Sugar & Spice by Keith Lee Johnson Page A

Sex
episodes.”
    â€œReally, Agent McPherson? Does the bureau know your viewing habits?”
    â€œOf course. It’s required. Now, be quiet and let me get my swerve on.”

CHAPTER 34
    My phone rang loudly, waking me and my husband out of a deep death-like sleep at two a.m. Keyth answered the phone and handed it to me.
    â€œWho is it? Kelly?”
    â€œNo. It’s your new boss.”
    â€œHello,” I said groggily.
    â€œAgent Perry, this is Acting Director Malone. I thought you were on extended vacation.”
    â€œI am,” I said, still, out of it, eyes still closed.
    â€œThen what the hell did you think you were doing going on television speaking for the bureau?”
    That got my attention real quick. My eyes shot open and wide. I knew Kortney was going to find out soon enough. But not at two o’clock in the morning. I felt like a kid who knew he was going to be punished for missing curfew so he stays out even longer. The kid realizes the punishment will be the same regardless of how late he returns.
    So flippantly, I said, “Kortney, it’s late and my husband has to get up early. I would appreciate it if you called during normal business hours.”
    She was silent. We had been at the Academy together so I knew what she was doing, knew how she thought. Whenever she was about to blow up, she simply silenced herself, which was exactly what I wanted her to do. At least I’d be able to sleep the rest of the night. If she was reallyhard-up, she could force me to meet her at the bureau where I’d get the tongue-lashing of my life. But by pissing her off, she would think first.
    â€œAgent Perry,” Kortney finally said after a long pause. “I apologize for calling your home at this hour, but I’m looking at this idiot who looks just like you in an FBI windbreaker on the news. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t suspend you on the spot.”
    â€œKortney, I screwed up,” I said, changing my tone. “I let my emotions get the better of me. I knew the victim. She was one of my daughter’s teachers.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Phoenix.” Kortney softened a bit. “But was the reporter right? Did the victim have anything to do with the Perkins murders?”
    â€œI don’t believe she did. No,” I said sincerely.
    â€œYou’re absolutely sure about that?”
    â€œYes,” I said confidently.
    â€œAnd you know that because…” Kortney’s words trailed off.
    I paused. I had fallen into yet another trap. Kortney had set me up. I felt about as bright as a two-dollar whore bragging about giving change back to her customers. Both the reporter and Kortney had used my emotions against me in subtle ways to elicit truth from me that I, under normal circumstances, would have never divulged. The reporter saw my whitehot anger and knew immediately that I would want to set the record straight. Now Kortney was pulling my loyalty strings to siphon off information.
Pimped twice in one night.
    â€œWell?” Kortney said. “How do you know, Phoenix?”
    â€œWell…I guess I really don’t know.”
    â€œAnd that’s why you keep your damn mouth closed in front of the media. Do you realize your emotional outburst made the national broadcast? The local affiliate notified the network and now CNN has it. It’s being replayed every half-hour on
Headline News.”
    I remained silent.
    â€œTell me something, Phoenix. How much did your house cost?”
    â€œHuh?”
Where did that come from?
    â€œHumor me. How much did your house cost?”
    â€œThat’s personal, Kortney,” I said. I didn’t want people in the bureau knowing how much money my father and husband’s private investigation firm was pulling in.
    â€œYou know I can easily find out, Phoenix. It’s a matter of public record. But if I did that, I would have to wait until tomorrow to make my salient point. Now,