When the door to Johnson’s office opened, her thoughts broke apart. She looked to the door and saw Johnson poke his head out. He saw her and didn’t even say anything. He just beckoned her toward him, into his office. It was impossible to tell if this was a show of simple hurriedness or anger.
She entered his office and when he closed the door behind her, he gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk—a spot that was becoming more and more familiar to Chloe. When he sat down behind his desk, Chloe thought she could finally read his expression. She was pretty sure he was irritated about something.
“You should know,” he said, “that I just got off the phone with Agent Rhodes. She told me about how you basically trampled a footprint at the crime scene.”
“That’s accurate.”
He nodded, disappointed. “I’m torn, because on the one hand, she’s just as new as you are. And by her calling to essentially tattle on you pisses me off. But at the same time, I’m glad she told me. Because even though this is your first day, it’s important to keep tabs on this sort of thing. You understand, of course, that I don’t call every agent that makes a mistake into my office to ask them about it. But for you, I thought I should check in with you since I did sort of throw you a curve ball at the last minute. Do you feel it threw you off your game?”
“No. I simply overlooked it. I was hyper-focused on looking at the window and didn’t even see the print.”
“That’s understandable, if not a little clumsy. But Assistant Director Garcia tells me you found evidence that should lead directly to an arrest—a cellphone with a Snapchat window open. Correct?”
“Yes sir.” And for reasons she did not understand, she felt herself wanting to add: But anyone could have found it, really. It was sort of just dumb luck.
“I consider myself to be a fairly forgiving man,” he said. “But do know that many more mistakes like the one with the footprint might result in some fairly serious consequences. For now, though, I want you and Rhodes on another case. Do you see a problem working with her?”
The word yes was on her lips but she did not want to seem petty. “No, I think I can manage it.”
“I had a look at her files. Her instructors say she’s incredibly sharp but has a tendency to try doing things on her own. So my advice to you would be not to let her take full control over a case.”
Yeah, I’ve already seen some of that, Chloe thought.
“And to be fair, I have warned her against this,” he went on. “I also told her I didn’t appreciate it when brand new agents tried to throw others under the bus. So I expect her to shape up on the next case. Director Johnson and I will be overseeing it from here on out, just to make sure everything is done by the book.”
“Okay. I appreciate that.”
“Other than potentially ruining a print, I think you did a great job today. I’d like for you to spend the rest of the day writing up a report on the scene and your interactions with Agent Rhodes.”
“Yes sir. Anything else?”
“That’s all for now. Just…as I said…if you start to feel that my last-minute change to your plans is affecting you work, let me know.”
She nodded as she got up. As she exited the office, she felt like she had just dodged a bullet—like a kid who had been called to the principal’s office but had been let off with only a small slap on the wrist. Still, having Johnson commend most of the work she’d done earlier in the day set her mind at ease.
She headed back down to her little workspace—a glorified cubicle was really all it was—with her mind reeling. She wondered if there had ever been a new agent who had been called into the Director’s office twice in less than forty-eight hours. It made her feel both elated and somehow closely scrutinized all at the same time.
As she waited for the elevator, she saw another agent coming around the corner. Chloe vaguely recognized his face from the small group of agents who had been included in the ViCAP group the day before.
“You’re Agent Fine, right?” he said with a smile.
“I am,” she answered, unclear of where the conversation was headed.
“I’m Michael Riggins. I just heard about the case you and Rhodes were assigned to. Gang-related family murder. Word has it that there’s an arrest in progress already. That’s got to be some kind of record, right?”
“I have no idea,” she said, though she did feel that it had all happened very fast.
“Hey, you know, not all first-day agents got to go out into the field today,” Riggins said. “Some were mired in research or paperwork. There’s already murmurs of a few of us heading out to grab a drink after work today. You should come by. It’s the place two blocks over, Reed’s Bar. We could use a legit success story to lift our spirits. But maybe don’t invite Rhodes. Everyone…well, no one seems to really care for her.”
Chloe knew it was mean-spirited but she couldn’t help but smile at the comment. “I might show up,” she said. It was the best answer she could give…much better than explaining that she was very much an introvert and wasn’t the type to just hang out at a bar with people she didn’t know.
The elevator arrived, its doors sliding open. Chloe stepped on and Riggins waved goodbye to her. It was bizarre to have someone envious of her situation, especially after the conversation she’d just had with Johnson. It was a feeling that sort of made her want to go out to the bar, even if it was only for a single drink and a half an hour of her time. The alternative was heading back to her apartment and continuing to unpack. And that was not something that particularly lifted her spirits.
The elevator took her up to the third floor, where her workspace sat alongside similar spaces shared by other agents. As she made her way down the hall, she passed Rhodes in the hallway. She thought about saying hello or to sarcastically thank her for the out-of-nowhere meeting with Johnson. But in the end, she decided to take the high road. She wasn’t going to fall for Rhodes’s little games.
Still, even passing the woman in the hall and exchanging nasty stares was enough to make the decision for Chloe: yes, she would go to the bar tonight. And unless her day drastically changed, she’d likely have much more than just one drink.
That seems to be happening a lot lately, she told herself.
It was a thought that haunted her throughout the rest of the day, but, much like recurring thoughts of her father, she managed to push it back into the darker corners of her mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
When she arrived at the bar at 6:45, it was about what she had expected. She saw several faces that were familiar, but none that she knew well. And that was because she did not know any of them well at all. Another downside of having her department switched by Johnson at the last minute was that there were very few people in the ViCAP group who had taken the same courses or training modules as she did.
The two faces she recognized the most were both male. First, there was Riggins. He was sitting with another male agent, talking animatedly about something. And then there was Kyle Moulton, the good-looking agent who had offered to take her to lunch after the first stage of orientation—the man who had somehow stuck out to her because he had asked her if she’d ever had any violent tendencies. She was a bit discouraged to see that he was speaking with two other women. No surprise there, though. Moulton was drop-dead gorgeous. He looked a bit like Brad Pitt from his earlier years.
She elected not to interrupt him and instead to go sit with Riggins. As conceited as it might seem, she liked the idea of hanging out with someone who had seen her accomplishment from the morning as something to marvel at.
“This stool taken?” she asked as she plopped down on the seat