The agents had shared enough for me to understand there was a serious situation, so now I needed their protection. Then they moved onto whatever subjects weren’t fit for my ears, so I sat in the hall outside the conference room.
Being alone to gather my thoughts wasn’t helping. Lately I rarely felt alone, even when I was. Suspicion lingered in the back of my mind. It waited in me like a living thing, another presence, lurking and never allowing me to relax.
I’d suspected people were out to get me and now they were. Not even because of me, because of who they thought I was. I wanted to be left alone but never felt truly alone. And I didn’t want to be alone, in case I was in trouble. In case I needed help.
“Is this seat taken?”
Ah! I wasn’t alone. Another man indicated the spot beside me. The older man in his 60s had coppery hair going grey at the temples and a polite smile.
"Go ahead."
He sat down, leaving me free to return to my thoughts until he cleared his throat. "Heard the top brass are in there, you waiting on them too?"
"Uh, not really." I had no idea what I was doing.
"Hmmm, that doesn’t seem like a business matter. Are you dating one of the good detectives?"
"W-what?"
"Believe me, it’s not the first time I’ve seen it,” he carried on. “You think waiting for them here instead of at a table in a trendy restaurant while the food goes cold will remind them of the table at the restaurant you’re both supposed to be at. But detectives are terrible at keeping dates, even with nice young gentlemen who wait patiently."
No words came out of my mouth in response to all of his.
"Oh, I’m sorry." He held out a hand. “Matthias Hodge. Assistant Director for the Raleigh DSA.” Once the words left his mouth, he cleared his throat. “Excuse me,formerAssistant Director.”
"Hi, Lucas Milton." I offered my own hand and we shook.
"Perhaps I’m not used to retirement yet.” Which meant either that he’d eventually remember to add ‘former’ before the title or that he’d stop sizing up strangers and making deductions. "What, did I get something wrong? You aren’t seeing the younger Agent Slate?"
"Chase?!?" I nearly choked on the name.
He smiled, sitting back in his seat with satisfaction. "Bingo."
"N-no, no…" How the, was he a shifter or something? Did he smell Chase on me? I wasn’t totally comfortable with people just sniffing me and learning intimate information.
"Okay, that one was a guess,” he admitted with a shrug. “I just played the odds."
Oh. Odds? I’d rather he just smelled me.
“Forgive me for butting in,” Hodge said. “I’m a rather private person myself. We can sit in silence if you prefer.”
Well, now I felt awkward. And like a jerk. I could probably handle some innocent small talk but someone else spoke before I could.
“Is everything okay here?”
Oh no. Officer Masterson found us, the same small building who interviewed me earlier.
"Sorry, I swear I wasn’t trying to bother anybody.” It wasn’t my fault somebody important sat down and started talking to me.
“Did Director Slate know you were stopping by, Former Assistant Director?” Masterson ignored me completely. “He’d hate to keep you waiting.”
“Oh no, I was just in the neighborhood.” He waved a hand, making a show of being comfortable where he sat. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
“Nonsense, I’ll get the Director immediately.” The Officer beelined for the conference room.
“On second thought,” the older man said. “I should probably be going anyway.” He rose from his seat and nodded to us each in turn. “Goodbye, Mr. Milton. Officer.”
Damn. The other man acted as a buffer zone. Now I was alone with a pissed off giant.
