He could hear them chatting and laughing as they stepped out of the elevator, then the activity beyond the door before the lock freed itself and they pushed it open.
As they stepped inside, she was laughing at something and he was saying, “Seriously, that’s exactly what happened.”
They were in and the door had closed behind them before they turned and saw Josh sitting on the desk, though they couldn’t see any bodies yet. They both froze, trying to make sense of it. It probably would have come to them after a moment or two but he didn’t give them time.
“Either of you move and I’ll kill you.”
They hadn’t been moving anyway, but there was a different quality to their stillness now.
The woman said, “Josh?”
“Everyone else is dead, but he’s not gonna kill us if you do what he says.”
The guy said, “Mr. Hendricks, Dan . . .”
“Move forward, slowly, put the lunch down on the desk in front of you, and then turn around with your hands visible. Josh is telling the truth, but I’ll kill you if you try anything.”
They stepped forward, though he could see the guy turn his head a fraction, as if trying to tell her something. She either didn’t see him or was better at concealing it, and she put the bags on the desk in front of her. He did the same, clumsily, and one of them fell to the side of the desk.
He made a dramatic effort to save it, but Dan could see exactly what he was doing. The world shifted down into slow motion and Dan was furious with the guy, wondering why he had to do this, why he had to put Dan in this position again.
The guy righted himself, turning, and Dan had to at least credit him with a clean draw from his holster, but it wouldn’t be enough. Before the guy’s eyes had even locked on their target, Dan had fired, hitting him in the side of the head.
The woman let out a small scream but had her hands up. The guy crumpled, still midway through his heroic turn, and fell, his head crashing against the side of a different desk. He landed with his arm underneath him, looking uncomfortable even in death.
Dan noticed Josh shaking his head, and it seemed his consternation was aimed less at what Dan had done than at his colleague’s unnecessary heroics. The woman still had her hands up, but she was breathing deep and rapid, a febrile quality about her.
“Do you have a gun?”
“It’s in my purse, next to my desk.”
“Okay, turn around, slowly.”
She turned, and despite the shaky breathing, she looked resolute and met his gaze directly.
Dan said, “There was no need for that to happen.”
“He went for his gun. I can vouch for you on that.”
She was trying to appease him, which he didn’t like somehow, and he said, “I don’t need you to vouch for me on anything.” He felt he’d been peevish then. She was scared, that was all, and understandably so. “What’s your name?”
“Callie Frost.”
“Oh.” She looked questioningly, and he said, “No, I imagined you being Hispanic or . . .”
“Spanish. My mom is Spanish.”
He nodded, then said, “Take a seat, Callie, the chair over where Josh is sitting.” She crossed the room and sat down, and Dan pulled another chair over, gesturing for Josh to move from the desk. Once they were both sitting, Dan rested his weight on the edge of the desk opposite them and said, “What’s your role in this team, Callie? Josh is a tech guy. What do you do?”
“It varies. I’ve been running the external assets.”
He smiled and said, “Do you see the irony in that? You’ve been hiring external assets, most of whom haven’t been very good, to help kill some of the external assets who served this agency for years, one of whom has just taken apart your office.”
“We’ve only used them this last week, since you and Patrick White got active. Bill got nervous, but it isn’t easy finding reliable people at short notice.”
“Which is why Patrick White was so good, because he built up his roster over years.” She didn’t respond, and he wondered what line they’d been sold on the nature of Patrick’s service. “How many people are left on your list?”
She shook her head, but then, as if she saw a threat in his expression, she complied and said, “About a dozen for now. Targets are prioritized and continually reassessed. When they reach level one they go on the list. You’re currently the top target.”
Dan smiled at that, though he wasn’t sure if he’d earned that status because of what he’d been doing these recent weeks, or because a lot of far better, and therefore more dangerous, people had already been eliminated.
He looked at Josh and said, “You hear that description? What does that sound like to you?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but turned back to her and said, “To me, Callie, it sounds like a death squad. Makes me wonder if Brabham ever ran a station in South America back in the seventies.”
She’d regained her composure again now and said, “Do you really think you’re in any position to take the high ground, Mr. Hendricks?”