Abner fidgeted. With the skin on his neck picked raw, he started in on his wrists instead. “She, uh, she is usually the one who assigns me to people,” he admitted. “But it’s all official business. She only uses me for approved purposes, sir. Really, there’s no way she could be involved.” He gave the lieutenant a look of barely concealed desperation. Please don’t let her be involved. Please don’t involve her.

“There’s a lot of names in here. More than enough ground to cover without her. I—I shouldn’t have even mentioned it, sir, I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting to see her.” The words were spilling out too quickly, but he couldn’t seem to stop them. “I know it wasn’t her voice, so you can just cross her off the list now, right?”