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“For Chrissake, Taz,” she said with her faux Brooklyn accent. “What type of a freaking agent would I be if my head was that far up my ass? I’ve known for a while about the nickname assigned to me.”
“So, it doesn’t bother you?” I asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders.
“The only thing that bothers me, Agent Matthews, is that you could screw every female recruit on base or every female cadet at the FBI academy, and the only thing they’re going call you is a stud. For chicks, things haven’t changed too much over the past say, seventy years, in that respect.”
“Why the tag ‘dirty’, I’m curious?”
She smiled, popping her gum.
“It’s got nothin’ to do with hygiene if that’s what’s got you worried,” she replied, giving me a flirty wink. “It’s because I play dirty; in the field and in the bed. You interested in finding out just how down and dirty I can get, Agent Matthews?” She followed that up with a wicked, little laugh.
“I’ll pass,” I replied.
“Well, that’s a new one,” she said, laughing again. “From what I heard about you, your prowess is legend, right up there with Slater’s.”
“Is that right? Well, let’s just say I’ve been domesticated for now.”
“Such a shame,” she replied, shaking her head. “I was looking forward to carving another notch in my bedpost for you.”
I almost believed she thrived on the hype she was getting. Maybe she had a point though. It wasn’t as if I had screwed every chick at Quantico, but if I had, there would have been plenty of pats on the back and zero negative press. I guess maybe it did suck to be a chick in certain situations.
“So,” she said, changing the subject, “when are we meeting with Hatfield and Simmons for the update?”
“They will be stopping by our hotel after their shift tonight to confirm status on the customs clearance of the cargo. Once it has cleared, hopefully by tomorrow, the cargo will be unloaded tomorrow night.”
“Then my part is done, right?”
“Yep,” I answered, feeling almost envious that she would get to return to D.C. while Slate, Hatfield, Simmons and me went on to Philly.
“See, there it is again,” she commented, shaking her head.
“There what is?”
“I’m pulled into this operation because I’m a female, but my only purpose is to cause a distraction for the rest of you boys, so that you can set up for the kill.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, when the fun starts, girlie gets sent home. The boys get to have all the fun with collaring these slime-ball perps, maybe even getting to draw their weapons and use them. It’s still a man’s world, Taz.”
She was shaking her head as if thoroughly disgusted.
I usually felt that adrenaline rush by now that she was jonesing to feel; not this time. It had nothing to do with being pussy-whipped either. Uneasiness had settled over me when we left D.C. and it hadn’t let up one bit.
“You know what, Dee Dee? If you wanted day-to-day action like that then why didn’t you join some big city police force? Maybe then, you would see enough daily action to assuage your need to live on the edge.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that we are the peeps that get called in on “big time” shit. Sometimes it’s all action, other times its’ hunkering down and waiting for the best opportunity or getting into the minds of the bad guys. I have to tell you this, none of the other agents, whether male or female, that I have served with have ever made it all about gender or all about pulling their guns. If I didn’t know better, I’d say maybe you are afraid of having to pull your weapon. Is that it?”
She flounced around in her seat as if she was pouting. I had hit a nerve, I could see that.
“Oh, yeah, I get it now," she turned back giving me a plastered smile. “Yeah, Hatfield told me you were all about going in the BAU. You are a wannabe shrink, am I right?”
I smiled back at her, feeling some sense of achievement that I had pushed her button so easily. It was a win for me. I had my doubts as to whether it was a win for the bureau. Who the fuck had cleared her for this detail?
“I’m no shrink, Diana. I’m just observant. You need to keep it together during this detail. I’m your superior officer right now, and I’m telling you, once this goes down, you better be listening to everything I tell you.”
