"I didn't believe him, of course. I thought he was nuts. But I figured that within a few minutes he wasn't going to be my problem anymore. Once we got to the WFO, I was going to lock him in a holding cell and call my supervisor."
***
"Can I see your ID, sir?" the uniformed guard said.
Jake stood behind and to the side of Favreau in the secured foyer on the ground floor of the seven-story FBI Washington Field Office. The guard stood inside a rope line, next to a walk-through magnetometer. A second uniformed guard stood in front of a monitor and the controls for an airport-style scanning device for personal belongings, with a conveyor belt running into its depths.
Jake didn't recognize either of them. He reached for his back pocket to get his credentials. The pocket was flat and empty. He patted his jacket pockets and felt the Beretta 9mm but not his leather credential case. Then he remembered flashing his badge at Suit Number One on the sidewalk outside the diner. Right before the man hit him in the stomach. Jesus, I lost my badge and my gun.
"I, uh, don't have my ID on me," Jake told the guard. "But I work here. In Four Squad. I'm Special Agent Jake Miller."
"I'm sorry, sir," the guard said, "but about a thousand people work here. If you do, in fact, work here, then you know you need proper identification to enter the building."
The second guard walked over.
"I realize that," Jake said, edging in front of Favreau. "But this is...an unusual situation."
The second guard took a hard look at Jake. "What kind of unusual situation, sir?"
"Look," Jake said, "I don't have time to explain everything to you, but I need to get to my office. Right now."
"Sir, if you'll give me your supervisor's name, I'll be happy to call him and verify your identity," the second guard said.
"Don't bother," Jake said. "I'll call him myself." He was reaching for his Blackberry when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Jake turned and saw Favreau staring through the glass outer doors. The two suits who had been chasing them were standing on the sidewalk in front of the building.
Jake pointed. "Those two men, in the suits, do you see them?"
"Yes, sir, I see them," the first guard said. "What about them?"
"Twenty minutes ago they tried to kill me."
"Is that right?" said the second guard. Although neither guard moved.
Looking at the two security guards, Jake felt himself growing angry. "Yes, that's right. I need you to take them into custody. They are armed and dangerous. Call for backup and use extreme caution."
Still, neither guard moved. Jake looked back and forth between the guards and the men outside. "What are you doing?" he asked the guards, his voice rising almost to a shout. "I'm an FBI special agent. I have taken this man into custody." He pointed through the glass doors. "I need you to arrest those two men outside."
The two guards stood their ground. "We can't do that, sir," the second guard said.
Jake felt his jacket move. He reached down but Favreau already had the Beretta out. Both guards reached for their holstered pistols. Favreau aimed the Beretta at them. "I wouldn't do that." The guards stopped reaching.
"Are you nuts?" Jake shouted.
"Move," Favreau told Jake and pointed to the bank of elevators across the lobby.
They backed across the lobby while Favreau kept the Beretta pointed at the security guards. At the elevators, Jake punched the call button. Immediately, an up arrow flashed and a bell dinged. They stepped backwards into the elevator car. Jake pressed the button for the third floor. The doors closed. The car rose.
Seconds later, an alarm sounded in the building.
"Oh, shit," Jake said. Then he snatched the pistol from Favreau's hand. "Give me that. You're a prisoner, try to act like one."
Favreau shrugged.
When the elevator doors opened on the third floor, Jake and Favreau stepped into the deserted lobby. The after-hours lighting was subdued. The alarm was still ringing. "This way," Jake said. He led Favreau down the hall to a door with a sign that read Four Squad. Beside the door was a keypad. Jake shielded the pad with his body so Favreau couldn't see it and punched in his Special Agent ID number. The lock clicked and Jake pushed open the door. He stepped in ahead of Favreau, the pistol still in his hand.
"I'll take that," said a voice behind him. Jake tried to turn toward the voice, but an arm as hard as a steel pipe clamped around his neck and someone yanked the pistol from his hand. Behind him there was a short scuffle that ended when Favreau grunted and something heavy thudded onto the carpeted floor. The clamp tightened around Jake's neck. The light started to bleed out of his vision. As he sank to his knees, the arm stayed across his throat.
"That's enough," said another voice.
The clamp loosened. Jake sucked in a lungful of air. Some of the light returned. "Let him go," the same voice said. It sounded familiar to Jake.
The arm slid off Jake's throat. His head was spinning. He wasn't sure he could stand, so he sat down on the carpet and braced himself with one hand. When he looked up, he saw his boss, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Wendell Donahue. But what was he doing here? Donahue was never in the office past 4:30. A standing joke, at least with the senior agents, was that Donahue was a reverse vampire. If the sun went down before he got home he would burst into flames. And Donahue wasn't alone. With him were four men in dark suits. Jake heard handcuffs being ratcheted tighter. He heard Favreau groan.
Donahue looked down at Jake. "Are you all right, Agent Miller?"
"Yes, sir," Jake said. "But I...What's going on?"
Three of the dark-suited men looked like clones of the ones Jake had run into outside the diner, young, fit, short hair, and clean-shaven. The fourth was older, mid-forties, but just as hard if not harder than the others. He spoke to Donahue. "We need these men separated. Immediately."
Donahue pointed to Jake. "He's an FBI agent. He works for me."
"Not right now he doesn't," the older man said. "Right now we're treating him as a potential terrorist."
Jake had the sudden feeling that the floor beneath him had tilted, maybe the entire building. As if something important had come unhinged. The alarm klaxon was still sounding. His head hurt. He looked up at the ASAC. "What's he talking about?"
Donahue glanced down at Jake again but looked away quickly. "It's not my call," the ASAC said. "I'm sorry."
Then two of the suits yanked Jake to his feet. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Favreau facedown on the floor, hands cuffed behind his back.
The two men positioned themselves on either side of Jake and started searching him, beginning with his collar and working their way down. Pulling off his empty holster
"Where's your weapon, Agent Miller?" Donahue asked.
Jake didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything.
The suits stripped Jake of his keys, his wallet, and his Blackberry, going all the way down to his ankles and running their fingers through his socks. They were very thorough. Both would have scored well on the "suspect search" block of instruction at the FBI Academy.
"Put him in a room," the older man said when they were finished. Then he turned to Donahue. "Defuse the situation with your security guards downstairs. Tell them these two are undercover agents." He pointed to the ceiling. "And turn off that damned alarm."
The two suits shoved Jake down the hall and dumped him in an empty interview room. They left him alone and closed the door behind them. Jake heard the lock snap into place. He grabbed the knob and tried to turn it, but, of course, it wouldn't budge. He beat on the door a couple of times with his fist. Then he turned around and surveyed his surroundings.
The only furniture in the nine-by-nine room was a metal table and three metal chairs with thin cushions. All gray. Jake had interrogated suspects in this very room, one of four identical interview rooms on this floor. He looked up at the small inverted dome protruding from the ceiling in the corner. It was made of dark shatterproof glass, and behind it was a camera lens. Jake's head still hurt so he sat down.
He looked up at the camera again and wondered who was watching him.