Eban closed his eyes. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to work for me.” He couldn’t act as liaison and protect Darby the way he needed to. He’d talk to Quentin and figure out a 24/7 bodyguard. Or get her somewhere safe in a way that didn’t involve the sort of protective custody the DOJ usually prescribed in these circumstances—the idea of forcing Darby to do anything made his gut churn.

“Arrange for the decoy to get here ASAP and once I know Darby is safe, I’ll discuss the other options with my boss.”

“I’ve already run my plans through the FBI Director’s Office. It’s been approved.”

Quiet rage filled him. Eban cooled his temper with calming breaths. Went back to his training which had taught him all about handling difficult people. “I can understand why you might have been desperate enough to think that pressuring me might be a good idea.”

“You do work for the Bureau, do you not?”

Eban ignored Frazer’s growing ire.

Darby came out of the bathroom fully dressed with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. Her emerald eyes were huge and she’d obviously overheard some of the conversation.

“Here’s the thing about negotiations, ASAC Frazer. You need to be in possession of all the facts before you make your opening offer, otherwise you run the risk of a black swan completely derailing your carefully crafted plans.”

“Black swan?”

“The thing you didn’t realize you didn’t know.”

Frazer was silent so Eban continued, confident he had the man’s full attention. “The black swan in this particular scenario is the fact I would rather disobey an order and quit my job than jeopardize Darby’s safety. I will not allow her to be dangled as bait.”

Darby’s eyes grew wider.

“I’ll quit before putting her at risk even to catch this killer.”

“Catching the serial killer will keep her safe, not to mention others.”

“She is my first priority.”

“Are you disobeying a direct order, SSA Winters?” Fraser’s tone was frosty.

Eban laughed. “If you can get Quentin Savage to repeat that order to me then I might be impressed enough to consider it. He’s my boss. Not you.”

Frazer must have already put together the connection between Quentin, Haley and Darby. Frazer knew the head of the CNU wouldn’t go for this idea either and had gone over all of their heads to the new director.

Eban certainly wouldn’t put Quentin in a position where he might lose his temper and quit in rage. The Bureau needed him.

“My counteroffer is this. I will go into the police headquarters here and work with the locals in an advisory capacity to help review the evidence and get it processed as a matter of priority—using the FBI labs where appropriate—and help direct the investigation until one of your team gets here. Darby O’Roarke stays under my protection or the protection of someone I trust at all times. I’m not your liaison, I’m a temporary intermediary.”

Frazer was quiet, obviously listening.