The pulse of my heart … the blood pumping to my ears drowned out all other sounds. Stewart’s mouth was moving. She was saying something to me, but I had no idea what. My gaze moved from the red writing on the wall back to the old man, cold and dead on the floor. Finally, she kicked me in the shin and I snapped into action, closing and locking the door. “What do we do now?” I asked. She was on her feet now, but the panic in her eyes told me she didn’t know any more than I did. Thomas had been so right about me. Emotions clouded my judgment, distracted me from focusing on a task. But Stewart was by far the most levelheaded agent in our division. It took her about five more seconds of freaking out before she drew in a deep breath and started moving. “Put these on!” A pair of latex gloves was thrust in my hands. “Put the computer back together!” I spun around, just now noticing the pieces of metal strewn all over the floor.
