‘Stop with the thumb stuff.A jittery thumb doesn’t mean someone’s lying.’
‘Yes it does.’
Ella had long ago realized that there was only ever one winner in a discussion about thumb-based psychology with Mia Ripley.She’d written three books on the subject, one of which was mandatory reading for FBI recruits.Luca had been forced to read through it last month, and he’d somehow devoured it in two nights.‘Alright, maybe it does, but the guy’s nervous, and you really think he’s dumb enough to lie to a room full of special agents?’
‘They don’t call me the human sniffer dog for nothing, Dark.’
‘Do they still call you that?’
Ripley grabbed a glass of champagne off the table.‘Some people do.You want a champagne?’
‘It’s 9AM.’
‘It’s one unit.It won’t kill you.’
‘I’ll skip.I’m not drinking.’
The drink didn’t last long, because Ripley had apparently never met a unit of alcohol she couldn’t ingest in one gulp.‘Not drinking?You’re not pregnant are you?’
‘Mia.’
‘Sorry, but that’s the main reason women don’t drink.’
‘No I’m not pregnant, nor do I have any intention of being.’
‘Pity.Maternity pay is pretty good here.I got nearly two years off when I had my son, but in fairness that was thirty years ago.Should we get out of here?I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through.’
Ella glanced over at Rick Vernon, who was making his way through the people one by one.He was locked in conversation with Nigel Byford, and both seemed to be eager to make an impression.From a distance, Rick Vernon didn’t seem like such a bad guy.‘Should we talk to Vernon first?’
‘Pfft.How long’s it going to take?’
‘Well he’s talking to Byford.’
‘Then he’s going to be a while.Byford could talk the hind legs off a donkey.Typical counter-terrorist.’Ripley grabbed another glass of wine, apparently unaware that she’d started on white and had now moved to red.Either that or she didn’t care.‘Edis might have been a miserable bastard, but you knew where you stood with him.He called a spade a spade.He didn’t call a utility tool or anything stupid like that.He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he respected everything you did, even if you screwed up.’
Ripley devolved into babbling, and Ella looked beyond her and saw Vernon continue on his journey through the people.But then he locked eyes with Ella and his trajectory suddenly changed.He was heading in their direction.
She gave Ripley a warning nudge.‘Incoming.’
Her partner was too far gone, however, lost in her monologue.‘Why get a politician to do the job?You need someone who’s seen some action.You can’t know how to handle people on the frontlines if you’ve never been on the damn frontlines yourself.Edis had been with the police for thirty years before he even stepped into place, and that’s the kind of man you want at the top.’
Vernon continued his descent upon them, as if drawn by Ripley’s bad-mouthing.He was ten feet away when Ella subtly kicked her partner in the foot.‘Mia, shut up.Seriously.’
Another glass of champagne down, and Ripley continued, ‘It just baffles me that the people at the top are the people who’ve never been at the bottom.Look at every thriving workplace in America.The white collars are the old blue collars, so why is it different for the government?’
It was too late.Vernon was in earshot of Ripley’s spiel, and no doubt his ears were burning.
‘I don’t know about you, Dark, but to me this guy just seems like an assho-’
‘Speak of the devil and he’s sure to appear,’ Vernon said as he slipped between them.‘Agents Dark and Ripley, is that right?’
Ripley’s mouth hung open for half a second – the only time Ella had ever seen her genuinely caught off-guard.The champagne glass stopped halfway to her lips.Ella felt her stomach drop somewhere into the vicinity of her shoes.
‘That’s right, sir,’ Ella said.
‘Please, don’t let me interrupt the review,’ he smiled at Ripley.‘You were saying?’
Ripley lowered her glass and straightened slightly, apparently deciding that if she was going down, she'd go down swinging.‘Forgive me for speaking so abruptly, but I was about to accuse you of being an asshole.’
