Page 38 of PSYCHOlogical

He set his plate on the coffee table and thought for a moment before looking up. “When someone talks to me, I pay attention to everything. It’s partially due to training, and partly because I don’t trust people. I look at body language, eye movement, and whether their facial expressions are natural or forced. Those things tell me whether or not I can trust them.”

“I’ll agree with that,” I said. “I do the same thing. Did his body language tell you that he was actually disappointed about the decision you made to let the girl go?”

“He was uncomfortable with the content of our conversation.”

“About the girl?”

“Not about her. It was something else that bothered him.” He held my gaze. “Shep’s dead. He was killed in Action. When Lt. Colonel Martin told me—”

I sprung to my feet. “Austin? Austin Shephard?”

“He was killed while on a covert mission in Somalia,” he said. “A classified CIA operation, according to Martin. But at least part of what he was telling me was a lie, I’m sure of it.”

“There’s something I need to tell you. Something bad.” I swallowed heavily and continued. “Director Martin demanded that anything to do with Shephard be removed from my office prior to his reassignment. Everything. Any proof of his existence.”

He shot up from his seat. His face washed with disbelief. “He asked for all your files—”

“He said he wanted everything to do with Shephard out of my office. He said when I was done, it needed to look like Shephard was never at New Dawn. In fact, he said our conversation never happened, either.”

His brows knitted together. “And you didn’t think anything of it? You didn’t think to tell me about it?”

“Did I think it was odd? Yes. Did I think it was out of character for a program such as this? No. Not really. To tell you the truth, I was scared to death of what Shephard might do. Knowing he was being pulled from the program came as a relief.”

His gaze fell to the floor. He rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers. After a moment, he looked up. “I can’t believe this. I guess I should have known.”

“Known?” I asked. “Known what?”

“That the DNI would give the order to have Shephard killed.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why do you think they would kill him?”

All the color drained from his face. “I’m afraid no one is going to leave New Dawn and live to tell about it.”