Chapter Eighteen
5:05 AM
William Melrose exited the elevator and made his way down the corridor to his office. At this time of the day, the Agency had an eerie quiet about it. There was little of the normal hustle and bustle; the chattering of voices from the agents that gave the building a personality was disturbingly missing.
As he walked, he took notice of the nighttime crew in the bullpen. At one desk, sat a young woman that he knew to be Cheryl Carrington. Intelligent, unflappable, patient, and married to her job ever since her husband had been killed in the line of duty with the DC police department.
He headed straight for her desk.
"Good morning, sir," she told him as she gave him a worried expression that questioned him being here at this early hour.
"Good morning Cheryl. Anything on the night wires?"
She smiled at him and then promptly handed him a thin folder.
"It's been relatively quiet," she informed him.
"Well, I have an assignment for you," Billy said.
"Yes, sir."
"I need for you to get me a list of everyone that has been in this building in the last seven days. I need the list yesterday. I need all agents accounted for, I don't care what part of the world they're in. And then, I need for someone to get hold of Dr. Smyth, ASAP."
"Yes, sir. Right away, sir. I can have Jan and Ana from data entry help, if that's okay, sir?"
"Get whoever you need. I'll be in my office."
"Right away, sir."
Billy turned, making a straight path to his office.
Right away Cheryl launched into her new assignment, though something churned in her stomach, a sure indicator that something major was looming in the horizon.