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Luckily this was a high-end restaurant, and they stocked mouthwash and little paper cups in the bathroom. I swished and spit a few times before I felt halfway normal again.
Kirby called for the check when I rejoined them.
“I’m super excited about the opportunity to work with you guys. It sounds like quite a place,” Tiffany said.
I silently vowed that I wouldn’t let the monster target these two. Adam and I were their best chance.
Although it terrified me, keeping them safe was the only choice.
For Kirby’s sake, I needed to step up and take a chance. I needed to help Adam help all of us.
Leaving and letting the monster target these unsuspecting women would haunt me for the rest of my life. How terrible would it be to one day read my friend Kirby’s name in the news and know it was my fault? To know I’d had lunch with her and left town that evening, sentencing her to such a terrible fate?
I might not think I was brave enough to stay, but I certainly wasn’t brave enough to endure a pain like that for the rest of my life.
I selected Adam’s contact and typed out my text.
Staying wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t have a choice.
* * *
Adam
On Tuesday after lunch,Neil and I were working through more bank camera footage, looking for the Falls Church pair. We still had no faces for either of them.
The second robbery in Falls Church had only involved one warning shot, and overall had seemed more professional than the first. If they weren’t the amateurs we’d initially thought, we might have to go back a long time to catch sight of them casing the banks. It was monotonous, but important work.
I looked over as a guy I didn’t recognize came out of Dempsey’s office.
The ASAC pointed to me, and the man strode my way with Dempsey in tow.
“Cartwright.” The five-pointed star on the creds he flashed marked him as Secret Service. “Special Agent Zanelli. I need a minute of your time.”
I had no idea what I’d done to interest the Secret Service. “Sure. What’s up?”
“In private,” he responded.
He joined Dempsey and me in the small conference room.
He shut the door behind us and pulled out papers that he placed on the table. “Sign this.”
I looked at the SF 312 non-disclosure agreement. “What’s this for?”
I knew perfectly well that it was for access to something requiring a security clearance above my current level, but had no idea what it could be.
“Good. If you refuse to sign, I’m done here.” He didn’t seem too eager to complete his task.
I put pen to paper and scribbled my name, birth date, social security number, and FBI badge number.
Dempsey signed in the witness box, and Zanelli filled out his section.
“That will be all,” Zanelli told Dempsey.
Dempsey reacted as I expected. “Really?”
“Special Agent Cartwright only,” Zanelli told him.
The boss left, shaking his head, and closed the door behind him. As ASAC, he wasn’t used to being out of the loop.
