“Of course,” Julia said and rose, gesturing toward the door. “If you’d like, you can use my office, which is secured within the SCIF and protected from prying eyes and ears. You can use my secure line or just have privacy with your own device if you prefer.”

“That would be great, thanks,” Gayle said. If they intended to listen in on her, they would do it whether she was on her phone or theirs, she supposed. Might as well show a little trust and comradery. And anyway, she knew that Steve would be able to scramble the signal on his end if he wanted. She followed Julia out of the SCIF conference room and around the corner to a small but tidy office.

The Shepherds intelligence director gestured for Gayle to have a seat at her desk, which she did. “You needn’t worry about us listening in, I promise,” she said. “We don’t spy on our friends and allies.”

Gayle nodded but suspected the conversation would be recorded nonetheless. She thanked Julia, and a moment later, she was alone to make her call.

Schmidt answered on the first ring.

“Schmidt,” he barked into the phone.

“It’s me, Gayle James,” she said, then glancing around the empty room, added, “on an unsecure line.”

“I show your signal scrambled, but I assume that means you’re in Nashville,” he said dismissively. “What’s up?”

Gayle gave him a quick overview of the short meeting so far and her desire to follow up on the Chinese scientist.

“The only problem,” she said softly, “is the Shepherds want to exfil this guy. They even offered to take on the operation themselves so they can bring the asset to their HQ.”

The laugh on the other end of the line made her raise her eyebrows.

“How is that a problem?” her boss asked but then answered before she could begin to think. “Disappearing Chinese nationals is complicated these days, Gayle. It requires multiple cutouts and backstories. They just offered to become all the needed cutouts at once. We have complete deniability because they don’t really exist, not in any official way. Even in their contractor role, they are not avowed. If they jack it up, they’re just a bunch of cowboy contractors—like those floaters down in Venezuela. No blowback for us.”

Gayle swallowed hard. No wonder no one wanted to work with the CIA. What her boss was proposing was cold as ice.

“So I tell them what?”