Nebbia | english

7| round and round we go

A R K E L L

It had barely been minutes since I entered Jack's office and Victoria had already barged in to call us for a meeting. Officer Smith was a new addition to the NIA, responsible for the security and communication department. After taking the headquarters by storm, David Porter affiliated her with most of the tasks of the organization. Other than having access to all the files inside the Vault, she was in charge of checking the entry and exit time of all the staff members.

In only two days, Victoria had already cleaned out all the redundant folders, organizing the archives in alphabetical order, and implemented a new and improved security alarm.

"What's going on?" Jack murmured taking his seat, visibly annoyed.

"We have found some discrepancies between the files possessed by the agency and those declared in the contract. Officer Smith checked all the files and there were a few missing."

"We tend to clean out folders with inconclusive results. It's not something unfamiliar, we have to make space for new cases and sometimes we forget to mention it. It happened to all of us," Jack affirmed with his calmest voice, crossing his fingers on the table.

"I would still like to double check at the Central Operations."

The Central Operations was a one hour ride from the headquarters, home of all the contracts and agreements between the NIA and third parties. It also had the list of each and every file possessed by the agency in the last decade.

"You're getting out of focus," Walker commented. "What happened last week was just an accident and it shouldn't deviate your attention from what's really important."

"What happened last week wasn't an accident, but a misconduct on your parts. And I'm sure I'm focusing on the right things."

Jack looked over me with squinting eyes, he couldn't wait for this meeting to be over already.

"Take it as a reminder to do things better next time," he added, "Victoria will lead the operation, you can send your officers as well."

"If this will prevent you from calling a meeting every ten minutes, then go ahead."

Jack Walker moved out of his seat and so did I. Once we reached the end of the hallway, he reached out to whisper something on my ears.

"He doesn't know where to put his hands and it shows."

I turned around to see Officer Cavanaugh following us.

"What about the operation?" I asked.

"A one hour drive to Millville, a city in New Jersey. I guess you two are going with Victoria," he said turning to Mike as well.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway and gazed on my side. Victoria Smith was still in the meeting room, her hair collected in a low bun, while her eyes shot fire at mine. She will crawl me in trouble, I can sense it.

Once the meeting ended, Officer Smith, Cavanaugh and I headed to the parking lot. Victoria was giving us the lead, with her eyes fixed on the first row of the VIP side. She unlocked the Porsche and put her hands on the steering wheel.

"We are just going to the Central, I don't think grabbing so much attention is necessary." Mike tried to convince her, but it only backfired.

"Out of all people, you're talking to me about grabbing the attention?" She frowned at his green shirt and brown formal pants. "You look like a planted vegetable."

I tried to hide it, but her comment did make me laugh. I didn't know she could have a sense of humor.

"I go pretty fast," she said, starting the engine, "Who wants to sit on the front?"