“I don’t like driving,” Lucy confessed. She felt sheepish and wished she hadn’t said anything.
“You’re not tested on the course,” Eddie said. “Even if you screw up, as long as you have a driver’s license and can steer a vehicle that’s all that’s required. Monday is simply defensive driving.”
Margo said, “Don’t psych yourself out, you’ll be fine.”
“I think it’s about time to hit the books,” Eddie said. He left with Jason. That left Lucy with Margo and Reva.
Lucy found herself relaxing with her group. There were seven of them who had loosely banded together, and while others in her class of thirty-four sometimes ate with them or hung out after hours, the core seven gave Lucy a much-needed sense of friendship and belonging. It had been something she’d missed out on in college because of the rape.
“You don’t have to wait for me to finish; I was late,” Lucy said.
“I don’t mind,” Margo said. She eyed Lucy carefully. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” Lucy said. And she was. After talking to Tony, she had put Laughlin in one compartment, Weber’s murder in another, and her past safely locked away, for now. She looked forward to reading Tony’s notes on the Rachel McMahon homicide, and maybe she could track down Rachel’s brother and give Tony peace of mind. Lucy had no doubt that going through Rosemary Weber’s files would be difficult, and she hoped to have good news for him when he returned in two days.
“What’s in the folder?” Reva asked, and started to open it.
Lucy put her hand on the cover. “Reva, I can’t share. It’s a case file—an old case—that Agent Presidio gave to me. I promised to keep it confidential.” She hadn’t, he hadn’t even asked, but she didn’t want to have to explain why she was looking at it.
“Anything to do with Kean pulling you out today?”
“Knock it off, Reva,” Margo said.
Lucy sighed and gave them a bit of information, mostly to keep Reva from getting even more nosy. “It involves a case I was involved with a few months ago in New York. An agent I worked with needed some information, said it couldn’t wait.”
Margo diverted the conversation back to the firearms test tomorrow, and Lucy quickly finished eating. The three of them cleared their trays, and both Lucy and Margo grabbed an apple and granola bar for the morning. They’d gotten in the habit of running together at dawn, and neither liked to run on an empty stomach. They’d tried to get Reva to join them, but she wasn’t a morning person.
Their rooms were on the second floor of the Madison Dormitory. When the Academy was at full capacity, there were two new agents to a room with a large bathroom connecting two rooms, so four agents had to share. But because of the budget freeze, instead of more than one thousand recruits passing through annually, it was less than half that now, and they had closed down Washington Dorm. Everyone had their own room and only had to share the adjoining bath with one fellow new agent. Lucy and Margo shared, while Reva was at the end of the hall with Alexis.
“Run at six?” Margo asked as she opened her door.
“Sounds good.” Lucy went to her own room. She opened the door and found Kate sitting at her desk. One look at Kate’s expression, and hope that she’d come to explain what happened with Laughlin earlier disappeared.
Lucy dropped Tony’s file on her nightstand. “Kate—tell me what happened.”
Kate stared, as if having an inner battle about what to say.
“What’s going on?” Lucy pushed.
“Stay under the radar and away from Laughlin.”
She sat down on her bed and leaned forward. “Why?”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
She was lying, and Lucy called her on it. “It has everything to do with me. And you. Tell me, Kate.”
“Trust me, Lucy.”
“I always have.”
Kate sagged in relief. “Good. Just get through the next couple months and all will be fine.”
But Lucy wasn’t willing to drop it that easily. “I trust you, Kate; you need to trust me. Tell me what’s going on with Laughlin.”
Kate stared at her, stunned that Lucy had called her on the carpet. Secrets had burned Lucy in the past, she wasn’t going to be kept in the dark.
“I can take it, Kate. My imagination is going to create far worse scenarios. Tell me what was going on in your office. What were you and Laughlin arguing about?”