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“And yet you attacked David Clement.”
“I didn’t attack him.”
Knightly opened the file in front of him, reading a few lines. “You broke his nose. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir. But — ”
Knightly put his hand up. “I read the report.”
“You don’t want to hear it in my own words?”
Knightly closed the file and leaned his elbows on it. “Aaron. This has nothing to do with whether or not he deserved it. The bottom line is that it’s conduct unbecoming an officer of the law.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And as much as I’d like to push it aside, I can’t. Clement has put in a formal complaint. And I can’t say I blame him.”
“Yes, sir.” Aaron pulled out his badge and reached for his gun.
Knightly grunted. “Keep that.” He stood and pulled a file off the top pile of a tray. He handed it to Aaron before sitting on the edge of his desk.
Aaron opened the file to the top page and read the cover letter. “What’s this?”
“A favor. I was contacted by the attorney general’s office. They want protection for a Professor Syd Davis.”
“Why?”
“From what I understand, the professor’s supervisor, Dr. Christopher Pallon, has informed the AG that they’ve had some surprising results during their cancer research. They are worried about Davis being in danger from those who might like to get their hands on it.”
“Cancer research? What, are they afraid people might get free cancer help? They don’t want to lose their profit?”
“Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. We just need to keep the AG happy, and I can’t spare anyone else.”
“So my punishment is to babysit a self-absorbed, profiting professor who’s afraid he might get dirt on his lab coat?”
“You should be thanking me. Would you rather be sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddling your thumbs?”
“There are other, more useful things you could give me to do.”
“Like what? I’ve got some filing that needs to be reorganized. Would you rather do that? It has to look like it hurts, otherwise Clement will not be appeased. I don’t want to bench you. This is the best I can do under the circumstances.”
“Sir, this is cruel and unusual punishment.”
Knightly wasn’t impressed with his joke. “Yeah, well. I’m not done with your punishment yet.”
“There’s more?”
“I’m putting a new guy with you. Agent Patrick Lewis.”
“Please tell me he’s the best in his class. Eager to learn.”
“He’s eager to learn all right. But he’s not fresh out of Quantico. He’s a desk jockey who mentioned to the wrong person that he thought it would be a good idea to get some field experience. Now he’s getting it.”
“You can’t do this to me.”
“You still think it was worth it?”
Aaron’s face contorted as he fought to find a fitting response but failed.
