Gillian left in her car the files she'd grabbed from her office and headed on foot to the federal building across Cambridge Street. The security guards greeted her with their usual warm smiles, and while one of them announced her at the fifth floor, the other one gave her the quick report on the gossip of the moment: the Iron Lady was ready to move her pawns. Everybody was clinging to their chairs, for rumor had it she meant to relocate a good deal of agents to resident agencies all over Massachusetts and even other states. And looked like Henderson was in the departures hall, among others.
"Agent Cooper is expecting you, LT," the guard said, hanging up his phone.
"Oh, well, someone's playing in the big leagues now," the other one teased.
"But don't tell anybody." She winked at them, heading to the elevators.
Cooper was by her assistant's desk, checking something with her, and waited for Gillian there, to shake her hand and invite her to her office. Gillian thought she did it in such a way for the whole staff to see. Crap. Politics here too? How did they manage to turn everything into politics?
"Agent Cooper, I'm sorry to steal your time," she said, as soon as they were alone. "I just wanted to thank you for your support last night. I know you held back the Bureau's standard procedure for Amber Alerts in order to let us handle it."
Cooper shook her head. "You don't need to thank me for anything, Lieutenant. If you hadn't solved it so soon, I would've let the CARD and the BAU take the case. Lucky us, we didn't need to."
"Anyway, I just wanted to thank you. I'm used to going against the trending politics, and they're used to me doing so. But I'd never wanna cause you any kind of trouble."
"I hear you, Lieutenant. And I'm glad to see that you and your team can work alongside Coleman and Brockner with such positive results every time."
"Well, you know Agent Coleman and I go way back, and..."
Gillian trailed off when the door opened without further ceremony. Her smile vanished when Mattock and Burton walked in.
Cooper introduced them coldly, scowling at Mattock about their bad timing. "This is Section Chief Burton, Lieutenant, and you've already met my husband, SSA Mattock."
"Lieutenant Gillian, I didn't have the pleasure yesterday," said Burton, flashing his salesman grin as he stretched out his hand.
Gillian nodded at Mattock with a forced smile, which disappeared when she turned to Burton, ignoring his hand outstretched.
"Yeah, I was busy biting my leash," she replied, and turned to Cooper, ignoring Burton's awkward frown too. "Now, if you'll excuse me. Agent Cooper..."
The other woman nodded and they traded an understanding glance.
"Lieutenant."
Gillian walked out of the office and strode away to the elevators. Mattock raised his eyebrows.
Burton looked down at his own hand, still stretched out, digesting that Gillian had refused to shake it. "Did she just...?" he mumbled. "How dare she!"
"Dare? She's not our agent, Charlie," said Mattock.
"And at this rate she'll never be," Cooper grumbled. "Keep up the good work, gents."
Mattock narrowed his eyes. "You wanna steal her from the PD that just awarded her?"
"Of course! Her and her whole unit! The Smith case three months ago, involving over ten murders in five states? Thirty murders in three days, two weeks ago? Now an Amber Alert solved in six hours? Give me Coleman and Brockner stationed here, and the SCU joining the Bureau, and you'll see this field office working better than in your wildest dreams." Cooper shook her head, sighing. "That is, if you two could only stay out of my way."
King Gillian waited for his daughter right outside the elevator on the fourth floor. When she walked out, he waved for her to follow him down the hall opening to the right, away from Cook's office.
Gillian paused, frowning at the double glass doors. She knew the building like the palm of her hand, and there had never been glass doors there. Then she saw the man sticking the letters right below the police emblem: SCU.
King Gillian waited for the man to step aside and opened the door for her. She walked in as if treading on thin ice.
It was a long open office, walls painted white to make it look even larger, the floor carpeted in navy blue. Three long windows on the left wall opened to the street. Lined up in the middle of the large room, still in their plastic wrapping, there were six sober desks, each with a spinning chair. On the bottom wall, she saw Boston PD's emblem and two lines of discreet silver words: Boston Police Department – Special Crimes Unit. There were three doors on the right wall: restrooms and storage. The back half on the left was a private office, with one of the long windows to the street and an inner window looking in. It was still empty.
"Told them you'd pick the furniture for your own office without bankrupting us," said King Gillian, hands in his pockets, enjoying the disbelief in her eyes as she looked around.
Gillian opened her mouth, closed it again, faced him, raised her eyebrows and gave up on her attempts to utter a single word. King Gillian nodded, smiling. She saw the set of keys he was showing her and her eyes widened. He nodded again, smiling wider.
"Merry Christmas, Lieutenant," he said and pointed at his cheek, where she smashed a kiss, giggling.
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Keep reading on next episode: BLACKBIRD 7 - the blank