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An older man with a rounder stomach and bristly gray hair stepped into the room. “I heard Carter is back?”
Jordan smiled and nodded. “Yes. She’s getting checked out by medical. I’m sure she’ll brief us on what happened tomorrow. The day is almost up, and she’s got a ton of paperwork to start on.”
Abbott nodded, looking relieved. He glanced at me but didn’t question my presence. “I’m glad she’s okay.”
“Me too.”
Abbott nodded again and left. Alexi tapped out a rhythm on her leg. “Shouldn’t she be almost done?”
“Patience, Lex. Let the doctors check her over. She’s been through a lot.”
It didn’t take much longer for Julia to come back, but it was long enough. She appeared in the doorway with fresh clothes that looked to be hers and not borrowed, complete with her shield firmly attached to her belt again. She was still smiling as she dropped down on the couch next to her sister and wrapped an arm around her.
“I’m so glad to be back. Did you behave for Jordan?”
Alexi almost rolled her eyes, but she didn’t complete the motion. “Yes. I know how to behave.”
“I know. I was just worried.” Julia’s face turned soft as she stared down at her sister. Then she sighed and looked over at Jordan again. “I’m going to need to get some paperwork processed today, and I’ll need to speak to Captain Tyson. Let him know what’s going on.”
Jordan nodded. “I can pull up the paperwork for you. Your report will be the priority. You may have to do an interview with a senior agent.”
Julia scrunched her nose up in distaste. “Fine.”
“How about you start by telling me what happened.”
She glanced at Alexi and shook her head faintly at Jordan. He sat back in his chair, unhappy with her response, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, Julia stood up, closed the office door, and walked over to Jordan.
“I wasn’t fully honest with you.” She motioned at me. “Hand me the pieces.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the three pieces of the destroyed drive. Julia held them up so Jordan could look at them. “This is what’s left of the drive. I don’t know if we can get anything off of it or not, but it can’t hurt to try.”
Jordan seemed floored. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“There was a chance someone was listening in. Whoever kidnapped Ben and tried to kill me obviously has a lot of resources and money. Hacking into a video call would be a cakewalk. I’m keeping this unofficial for now. I don’t know if it’ll be of use or not, but I won’t say anything until we have something concrete. I’m going to take it to Michelson and have her work on it off the books.”
“Hopefully there’s something on here we can use.” Jordan scratched his forehead. “This could still be our way of cracking the case.”
“Let’s not get our hopes up yet, but it’s a possibility. I’m going to take it to her right now.”
Jordan nodded. “Then start on your report. If Ethan was with you then he’s going to have to give a statement too.”
We exchanged looks before Julia nodded. “That’s what we assumed. But he can do that tomorrow. We’ve been through quite the ordeal, and I think we’re ready for some decompressing time.”
I couldn’t have agreed with her more. She disappeared back out the door with the pieces of the drive and returned a few minutes later. She immediately got a tablet out and began filling out paperwork. Jordan helped her with it, and Alexi put earphones in and listened to some music. I sat in my chair and resigned myself to waiting. I decided to take a little bit of time to meditate while I could.
While they were working, Julia filled Jordan in on the bare bones of what had happened. She told him in whispers some of the not-so-legal things we had dealt with. Jordan looked more concerned than upset at what she had done. She didn’t breathe a word about my past, nor about Goliath’s involvement, for which I was grateful. From what I could gather, it sounded like Jordan knew about Emerson to some extent already, and he didn’t seem surprised or upset that she had gone to him for help.
After what felt like hours, Julia finally set the tablet aside and stifled a yawn. “That’s it. I’m not doing anything more today. It’ll take me all week to finish the paperwork.”
Jordan seemed more than happy to put his tablet down as well. “Are you going to brief the team tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’m not mentioning everything yet, but they need some direction. I’ve got a description of the leader, so maybe we can uncover his identity.” She pursed her lips. “I would have loved to get a handprint or face scan of him before leaving the warehouse, but I wasn’t exactly lucid at the time, and they burned all the bodies.”
Alexi had seen them set their tablets down, and she pulled out one of her earphones. “Are we going home now?”
Julia smiled and nodded. “Yes. Home, home. Luna Abra.”
I hadn’t realized she lived on Luna Abra, but I supposed it made sense. Many IPF cops lived there because it’s where the main IPF training academies were located. The four of us got up and headed down to the lobby. Jordan insisted on going back with us. He lived on Luna Abra as well, not far from where Julia did, I surmised, so he wouldn’t be going out of his way. I could tell he was still worried about Julia.
