’
‘Hence what we were saying about the UVCU,’ Luca said.
‘I’m afraid she’ll have to get used to it, because the UVCU is here to stay.’ Vernon regarded Luca and sized him up like he was a juicy piece of meat. ‘Agent Hawkins, you’re yet to commit to a silo, is that right?’
‘Right, sir.’
Rookie agents weren't assigned a permanent division until completing their first probationary year.
The Bureau wanted its agents to have a broad foundation of general fieldwork before they vanished into a silo, and that could be any area that required fieldwork, be it Counter Terrorism, Organized Crime, Hostage Rescue, or Ultra-Violent Crime.
‘Well, you look a good fit for the UVCU, given your past. How’d you feel about working beside Miss Dark?’
‘Uh,’ Luca said. ‘We tried that before. It sucked.’
Vernon turned to Ella. ‘Did it?’
‘Yeah. We ended up getting annoyed with each other.’
‘To be fair, Ell, you get annoyed at everyone,’ said Luca. He leaned in to Vernon, ‘Short fuse, you see.’
She gave him a stare that said they’d be sleeping separately for at least one night. ‘He’s just joking, sir. We worked fine together, but it wasn’t optimal, if you know what I mean.’
Luca said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I meant. It sucked.’
‘Well, we’ll see what the future holds. I’ll let you go, and Miss Dark I’ll see you shortly.’
Vernon disappeared up the staircase in a blur, and other rookie agents began queuing up behind Luca. Ella turned to him and said, ‘You could be more tactful, you know that?’
‘I do know that.’
‘A short fuse? What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Isn’t it true?’
‘No. I only have a short fuse with you.’
‘I’d love to debate this, Ell, but I’ve got a nine-thirty with the Rated-R guys. See you at home?’
‘Rated-R? You were the R-Vengers a minute ago. Consistency, Hawkins, you know it?’
Luca shrugged in defeat, then slid off to the back of the line with a smirk that, if in more private quarters, she would have pinched his leg hair for.
Ella shook her head and hope he caught the genuine disappointment there.
She’d gotten on well with Director Vernon so far, but she knew from experience that it only took one sarcastic comment for a whole relationship to slip, and the last person you wanted to upset in this game was the man at the top.
Although in a way, she quite liked that Luca was the same person with the FBI boss as he was with the everyday person on the street.
As she turned for the stairs, the conversation replayed in her head, but this time she heard the notes under the music.
Vernon’s little jab about Ripley ignoring his emails.
The way he’d sized Luca up. Was he trying to drive a wedge between her and Ripley?
Maybe swap out the veteran he couldn’t control for the rookie she shared a bed with?
No chance of that, really. More dangerous people had already played that game, and they'd all lost. It would take more than a new director with a Florida tan to come between her and her partner.
She headed to the top floor to see what Vernon had in store for her, and if she was lucky, Ripley might just be waiting for her.