Beth was trailed by two Agents as she moved through the cubicles and came up on where Damien worked at his desk.
"Damien, Barry wants to see you in his office." She said as the other turned around. The concern showed on his face when he saw that he was to be escorted.
"Okay?" Damien followed Beth across the building to the director’s office where Barry stood behind his desk. The group moved inside but nothing was said. "Sir?"
Barry stared down at his desk. He then looked up to Damien.
"It's been brought to my attention that you've..."Barry gritted his teeth, "You've been screwing Indians."
Damien's mouth dropped open as he panicked for something to say. "I've..."
"Yes or no!"
Damien looked to Beth for help but she looked at the desk. "Yes, I have...sir."
"Put your weapon and your badge on the desk and then take a step back." Barry said.
"What did I do wrong?"
"Do it!" Barry yelled. The two Agents put their hands on their own weapons and waited. Damien swallowed and did as he was told. "You will be taken to the holding cells, where you will be confined pending an investigation as to whether or not you have committed treason..."
"Treason?"
"For trading information to the enemy."
"I haven't done anything wrong..." Damien's voice broke.
"Get him out of my sight." Barry demanded and Damien was grabbed by the arms and led away. Barry threw his coffee cup at the wall where it shattered and caused Beth to startle. "What the hell was he thinking?"
"I don't know." Beth said. she noted that Barry's face was now beat red and she hoped he didn't have a heart attack in front of her. Actually it might have been good for the cause. "He was new. He was a rookie."
"He was vetted. They're all vetted. They're supposed to be the best and if it gets out that he traded sex for information a lot more than our jobs are on the line." Barry sat down hard in his chair. "Find out, find out what he gave them. Find out how bad it is then get me a security certificate."
"Sir?"
"I want him locked up so he can't talk to anybody. You personally call the Prime Minister’s Office. You tell him we have a war criminal, a terrorist that needs to be shut down. You get his name down on a certificate and you make him vanish." Barry turned away in the chair.
"Yes sir." Beth said, puzzled but still left the office to go do her duty. She knew her boss was overreacting but he was also in major damage control, watching as things lost balance. Barry was losing his grip.
It would give her something to focus on though, instead of wondering if Peter gave away her name. She knew that Peter was new to a position of power, only put there after several deaths, so might not be experienced enough to play the system. On the other hand he could be.
One could hope.
"This is bullshit." Damien said as he was escorted off the elevator by the two Agents. They were enforcers for the reserve, so had more of a build than he did and easily moved him around. "I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't!"
They came around the corner to the first open cell but Damien stopped when he saw Peter being moved to his own cell by another Agent. Peter looked over and saw Damien.
Peter couldn't help himself. He smiled.
"You asshole!" Damien screamed and charged at Peter but was caught and pulled back. "He's lying, he's lying! Look at him, he's lying."
Damien was pushed into the cell and the door closed, but his screaming could clearly be heard.
Peter was shoved into his cell and grabbed the wall to hold himself up. He ignored the door as it was closed and locked behind him. He had to wait until he was sure he was alone before he slid down the wall to sit, and let the dizzy feeling pass.
Peter rolled over onto the floor and curled up into a ball as he started crying; uncontrollable and completely raw he let out his despair.
He fucked up. People would die for it.
Beth watched Richard from her office as the other sat in Barry's office talking. She couldn't see Barry for his reactions but she could see Richard. He was always very proper, one leg over the other as his one hand rubbed his own chin as he explained something.
Explained what though, Beth wondered as she filled out her paperwork. Right now there could be a piece of paper in there naming her as a co-conspirator with Damien made worse since everybody knew she had been openly supporting his career. It wouldn't take much for them to have her hulled off as well.
Beth stood up and made her away across the floor to Barry's office. She took a breath and knocked on the door before entering. "Barry, the PMO says you can have the certificate."
"We won't be needing it." Barry stated.
"No?"
"Richard's going to interview Damien. He'll find out what he knows or doesn't know." Barry explained, as Beth spotted the notes on top of the desk.
"Fifteen minutes on my stuff, he'll be answering everything." Richard turned in his chair to look at Beth. "People can't hide from me. I doubt though that he did any of this on purpose."
"But he did do something?" Beth asked.
"Richard made a good point, it's hard to find people with Damien's qualifications, willing to go that extra mile for the cause. We may still need him." Barry leaned forward, "Always good to have Richard around for that sober second thought."
"My pleasure," Richard said. What Barry meant was how difficult it is to find people with sadistic tendencies that allowed them to get away with what they did.
"Uh, as for the prisoner, should I be following up on anybody else he's named?" Beth asked as her heart was in her throat.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Richard answered looking directly at her.
"May I...may I see the list?"
"Absolutely," Barry picked up the note pad and held it out to Beth. She took it and swallowed nervously as she looked it over.
Her stomach dropped and she felt a pain behind her right breast as fear gripped her. "My name is on here."
Barry chuckled. Richard spoke up. "No. Different Elizabeth. She's in the mail room."
"Are you sure?"
"My machines don't lie, and you can't lie in them." Richard said. "I ask him for a name, he said Elizabeth. I asked him what she did here, and he said she organizes letters. We checked and sure enough, she was down there and her locker's full of pro-Indian crap."
"Right." Beth said, "So interview her, process her and..."
"Treason." Barry was blunt.
Beth nodded and left the room with the list, not stopping until she reached her own office where she let the fear wash over her. She put her hand to her forehead. "How did he do that? How?"
Beth realized something as she looked at the other names. She wasn't alone in this building.
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