“It’s more than I thought we’d have.”
“She’s good,” Dutch said, looking over at Malin.
“She’s okay,” answered Striker, walking away.
Malin was head-to-head with Doc, playing back everything Ghafor had said. In the end, they’d agreed to give him the protection he needed in exchange for his testimony before Congress—if it came to that. With everything he’d told them, Dutch could already see the heads rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue, beginning with the man now considered the leader of the free world.
When Doc left, Dutch walked over to her.
“Good job, Malin.”
She smiled up at him. “The best part is that he gave us the proof Orlov would’ve.” She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them and looked into his. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
Dutch put his fingers to her lips. “Shh. I know you didn’t.”
When she smiled again, he wanted to lift her up and spin her in the air, but they weren’t alone. Instead he leaned in as close to her as he could get.
“Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?”
“You are?”
“Damn right, I am.”
“Thank you for making me realize I needed your help.”
“You didn’t, but I’ll let you thank me anyway. Later, though.”
She brushed his lips with hers.
“We have work to do, Starling,” they both heard Gunner say as he walked up to the table.
“Stage two begins now.”
“Give her a minute to revel in her glory,” said Razor, walking up beside him. “Okay, minute’s up. Dutch, remove your hands from Special Agent Kilbourne so she can brief us on what she wants us to do next.”
Malin laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re pretty good for my ego. I am a junior agent, you know.”
“Junior agent?” said Gunner. “I thought you were coming on board as a partner.”
Malin looked at Dutch who shook his head. “I didn’t suggest to anyone that you wanted to join K19.”
“Why the hell not?” asked Gunner.
“I’ll let Malin speak for herself.”
All eyes turned to her.
“Now probably wouldn’t be a good time for you to put her on the spot,” Dutch added.
“I repeat, why the hell not?” Gunner walked over to Malin so he was close enough that Dutch could see she was uncomfortable. “This is one of the biggest ops I’ve ever seen in my career,” he said to her. “Stay with the agency if you want to, but you can do a lot more good in the world if you don’t have your hands tied all the time.”
“I’m not sure I want to stay in intelligence,” she murmured.
Dutch was prepared to intervene if Gunner kept up his confrontation, but he didn’t. Instead he shook his head, walked to the other side of the table, and took a seat.
“Let’s get to work,” said Razor, sitting next to Gunner. “Out of everything Ghafor told you, which part do you think will make Montgomery act?”
—:—