Sawyer arched an eyebrow. “We’re working on it, along with the DEA.” Then he looked at her. “And what exactly is Hunter’s role here?”

She held back a laugh.

“What?” Hunter asked. “I don’t have my own file?”

Sawyer’s jaw twitched. “You’re not one of ours.” Then he paused. “Are you?”

“Most definitely not,” Hunter said.

“Hunter has multiple roles. He’s serving as my legal counsel, but he’s also a PI, and we’ve known each other for years.”

“That’s how he knows what you do?” Sawyer asked.

“Exactly.” These questions let Layla know an important fact—the file that Sawyer had on her omitted all information about her past with Hunter. “Let’s get back to the topic of the cartel.”

“We’ve got the new safe house set up. Ace and Dax will be leading your primary security detail, so you should be safe from the cartel threats for now. We’ve been briefed by the DEA and understand the threat matrix.”

Layla realized she hadn’t checked in on Zane and Cass yet. “Who have you spoken to at the DEA?”

“Mason,” Sawyer answered.

“Do you know if the rest of the team is okay?”

“They’re all right. Cass is accounted for at the DEA safe house.”

“What about Zane?”

“I think he’s staying with her.”

Layla still thought it odd that Zane was somehow in the clear in all this, but there had to be a reasonable explanation.

They rode the rest of the way to the safe house in silence. This house was closer to Langley, and she figured that was by design. The CIA wanted to keep her nearby. They might have their suspicions about her, but this ordeal had also shown her that the Agency saw her as a vital asset, and she planned to use that to her strategic advantage.

They pulled up to the two-story Cape Cod–style home and parked. “Wait here while we do a sweep,” Sawyer said.

The three men exited, leaving her with Hunter.

“Do you trust them?” he asked.

“Not exactly, but I do think they’ve been tasked with keeping me safe. Think about it, Hunter. The CIA needs me. Look at the great lengths they’ve gone to over the past few years to get me into the field. To groom me to take on big assignments. They can’t turn a blind eye to those photos, but I think they’re banking on me being clean and then pushing me as hard as they can to get into the field. Knowing them, it might even be a condition of an exoneration.”

He groaned. “That’s not what you want.”