Chapter 4
III
Peggy felt a small regret as she watched Violet walk away. She had a sense that she and Violet could have been friends, much like her friendship with Angie, and Peggy missed having a girlfriend to confide in. She really would have to talk to Howard about flying Angie out to LA.
She turned and observed the men across the room. Command looked good on Daniel, she thought: he stood tall and confidence radiated off him as he instructed his surrounding agents. The quiet and shy man with the sweater vests and hunched shoulders had transformed into a self-assured SSR Chief.
Daniel gave her a quick inquiring look as she joined the group; she responded with a short nod and he continued his orders.
“ I want two men – Baker, you and Robinson - over at the Ambassador Hotel. Coordinate with the LA dicks – I assume they’ll still be on site – but go over that room with a fine tooth comb. I want Thompson’s luggage in the labs by tomorrow morning, first thing. Marshall, I want you to coordinate guards at Chief Thompson’s door. 24 hrs a day, that door is never left unattended. No one gets in without approval.” He glanced over at Peggy. “The door guards are our line of defense for Chief Thompson. Agent Carter and I will alternate being in the room with the Chief – our job is to wait until he wakes up so we can talk to him before the LA cops. Marshall, start figuring out who you will need immediately. The rest of you need to go home and sleep, this case is top priority and we will be working on it day and night. Get your rest when you can.”
With a short nod to Marshall, Daniel stepped aside to a row of chairs and carefully sat down. Peggy sat next to him.
“That was nicely done, Daniel,” she said.
He shrugged. “Well, I can’t send Marshall down to the hotel, LA cops don’t do well with colored agents. I can rely on him for managing coverage here.”
“Do you have any idea how deep the rot goes in the SSR?,” Peggy murmured.
“What?”
“Something Dottie said to me, as we were escaping Whitney’s trap. How deep the rot goes in the SSR. How much do you trust these men?”
“Why do you think you and I are going to be stationed in Jack’s room?” Daniel shook his head. “I hired these men – I also hired Vega, Blackwell, Hardy and Nance. I thought they were trustworthy. I don’t know that you can rely on my judgement.”
“Daniel.” She allowed an edge of scolding in her tone. “Hydra agents are very good at disguising themselves. Stop apologizing for being human, and imperfect.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “This early in a relationship and already the honeymoon is over. I’m no longer perfect.”
She nudged him with her shoulder. “How are you proposing to guard Jack and still run your bureau, Chief?”
He shrugged. “Not sure yet. I want to have your eyes on everything too. Team, right? But there’s no one else I can trust to guard Jack.”
“You can trust Rose.” He nodded, and waited as she thought things through. “You should be in the office during most of the day, to direct and monitor the investigation. I can take the morning shift with Jack. Late afternoon, we switch? I can go to the office for a few hours, you take over for Jack. Rose can cover a few hours in the night, so we can meet up at your house, compare notes and then get some sleep.”