Page 48 of A Moment Never Forgotten
Taking a deep breath, Berit clicked on the name Joseph Lambert. Although it was a deep file, most of it looked pretty standard. She was surprised, though, to find out that he had personally recruited Dr. Sydney Petersen.
As she readied herself to go see Director Hennel, the intercom buzzed.
“I hate to disturb you, but Director Lambert wants to see you in his office, immediately,” Carol said.
“I’m on my way.” When passing her administrative assistant’s desk, she announced, “When I’m done with Director Lambert, I need to see Director Hennel so I may be away from my desk for an hour or more.”
“So noted,” Carol replied without missing a keystroke as she typed away.
Berit waited for Director Lambert’s administrative assistant to notify him that she was there and give her permission to enter.
“Sir, you wanted to see me?” She asked as she walked into the room.
“I understand that you spent the weekend with Captain Reid down in Virginia Beach.” Lambert gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. “Tell me everything that you discovered.”
She folded her hands in her lap and forced a smile. How the hell did he know that she had spent the weekend with Micah? “Captain Reid gave me a ride to Virginia Beach where I got to meet my granddaughter for the first time. I was there for personal reasons.”
“But you did spend a great deal of time alone with Micah Reid?” He pressed. “There had to be at least six hours alone with the man in the car.”
“Yes, sir. Most of the ride down I was working since I was going to miss being in the office the remainder of the day on Thursday and all day Friday. Coming home on Sunday, I slept almost the entire way. Taking care of a four-month old is exhausting.”
He stared at her for what seemed like five minutes as though studying her features would reveal some kind of a secret. She had plenty of those.
“When will you be seeing Captain Reid again?”
The lump in her throat made his question difficult to answer.
“Socially, Captain Reid and I will never see each other again.” She swallowed hard allowing the pain of his last words to show. “We had a difference of opinion last night and did not leave on good terms.”
He leaned forward on his desk and scowled at her. “Whatever you did, you need to go to him. Apologize. Do whatever you need to do, anything, to get him to take you back. I need you to be part of that group. An insider.” By the end, he was practically yelling.
“I’m not completely outside the group.”I hope. “Is there something in particular that you need me to find out?”Though I may already know the answer.
Reaching into his desk, he pulled out a box approximately two inches by two inches. He opened it. The clear vial was filled with a yellowish liquid. “I want you to kill Elizabeth Saint Clare.”
What-the-fuck? Her jaw dropped at the same time her eyes grew wide. “No.” She stared at him as though he’d grown horns. “There is no way in hell that Elizabeth Saint Clare is on the kill list. She isn’t a terrorist, nor is she feeding any terrorist classified information. She is not a traitor.”
Gathering her thoughts as she went along, Berit pointed out, “Are you telling me that the president of the United States has sanctioned the death of an American citizen, on American soil? A mother of two, pregnant with the third?”
Berit stood shaking her head. “No, sir, I won’t do it. Even if you showed me the executive order, signed by the president, I won’t do this.”
“All you have to do is pour this into her drink.” Joseph Lambert stood. “I’m not asking you to pull the trigger.”
“Are you fucking crazy? What imminent threat does Elizabeth Saint Clare pose?” Maybe she could reason with him. “According to law, to be on the targeted killing list the person has to be an imminent threat of a violent attack against United States of America.” She took a step farther away.
“She’s not going to die in front of you. This particular poison will take about twenty-four hours.” His voice was so calm it gave her chills.
“Director Lambert, I’m obligated to report this.” Legally, and ethically, she was supposed to report this illegal order, but she was using it as a threat.
His grin almost turned her stomach. “Try it. It’s your word against mine.” He held up the box. “By the way, this is signed out in your name. If asked about it, I’ll simply tell them that you tried to use it in my coffee, and I confiscated it from you. I handled the disciplinary action personally. You’ll end up in Dr. Petersen’s office before you can protest for complete psychological evaluation. Only someone crazy would try to kill her boss.” He threw her word back at her.
He held the box out to her. “I have my orders. Now you have yours.”
Maybe this was someone’s way of testing her. Director Hennel had told her that many people were watching her. “I refuse to do it.” She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Fire me if you want. You have cause. I refused a direct order.”
“I’m not going to fire you, Ms. Barker.” That ugly smile was back, making her stomach flip. “There’s no need.” He placed the box back in his desk and sat down. “That will be all, Ms. Barker.” He turned his head away from her and stared at his computer screen, mouse in hand.
She’d been dismissed.
