the soft huff escapes her. she will buff the lenses of her glasses clean if she is to be blinking that much. not because he is stupid but because he is too honest. something in him that has not been ground down-- yet. the coarse edge of the stone about to be set to the grit. the door swings back, opening into the strange space within. a small hearing room, half-circle desk where the committee members sit, all their titles and names set before them in brass plates. a small black microphone beside it to catch every question. in front is a single table, a rectangle with four chairs and more microphones. from the corner of the room, an armed guard stands watch, near him the stenographer, nimble fingers ready to peck away at the machine. an aisle runs towards the table, a few rows of chairs, sparsely occupied with a few reporters, secretaries, a familiar face who sneaks a smile. all of them watching the both of them.
" here we go, inshllah. " a small blessing before she steps in front of him and walks into the room ahead of him. " good morning gentlemen, we apologize for being late, let the record show it is agent kennedy's off-week and he was attending a family event. " her voice rings out loud and clear and completely solid.
she stops, waits to be motions to sit and the world spins. time rushes by in the beating of her heart slamming in her chest. once it begins, it is just short of a bloodbath. most of the committee questions are avoided, a minefield carefully leon and she must dance across.
' there have been several times agent kennedy has failed to respond, as noted in your reports, specialist hunnigan, did you not think to send in another agent to locate him? '
that first time, when he went dark for hours and hours, she had to steel herself against the idea that she had lost her agent. ingrid's fingers had stalled, too invested in believing he would not go down silently and so, she put off the contingency plan for far longer than would have been advisable. it paid off when his voice broke the silence with some stupid joke.
' agent kennedy has often ignored mission statements and parameters to forge his own path without the permission or sanctions provided by superiors, is that correct specialist hunnigan? '
she willed her eyes not to look at him as she spoke out, back rigid and hands interlaced on the table in front of her.
" i cannot speak on what my agents do in the field. that is not my job. they file their reports to the best and most accurate degree and i have faith in agent kennedy's instinct and decisions. he is allowed far more freedom than most field agents. "
' why is that? can you explain, either of you, why agent kennedy is not given the same oversight most other field agents work under? does agent kennedy get to be the special case? the exception to the rule? '
" he is a special case, sir. no one else in this department or any other has the qualifications, skills and determination to get done half of what he does-- alone, sir. "
' isn't that convenient? most every other field team, to my knowledge, is at least two people, for safety-- and accountability, and yet, agent kennedy does and goes where he pleases. he escaped after the assignation of a u.s. president and boarded a flight to a foreign country with which, we have no extradition treaty. sounds like the definition of a flight to avoid being held responsible. '
that was van larkin. she could feel him sizing the pair up the entire time and in this moment, when he has a chance to jamb the blade between the plates of armor, he has gone for it. the seeded misinformation which had triggered this witch hunt was now propagating with his personal propaganda. it was not something that should have been brought up but they had been backed into the corner of.
ingrid fights the urge to reach for the glass of water beside the stack of papers before her. this has already been covered, it was pardoned but it was being dredged up and chained around their ankles.
