“Miss Lewis.” Raymond stands, smooths down his tie. His face is dangerously mottled. “Miss Lewis, I am going to forget you said that last, and assume you have enough intelligence to get this. You are eighteen years old. You are untrained, unqualified, inexperienced—”

“Don’t you tell me I’m inexperienced.” She takes another step.

Bell takes her arm. “Emma.”

The blood in Raymond’s cheeks and forehead looks like a health hazard. “If you want to continue working with this organization, Miss Lewis, you will shut your mouth and listen.”

Emma’s bicep flutters under Bell’s palm, but her self-control holds. He knows she can stick up for herself, but he would very much like to sock Raymond in the jaw right now.

Raymond’s jowls quiver as he leans across the desk. “I could close your unit down with the stroke of a goddamn pen. I’ve got half a mind to do it anyway, after the disrespect you’ve shown me and this office. I could bust you back home in a hot second, and Mr. Bell, too.”

Please don’t do that, Bell thinks. All those victims. He sees Cooper bite his bottom lip.

“But I respect Ed Cooper, and I can see what he’s trying to do with this.” Raymond narrows his piggy little eyes at Emma directly. “You’ve had some good results so far. But don’t test me, Miss Lewis. Stay out of the Berryville case. If I hear you’ve been dipping your toe in current investigations again, I won’t just break up the unit—I’ll lay obstruction charges against you. Do you understand me?”

Emma’s lips purse tight.

“Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you understand me, Mr. Bell?”

Bell knows his face is ruddy. He buckles it down. Sticks to the script. “Yessir.”

Raymond stands to his full height, looking like someone tried to spit in his mouth. “Cooper, this was your idea. Get these teenagers under control or get them off my base. Are we clear?”

“Sir, yessir.”

“Now get the hell out of my office.”

In the descending elevator with Bell and Cooper, Emma’s head is aching.

“Well,” Bell says. “That… could’ve gone worse.”

“Miss Lewis—” Cooper starts.

Emma whirls on him. “What? You want to give me a big lecture about keeping my mouth shut?”

“Actually, I wanted to tell you what happened with Berryville. And I want you to tell me what happened with Kristin Gutmunsson, because that one I did not see coming.” Cooper loosens his collar by one button, at the neck. “And I wanted to say you managed okay. Don Raymond can be aggravating as hell.”

Emma is surprised into an honest answer. “He’s an asshole.”

“He’s easy to read.” Cooper regards her steadily. “Also easy to anticipate, and if you want to swim in this pond, you’d better figure out how to deal with people. I do want your insights on this case, Miss Lewis—I think you and Mr. Bell have proven you can make a contribution. But we could’ve used Raymond. Agreed with him, got on his good side. He would’ve made things easier for us. Now we have to dodge interference.”