Red Right Hand

34.

SO, CHARLIE, YOU want to explain to me just what the hell is going on?”

They were in O’Brien’s office. The door was closed. O’Brien had dragged Thompson there by the arm as soon as the picture found its way into her hands.

A few minutes ago, CNN had interrupted their interview with that asshole senator Trip Wentworth-the one who’d raked Thompson over the coals after the Pendleton’s Casino disaster-with breaking news of further violence in San Francisco. At first, the other agents in the conference room barely glanced at the television. CNN had already reported many spurious claims of follow-up attacks today: A federal building in LA evacuated for what turned out to be a gas leak. An active-shooter threat at a Seattle high school called in by a student unprepared for a test. A backpack in San Francisco detonated by the bomb squad that turned out to contain nothing more than roadside-emergency supplies.

But Thompson knew in her gut this one was different. She’d been waiting for an update from Hendricks ever since that torturous conference call with Yancey. Hell, she’d half expected Hendricks to strike while she and O’Brien were still on the line, and the longer Thompson went without hearing a word, the more she began to worry he hadn’t gotten to Segreti in time.

Her fellow agents started to take note when CNN spoke via phone to several Presidio residents who reported shots fired near the Main Post. One claimed to’ve seen an explosion light up the night sky. Another swore vehicles in a high-speed chase had cut through her backyard. Details were scant, though. Thanks to the fog, news helicopters were grounded, and officials on the scene weren’t talking to the press.

Then Bellum Industries issued an urgent memo to the FBI and Homeland Security. It claimed they’d been pursuing a lead when their operatives were ambushed. Seven men were injured in the attack, two critically, and a civilian woman was dead. The memo included a still image of the perpetrator, isolated from body-cam footage.

When O’Brien saw it, she recognized Michael Hendricks instantly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Thompson lied. Her tone was indignant, unequivocal, but her head was spinning, and her insides roiled.

“You mean to tell me it’s a coincidence that Michael Hendricks just waltzed smack into the middle of our investigation?”

“Must be,” Thompson said.

“Must be?” O’Brien parroted snidely. “You’re kidding, right? You’re lucky there aren’t a lot of people in this world who know his face. But the director does, and you’d best believe I’m going to get a phone call the second he sees that photo. I’m wondering how much I can protect you without lying.”

“What do you want me to say, Kate?”

“I want you to tell me you haven’t been in contact with a criminal. That you didn’t hire him to protect a man you believe to be a long-dead federal witness. That you’re not complicit in a fucking shootout that resulted in the death of an innocent civilian and the hospitalization of half a dozen government contractors. And I want it to be the truth.”

“I did not hire Michael Hendricks,” Thompson replied.

“That’s a strangely specific denial.”

“It’s true. You can testify to that fact if need be, and so can I.”

“That’s not fucking good enough, Charlie! This is me you’re talking to, not some random higher-up. We share a bed, for God’s sake. We share a life. I want you to tell me exactly what is going on.”

“No, you don’t. Your career-”

“If you gave a shit about my career-or yours-we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You want to convince me otherwise, you’re going to need to tell me everything-now.”

“Fine. You want the truth? Here it is. I put Hendricks onto Segreti. I had to. The Council was going to kill him if I didn’t.”

O’Brien’s face showed disgust. She shook her head in disbelief. When she spoke, it was barely audible, every syllable sagging under the weight of her hurt and disappointment. “How long have the two of you been in touch?”

“We haven’t been! Not until last night.”

“But you knew how to get in touch with him, and you withheld that information, despite the fact that it’s your fucking job to catch him.”

“I didn’t know how to get in touch with him-not specifically. But I had a hunch that Evelyn Walker might have a way to reach him, and I was right.”

“You could have laid a trap. Brought him in. A win like that would have made your career.”

“That’s funny,” Thompson spat, “I was told by my superior that now wasn’t the time for side projects. That our efforts were required elsewhere.”

“Don’t you dare put this on me. You’re the one who fucked up here.”

“You know as well as I do that Evelyn Walker would never have given me his contact information if I’d had any intention of using it against him, so bringing him in wasn’t an option. And besides, none of this matters, because when I met with him and explained the situation, he turned me down.”

“It sure as hell doesn’t look like he turned you down.”

“What do you want me to say? He told me he didn’t want to get involved. Until he-” Thompson stopped herself abruptly.

“Until he what?” O’Brien asked. Then her expression shifted. “The phone call you ducked out to take. It wasn’t Jess, was it? It was Hendricks. You knew he planned to make some kind of move.”

“I had no idea what he intended to do.”

“Oh, I think you could’ve guessed. He’s a hired gun, for Christ’s sake!”

“Look, I didn’t think-”

“You’re goddamn right you didn’t think. They’ll have your badge for this, you know. You’ll be lucky if you don’t wind up in prison.”

“If they find out,” Thompson said carefully.

“Oh, so you’re asking me to cover for you now? To lie to the Bureau and risk a career it’s taken me a lifetime to build? How could you do this to me, Charlie? How could you do this to us?”

“How could I? How could you refuse to even broach the topic of picking up Segreti when you were on the phone with the director? How could you deny my request to go track him down myself when you knew how much this case meant to me? I’m talking about nothing less than shattering the largest criminal organization in U.S. history, one so far-reaching and shadowy, most people don’t even realize it exists. So don’t go lecturing me about shirking my responsibilities, not when you’re the one who turned a blind eye to the opportunity Segreti presented us just so you could avoid making a few waves.”

“Oh, I see. First you stab me in the back, and now you call me a coward?”

“If I stabbed you in the back, it was with the same knife you buried in mine.”

O’Brien’s jaw clenched. She shook with rage. “Get out of my sight. As of now, you’re relieved.”

“Now? You can’t be serious.”

“Yes, now. I don’t trust you anymore, which means you’re of no use to me.”

“So, what-you want me to just go home and sit on my hands in the middle of an investigation?”

“No,” O’Brien replied, tears brimming. “I want you to go home and pack.”

“You’re kicking me out?”

“I…I don’t know. But what I do know is, I need some space, because right now, I can’t even look at you.”

“Kate, c’mon. You know me. You know I didn’t mean for this to happen-or for any of it to blow back on you.”

“I thought I did,” O’Brien said. “It turns out, I don’t know you at all.”