Ten minutes after the contentious call with his wife had ended, Conner walked through the hotel bar to an outdoor lounge. Several other FBI agents also attending the in-service training had planned to meet there that night. Looking around the open space, he spotted his group at the far end of the patio. Required to take Covid tests before they traveled to the training in Quantico, they were also given rapid tests each morning before the daily sessions began. As long as they stayed outside together and maintained their viral-free bubble, there was a low risk of catching anything. One of his colleagues saw Conner and waved him over.

“We thought you bagged out on us, Brandt,” said Peter Haywood.

“Had to call my wife,” said Conner.

“Shit, I forgot to call mine,” said one of the other agents as he pulled out his phone and walked out onto the street to call home.

“Don’t forget the all-important spousal call,” said Peter, “if you do, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

A murmur of agreement went through the group from everyone except the lone female agent who had her mask down around her neck.

“You guys are throwbacks,” said the tall, leggy blonde woman with a cocky smile. “You think your wives are sitting at home waiting for your phone calls? She’s probably banging your next-door neighbor.”

There was a round of chuckling and some catcalls between the agents. “My next-door neighbor is ninety-six, good for him,” shouted one of the men.

Peter and Conner grabbed two open seats at a distant table and ordered a beer.

“Let me ask you something,” said Conner. “Does your wife ask you questions about work all the time?”

“Constantly,” said Peter shaking his head. “Every night when I walk in the house, I kiss the kids and then my wife asks how my day was. I say ‘Fine’ and she says, ‘So what are you working on?’ And I say, ‘You know I can’t tell you that.’ Then she says, ‘But I’m your wife.’”

Conner laughed and nodded. “My wife does the same thing. It’s like they think they’re junior G-Men. Do you ever get the feeling they only married us because we were in the FBI?”

“I would think that if I had been at the bureau when I met her, but we got married before I signed up,” said Peter. “I was in banking. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? I went from banking to the FBI white-collar crime unit and now I arrest dirty bankers.”