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“No, that was…”
“Were you going to say that was yesterday, Schön?”
“That isn’t... I mean to say…”
I walked over to Verity, who looked as though she was about to applaud myinterrogation. “Well done,” she whispered.
“Please, sit,” I said, motioning Schön and Macht to the sofa and two chairs. “Can I get either of you anything to drink? A glass of wine, perhaps? Or beer?” I looked at Verity. “Do we have beer?”
She shrugged and bit her bottom lip, I was sure it was to keep from laughing.
Macht remained standing where he was while Schön took her time walking the few steps to the sitting area. “Wine would be nice, thank you,” Schön said. Macht shook his head.
“Let me get it,” Verity offered.
“I’ll help.”
It was impossible for us to talk in the open space, but we didn’t need to. We were on the same page about Schön. She was acting outside of authority as if she had permission to do so. “Baissier?” I mouthed.
Verity nodded.
“Agent Baur, I’m curious as to why you didn’t mention any of this yesterday or even earlier today,” I said, handing her the glass of wine.
“I was, um, still preparing the report.”
“That you sent directly to Ambassador Marchand?” I asked.
When her eyes opened wide, I knew my theory was correct. She raised her chin. “Heisthe head of the coalition.”
I nodded slowly.
“The ambassador who recommended you to work for the coalition by joining the Swiss task force, yes?” Verity asked, looking at something on her mobile.
Schön nodded.
“Was he also the person you spoke with regarding a reassignment?” I asked.
“That’s irrelevant,” she responded.
“I’m not sure it is. You’ve been tracking the former ambassador on your own rather than reporting what you’d learned to us.”
“As I said, I submitted my report directly.”
“After asking to be reassigned, you went above our heads on an op Zeppelin owns,” challenged Verity. “That should be grounds for censure, at the very least.”
While Schön’s defiant expression remained, Macht appeared contrite.
Under normal circumstances, I would contact Nemesis and immediately report the woman’s actions outside authority. However, in this instance, my gut was telling me not to. I would reach out, of course, but allow them to determine what to do about Schön. If I pushed for her reassignment to be denied, she might retaliate and put the op, as well as the entire mission, in jeopardy—not that she wasn’t compromising it already.
I cleared my throat. “Clearly, you believed this was the best course of action. I’ll admit I’m curious as to why you decided to share this information with us now.”
“It was suggested I should,” she responded.
“By Ambassador Marchand?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have anything further to share with us at this time?” I asked.
