My sister hurled red wine across my dress uniform and told me I had no place in that ballroom, my father told security to get me out before I humiliated his future son-in-law, and I watched the stain slide over my ribbons, checked the countdown on my watch, and said, “You’re right. I don’t,” because in less than a minute the entire room was going to understand why I had really come.
task force. For the last seven months, I had been assigned to that task force because of a catastrophic failure I knew far too intimately.
Agent Hayes nodded to another man entering the room from the rear. He carried a slim leather portfolio and wore the exhausted, iron-clad expression of someone whose entire job required him to ruin excellent evenings.continue reading …
