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"Theo, we weren't expecting you until eight o'clock," Brook said, not wanting to address the situation with her brother until everyone was in attendance.
Who was she kidding?
She'd rather not address it at all, but such a discussion was now inevitable. What she really needed was a moment to collect her thoughts. With everything unfolding in real time on the local and national news, she doubted she'd get them.
"Some of your boxes arrived last Friday, so I put them in your office. Third one down from mine."
"I decided to drive from New York City to D.C. yesterday. I didn't want to deal with this morning's rush hour traffic."
Brook had never seen Theo in anything other than a well-pressed suit. He was now sporting a burgundy-colored turtleneck, dark blue jeans, and a brown leather jacket. The jeans did have a crease in them, though.
She'd given her team the ability to dress how they desired, and he'd opted for the semi-casual route. She had no problem with his decision, especially since he'd more than likely be out talking to the families of the victims. The more comfortable they each were in such a setting, the more likely the individuals being interviewed were to recall details from their past.
"I have a call to make," Brook stated as she began to walk toward Theo. "I know the two of you met last month, but feel free to take some time to get to know one another better. We have an hour before our scheduled morning debriefing to go over our first case. Check your laptops for prescheduled events, and please make sure to change your passwords after you first log on. Theo, you'll find your laptop on your desk."
Brook didn't give either man a chance to say another word as she made her way past Theo. She purposefully worked on her breathing as different scenarios of how she could handle such a public outing went through her mind.
The entire world now knew that she was related to Jacob.
This wasn't how she expected their first day on the job to go, but then again, that was the story of her life.
There was no time to ruminate over how the media would spin the story, nor was she sure how this would affect the reputation of the new firm. Granted, the doors hadn't officially opened to outside clients other than Graham, but he'd already been aware of her ties to Jacob.
What she was most focused on was what Jacob's reaction would be to such coverage. She highly doubted that such a media spin had been in his plans, and he wouldn't be pleased with the disruption to his own agenda. Someone might have just put themselves in Jacob's rearview mirror. That place was not somewhere a cautious person would want to be since her brother had a habit of circling back around.
Well, Jacob could damn well join the club of perpetual disappointment.
A stirring of familiar anger began to form in the pit of her stomach, and she found herself looking forward to the appointment that she had scheduled with Harden and Agent Houser. Both men had dealt with their fair share of malicious individuals, but they had never met the likes of Jacob Walsh. They were clearly hoping for a response from him, but it wasn't likely one that they had considered in their meetings. This wasn't their Ivy league clubhouse. It got real very quick in Jacob's neck of the woods.
"Brook?"
She had been in the process of gathering her winter apparel so that she could store them in the spare office for the time being. She didn't want the closet in the reception area to be too cluttered when the two federal agents came in for their meeting. Theo apparently wasn't willing to wait until eight o'clock to hear why she'd kept such apparently prejudiced yet pertinent information from them about her past.
Didn't everyone have skeletons in their closet?
She happened to have more than most, but she was sure that each one of them had secrets they weren't eager to share with strangers. That's basically what they all were to each other at the moment. A part of her recognized that she should have kept it like that, too.
Brook had hired three unique team members based on their individual skillsets. Nothing more, and that included Theo Neville.
"How sure are you about that guy?" Theo asked in all seriousness as he casually followed her into the spare office. It took her a moment to realize that he wasn't referring to Jacob. "Seriously, Bit is going on and on about Russian mobsters and how they might not be so bad, after all. Where did you say that you found him again?"
Brook slowly set her things down on the empty desk, taking a moment to appreciate that Theo had intentionally made it seem as if nothing had taken place. His deliberate avoidance of such a catastrophic event was much appreciated.
"Believe it or not, I originally hired Bit to see if Jacob could be located by using facial recognition in any of the various federal and international databases," Brook explained with a hollow laugh now that everything was basically out in the open. She turned around to face Theo, who was now leaning up against the doorframe. "Bit is a bit unconventional, but he'sgood, Theo. I mean it. He's better than those within the agencies. He will be an amazing asset to the team. He could literally run rings around his NSA counterparts."
"Is he even old enough to work here?"
"Believe it or not, Bit is twenty-four years old."
Theo was only three years older than Bit, though one would think they were at least twenty years apart. Theo was one of those men who was wise beyond their years, and he had a situational awareness that had been engrained in him from having two parents in law enforcement. His father was African American and a decorated police officer within the NYPD, and it was clear that he'd been a huge influence on his son's life. Theo's parents had been supportive of his decision to leave a desk job at the Bureau after not being able to return to field duty, and he seemed to be very accepting of this new path that he'd chosen.
Of course, the odd choice had been with a semi-antonymous connected private government contractor investigative agency with no one to answer to but a retired Marine Corps Major General whose former post was that of a Commanding General of Marine Special Operations Command.
What could possibly go wrong with that highly combustible career path?
It certainly had interesting potential, but throw in a serial killer or two? Life for Theo had just taken on several new dimensions.
Hell, he seemed to be handling it better than she was at the moment. Or Bit, for that matter. The young man had no idea how to rein in his immediate reactions to the news.
