exactly hate it, and drank a little more. “So, what does Linette want to know?”
Brigitte removed chicken from her fridge and an armload of vegetables. “She asked about your friend who called today. Wanted to know if you had fostered any deep friendships since you left Richter.”
“Why would she want to know that?”
Brigitte floated around her kitchen, removed the chicken from its wrapper, and proceeded to season it while she talked.
“She assumed you hadn’t. At least that’s my theory. Then the call today made her think again. You don’t have to tell me anything. And I don’t have to tell Linette, if you prefer I don’t.”
Sasha sipped her wine again, thought about Reed and his wife. The men Reed worked with, and on occasion she did, too.
She thought of Trina, the sister-in-law through her lost brother. Trina was now married to a country singer and living her life in Texas.
“These are the kinds of things Mr. Pohl is going to ask you when you meet with him again.”
“Why would he care?”
Brigitte stopped her busy hands. “Because spies don’t have families. If they did, it would be a weakness.”
“And that’s what Pohl is recruiting? Spies?”
Her hostess turned on the oven and placed the chicken inside. “Every year I see our graduates line up, and I can pick out the students Pohl will approach. On a rare occasion, we’d have a graduating class that didn’t have the profile of students he wanted. I would imagine that some of the kids didn’t want the job.”
“You make it sound like he’s recruiting several every year.”
She moved on to the vegetables and started to make a salad. “Linette has those numbers. Not me. I do know that the last ten years, you’re the only student in that profile who has returned to Richter.”
“I was never offered a position.”
“That’s going to change. Pohl has asked every instructor at the school to report to him after you’ve left the room.” Brigitte leaned a hip against the counter, took her wineglass in her hand. “You’re conditioned to do the kind of job he will offer, Sasha, but you might ask yourself if it’s how you want to spend your entire life.”
“You’re warning me away from the idea.”
Brigitte shrugged, returned to her task of salad making. “Yeah. I am. I despise that the man comes into the school and handpicks the most emotionally vulnerable students we have.”
Sasha felt her hair rise. “I am not emotionally vulnerable.”
“Ha. You’re an orphan. No family at all. You returned to Richter because of those facts. I’m going to guess that your personal relationships consist of a good fuck and off you go.” Brigitte looked her in the eye. “Am I missing anything?”
Sasha didn’t deny her.
“That’s what I thought. All fine and well, but what about when you want to let someone in? A good friend, or a lover that wants more? Living alone your whole life is overrated.” She spread her arms wide. “Take it from me. Work and vacationing alone is no way to live.”
“Richter doesn’t stop you from having a family.”
“No. My lifestyle has made that harder than it could be. But unlike what the religious conservatives out there think, being a lesbian isn’t a choice.”
Sasha considered the people she did have in her life, as distant as she kept them, and realized that she wouldn’t want to cut them out for a job she didn’t financially need. What if Reed needed her help, or Trina found trouble with one of her famous husband’s fans?
“So I tell Pohl I’m not interested.”
Brigitte bit off a piece of a baby carrot. “He isn’t used to rejection.”
“He can’t make me take a job.”
Brigitte’s smile met with Sasha’s. She served up the salad in two bowls and handed one to her. “Be sure and tell him that.”
Sasha took her salad and wine and moved to the table Brigitte had in the dining room. It was her turn to ask a few questions. “I’ve been trying to find a few of my classmates and haven’t been having a lot of luck. Linette had alluded to the fact that some of our alumni went on to highly secretive jobs, which would account for some.”
“Those that were like you. Apt in all the physical challenges Richter put you through as well as those computer skills you so effectively used while attending the school.” Brigitte was grinning.
Sasha played with her salad. “What if I told you I found an unusual amount of students who have died?”
Brigitte lost her smile.