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It only took two words spoken for Laura Lee to positively identify the voice as belonging to Harrison West. “That’s him,” she blurted. She’d only heard his voice in her nightmares over the last ten years, and it caused the same reaction now.
Dupont rounded the table and gripped her shoulder. “He can’t hurt you, Laura, not physically and not your career.”
“I know,” she agreed.
“I’ll meet you both at the office,” Garcia said. “Give me about an hour.”
Laura Lee didn’t get her question out before Garcia disconnected. Her gaze went to Brad. “What do you think we’re going to do tonight?”
“My guess is to have you return West’s call.”
“Tonight?”
Dupont nodded. “We’ll have to take your car. Mine’s in the shop. I’ll drive if you’re too shaken.”
“No, I’m fine,” she insisted as she stood.
“We have some time before we have to go. Let’s finish dinner.” He went back around the table to his chair.
He thought she’d be able to eat? Her stomach threatened to expel what was in it. She took a drink of water and then reluctantly retook her seat.
Golf
When they arrived at the office, Laura Lee was surprised to find not only Garcia, but Joe Lassiter, Caleb Smith, and even Shepherd in the conference room. She set her phone on the table as she took her seat, nervously glancing at those already seated at the table. She drew in a slow breath to calm her racing heartbeat.
“We’ve all listened to West’s voicemail. He tried to sound like this call was routine. It’s not,” Shepherd began. “I haven’t brought the deputy director in on our Op yet. What happens next will determine if he’ll be read in at this point. Saxton, we’ve scripted your return call with all anticipated scenarios. We’ll all be in this room when you make the call and we’ll all be listening in so we can give input if anything unexpected happens. The goal of this call will be to trip him up and get him to admit something damning.”
Laura Lee nodded. She had no clue how she’d do that.
“West thinks he holds power over you. He’ll be counting on the fact that you’re still his victim. That’s the first dynamic we need to flip to knock him off balance,” Lassiter said.
“Will I try to get him to admit he raped me and the other women on a recorded phone line?” Laura Lee asked.
“He won’t do that. He’s too smart. He’s got his conversation with you already planned and that’s why we need to knock him off balance, so he screws up and lets something slip,” Shepherd said.
“He’ll threaten to deny your credentials because that’s his only power play at this point. A decade old cheating allegation won’t hold much weight,” Garcia said. “My guess is he’s going to want to meet.”
Laura Lee stopped breathing. No, she couldn’t do that. Hearing his voice was bad enough. Having to see him and talk with him face to face would be crushing.
“It’ll be under the guise of a final review hearing, but it won’t be at any official location, is my guess,” Shepherd added. “And that’s where we’ll get the recording we want.”
“You want me to agree to meet him?” Laura Lee asked. She knew she sounded as panicked as she felt.
“With backup and a lot of prep for the meeting,” Lassiter said. “We’ll make sure you’re ready to see and talk to him. It’ll be to spring a trap on him. And you won’t be alone with him this time.”
“He’ll think he’s there to further victimize you, but you’ll be the one running the show. By the time we allow this meeting to take place, we’ll have proof of the other women he’s assaulted. You’ll confront him with all we know and suspect. You’ll be confident, not the scared woman he’s expecting,” Shepherd said.
“How do we delay the meeting with him?” Laura Lee asked.
“If you’re not in the U.S. you can’t meet. I’ve had Washington note your file to indicate that you’re currently in West Africa with a return date scheduled for three weeks out,” Shepherd said. “He shouldn’t have access to this information, but just in case he somehow does, we have it covered.”
“This guy’s biggest fear is that he doesn’t hold power over you any longer. If you don’t even remember him, that would be the biggest insult. So that’s the response you’re going to give him. It’s the best thing you can do to make him feel insignificant. It’ll crush him that what he did to you hasn’t affected you.” Lassiter said. “And that will knock him off balance faster than anything else.”
Laura Lee nodded again. “What exactly does he know about my current assignment?”
“In his position, all he should know is that you’re assigned to a specialty unit and that your training hasn’t been conventional within the established structure at the Quantico facility. I’m sure black ops is in his thoughts, but he should have no confirmation of that,” Shepherd said.
“And if he does, that’s a security leak that needs to be plugged ASAP,” Garcia said.