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I went inside.
Everyone looked up the moment I entered the room. A buzz of whispers traveled around, and I thought I heard someone saymore feds.
Right. Of course. I had forgotten that they would know who I was from seeing me here during my investigation. They probably thought I was here today to open another investigation.
I held my head high and walked past them all. I had no idea what they thought of the report I’d filed. Maybe they all hated me for turning their friend in. If they did, I wasn’t here to hear about that.
I walked to Brian’s office. The door was closed, and the shade in the window was drawn.
I knocked.
There was no answer.
I frowned. He couldn’t know it was me. This wasn’t about avoiding me personally unless someone had texted him to let him know I was in the building or something.
I was being completely paranoid. There was no grand conspiracy here to help Brian avoid me.
I knocked on the door again, but there was still no answer.
“He isn’t here,” said a voice behind me.
I turned and saw a young guy.
“He’s not here?” I repeated.
The guy shook his head. “Not in the office today,” he clarified.
“Where is he?”
“I’m not sure.”
“When will he be back?”
“Is he in trouble?”
The guy looked spooked, and I realized that this could probably be my fault. I’d put fear in all of these people. I’d made them think they were all liable to be arrested at any moment.
I raised my voice so that anyone who was eavesdropping could hear me.
“No one is in trouble,” I said. “We have no evidence of any further wrongdoing here. The FBI is closing its investigation. Nobody else has anything to worry about.”
I could practically feel the sigh of relief all around me.
If Grummond had been here, he probably would have taken that relief as evidence of guilt. But I got it. Of course, they all felt relieved. They’d watched someone they knew well—a brother—be taken into custody. I was sure half of them were worrying about whether someone they had thought they could trust was committing federal crimes.
I’d seen how corruption in the SEALs had broken my father’s heart. I knew what it would do to these men and women far better than Grummond could understand.
The young guy in front of me still looked a little bit doubtful. “If there isn’t anything else, why do you need to see the Chief?”
“I just need to have a quick follow-up conversation with him.”
“He’s not in trouble either?”
I had to respect loyalty. “No one is in trouble,” I repeated. “Honestly, it’s just a conversation.”
“He isn’t here,” the guy repeated. “And I don’t know when he’ll be back. He tore out of here twenty minutes ago without saying anything to anyone about what he was doing.”
My heart dropped.
