That made two of them. But Elise was more than confused—try angry and betrayed. The emotions churned inside her, a melee of muddled frustration and bafflement. If she weren’t so destroyed at the moment, she’d barge into Nigel’s office and demand an explanation.

“What happened?” Harry asked.

She rubbed an eyelid and stared numbly at him while her mind shied from what had occurred. She could stall, but Harry would find out anyway. News like this spread like wildfire through their department.

“I was four seconds slow on my run.”

Harry didn’t so much as blink. “Of course you were. Your body’s still healing. Why did Nigel really call you in?”

“Nigel never explains himself. You know that. I was trying to work that out when you came along.” She propped her chin on both hands and shook her head. “Not even my special garnered enough points to pass.”

“He ran you through all the tests?” Harry’s left foot moved a smidge.

If Elise hadn’t been looking at the floor, she would have missed Harry’s tell altogether. They’d been partners for months before she had picked up on it. Harry Benson was shocked.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“Nigel gave me the option of an interdepartmental transfer or extending my medical leave. I took the latter and filed for an extension. Nigel acquiesced rather than report my results.”

“There’s got to be a reason why he brought you in early.”

Elise shrugged and glanced away. The best she could figure, Nigel had an assignment specifically for her, had gambled on her passing, and had lost the bet. The entire situation was risky. If the top brass got wind of today’s dealings, Nigel might have wrecked her chances of ever being reinstated as a field agent.

A slight possibility existed that Uncle Roger had interfered with her career from the Home Office. Getting him to fess up to it would be akin to pulling teeth. Uncle Roger made tough-as-nails Nigel look like a Pomeranian.

She sighed and glanced at her watch.

“You have somewhere to be?” Harry asked.

“Doctor’s appointment in an hour. I thought I’d wait here until I headed over. Nigel wants my medical review on his desk. He’s considering reassigning me to a different department.”

“You’ve still got weeks or months, depending on your physical.”

“If I don’t pass, Nigel will transfer me to another department. My only fallback is cyber, but they’re full at present. I just ran into Hugh a few minutes ago. He was telling me they hired a hotshot last month who is working out splendidly.”

Just like that, she was obsolete—washed-up at twenty-seven.

“Why are you here?” she asked, tired of answering his questions. “Last time we spoke, you told me your mission had several more months.”

“Nigel retracted me early. My assignment starts Monday.”