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“I’m half Lebanese, half American, you arrogant WASP.”

Under his breath, but loud enough for several of them to hear, he said, “Hell hath no fury like a spurned woman.”

“Is that what you tell yourself? You think stalking your subordinate and making up fake excuses to be alone with me and me shutting down your perverted attempts at getting me into bed somehow adds up to me wanting you?” Hayek had been over and over all of this in therapy with Dr. Lewis, the CIA’s resident shrink. Hayek had been raised in a culture in which she was a disappointment. Her father, a Lebanese immigrant, had wanted her to be nothing more than a nurse. Women had their place in this world and it didn’t involve a gun, a badge, and chasing down bad guys. He wanted to marry off his beautiful daughter at eighteen to one of his friend’s sons. It was all arranged. She was supposed to begin providing grandchildren immediately. Without her knowledge a date had already been set at St. Maron’s Church. Hayek, a gifted student, had caught the eye of her high school’s guidance counselor. By the time her father announced his grand plans, Hayek had already been notified that she had not only been accepted to the University of Chicago, but she was going on a full ride.

Her entire world fell apart in just a few days. She defied her father and he in turn threw her out on the street. In a classic I-will-show-you showdown, neither Hayek nor her father backed down. The years ticked by and the distance grew and Hayek found out she could survive without her family. Her classmates at the University of Chicago became her new family and the FBI became her life. Hayek became a force of independence, promising herself that she would never be a victim. That she would never allow a man to dictate her life. She had done just fine until the deceitful and manipulative Joel Wilson came along.

During the seemingly never-ending therapy sessions, Dr. Lewis helped her see that she had built up some very unhealthy coping mechanisms. The most obvious was that she rarely let her feelings be known. She simply put her head down, kept her complaints to herself, and moved forward. When Wilson began twisting her into knots, her silence only made things worse.

Well, there’s not going to be any more silence, she told herself.

“I’d hoped you got some help after you washed out of the Bureau. But it doesn’t look like it.”

“You asshole. No one can manipulate the facts like you.” Hayek turned back toward the other men, some dressed in dark suits, others in more casual base attire. “Do any of you actually like working with this jerk?” They all stared at her stone-faced. “Well, don’t trust him. Never . . . not for a second, because you don’t mean a thing to him. You see, he’s the only honorable man in all of D.C. That means all of you are expendable.”

“That’s enough,” a red-faced Wilson snapped. “Your psychological issues aside, I’m here in an official capacity and you are going to answer some questions.”

“Pound sand, asshole. You want to talk to me, you call my lawyer and set it up.”

Wilson grinned. “You already have a lawyer. You must have something to hide.”

Hayek had said her piece. She was shaking from the release of all the things that she should have said years ago. “Let’s hear it,” Hayek said forcefully, for all to hear. “Ask your questions. Let’s go.”

Wilson wasn’t quite ready for this level of vitriol. In his mind he had been nothing but supportive of Hayek’s career. They were two extremely attractive people, and it seemed natural for them to indulge in a physical relationship. In his mind at least, he was in an open marriage. “Nice try. This is a highly classified investigation. Why don’t you take a ride with us and we’ll discuss.”

“What in the hell is going on here?” The icy voice cut through the air. It wasn’t loud or forceful, but it had a tone of absolute authority.

Wilson watched his sea of agents part to reveal CIA Director Irene Kennedy and a group of men who made his gaggle of FBI agents look like a bunch of pussies. Her security detail looked like a collection of mixed martial arts fighters carrying machine guns and lots of ammunition. “Director,” Wilson said, trying to sound calm, “you’re just the person I wanted to talk to.”

Kennedy stood her ground, like a predator trying to decide if this was worth the physical exertion. After an uncomfortable silence, she said, “I find that hard to believe.”

“What’s that?” Wilson said casually.

“That you wanted to talk to me.”

“Come now, Director, I always enjoy catching up with you.”

“How could I be just the person you wanted to talk to when you didn’t even know I was here?”

Wilson smiled awkwardly while he tried to come up with an answer. Kennedy was no fool. “It’s not every day the director of the CIA lands in Bagram. Word travels quickly on these bases.”

Kennedy appraised him with cautious eyes. She didn’t believe him for a second. “I think it’s far more rare to have the FBI’s acting head of Counterintelligence so far from home.”

“We go where we must.”

Normally Kennedy would have been more diplomatic, but with one of her men dead, two missing, a fourth in the hospital, and the entire Afghani government screaming for blood, she was in no mood for whatever Wilson was up to, so she cut to the heart of the matter. “What did you want to question Agent Hayek about?”

Wilson hesitated for a second. “I’m sorry, but I’m not at liberty to discuss matters pertaining to an ongoing investigation.”

“You think so?” Kennedy said, taking two steps forward. “I want you to think long and hard about how you answer this next question. Are you aware of the protocols you are to follow if you want to question one of my people?”

“Of course I am.”

“So you went through all the proper channels?”

“Agent Hayek and I go way back,” Wilson said, as if the entire thing was being blown out of proportion. “It was going to be a simple off-the-record discussion.”

Kennedy nodded slowly and then walked across the lobby until she was just two feet from Wilson. She gestured with her finger for him to come closer so they could speak in confidence. Wilson bent forward at the waist and offered Kennedy his left ear.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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