would be his head on the chopping block. That was how these things worked.
WEDNESDAY. SENATE OFFICE Buildings. Washington, DC.
Kelsey was beginning to think this undercover assignment was a trap.
Her identity was the perfect cover story for this gig. Thanks to all her undercover work and the FBI cloaking her pre-federal employment in a false trail, she was a prime candidate for the job. And to sweeten the deal, she’d managed to wrangle a letter of recommendation out of the Supreme Court Justice she’d been assigned to during another FBI case. Clearly including that with her resume prior to arriving had made quite the impression. Her whirlwind interview hadn’t been as much about vetting her for the job as much as it had been about working out the structure of who would do what. That she got the job was obvious after the first five minutes. It was simply a matter of signatures.
It was no surprise to Kelsey that her first batch of duties were all the types of jobs no one else in the office wanted to do. Things like filing, handling tedious paperwork. The exact kinds of things she was happy to do, because they fit her ulterior motive agenda. Or would have, if she wasn’t so damn busy.
What had happened to Dixon’s other staff? Why were they out to fill three vacancies and add security?
And how had Dixon survived with only the one assistant?
The man needed a small army, and she still had no idea what the man actually did.
At least she wasn’t expecting to see Logan today. She’d shamelessly embedded herself in the process with the hope that she might nudge her new boss in the right direction and pick Evan or Tucker. Instead, she was once more stuck with Logan.
Nope.
Not thinking about him!
Her phone vibrated against her hip.
Kelsey bit her lip and stifled the urge to snatch at her phone. Her direct boss, Robert Brown, was a stickler about phones and personal life encroaching on professional.
She glanced over her shoulder.
Robert was in with the senator who Kelsey hadn’t formally met beyond taking his coat this morning and offering him a latte. That left Kelsey with the grumpy guy at the back desk and all the other new hires.
She scooped up the top folders on the never ending tower of filing and carried them into the closet where the monster sized printer and scanner were kept along with a coat rack and space for people’s personal items.
Satisfied she had as much privacy as she could get, she pulled her phone out. She only cared about the rules to the extent of how they impacted her real objective. With luck, she’d be out of here in a week or two at most.
A text illuminated her screen.
Nadine Baker: Do well today!
Kelsey frowned at the text message.
Nadine was not on the list of people who were in the know about the undercover portion of this operation. According to the official logs, Kelsey was assigned to what amounted to delivery duty. It was both a necessary role and would keep her away from the office.
Could Nadine be the mole?
Kelsey rolled her eyes and discarded the idea immediately.
Nadine was a veteran of the CIA. If she were a mole, she’d be crafty. They’d never see her coming. That grandmotherly air about her was disarming. In short, she’d be the perfect mole which was why it couldn’t be Nadine. She was too obvious. Her partner, however, he was on Kelsey’s mind. Agent Joon was too put together. Too squeaky clean. There had to be dirt there.
Thanks. Hopefully all deliveries will be on time!
Kelsey sent that reply, then to cover her bases she took a screenshot of the exchange and sent it to Diha.
Nadine couldn’t be the mole, but until they had factual evidence that cleared her, Kelsey had to treat the woman as if she were a suspect. It sucked, especially because Kelsey was growing to admire Nadine. She made Kelsey think about the future and what she wanted from her job at the FBI, or if she wanted to take a different path entirely.
Kelsey hadn’t started this job with grand ambitions. She’d had limited options after graduating high school while still navigating her parent’s post-divorce life. A job working the evidence desk at her local station had turned into going to the Police Academy. A two-year stint as a beat cop then led to working with a joint FBI team and her first undercover job.
She’d been hooked.
From there it was just school