Brian came alive. "I'm starving," he said. "I didn't have any breakfast this morning, no dinner last night… I need food now, or I'll die. And, of course, I can't go anywhere without my bodyguard." He offered Judith his arm.
"At your service, sir," she said, and linked arms with him.
As they started out the door, Brian turned to his brother. "Thank you, Malcolm," he said. "I owe you one."
Malcolm chuckled as the door closed behind them. "You win some, you lose some," he said. "Sometimes the clichés say it just right."
Although he would have preferred a more experienced agent for his brother, Judith was an accurate shot…and he totally enjoyed scaring Brian overnight. He knew Brian expected some kind of wild intruder. Instead, he got a soft, cool beauty. She would do the job well, he knew. Malcolm nodded. Yes, she'll do the job just fine.
With Brian taken care of, at least for the time being, the agency gained some badly needed time. Time to examine all of the facts, time to collect more evidence, time to link things together.
Before he left for home, he made a phone call to Tanya. He spoke at length to Charles Aldrin, briefly to Edda, and asked Tanya to stop in for her paperwork in the morning.
He hung up the phone and dusted his hands together, satisfied.
* * *
In the morning, Tanya arrived at the same time as the pet shop delivery. The man smiled and gestured for her to precede him into Malcolm's office, then entered with a large cardboard box containing many plastic bags filled with water and flashing colors.
"Tanya, I'm sorry. This has to come first, if you don't mind. I have the tank filled and ready, and I really am impatient to see what we have here." Malcolm checked the thermometer on the side of the tank and watched the filter send bubbles through the water. He strode and strutted. "Do we have to float them?" he asked the pet shop owner. "I really can't wait."
"Well, it's chancy. If there's too much of a difference in temperature, they could go into shock."
"No, I'm sure it'll be just fine. I have the water temperature just right for them. Please."
"All right, sir. They're your fish." It was clear the man didn't approve, but one by one, he tore open the plastic sacks and poured the fish into the tank. In moments, the tank flashed and gleamed with darting color.