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“Lucy, you don’t have to do anything, even make a decision, right now,” Sean said quietly.
“I’d like to see the box before I decide.”
Noah drove Lucy to the bank right after lunch. “I hope I’m not making you late,” she said.
He shook his head. “I won’t be too late.”
They were parked behind the bank. The sky was still gray, the day still cold. Some days, Lucy thought that winter would never end. She longed for San Diego and the beaches and warm Januarys.
“Thank you,” she said.
He looked surprised. “For what? It’s only a slight detour.”
“For last week. Saving my life, Sean’s life—”
He held up his hand. “Don’t. I know what you did. You put that woman, Carolyn, ahead of yourself. I wanted to talk to you about that.” He pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.
She frowned and took it. The return address was FBI national headquarters, but there was no stamp. “Do you want me to open this?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly nervous, she unsealed the envelope and pulled out a single piece of paper.
Dear Ms. Kincaid:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation hiring panel has reviewed your application and assessed your written test. Your score on the written test was in the top 1 percent of applicants also taking the test in your group. Test scores alone do not guarantee that an applicant will continue in the hiring process. The Bureau considers a wide range of information to assess each applicant, including but not limited to preliminary background checks, test scores, education, and special skills.
You have been selected by the hiring panel to participate in a personal interview, the next step in the application process. The granting of a personal interview does not guarantee that an applicant will be offered a job in the FBI, nor is the interview the last step of the application process.
Your interview date is scheduled at:
FBI National Headquarters
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
10:30 a.m.
Most interviews take forty-five minutes to one hour, but please allot extra time. A questionnaire is being sent to your residence, signature required. The questionnaire must be returned at least seven days before your scheduled interview.
Congratulations!
Lucy read the letter twice. “How—I don’t understand. Why do you have this?”
“I asked Kate where you were in the application process, and she told me you were waiting for the interview, but didn’t want to ask for favors from her or Hans. That didn’t include me. All I did was make a couple of calls and find out where your letter was. You earned this, Lucy. I didn’t get you the interview. All I did was bump you to the top.”
She leaned forward and hugged him. “Thank you.” She swallowed back tears that had sprung to her throat. “This means a lot.” She frowned.
“What? I hope those are tears of happiness.”
She squeezed her fingers against her eyes to dry them. “Maybe I’m having doubts.”
“Don’t. You’re smarter than most of the agents I went to Quantico with. And you have common sense and compassion.”
“I panicked—”
“I didn’t see you panic. No one did, which means you handled your fear. We’re all scared sometimes. The Air Force prepared me to control the fear, because that’s what soldiers have to do to survive. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there, and fear, when we control it, makes us smarter.”
Noah hesitated, then said, “I was skeptical about you when we first met. I knew about your past, and I didn’t think you should be in the FBI. Abigail told me not to judge you until I met you, but I did anyway. A hazard in this profession, snap judgments. But you’re nothing like I expected, and I realized we need more like you in the Bureau.”
