The door opened, and two men walked into the room, along with her boss, Brett. She wondered if he was going to be involved in this.

“Layla, thanks for coming in.” Brett gave her a forced smile.

Like she had much of a choice. “Of course.”

She turned her attention to the two men she didn’t know. One was quite a bit older than the other.

“I’m Frank Gibson,” the older man said. “And this is Monty Hicks. We’re both with the IG’s office.”

Hunter rose and stretched out his hand. “I’m Hunter McCoy, Ms. Karam’s attorney.”

Brett eyed Hunter but didn’t respond directly to him. “Layla, I just popped in to make sure everyone was situated here, but I won’t be sticking around for the questions. The IG’s office prefers it that way.”

She did too. She wasn’t sure Brett was really on her side. “Okay, thank you.”

Brett gave a nod to the guys from the IG’s office and walked out of the room.

“Let’s have a seat,” Frank said. They each passed over their business cards. “Ms. Karam, we usually don’t allow attorneys in our investigations, but given the circumstances, we have no objection, since Mr. McCoy has the proper clearances.”

“And what are the circumstances exactly?” Layla asked. She appreciated that Hunter was there, but she was going to speak up to protect her interests as well.

Frank cleared his throat. “Ms. Karam, you’re familiar with the known terrorist group called Al-Nidal, correct?”

She hadn’t been expecting that to be where the questioning would start. “Yes, of course, they’re part of my portfolio.”

“Meaning?” Monty asked.

“You’ll have to excuse Monty. He’s new to this job, so he’ll have more questions,” Frank said.

Layla was skeptical about that claim, but she focused on answering the question, assuming that the sooner she did, the sooner she’d find out what this was all about. “That means that I study the group in hopes of becoming an expert so I can aid operations and any other analytical efforts we have.”

Frank nodded. “Have you ever met any members of Al-Nidal?”

Before she could answer, Hunter grabbed her arm to stop her from responding, but she waved him off. “No. I haven’t.”

“Are you sure about that?” Monty asked.

“I’m one hundred percent sure. I think I’d know if I’d met a known terrorist.” Layla’s frustration level was building.

Monty opened one of the many folders in front of him and slid a picture across the table. “Do you know who this is?”

Layla sighed. This was quickly going nowhere, in her opinion. “Of course. It’s Omar Assad.”

“And who is that?” Monty asked.