The Bigot List: (A J.J. McCall Novel) Read Free Page B

shit Hyundai, that’s for certain.”
    Even if he was lying to himself, he certainly believed he was telling the truth. Still no reaction, much to J.J.’s dismay.
    “After everything you’ve said to me, put me through, do you really expect me to trust a word you say? To help you ?”
    Without hesitation, he nodded.
    “Guard!” J.J. called out. “Could we get this man an ice pack, please?”
    “Ice pack?” Jack asked.
    “Yes,” she snapped. “Because you’ve bumped your head if you think for one moment I’m going to risk what’s left of my shitty little career—no small thanks to you —to help save yours!”
    Jack wrung his hands together, desperation seeped through his pores.
    “The FBI has a mole. And this one is even more dangerous than Hanssen.”
    “Yes, you are.”
    “It’s not me!”
    She cut him a wicked sideways glance. “We’ve been trying to tell you about this problem for years. And you didn’t want to listen, at least not until the chicken came home to roost. Now it’s roosting like a motherfucker, huh?”
    “J.J., he’s compromising every sensitive HUMINT operation we’re running. At this rate, all FBI assets will dry up. We’ll never get another well-placed recruitment. Human intelligence in the FBI, as we know it, will cease to exist. This is serious. It’s no game. And it’s because of our history that you’re the only one I can trust…if you agree to help me.”
    Everything in J.J. wanted to smirk, but deep down she knew Jack had finally come to his good senses. He’d spoken a lot of hard truth. Nobody would trust working with FBI counterintelligence. The Bureau’s foreign partners would no longer share intelligence. The CIA was just looking for a reason to cut the Bureau off from their most sensitive human intelligence. The FBI would be isolated and unable to effectively conduct any kind of intelligence operation. And at the end of the day, the country would suffer. Even though J.J. knew her days at the Bureau were numbered and she fought every urge to give a damn, the truth could not be denied.
    “Mhm-hmm. I see. So why’d you ask me to come here? What do you expect me to do? Run some rogue investigation to help free you from the bondage of your own willful ignorance?”
    “If you’re half the agent I think you are...then, yes. I do.”
    A slight sensation emerged behind her eyes, causing her to blink. Of course, that would be the one answer he’d lie about. Made perfect sense, though. Why would he believe she’d trust him under these or any other circumstances?
    “Flattery doesn’t suit you, Jack.”
    Without another word spoken, she stood and raised her arm to signal the guard to open the door. She wanted his jaw to hit the floor; she wanted him to feel a fraction of the hopelessness and frustration she’d felt over the years.
    When she turned to make her grand exit, Jack said, “Walk away if you want, but take this with you. If he set me up, do you think he’ll have any problem doing the same to you?”
    J.J. froze where she stood. Jack’s remark, however desperate, got her attention. She returned to her seat so she could ask a few more questions. After all, he must’ve had some inkling or suspicion that drove him to believe the mole was in the FBI as opposed to the CIA or some other agency. “So, if you had to guess—”
    “The bigot list,” he said. “It’s someone from the bigot list.”
    Director Russell Freeman controlled a “bigot list” that contained the names of personnel with access to “the vault,” an ultra-secure Headquarters facility. Agents planned and executed the nation’s most complex and damaging espionage cases from this space. Only employees with “need-to-know” could enter. Inside, secure file safes locked in four secure breakout rooms held key intelligence from the most valuable counterintelligence sources. One compromise, one dead source, one slip of the tongue to a dimwitted congressman with no sense of national