Page 31 of Philly
She shook her head. “No, I do like kids. I’m just imagining their family gatherings. It must be pure chaos.”
“It is,” Leo said, near enough to hear the last part of their conversation. “Fun, but chaos.”
Ben Chambers had disappeared into the building, leaving the three of them.
“How’s Waverly?” Gabriel asked. “Ben’s wife,” he added to her.
“Good. Headed into her last trimester, so, getting tired. In addition to my mom, they’ve hired two more teachers for the center now, though, so she’s not on her feet as much,” Leo answered, ushering them into the building.
She’d never been one to mix personal and professional—not that she had much of a personal life—but she wondered if that would be a problem working at HICC. They didn’t seem to know any other way.
That thought brought another back. She hadn’t told Gabriel she’d quit the FBI and was now employed, on a temporary contract, with HICC. A lot of revelations had passed between thetwo of them in the last twenty-four hours. And while she’d like to say it hadn’t been an important one to throw into the mix, that wasn’t why she hadn’t brought it up. She’d worked hard at the Bureau and risen fast. The decision to leave felt right, but she still struggled with it—or the perception of it. Would Gabriel think less of her knowing she’d quit? Would he question her choice? How would he feel about her working in his hometown, even if temporarily?
Well, she’d find out soon enough. Leo was leading them through the building to the second floor, playing the tour guide and pointing out the kitchen, offices, and other spaces. For her benefit, of course, but Gabriel wouldn’t know that, and he watched Leo with a furrowed brow.
Finally, Leo ushered them into a conference room. A locked computer sat on the table beside a small stack of papers.
“Let me grab coffee for us and some more copies from the printer,” he said as they made themselves comfortable. “I thought it might be easier for each of us to have a set. And Callie, I’ll grab your computer, too. Sabina was finishing getting it set up.” And then he was gone.
She hesitated, then looked at Gabriel. His blue eyes held steady on hers, but questions lingered there, too.
She cleared her throat. “I quit the FBI.” He didn’t move. “It’s changed in the past few years, and while I still believe in its mission, I realized it’s not the right one for me. I joined HICC late last week. The contract is probationary for a few months, then we’ll see. I promise I won’t be skulking around your hometown for long. I don’t want to make things weird for you, but they’re renovating the DC headquarters, and Stella thought I’d be onboarded better here.” She paused. He still hadn’t moved. “I promise it’s temporary.”
“You quit the FBI?” She hesitated, unable to get a read on his tone, then nodded. He continued to stare, but she wasn’t sure he was seeing her.
Whatever was going through his mind, though, she’d never know. Leo reentered the room, carrying a computer and printouts under one arm and a tray with three coffee mugs in the other hand.
“Let me get those,” she said, jumping up and grabbing the tray.
“Cheers,” Leo said, setting the computer on the table.
Gabriel still hadn’t said a word, although she felt his blue eyes tracking her as she handed out the mugs.
“Okay,” Leo said on an exhale when they were all seated. He looked up from his computer, his eyes landing on her before bouncing to Gabriel, then coming back to her.
“I hadn’t told him I’d left the FBI,” she said, her voice quiet.
Leo’s gaze jerked to Gabriel. “Right,” he said. When Gabriel remained silent, Leo’s brows drew together, but he forged on. “You two can figure that out later. Here we have a record of various payments coming from the Nolan enterprise to people who really should not be getting money from the Nolan enterprise,” he said, handing out the papers.
“What about Quayle?” she asked, pulling the paper in front of her.
“The arms dealer you mentioned last night?” Gabriel asked, coming back to the conversation as he reached for the files Leo shoved in front of him.
Callie nodded. “Liza left me a USB with files on it. It came to me about six months after she died, and it took me months to figure out that she identified both the Nolans and Michael Quayle. Until a few weeks ago, though, that’s as far as I got. Working on Liza’s murder was a condition of me joining HICC, and I gave them a copy of everything a few days ago.” Shepaused, eyeing the papers. “When she died, she still wasn’t sure who she should be looking at.” Turning to Leo, she asked, “I guess that answer is the Nolans?”
“Quayle’s a douche, and there are problems with him, but not problems tied to the bombing that killed your friend,” Leo said with a nod. “There’s a possibility he was involved in the attempted sale of information that would have compromised one of our missions had we not intercepted it. He’s on the HICC shit list. Once we get this sorted, that can be your first HICC assignment.”
“These aren’t the files Liza left you, then?” Gabriel asked, lifting the papers.
“No,” Leo jumped in. “As I said, those are transaction records. From Nolan Enterprises’ New York offices. While you were moving out here,” he continued, his attention landing on her, “we were able to sift through Liza’s theories, dig into a few things, and find what we think she was looking for. Or part of it.”
“What exactly was she looking for?” Gabriel asked.
“Payoffs and bribes,” Callie replied, her eyes scanning the transactions Leo listed.
“For what?” Gabriel persisted.
A picture started coming together in her head. The room fell silent as it transitioned from a fuzzy image to one with sharp edges and clear contours.
