Curtain Call (The Jewel Project #7)

4. The Mole

Even after so many years, Sam still hated walking into Herrison's old office and finding Harry there. As anticipated, the promotion hadn't been temporary and the son had stepped up to fill his father's shoes. Only that Harry was swimming in them.

His misguided sense of loyalty to the Agency stemming out of fear made Sam want to avoid his former best friend as much as he could. That and the fact that he'd slept with Christine behind Sam's back.

As it was, all Harry's presence ever did was remind Sam in a very unpleasant way of Herrison's death and the fact that he'd witnessed it firsthand. As much as he tried to repress everything that happened in Japan, he still had nightmares about it. And as he sat across the desk from Harry, he couldn't help but search for resemblances between him and the man who had been the closest thing they'd ever had to a mentor.

"So what brings you here, Sam?" Harry asked, leaning back in his leather chair.

Sam glanced from the folder on Harry's desk, which was most likely his report on the necessity of their new mission, and the guy's face.

"Take a wild guess."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm just making friendly conversation. Of course I read it and know why you're here."

Sure. Friendly conversation. "Can we get the business aspect out of the way first and then get to pleasantries?" Because then he could just walk out.

"Have it your way," Harry mumbled, straightening in his seat and opening the folder. "I did send this up the chain of command. You can only imagine how excited they were that you finally found something."

Sam could only imagine indeed because, even after all these years, he had no idea who the hell was in charge. He'd never seen past where he was now, and the rest of the Agency seemed to have built under them so, even if they were fairly high up the chain now, they were still basically in the same place.

"I think it's a likely place," he said with a shrug.

Harry nodded. "I think so, too. That big brain of yours isn't wrong often."

It would've been a compliment if it didn't sound so bitter, but Sam chose to ignore this. "So, are we greenlit to go?"

"Obviously, though the higher-ups weren't too thrilled with your desire to push this back another two weeks." Harry ruffled through the papers inside, throwing fleeting glances at Sam's careful lies.

"Yeah, well, they need to understand that we can no longer leave on short notice. Every journey needs attentive planning."

Harry smiled and it was strained. Sam was pretty sure their superiors didn't give a shit about their families or their need to plan ahead and find a babysitter. As far as he was concerned, Harry didn't give a rat's ass either.

"How's the fam?" he asked, leaning back again.

"Kids are doing great." Sam narrowed his eyes once Harry kept looking at him as if expecting more information. "Yes, Harry, I'm still married to Christine. And yes, I do have kids with her, which means I must've had sex with her at some point. I still do."

Harry huffed as if he couldn't care less, but Sam saw the tiny grimace. "Weird that you got back with her after what happened."

"No matter how many times you keep bringing that up, I'm not going to magically unmarry her. And yes, we talked about it." This was getting beyond old.

Harry's mouth twisted into a snarl. "Did you now? Did she mention why she did it? How she played me when I was honestly in love with her? How she thought she was so great, juggling two guys, two best friends?"