Sparrow lunged out of his chair. “You lost the body? You lost a key factor in the investigation and you sit there and refuse to hand it over to us?”
“The body was not lost,” Eve said evenly, “but removed. Covertly. That sort of thing falls under your aegis, doesn’t it, Assistant Director?”
“If you’re accusing the HSO of stealing a corpse-”
“I’ve made no such accusation, but merely commented about the covert nature of your work.” She reached into her pocket and drew out a microtracker. “This is the sort of thing you play with, right?” She held it up, turning it between her thumb and forefinger. “Funny. I found this on my vehicle-my official police unit-which was parked outside the morgue. Does the HSO consider it a matter of global security to track and spy on a NYPSD officer while she is carrying out her sworn duty?”
“This is a sensitive matter, beyond your-”
“Electronic surveillance of a police officer, who has not been charged or is not suspected of a crime or an infraction of law,” Webster put in, “violates federal and state privacy codes as well as departmental regs. If Lieutenant Dallas is suspected of a crime or an infraction by the HSO that requires said surveillance, Internal Affairs would like to see the paperwork, the order, the charge, the evidence that led to the surveillance.”
“I am unaware of any such surveillance by my agency.”
“Is that what you call plausible deniability, Sparrow?” Eve asked. “Or just a big, fat lie?”
“Lieutenant,” Tibble said, quietly, authoritatively.
“Yes, sir. I apologize.”
“Chief, Commander, Lieutenants.” Sparrow paused, let his gaze scan the faces. “The HSO wishes to cooperate with local law-enforcement whenever this cooperation is possible, but global matters take priority. We want Lieutenant Dallas removed from the investigation and all data pertaining thereto given over to me, as representative.”
“I am unable to comply with the request,” Eve repeated.
“Chief Tibble,” Sparrow continued. “I’ve given you the letter of request and authorization from the director.”
“Yes, I’ve read it. As I’ve read the reports and the case file provided by Lieutenant Dallas. Of the two, I find hers more compelling.”
“I can, if this request is denied, obtain a federal warrant for those reports and case files, and authorization to have the investigation terminated.”
“Let’s cut the bullshit here, Assistant Director.” Tibble folded his hands and leaned forward. “If you could have, you would have rather than wasting this time. Your agency is hip-deep in the mud on this. Two of yours are dead, and they were, allegedly, exploiting an innocent civilian without her knowledge or consent to gather information from a private concern.”
“Securecomp is on the agency’s watch list, Chief Tibble.”
“I can only imagine what’s on your agency’s watch list. Regardless of this, or the very legitimate reasons you may have for that list, Reva Ewing was unforgivably-and illegally-used, her reputation impugned, her life turned inside out. She is not one of you. Chloe McCoy is dead. She was not one of you. Joseph Powell is dead. He was not one of you.”
“Sir-”
Tibble merely held up a finger. “My count makes it three victims to two, weighed on this side of the fence. I will not compel my lieutenant to step out of an active investigation.”
“During the course of her investigation, your lieutenant illegally received or accessed data from the HSO. We can pursue charges on that issue.”
Tibble spread his hands. “You are free to do so. It may be necessary for you to pursue charges against Commander Whitney and myself as well, as we have both received that data from the lieutenant.”
Sparrow kept his seat, but Eve watched his hands ball into fists. The way things were going from his side, she couldn’t blame him for wanting to punch something.
“We want her source.”
“I’m not required to divulge my source.”
“You’re not required,” Sparrow snapped out the words, “but you can be charged, you can be held, and you can very possibly lose your badge.”
The more anger and frustration she read from him, the less she felt herself. “I don’t think you’re going to charge me, because if you do, it’s going to look really bad for your team. The media gets their teeth into some of the dirty little games the HSO authorized Bissel to play-and they start speculating that he was taken out, he and his partner brutally murdered by your organization, which then callously staged a frame for Bissel’s innocent and exploited wife-why they’ll just tear you to bloody pieces.”
“Bissel and Kade were not HSO-sanctioned terminations.”
“Then you really better hope I find the answers that prove your agency is not responsible.”
“You hacked into government files,” he tossed at her.
“Prove it,” she tossed right back.
He started to speak, or, more likely from his expression, spew, but his ‘link beeped. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but that’s a priority signal. I have to take it. Privately.”
“Through that door,” Tibble told him with a gesture. “There’s a small office you can use.” When Sparrow closed the door at his back, Tibble tapped his fingers on the edge of his desk. “They may charge you, Dallas.”
“Yes, sir, they may. But I don’t think they will.”
He nodded, seemed to drift off into thought. “I don’t like their use of private citizens in this maneuver. I don’t like them planting devices to spy on my officers, and circumventing the standards of privacy and decency and law to do so. These organizations have their purpose, and require a certain amount of latitude, but there are lines. Those lines were crossed with Reva Ewing, and she’s a citizen of New York, of the goddamn United States, and as such has a right to expect her government to treat her fairly. As such, she deserves the full efforts of this police force. I’m backing you on this, but I’m warning you, get it wrapped quickly. They’re bound to send bigger guns than Sparrow to knock you out.”
“Understood. Thank you, sir, for your support.”
Sparrow stormed back in, and his face was a study in barely suppressed fury. “You went to the media.”
Nadine worked fast, Eve thought, and kept her face blank. She’d just fall back on a little plausible deniability herself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You leaked Bissel’s association with the agency to the press. And Kade’s. You’ve involved the HSO in a goddamn media circus to protect your damn hide.”
Slowly, very slowly, Eve got to her feet. “I leaked nothing to the media to protect my hide. I can protect my own hide. You make accusations like that, Sparrow, you’d better be able to back them up.”
“They didn’t pluck it out of thin air.” He spun toward Tibble. “With this development, it’s more vital than ever that this officer be removed from the investigation and her case files be turned over to the HSO.”
“Media attention directed at the HSO doesn’t, in any way, alter the circumstances of my lieutenant’s position.”
“Lieutenant Dallas has a personal vendetta against the agency and is using this investigation to revenge herself for what transpired over twenty years ago in-”
“Hold it.” Her stomach shuddered. “Hold it right there. Sir,” she said to Tibble. “Assistant Director Sparrow is about to bring up a personal matter. One that has no bearing whatsoever on this investigation, or on my conduct as an officer. I’d like to discuss that matter with him, to resolve it. I request, respectfully, sir, that I be given that opportunity. In private. Commander…”
Don’t lose it, she ordered herself. God, don’t lose it.
“Commander Whitney is aware of the matter. I have no objection to him being present.”
Tibble said nothing for a moment, then rose. “Lieutenant Webster, let’s step out.”