Chapter Three
With a thumbs up from the guard station, Nutsbe pulled through the massive metal gates that protected the Iniquus compound. He liked this drive, the quiet of the green expanding out in all directions, the woods off to the side, and today—with his windows down to enjoy the first crisp day since the heat wave—the rushing waters of the Potomac making the white noise that filled his ears.
There was peace in the drive.
It was a chance to gain focus, a time to let go of personal distractions as he headed to work.
Nutsbe assumed that Command intentionally designed the entry for that very reason.
Everything they did was with great purpose.
Up ahead, the Headquarters building looked a lot like a stately country club. It was the Mata Hari of buildings—in a good way. Beauty on the outside, cunning strategy on the inside. The exterior evoked thoughts of elegance and low-voiced conversations. Yet, walking through the doors, the interior was modern, with machine-like efficiency. There, a hive of men and women joined forces to keep Iniquus"s clients safe.
The people signing contracts with Iniquus ranged from the private to the corporate to the institutional. Iniquus was Uncle Sam's favorite nephew when he needed to keep a diplomatic arm's length from history-changing world events.
And it seemed, this week, that Nutsbe was playing a starring role in one of those events. Sucks to be me, Nutsbe thought, drumming his thumbs on the steeringwheel.
His stomach was making ugly gurgling noises as his body dealt with the stress.
Driving past the guest and executive parking area, Nutsbe locked eyes with Bob Palindrome. Bob was leaning against one of the pillars outside the front entrance to the atrium. His phone was to his ear, but his gaze followed Nutsbe's car. Nutsbe pulled into his dedicated space in the Panther Force section of Parking A. The proximity to the main door was a perk necessitated by being part of a tactical force, where the members might be racing into action—jumping on a plane, roaring down Dolley Madison toward Langley, or Pennsylvania toward the FBI. And it was a definite time advantage not to have to take a shuttle from the barracks or the satellite parking areas.
Today, Nutsbe wasn't going to the FBI. The FBI was coming to him. Joy.
Still in his gym clothes from his lunchbreak fight demonstration with Chuck and Billy, Nutsbe would grab a quick shower and change into his uniform before the big meeting got underway.
Exiting his vehicle, Nutsbe reached for the hook in the back. Snagging the hanger with his uniform, he noticed that Bob had swiveled and still held a straight line of sight, obviously waiting for him. Nutsbe wondered what was up.
Later today, Panther Force would be in the air, heading back from Estonia. Bob might just want a report on how the newest Cerberus Tactical K9, Take It to the Max, did on the flight since Nutsbe had been his temporary handler. But that didn't make much sense. That was a phone call from their respective Headquarters. Bob wouldn't have left Cerberus on the east side of the Iniquus Campus for something like that.
As Nutsbe strode closer, Bob raised a hand, ensuring that Nutsbe knew he needed a word and that Nutsbe wouldn't turn toward the cafeteria entrance.
Nutsbe was hungry. The cafeteria would be good, but with a packed schedule, he'd pull something from the Panther Force War Room fridge, where the concierge unit always kept things stocked. Not just a perk but often a necessity when a tactical force was ramped up, and there was no downtime to play with.
Nutsbe raised his hand in response.
"Good timing that I'm running into you," Bob said.
"Feels like this is on-purpose good timing that you coordinated with overwatch."
Bob grinned. "You have a finely tuned understanding of how things work around here."
Reaching the main entry together, Bob pulled the door wide. "Mind if I walk with you? I know you're about to have a meeting."
Nutsbe checked his watch. He should still have time to get himself showered and ready. Tipping his ear toward the elevator bank, he kept moving. He had a lot to get done in the next twenty minutes.
"I just need a quick yay or nay," Bob said. "I have a prosecutor who reached out to me just now. She's in the middle of a trial, and her witness is either extremely sick with a mega case of the flu—"
"Or terrified of taking the stand." Nutsbe pressed the up button.
"Everyone's money is on the terrified part," Bob slid his hands into his pockets.
"Okay," Nutsbe stepped onto the elevator. "What do you need from me?"
The command structure over at Cerberus was slightly different from the force operations on the main campus. Bob was a commander but also took on a share of the tactical operations tasks. Under the direct command of Titus Kane, Nutsbe was solely focused on supporting his team as the head of their TOC—Tactical Operations Center (pronounced talk.) Pretty much any capability Nutsbe had, Bob had it, too. So the ask here wasn't obvious.
The elevator doors slid wide, and Bob followed Nutsbe on, then pressed the button for the tactical force level. "Olivia wants to offer her witness a court support dog."
"We have one of those?" Nutsbe draped his uniform over his shoulder, curling his finger into the hanger wire to keep it in place.
"We have four of those as part of our community support work. Didit started the initiative, and Iniquus embraced it as another way to provide community service. Of those four, we only have one available right now, Beowolf. The others deployed."
"Okay." The car bounced to a stop, and the doors slid open.
"And along with all my dogs out on missions, so are all the folks I normally have that go to the court." Bob stepped into the hall, turning to wait for Nutsbe.
Nutsbe's brow drew in tight. "You need a K9 and a handler."
"Right. And since you went through the K9 handler training and certification, you're on my roster. I checked your file, and you don't need to re-certify for the courts for another eight months."
Nutsbe was getting a sick sensation in his stomach—could be the stress about his meeting, could be that his intuition was suddenly sparking about this case. Hell, it could be that sewage water they called coffee over at Chuck's place. "You would think there was special protocol and training for going into the courts."
"It's all wrapped into our Iniquus training program." Bob opened the file he'd been carrying under his arm, holding it wide.
Nutsbe glanced down. "Sure enough, I'm certified to go to court. Okay, I'm remembering that now." He braced. "It's a female, right? What did she witness?"
"Olivia, the federal prosecutor, didn't go into it. I could hear in her voice that she was worried about losing the witness's cooperation. She only does big cases with violent offenders or cases that have to do with national security. It would be bad if this guy was back out on the streets because the witness wasn't willing to witness."
"When is the trial?" Nutsbe was stalling, looking for an excuse to professionally decline.
"It's going on now, but they don't need the K9 in place until tomorrow. Possibly on another day when the jury is reading their verdict."
"All right." Nutsbe dragged his index finger under his lower lip. "That's going to have to be a no from me."
"Yeah, I was afraid you'd have your calendar filled already. Olivia was throwing a last-minute hail Mary. You know how that goes." Bob paused with a tip of his head and a furrowed brow. "Your calendar isn't filled, is it? You're just a flat-out no."
"I am. You'll have to pull from someone who already does this."
Bob drew his brow in with confusion. "Do you mind if I ask why?"
"A woman's going to be on the stand."
"That's right." Bob posted his hands on his hips.
"And the person on trial did something terrible to her."
"He did."
"And the entire time she's in there," Nutsbe said, "she's going to be sobbing. Rightfully so."
"That's why she needs Beowolf to hug. To give her some support."
"Yeah, man," Nutsbe shook his head, "it's like this, I would take that piece of shit out into the alley and beat the living crap out of him. I would dive through fire to get to her while she was being hurt and pull her to safety while my skin melted. I would do a lot of hero shit, willingly. But there is one thing I cannot stomach, a woman in tears. I cannot. Just can't. It just kills me. It's kryptonite."
"Okay, I hear you. I feel the same. Except—"
"Shit," Nutsbe said on the exhale.
"You're the only one that's certified to go. If it's not you, that poor woman's going to go alone. She'll maybe have a bailiff in the room to make her feel a little safer from this devil."
"Guilt trip much? What about Didit? You said this was her outreach baby."
"Didit is in the field. All of Cerberus is in the field except for the kennel hands and me. I can't leave the K9s."
"Lynx would do it." Nutsbe swiped his hand along his jaw. "Yeah, but she's on her honeymoon."
"On Panther Force, Margot is certified. Is she coming in with the rest of the team?" Bob asked.
"She's still testing positive for Covid. She's in Helsinki."
"Okay." Bob held out his hand. "Thank you for considering."
Nutsbe took Bob's hand and held the shake. Looking down at his sneakers, he frowned. "She'll face that guy all alone?"
"All alone."
"Yeah, I can't have that." Nutsbe shook, then slowly nodded his head. "I guess I'll have to do it." He looked up and caught Bob's eye. "What time is this?"
"The witness is scheduled to testify in the afternoon session tomorrow. You'd probably need to be at the witness's house around noon. You'll escort her to the courthouse."
"And you'll bring me up to speed before that?"
"We can talk about it in the car this evening. If you're going to court, you need to hang out with Beowolf a bit, so you get to be buds. We also need to go over and introduce you and Beowolf to the witness and the prosecutor."
"Olivia."
"Right. Olivia Gladstone."
Nutsbe let out a whistle. "I know her by reputation. She's no wilting flower. This is her case, huh? And she doesn't know Beowolf yet?"
"I looked it up. Beowolf has been working in the courts for about two years. But Olivia's witnesses usually end up with Valor."
Nutsbe smiled. "Such a sweet mama. I bet she's great at giving support in the courtroom. I can see her doing that job."
"Yeah, well, Beowolf isn't really the sweet mama type. He's more of a blob of protective honey."
"Interesting." Nutsbe quirked a single brow. "Not sure what to do with that picture you just painted."
"So you can get away from whatever you've got on your plate this evening and also do the trial support duties tomorrow?"
"I'll figure it out." Nutsbe glanced down at his watch. He had ten minutes to make himself look professional. He turned and started down the hall. "Text me the times. I'll do what I have to to make it a go. But right now," he reached out for the door handle on Panther Force War Room. "I understand that I might have inadvertently sparked World War III. So I need to go in and figure that out."