“And ...” Maddock finally met his eye. “I saw Reese with Markson.”
While he didn’t like the sound of that, he wasn’t totally alarmed yet. “So?”
“They were touching each other, um, inappropriately.”
Another time he might have laughed at Maddock’s awkward explanation but instead he was so floored he just gaped. “What?”
“Jenkins and Goldberg saw, too. I think that explains that comment Jenkins made to her about the coffee.” Maddock wasgrimacing. “It was in an alcove, behind a potted plant, but I could see...well, I could see.”
There was no way. There was absolutely no way. He was as sure of that as he was of his own name. Reese would never, ever, in a million years. And with Markson? Not in this lifetime. The man wore argyle socks. Plus, he was married. Reese would never hook up with a married man.
“Maddock, that’s nuts. Reese wouldn’t do that.” But he wasn’t disbelieving that she was talking to Markson without his knowledge. Probably for some kind of reason he wasn’t going to like.
“If you say so,” Maddock said, sounding completely unconvinced.
The picture on the TV screen bounced as Reese walked the vase back across the room. She plunked it down hard, and when it had stopped vibrating, they had a clear shot of everyone in the room except Reese. Perfect.
Derek breathed a sigh of relief.
Maddock swore, giving a little laugh.
No laughter was coming out of Derek until he resolved this. “Hey, Wyatt, can you hold down the fort for ten minutes?” While he went and searched through Reese’s possessions.
She wanted to be a serious journalist. If she were talking to Markson, there would be notes.
He couldn’t believe it.
There in Reese’s briefcase on a yellow legal pad sat notes of a full interview with Markson, where it seemed pretty obvious he had spilled everything. His first contact with the FBI, everything he had given the agents in terms of evidence, and his motivation to see the bad guys at Delco put behind bars.
From the looks of her scratched notes, Reese was already organizing it into a news story, and Derek felt equal parts baffled and furious. How could she do that? Releasing an interview likethis, even after a raid on Delco, could tip off the hands of the defense lawyers and jeopardize prosecution.
It was betrayal, plain and simple. He had trusted her, and she had betrayed him.
Derek shoved Reese’s notes back into her bag. He had to get back to the surveillance room and see if any progress had been made.
Despite the fact that he felt like someone had sucker punched him, he still had a job to do.
And maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised. Derek glanced around the room they had been sharing and shook his head, sticking his key back into the pocket of his pants. Hadn’t he always guessed Reese was all about getting ahead in the game, no matter what she had to do to get there?
Yet like an idiot, he’d fallen for her, letting her manipulate him, then in a final humiliation, had told her that he loved her.
Maddock gave him a look of concern when he entered the room. “Everything alright?”
The look of pity on the agent’s face made his stomach turn and his anger rise another notch. “It’s fine. Reese is not fucking Markson, so just drop it.” She wasn’t fucking the CW, but she was fucking Derekover.
“Sure, okay, man.” Maddock turned back to the screen.
Derek trained his eyes in that direction as well. Reese had left the room entirely.
Then they both heard it.
“So you agree not to manufacture generic versions of the above analgesics?” Chatterton said to the executive from Ricould.
“Yes, we agree to that, if you agree not to pursue patents for the following.” The Ricould exec pointed to the chart where they had listed all the drugs in question.
“Agreed,” said Chatterton.
Derek wanted to let out a whoop of joy, but was afraid he’d miss something. These guys were putting the nails in their coffins and he wanted to hear it live, not off the recording later.