Severe Clear (Stone Barrington 24)

21

Holly Barker looked across her desk at the young woman. Her name was Heather Scott, she was thirty-five, single, and had been at the Agency since her graduation from college. Holly liked her. She particularly liked that she had held responsible assistant’s jobs in both analysis and operations, so she had an understanding of how both directorates worked.

“Heather?”

“Everybody has called me Scotty, since childhood.”

“You were born and raised in a place called . . .” Holly checked her application. “Delano, Georgia?”

“That’s right. Public schools, followed by the University of Georgia.”

“And you were recruited where?”

“On campus at Georgia. A recruiter spent a few days there.”

“What do you hate most about the Agency?”

Scotty erupted in laughter. “That’s a tough one, since I like so many things about it. I like coming to work every day.”

“Come on, what do you hate?”

“I hate it when I can see a piece of information as relevant, even critical, and it takes the Agency too long to come to the same conclusion.”

Holly laughed. “I think we’ve all had that experience. No matter how exotic our work, we’re still a bureaucracy.”

“I’ve had to get used to that.”

The two women talked on for another half hour, then Holly said, “I’ll get back to you in a few days.”

“Right,” Scotty said. She stood up and shook hands with Holly. “If it’s offered to me, I’ll take it.”

“Good to know.” Holly watched her leave, then she got up and walked across the reception room to Grace’s desk. “Okay, I’ve found my assistant. What next?”

“I’ll send her name to our internal security people, and they’ll do a fresh background check, from the ground up.”

“How long will that take?”

“Yours took a week,” Grace said, “but Heather Scott’s is likely to take a lot less, since she’s never been employed anywhere but here.”

“Then go,” Holly said, handing her Heather’s personnel file. “The sooner she’s cleared, the sooner you can wash your hands of me.”

Grace smiled. “Oh, you’re not so bad. You’re a piece of cake, compared to the director.”

Holly laughed and went back to her office, past the outer room where her assistant’s desk was. Her phone buzzed: the director.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Come in for a minute, Holly.”

Holly opened the adjoining door and walked in. Kate Lee was sitting on a sofa by the window and waved her to a seat.

“How’s the search for an assistant going?”

“I’ve found her, I think.”

“Did you talk only to women?”

“I’ve seen half a dozen people. Two of them were women. The one I didn’t choose was probably a good secretary, but I thought she would never be more than that. All the men were too nakedly ambitious, I thought.”