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father said, she would have done so last night.” Derek got to his feet. “I need more coffee.” He walked around Jeff and snaked his way down the aisle.
    He was irked at the situation, worried about Sloane, and pissed off for being in the position he was in. His whole squad had been eyeing him speculatively since they arrived.
    They al knew what the wiretap on Xiao Long’s phone had revealed last night. They al knew about his relationship with Sloane. And they al knew it was her parents’ house that had been robbed.
    He couldn’t look at their curious expressions anymore.
    He poured a cup of coffee and kept walking. He hoped one of the interviewing rooms was empty. It was either that or a men’s room stal . He real y needed to be alone or he’d explode. And this situation warranted logic, not emotion.
    Easier said than done.
    He rounded the corner to the interviewing rooms. The first one was occupied. So was the second. He was about to turn away when he happened to glance inside—and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. There, deep in discussion with his subject, was SA Rich Wil iams.
    Rich was the senior agent on the Art Crime Team, and one of the SAs Derek most respected. Silver-haired and distinguished, Rich handled cases of art theft, art fraud—you name it. He’d been doing it for decades, since long before the Art Crime Team was official y formed several years back. He often worked undercover, especial y when the case he was cracking was international in scope.
    He and Derek had met more than twelve years ago, during Derek’s initial training at Quantico, when Rich had given a guest lecture on interstate trafficking of stolen property.
    Derek had been so impressed by the colorful agent—his knowledge and insights—that he’d waited until after the lecture and introduced himself, asking half a dozen questions. Rich had been generous with his time, and was as impressed by Derek’s big-picture mentality as Derek was by Rich’s experience and expertise.
    Since then, they’d stayed in touch, especial y after Derek was transferred to Rich’s home turf—the New York Field Office. They caught a drink together when Rich’s time permitted, and talked Bureau politics, world events, and life in general. They also made sure to good-naturedly one-up each other on the subject of the military, since Derek was a former Army Ranger and Rich was a former marine.
    The Art Crime Team was part of the Major Theft Squad, which was also on the twenty-second floor. So seeing Rich interviewing a subject here wasn’t what startled Derek.
    What startled him was the man being interviewed.
    Matthew Burbank.
    For a long moment, Derek peered through the glass, watching Matthew’s body language as he answered Rich’s questions. He was definitely unsettled. Then again, Rich had a way of doing that to people. With his laid-back demeanor and that great poker face, he usual y threw people off and found a way to make them talk.
    Fil ed with questions of his own, Derek turned away long enough to stop a computer tech who was passing by. “Hey, Gus, do me a favor,” he said. “Poke your head in there and ask Agent Wil iams to step outside for a minute. And don’t mention my name in front of the guy he’s interviewing, okay?” Gus looked perplexed, but he nodded. “Okay.” He walked over, knocked on the door, and went inside long enough to fol ow Derek’s instructions.
    Without a flicker of reaction, Rich came to his feet. “Excuse me,” he said to Matthew. “This wil only take a moment.” He buttoned his blazer and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
    He spotted Derek right away, even as Gus explained that it was Agent Parker who wanted to see him.
    “That’s fine, Gus. Thanks.” Rich looked more intrigued than surprised to see Derek. He waited until the computer tech had continued on his way before speaking his mind. “That was fast. How did you find out I was interviewing Burbank?”
    “I