Page 61 (1/2)

When he did speak, it was in that low, controlled tone that told Sloane he was beyond furious

“Professionally, you violated every rule in the book You overstepped your bounds and abused your role in this investigation You’re an FBI confidential huent In addition, you took it upon yourself to act without prior perent—that would beme in until after the fact You did that because you knew I’d shut you down You put your life and ation in jeopardy—which is precisely why I didn’t want you on this case to begin with And you nearly got yourself killed in the process”

Sloane wasn’t surprised by any part of Derek’s reprimand All of it had ray territory

“I pushed the boundaries of my role,” she admitted “But I didn’t violate theation is becauseI just used that to e”

“No, you took a potential risk and uarantee that Xiao would have gone after you Now there’s no way he won’t”

“Point taken” Sloane took a ht I didn’t come to you with my idea Partly because you would have nixed it, and partly because it struck me on the spur of the moment The situation presented itself It was a one-shot opportunity So I went for it”

“You have a cell phone You could have called me”

“And been overheard by Xiao’s thug? No way”

“Cut the crap You could have gone into a ladies’ roo You were nothing more than a loose cannon”

“But an effective one” Sloane sed her pride and stated the truth “Look, I’ to deny your accusations I did break the chain of coht to toss —other than the fact that I struck a nerve with Xiao Long, et him to screw up”

“What is it you want me to consider?”

“You began your diatribe with the word ‘professionally’ Now let’s talk personally Would you have refused any other member of your team if he or she came up with the idea I did? Remember, I had no idea oal was to knock Xiao off balance, get hi onor two about the victiht break-ins Which, by the way, I did But we’ll discuss that later The relevant issue here is that I’ve been both a special agent and a crisis negotiator I’ off my team leader is way out of character And, yes, I did it because I knew you’d turn me down But I think the reasons you would have done so would have been personal, not professional A?”

A long pause as Derek contemplated her question and mentally ran down the list of her actions “No You’re not wrong,” he grudgingly acknowledged “Your goal today was to question potential acco a false identity is fair ga on your law enforcement contacts, since the Nineteenth is the precinct of record in all Xiao’s break-ins But not cole one of those steps, is a flat-out violation—one I won’t tolerate”

Pausing again, Derek cleared his throat, obviously about to say so he really didn’t want to “On the other hand, your point is valid You knew I’d say no, and that the reasons forso would have been personal”

“I appreciate your honesty” Actually, Sloane was stunned She hadn’t expected Derek to make that adht and she’d dragged it out of himent that he was subjective, and, yes, vulnerable, when it cae deal She wasn’t sure she could have done it so readily