Special Agent | ✓

Fifty-Five

"There were no moral alarms ringing when Quinn ended up in the line of fire?" Adina asked, eyes narrowing.

"I won't lie — I was relieved. She would take the blame, and I ... I would get off. Scot-free." He chuckled, weakly.

Gavin's hand tightened on Quinn's leg as his scowl grew, eyes zeroing in on the technician. Smith had pointedly avoided so much as breathing in Locke's general direction since he'd entered the room with Quinn, and it seemed he was intent on continuing to avoid Gavin's intent stare.

"While this is undoubtedly interesting —" co-Chief Sanders starting, throwing an anxious look Adina's way, " — how do we know it isn't simply conjecture?"

Sanders aimed a look Vahid's way.

"You could have threatened Mr. Smith as well, resulting in his testimony. It casts doubt on O'Reilly's initial kill order, certainly, but there is no concrete evidence."

"I'm glad you pointed that out, Chief Sanders." Tibble replied, shoulders squared, " — because the memo I sent out wasn't just a fun way of slamming your department.

Now, both Sanders and Havas directed incredulous looks Kimmel's way, but the Director declined to move even an inch in response. Instead, Kimmel remained still, listening to Adina's story.

"Op HLS," Vahid started, picking up from Adina, " — was a way of catching whoever worked for Kent inside the Agency."

Smith looked sheepish.

"Whoever planted those transactions on Quinn's computer must've had her admin code. The memo we sent out to every employee here included directions to hypothetically irrefutable evidence of someone else's guilt."

Vahid paused for a moment, her thrumming as she held the attention of everyone in the room, including Kimmel, who regarded the young Chief with an almost unnoticeable hint of approval.

"The file would include directions to a specific shelf in the basement, and to access that location, you'd need her admin code. Since Quinn wasn't present, it left only one option."

Eylem leaned back. Thinking of how Adina usually worked, she straightened in her chair rather than hunching back, tipping her chin proudly as she stood up for her cause. Tibble noted it, approved it with the barest flicker of a smile.

"How do we know you didn't just .. make this up?" Havas asked, waving his hand flippantly.

Vahid's face grew cold, "Because we've got it on video. That good enough for you?"

She reached into her pocket, withdrew the thin portable camera she'd brought. With careful movements, she placed it on the conference table. The light thud of the camera held a certain finality to it, as if to punctuate the statement further.

Silence fell for seconds. Quinn knew she had to speak up, and so she lightly cleared her throat, garnering the attention of the people who'd sentenced her to death mere weeks before. She met each and every one of their eyes with a steely calm she hadn't know she had.

Gavin's hand remained beneath hers, and she squeezed it lightly before she started speaking.

"You may think it's stupid of me to return here, when I have a death sentence on my name," Quinn started, voice unwavering, " — but I know I'm innocent. Adina believes I'm innocent. Eylem does. Imani does. Gavin does, too."

Quinn lifted her eyes to meet Kimmel's, held that subzero stare even though she wanted to look away.

"I would never have returned if I was not certain I could clear my guilt. Clear my name, after the ... decision you made."