Her gaze narrowed in reaction to his tone. Good. He needed her pissed off with maybe a couple of acres of razor wire between them at the moment. “I don’t work in an office. I’m on the street all day most days. I dress for comfort.”
He shrugged. “Our orders came. You’re to go into the AP office to pick up a photo assignment. Choose one in an area that’s easy for us to contain.”
She lifted the camera to her face and took a couple of shots of Zander. “What would that be, exactly?”
Brad frowned at her picture-taking, though he knew from research on her that this was one of her coping mechanisms. He wouldn’t stop her as long as she didn’t turn her lens on him, or details like the windows and doors. “Something indoors. Not many entrances or exits. Preferably in a building that has high security to begin with.”
She looked up over her camera. “Like the Capitol?”
Smart and smart-alecky. Seemed like she’d gotten her courage back. “We’ve upped our screening in the city. Meanwhile, we need to limit your exposure to places we can contain.”
Georgie tried not to put herself into the equation as she thought about what would be the best thing for the FBI’s purposes. As she did so, she took a picture of a yellow notepad on the desk by the door to distract her thoughts. “I’d rather call in for an assignment. I’ll ask for a location outside D.C. away from a lot of people.”
“That’s the opposite of what the bomber wants. No victims, no payoff.”
She flinched and lowered her camera from a shot she was about to take of the smear of eggs on a plate. “Who thinks like that? I can barely handle the idea that someone broke into my place, let alone consider that someone is out there waiting to blow me up.” She hadn’t meant to say that, or to give in to the gasp of emotion at the end.
“Easy.” Brad didn’t move any closer. Comfort was not exactly what either of them could afford to give at this point. “Our working theory is that you’re not the intended target. You may have taken a photo of the bomber, or something happened that day that makes him believe your photos could tie him to the crime.”
She cradled her camera to her chest. Her eyes were getting wide with anxiety. “Or maybe he didn’t just want photos when he broke in. Maybe he planned to make certain I couldn’t identify him.”
Brad gave her credit for clear thinking, even if she scared herself. “We’re not going to let that happen. We’ll get to him first. If he makes a move, we’ll be there.”
“You mean if he tries to kill me.” She went pale at the thought. “I’m the bloody bait you’re dropping in the shark tank.”
He ignored that. “You can start the process by telling everyone you talk with today that you were robbed. That includes the local barista, the doorman, guards at the AP offices, anyone and everyone you normally chat with during your day.”
She glanced down at her camera. “Why would I do that?”
“Let’s call it leaving a scent trail for our prey. Tell them the thief took your cameras and computers but that you have everything backed up in the Cloud and so you didn’t lose anything significant, like photos. Then we wait.”
She had gone very still, once again hugging her camera close, as if it needed protection instead of her. “Is that all?”
“There is one other small thing.” He crooked a finger at her. “I need to digitalize you.”
She backed up a step. “Wear a wire? I didn’t agree to that.”
“You agreed to help. This helps us.” He held up a tiny device that looked like a flash drive. “It’s Wi-Fi. Nothing to be detected, unlike in the old days.”
“No. I won’t do that.”
She turned and moved rapidly away from him. He wondered how far she’d go. Out the door? He really didn’t want to start the day by having to physically restrain her.
She stopped at the front door, waited a beat, and turned around. Her mouth was set in a line that, regrettably, smashed her pretty lips into pinched oblivion. But more than that, her eyes were wide with fear and uncertainty.
He understood her emotions but he couldn’t afford to share them. Moreover, he couldn’t allow her fear and anxiety to overwhelm her, or this operation would be over before it began.
Brad moved slowly toward her. Her glare grew so hostile that when he paused at arm’s length from her he could feel the chill. It was close enough for him to notice lots of things, too, like the quivering rise and fall of her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra! Ah, hell. His mind wandered for a second into wild fantasy. The fragrance of lily of the valley rose off her flushed skin and quivered in his nose.
Reality came back into focus as he noticed her pupils contracting. She was on the brink of panicking. He needed to talk her down fast.
“I’m not the enemy.” The words came out of her in a whisper.
“I believe you. But that doesn’t change anything. There’s a very dangerous someone out there who most likely has another bomb and is waiting to use it. You are our only lead to finding him first.”