All The Good Things

Chapter 9 - "Do you trust me?"

"Zach," Agent Morgan said, staring at him.

"Cammie," Zach responded casually as he walked to the table, only giving her a quick glance.

With Zach by her side, Ash's senses had returned. She noted the nickname he used and sat back to observe both Zach and Agent Morgan.

"I thought you were still debriefing," Agent Morgan said.

"I'm done," he said.

"We should give everything a second pass."

"I did. I went over everything with Hollis then Ryland."

"We need to know everything," Agent Morgan said.

"And I told them everything," Zach countered.

"This is the first development we've had in months. We need to be thorough."   

"I was thorough," Zach said.

Ash watched as Zach and Agent Morgan made these quick exchanges. Ash recognized the casual way he talked because it was the way he had always spoken to Ash. Agent Morgan's words were more hurried like she was grasping to get something from him, and he wasn't giving her anything. Ash also noted that the tone of Agent Morgan's voice rose the longer they talked. Was she getting frustrated?   

"If you would just come back to headquarters," Agent Morgan tried.

Ash caught Zach's jaw tighten. "Hollis knows all the details of the last twenty-four hours," he said. "Everything else is in my file."

"You know that a file is never as good as talking to the agent in charge," Agent Morgan said. "Just come in and we can get to the bottom of this."

Ash didn't miss the pleading tone in Agent Morgan's voice. She really wanted Zach back.    

"Everything I know is in the file," he repeated.

"You dedicated more than a year to this operation," Agent Morgan said in frustration. "How can you let it go so easily?"

Zach only shrugged. "My job is done here. If you want to debrief me further..." He looked at Agent Morgan fully for the first time. "...serve me a subpoena."

The suggestion shocked Agent Morgan and for a long minute, Zach and she stared at each other until Zach broke the eye contact and looked at Ash.

"You ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Ash said, although she was also fine sitting for a little longer if it meant watching the dynamics between Zach and Agent Morgan. There was so much not being said.

He nodded towards the door and Ash jumped out of her seat to follow him. He had just reached the doorway when Agent Morgan said, "Wait."

Ash saw his shoulder tense as she turned around, eager to hear what else Agent Morgan had to say to him.

"Ms. Cartwright," Agent Morgan addressed Ash. "You haven't signed the agreements yet." She laid a few sheets of paper on the table.

"What agreements?" Ash questioned.

"NDAs," Agent Morgan said flatly, not even trying to hide her frustration with Zach and her annoyance with Ash.

"What NDAs?"

Agent Morgan had to take a deep calming breath before she could respond.

"This is an ongoing investigation," she explained to Ash. "What you witnessed is key information in our case. We need to make sure sensitive information isn't getting leaked."