Unknown Enemy. Michelle Karl

tensed, unsure whether he wanted to continue this conversation. “What is it?”

      “I know your dismissal case is still in limbo, tied up in red tape. You’ve been waiting to hear back for two years on whether it’s a permanent cut.”

      “I’m well aware.” Why was Bennett opening this old wound? “I’m not sure how that’s relevant.”

      The deputy director cleared his throat before continuing. “All I’m saying is it would be prudent for your image among the leadership here if this goes well. Maybe even to the point of pushing your case through faster. And with a positive result.”

      “Are you saying that if I cooperate with you on this, I might get my job back?”

      There was a pause on the other end of the line. “I’m saying there’s a very good chance we’ll see you in uniform again. You were an asset to the Service, Tapping. The kind of man this country needs protecting its president. A good agent.”

      Colin hung up for a second time and stared at the phone in his hands. “But not good enough.”

       FIVE

      Ginny’s heart pounded at seeing the expression on Colin’s face. He looked angry, and from the one side of the phone call she’d heard, it appeared an old wound had been reopened.

      “I have to go to my meeting,” she squeaked, her brain still trying to make sense of his words into the phone. “Do you really think I’m in that much danger? Why not leave it to the police?”

      “Secret Service is technically law enforcement, highly specialized in protective measures. That’s how I know how to operate, and I will react without hesitation when needed.”

      “I see.” But she didn’t, not really. She’d have to trust that he knew what he was talking about. “What about my meeting?”

      Colin punched at his phone while motioning for her to gather up her things. “I’m coming with you, but we need to make a stop first.”

      “I don’t think—”

      “You’ve been attacked twice, Professor. Stay close and hopefully there won’t be a third time. I’ll watch the security footage and brainstorm about this letter drop while you have your meeting. You won’t even know I’m there.”

      Ginny saw the wisdom in his plan, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She waited in silence with Colin as he talked his way into obtaining a digital file of the afternoon’s footage outside the Daviau Center from the security office. After they’d picked up a laptop from his office in the Criminology Department, she noticed something odd. Every time she took more than a few steps in front or behind Colin, he cleared his throat. “What are you doing?”

      “Remember, I need you within arm’s reach,” he said, holding open the door to the library. Ginny watched him visually scan the area behind them, then proceeded with him to the meeting room. It was located on the library’s main floor only a few steps from the busy circulation desk. Ginny couldn’t imagine being accosted here. In the light of day, her memory of last night’s grenade attack in this very building felt like the remnants of a dream.

      “Do you have to come inside?” Nervousness crept up the back of her throat. She already felt low on confidence at the thought of working with someone else who could likely match or surpass her knowledge of Amaran history. A quick peek into the meeting room showed Dr. Hilden already waiting inside reading a journal article, despite her efforts to arrive fifteen minutes early to set up.

      In response, Colin stalked across the floor and returned dragging a small table and chair, which he set up outside the meeting room door. “I’ll watch the footage right here. You go in and have your meeting. How long will you be?”

      Ginny sighed. She couldn’t deny the sense of safety that came over her at having him around, but this babysitter business was already wearing thin. “I don’t know. An hour or two?”

      He nodded. “Finish before four if you can. I have a feeling that whoever wrote that letter may start getting anxious, and I don’t want to be cornered in here if that happens.”

      Ginny started to retort that even the letter writer had said the attempted abduction this morning had been a mistake—but the words died on her lips when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. Eyes that suddenly seemed just as dangerous as their unknown enemy. A woman could drown in those eyes.

      She shook herself out of it and headed inside the room, acutely aware of Colin’s presence right outside the door. She could still see his profile as he set up his laptop and began watching the security footage. How on earth had she ended up in this mess?

      “Professor Anderson,” Dr. Hilden boomed, standing to shake her hand with his firm grip. He placed the journal article on the table and tapped on the top paragraph. “Intriguing assertion you’ve made here regarding the palace coordinates, I must say. Fascinating preliminary work.”

      Ginny swallowed her nerves. She was smart, capable. She could do this. “Thank you, but like I said in the thesis, it’s only preliminary. Hopefully these tablets will fix that, however.”

      “Of course, of course.” He placed a briefcase on the table and opened it up, pulling additional papers from inside. “My own notes, of course. I’d be honored to read yours as well, as I assume you have plenty more work conducted by now in this area. Perhaps a few responses to the criticisms? Curator Wehbe implied as much.”

      Ginny steeled her resolve, thinking of the letter and its demands for her to abandon this project and pass off—or destroy—her research. Could it have been the product of a jealous colleague, eager to learn her research to publish it as his or her own? Stranger things had happened in academia. “There’s not much, but we can work through what I have. You’re the consultant, after all.”

      For the next two hours, Ginny walked Dr. Hilden through her theories, explaining her current ideas and responding to his criticisms while trying to ignore Colin’s occasional glances into the room. Together, she and Dr. Hilden were able to map several preliminary translations of two small tablets, and Ginny was elated to discover that one of them contained a subtle reference to a royal building.

      As she packed the tablets back up, her heart pounded double time. The royal building reference had been written using a specific ancient Amaran hieroglyph that she’d been theorizing for a while might refer to the king’s summer palace. If that was the case, she’d already come one step closer to confirming the palace’s location. To have found anything this soon after beginning work on the tablets went far beyond her wildest expectations.

      “Great work this afternoon, Professor Anderson,” Dr. Hilden said, inclining his head as he withdrew from the room. “You’re quite persistent in your research. I have no doubt you’ll find what you’re looking for in due time.”

      “I sure hope so,” she murmured. A glance at the clock in the corner of the room made her heart lurch into her throat—it was five minutes to four. The time had passed quickly. Had Colin learned anything useful from the security footage? Bag packed, she stepped out of the room to find Colin also packed up, shaking Dr. Hilden’s hand and making introductions.

      “Former Secret Service?” Dr. Hilden was saying, looking mildly perturbed. “I see. How unexpected to meet someone of your trained caliber here. If you’ll excuse me, I have a scheduled conference call. Good day.”

      As Dr. Hilden walked away, Colin turned to Ginny and shrugged. “I get all kinds of reactions,” he explained. “Sometimes it makes people nervous. I’m used to it by now. We should get going.”

      The library had quieted at this time of day, with most students still in class or heading to the cafeteria to eat before evening classes began. A student behind the circulation desk waved at her and Ginny waved back, recognizing the student from one of her classes.

      “You okay, Professor?”