She hated that nickname but didn’t correct him. “Please answer the question, Bryce. It’s important.” She wanted to look him in the eyes and evaluate his response. “I’m in trouble, Bryce. I was at Old Town Grille when the bomb went off.”

He frowned, and the mood in the room instantly shifted. “Oh no. I had no idea. I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Thank you.”

Bryce leaned back. “But now I’m even more confused, Lay. Help me out here.”

“Someone is giving Layla a really hard time,” Hunter explained. “They’re coming after her, including the opening of an IG investigation. We have no idea what it’s about or who is behind it. Layla is on administrative leave.”

“From State?” Bryce arched an eyebrow.

“He knows, Bryce.”

With that revelation, Bryce frowned even more deeply. “What’s going on here? Why would you have told this guy anything?”

“Hunter knew about my position at the CIA from the very beginning.”

Bryce’s eyes lit up. “Wait a minute. You’re the law school guy? The idiot.”

“Guilty,” Hunter responded. “So yes, I know what Layla does and what you did. We’re trying to figure out who wants to harm her, and we would like to strike you off that list.”

Bryce shifted his attention back to Layla. “Yeah, we parted on bad terms, but I promise I don’t have anything to do with any investigation. I didn’t agree with what you did to me, but I know how you operate, so I can’t say that I’m surprised. If you’re worried about someone gunning for you, it’s not me. Look around. I’ve made a great career for myself here with a lot higher pay.”

She studied him closely and wanted to believe him. It did look like he was doing incredibly well for himself.

Hunter cleared his throat. “Do you know of anyone who would want to frame Layla for some type of wrongdoing?”

Bryce looked at her. “You know how things are at the Agency. There’s so much backstabbing and maneuvering.”

“So you do know something,” Hunter suggested.

Bryce shook his head. “Actually, I don’t. I was just saying you need to watch your back. Be careful, because there are some real threats out there, and some of them are a lot closer than they may seem.” His attention was completely on her now. “Your insistence on playing by the book is antithetical to the way a lot of people operate, but if you’re asking me if I ever heard of anyone gunning for you, then the answer is no. Then again, given our friendship, I probably wouldn’t have been told. We were friends once, if you remember that.”