“You people are unbelievable. You want to talk about my team? Let’s see. John Diaz was murdered. Cass and Layla have been attacked and are living at safe houses, and your concern is whether their spending habits have changed? This is beyond ridiculous.” He paused for a moment. “But to answer your question directly, no. There have been no changes. People have been too concerned with staying alive.”

Sanchez nodded. “How well do you know Layla Karam?”

Of course they would go after the Agency person. “I met her when we started preparing for this operation, but do I believe she could be involved in stealing from the cartel? Of course not.”

“Don’t you think that Agency operatives sometimes play outside the lines a bit?”

“Sure, but Layla isn’t your typical spy.”

O’Leary raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Layla’s an analyst, and that’s what she wants to be. The only reason she went into the field is because they told her she had to. From what I got to know of her, there isn’t a deceitful bone in her body, which makes being a spy pretty difficult. But she’s brilliant. Her language skills are off the charts, and she was able to handle herself in the field, but that’s not what she wants to do.”

“You’re confident she’s clean?” Sanchez said.

“I’m confident my entire team is clean.”

“Including Cass?” O’Leary asked.

“Yes. All of us. And Diaz as well.” Zane didn’t know how he could be any more clear about his feelings, but he had to speak his mind. “I don’t know what you guys are really after here. Is it the truth? Because it doesn’t seem like it. You seem hyperfocused on our team, but you need to start looking elsewhere, because the only thing you’re going to find on my team are people trying their best to do their jobs and do them with integrity.”

“Are you finished?” Sanchez asked.

“Yes.” He could’ve said a lot more, but they didn’t seem moved by any of his comments.

“One piece of advice,” Sanchez said.

Zane tried not to seem too annoyed by Sanchez’s arrogance.

“You have too much faith in people. Take off the blinders and look at things with fresh eyes. You might not like what you see.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

O’Leary looked at him. “What Palmer is trying to say is that you appear to see people’s best attributes. In our line of work, we see the worst. Just make sure you’re not going to be blindsided because of your loyalty.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. My team is solid. That’s the end of the story.”

O’Leary nodded. “I think we’re done for now. You’re free to go.”