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“The one with the short red hair?”
“That’s her. I met her once. Nice girl.”
Halfway down the second page, one case jumped out at her.Dead og’dal.She skimmed through the details. GI7 had found the dead alien in the warehouse and Sutherland had assigned the case to them.
Maggie froze. Why assign the case to GI7? Murder cases didn’t typically overlap with witness protection. Had Zirkov pushed to have the case? Did he know she’d been there?
“Have anything sweet?” Maggie asked. She needed something to calm her nerves so she could think this through. While exercise would be a better choice, she needed something fast.
The second Shaunda opened a plastic food container, the smell of dark chocolate soothed Maggie like a calming balm. She broke off a piece of brownie, popped the gooey morsel into her mouth, and savored the flavor as she assessed her situation.
Like any other day, she’d walked into Earth Intelligence and no one except Shaunda had noticed or even said hi. No one had connected her to the dead og’dal, but Assistant Director Sutherland had assigned the case to GI7. Why? Maybe she should tell him she’d been there.
Pain shot through Maggie’s head and she nearly doubled over.
“Are the brownies that bad?” Shaunda asked.
Maggie rubbed her forehead. “God, no. They’re fantastic. But I shouldn’t eat chocolate when I have a headache.” She snagged another piece and popped it into her mouth.
“Maggie!”
“The brownie’s worth the pain.” Except this time there was no pain. It wasn’t the chocolate, then, but the thought of telling Sutherland about her involvement in the case.
Shaunda closed the box. “You’re like a kid who doesn’t know when to stop. You’ll keep eating until you keel over.”
“But I’ll die with a smile on my face. These brownies are so good!”
“I’ll save them for when you’re feeling better.”
“Seriously, you should open up a bakery.”
“And deal with rats and cranky employees? No way.”
“Walsh! Get in here,” Assistant Director Sutherland yelled from across the floor.
Shaunda’s smile faded. “Fuck, what did you do now, girl?”
“No clue. Were any of the GI7 marshals here during my absence? He’s usually in a bad mood after dealing with them.”
“The tall, serious one. Blue with those horns… What’s his name again?”
“Zirkov.” Maggie’s body heated just thinking about him. That was not the reaction she should have at work, especially given what the marshal thought of her. “Though GI7 has another zyanthan now. I don’t know if you’ve seen him yet. Stenikov’s much taller and doesn’t brood, but he’s working for Zirkov, so that will change in time.”
Shaunda covered her mouth as she laughed. “You’re awful.”
“Did I ever say I was a nice person?”
“Now, Walsh!”
“Fuck, you better get in there. I swear, you spend more time in his office than any other agent. People are gonna start talking if you’re not careful, Mags.”
“Don’t worry. Sutherland’s not my type.”Zirkov, however… Maggie threw a parting smile at Shaunda as she headed to the assistant director’s office.
“Close the door,” Sutherland barked the second she stepped inside his office.
With the door closed, she remained standing. The fifty-three-year-old’s eyes ran down her as always. “Sit.”
As soon as she sat across from his desk, Sutherland tossed her a file. “While you were out, we had a new case involving murdered og’dals. Aliens who shouldn’t be on Earth. I need to know why they’re here and who killed them.”
