Page 9 of Girl, Unmasked
‘And that concerns you?’
Ripley shrugged.‘A little bit.Where’s Hawkins?’
‘Gone in the front entrance, like a normal person.The newbies have their speeches in a few hours.We get to meet the new big man first, so I guess that makes us the lucky ones.’
‘Yeah,’ Ripley said.‘Lucky us.’
‘You know who it is?’
‘Rick Vernon, attorney, White House regular.Never met the man myself, but I’ve heard things.’
Ella was only a touch concerned that she seemed to be the only person in the Bureau who didn’t know the identity of the new director before it was announced.Was there some gossip club she wasn’t part of?‘How long have you known?’
‘About a week.Had a friend at DOJ give me a heads up.’
‘And you didn't think to mention it?’
Ripley shook her head.‘What would it change?Vernon was always going to get it.Men like him always do.’
‘Men like him?’
‘Dick-hoppers.Men who’d sell their own mothers a time-share in Aspen.’Ripley kicked a piece of ice on the ground.‘Sorry, I’m being a bitch.Change is good.I’ll keep telling myself that.’
Ella grabbed the door handle and opened it for Ripley.‘Missing Edis already, huh?’
Ripley had been the only person besides Edis who knew about the Glock in her jacket, about the unspoken permission to put Austin Creed in the ground.They hadn’t talked about it since.
‘Like you wouldn’t believe.’
They walked through the corridor that led into the front lobby, but Ella noticed Ripley’s pace was slower than usual, like she was en route to the gallows pole.‘Something’s wrong with you.What aren’t you telling me?’
‘What makes you think I'm not telling you something?’
‘Because you look like someone shot your dog, and I just found you in a parking lot in what most people would consider freezing temperatures.Even for you, that’s excessive.’They approached the security door and Ella flashed her card.It bleeped green and let them through.
‘I like hanging out near the back door.Too many people out front.Too many people coming and going.Where are we supposed to be headed?’
‘Hall C on the third floor.The one with all the flags.’
Ella had known two directors in her time here, and active duty had been different under both of them.She was no expert on office politics, but she had a gut feeling that a new boss meant new ways of working, and much like Ripley, she wasn’t a fan of that.
CHAPTER THREE
‘Change can be unsettling, but it’s an opportunity for growth.The Bureau’s greatest strength isn’t its technology or its protocols, but its people.You’re the men and women who dedicate their lives to justice, and for that the American people – myself included – are forever in your debt.I’ve never forgotten why I was here, and that was to be a public servant.That’s not going to change, and while William Edis built something great here, I believe we can expand on it and together, we can write the next chapter of the FBI’s legacy.Thank you.’
The conference room erupted in dutiful applause.Ella clapped along, and she could see how Richard Vernon got the nickname Slick Rick.He was polished to a high sheen, with a light build, jet black hair and a Mediterranean tan that would blind most people in the city.He was a poster boy for what the FBI wanted to be, and he clearly knew how to put words in the right order.
He was the polar opposite of William Edis, who had been a rumpled bulldog of a man.Ella missed him dearly.
Around the room stood the Bureau’s top brass.Nigel Byford – a man Ella had teamed with during Ripley’s absence last year – nodded along, but he looked equally as suspicious as Ripley.Janet Turner from Cyber Crime finished her half-hearted clapping and then turned to David Hollinsworth from Organized Crime.The usual suspects, all trying to gauge which way the wind was blowing.
‘Oh, and there’s champagne on the table,’ Vernon finished.That got a laugh, despite it not being funny in the slightest.He left his position at the head of the room and began mingling.
‘Power tie,’ Ripley muttered beside her.‘Did you see his thumb?’
‘What about his thumb?’
‘It couldn’t decide if it was a thumb or an index with the way it was moving.’
