When Mackenzie showed up to her first day of work on Monday, she could not shake Ellington's words, running through her head like a mantra: The man is really smart with how he utilizes new agents. Keep that in mind when you meet with him on Monday.
She tried to use that to ground herself because if she was being truthful, she was nervous. It didn't help that her morning began when she was met by one of McGrath's men, Walter Hasbrook, now her department supervisor, and he escorted her like a child to the elevators. Walter looked to be pushing sixty and was roughly thirty pounds overweight. He had no personality and while Mackenzie held nothing against him, she didn't like the way he explained everything to her as if she were stupid.
This did not change as he led her to the third floor, where a maze of cubicles spread out like a zoo. Agents were posted at each cubicle, some talking on the phone while others typed into their computers.
"And this is you," Hasbrook said, gesturing to a cubicle in the center of one of the outer rows. "This is the central for Research and Surveillance. You'll find a few e-mails waiting for you, giving you access to the servers and a bureau-wide contact list."
She stepped into her cubicle, feeling a little disenchanted but still nervous. No, this was not the exciting case she'd hoped to start her career on but it was still the first step on a journey toward everything she'd been working for ever since she'd gotten out of high school. She pulled her rolling chair out and plopped down in her seat.
The laptop sitting in front of her was hers now. It was one of the bullet items Hasbrook had gone over with her. The desk was hers, the cubicle, the whole space. It wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was her space.
"In your e-mail, you'll find the details of your first assignment," Hasbrook said. "If I were you, I'd start on it right away. You'll want to call the case's supervising agent to coordinate, but you should be deep into it by the end of the day."
"Got it," she said, turning on the computer. Part of her was still angry with being saddled with a desk job. She'd wanted something in the field. After all McGrath had told her, that's what she'd been expecting.
No matter how great of a history you have, she told herself, you can't expect to start out an all-star. Maybe this is your way of having to pay your dues-or McGrath's way of showing you who's boss and putting you in your place.
Before Mackenzie could respond any more to his dry and monotone instructions, Hasbrook had already turned away. He was headed back to the elevators quickly, as if he were happy to be done with the day's minuscule chore.
When he was gone and she was alone in her cubicle she logged in to her computer and wondered why she was so damned nervous.
It's because this is it, she thought. I worked hard to get here and it's finally mine. All eyes are on me now so I can't mess up-even if it's some random desk job.
She checked her e-mail and fired off the necessary responses to get started on her assignment. Within an hour, she had all of the necessary documents and resources. She was determined to do her best, to give McGrath every reason to see that he was wasting her talent by having her ride a desk.
She pored over maps, cell phone records, and GPS data, working to pinpoint the location of two potential suspects involved in a sex trafficking ring. Within an hour or so of getting deeply involved, she found herself committed to it. The fact that she was not out on the street actively working to bring men like this down did not bother her in that moment. She was focused and she had a goal in mind; that's all she needed.
Yes, it was menial and borderline boring, but she would not let that hinder her work. She broke for lunch and came back to it, working with fervor and getting results. When the day came to a close, she e-mailed the department supervisor her results and headed out. She had never had an office job before but that's very much what this felt like. The only thing missing was the time clock to punch her card.
By the time she got to her car, she allowed herself to wallow in the disappointment again. A desk job. Stuck behind a computer and trapped between cubicle walls. This was not what she had envisioned.
Despite this, she was proud to be where she was. She wouldn't let ego or high expectations derail the fact that she was now an FBI agent. She couldn't help but think of Colby, though. She wondered where Colby was right now and what she'd have to say if she discovered that Mackenzie had been assigned a desk job to start off her career.
And a small part of Mackenzie couldn't help but wonder if Colby, having made her own decision to leave, had been the smarter of the two.
Would she ride this desk for years?
***
Mackenzie showed up the next morning determined to have a good day. She'd made some great progress on her case the day before and felt that if she could provide prompt and efficient results, McGrath would take notice.
Right away, she found that she had been bounced to another case. This one involved green card fraud. The attachments to the e-mails provided her with more than three hundred pages of testimonies, government files and documents, and legal jargon to use as resources. It looked incredibly tedious.
Fuming, Mackenzie looked to the phone. She had access to the servers, which meant she could get McGrath's number. She wondered how he'd respond if she called him and asked why she was being punished in such a way.
She talked herself out of it, though. Instead, she printed off every single document and created different stacks and piles on her desk.
Twenty minutes into this mind-numbing task, she heard a small knock at the entrance to her cubicle. When she turned around and saw McGrath standing there, she froze for a moment.
McGrath smiled at her in the same way he had approached her following graduation. Something in that smile told her that he honestly had no idea that she might feel demeaned by being stuck in a cubicle.
"Sorry it's taken me so long to get to you," McGrath said. "But I just wanted to come by and see how you're getting along."
She bit back the first several responses that came to mind. She gave a half-hearted shrug and said: "I'm doing fine. Just…well, I'm just a little confused."
"How so?"
"Well, on a few separate occasions, you told me that you couldn't wait to have me as an active agent. I guess I just didn't think that would involve sitting behind a desk and printing green card documents."
"Ah, I know, I know. But trust me. There's a rhyme and a reason to it all. Just stick your head down and forge head. Your time will come, White."
In her head, she heard Ellington's voice again. The man is really smart with how he utilizes new agents.
If you say so, she thought.
"We'll touch base soon," McGrath said. "Until then, take care."
Like Hasbrook the day before, McGrath seemed to be in a huge hurry to get away from the cubicles. She watched him go, wondering what sort of lesson or skills she was supposed to be picking up. She hated to feel entitled, but God…
What Ellington had said about McGrath…was she really supposed to believe that? Thinking of Ellington, she wondered if he knew what sort of detail she was on. She then thought of Harry and felt guilty for not calling him over the last few days. Harry had stayed quiet because he knew that she hated to feel pressured. It was one of the reasons she continued to see him. No man had ever really been this patient with her. Even Zack had his breaking point and the only reason they had lasted as long as they had was because they had gotten comfortable with one another and didn't want to be bothered with the inconvenience of change.
Mackenzie made the final stack of papers just as noon came around. Before diving into the madness waiting for her in the forms and notes, she figured she'd go out to grab lunch and a very large coffee.
She made her way down the hall and to the elevators. When the elevator arrived and the doors slid open, she was surprised to find Bryers on the other side. He seemed surprised to see her but smiled widely.
"What are you up to?" she asked.
"I was actually coming to see you. I thought you might want to grab lunch."
"That's where I was headed. Sounds great."
They took the elevator down together and grabbed a table at a little delicatessen a block down the street. When they were sitting down with their sandwiches, Bryers asked a very loaded question.
"How's it going?" he asked.
"It's…well, it's going. Stuck behind a desk, trapped in a cubicle, and reading over endless reams of paper isn't exactly what I had in mind."
"Coming from any other brand new agent, that might come off as sounding spoiled," Bryers said. "But, as it just so happens, I agree. You're being wasted. That's why I'm here: I've come to rescue you."
She looked up at him, wondering.
"What sort of rescue?"
"Another case," Bryers answered. "I mean, now, if you want to stay on your current workload and keep studying up on immigration fraud, I understand. But I think I've got something that is more within your interests."
She felt her heart start to beat faster.
"You can just pull me off of this?" she asked, suspicious.
"Indeed I can. Unlike last time, you have everyone's full support. I got the call from McGrath half an hour ago. He's not a huge fan of you jumping right into the action, but I twisted his arm a bit."
"Really?" she asked, feeling relieved and, as Bryers had indicated, just a little spoiled.
"I can show you my call history if you want. He was going to call and tell you himself but I asked for the favor of being the one to tell you. I think he knew ever since yesterday that you'd end up on this but we wanted to make sure we had a solid case."
"And you do?" she asked. A small ball of excitement started to grow in the pit of her stomach.
"Yes, we do. We found a body in a park in Strasburg, Virginia. It very closely resembles a body we found around the same area close to two years ago."
"You think they're linked?"
He waved off her question and took a mouthful of sandwich.
"I'll tell you about it on the way. For now, let's just eat. Enjoy the silence while you can."
She nodded and nibbled at her sandwich, although she was suddenly not very hungry at all.
She felt excitement, but also dread, and sadness. Someone had been murdered.
And it was going to be up to her to make things right.