Twist (Book 1): The Abnorm Chronicles-Twist (20 page)

TUESDAY

Chapter 49

The flight back to Washington was Cooper’s chance to catch up on sleep, and when he arrived, he was ready to get back to work at Equitable Services—after spending a well-deserved a day off with his family, of course. Director Peters had agreed, told him to come in when he was ready.

After delivering his report
, Cooper stood in Peters’s office. Across the desk, the Director finished reading the summary. Cooper watched him as his eyes rolled down from paragraph to paragraph, as he nodded, making soft affirmative noises.

Leaning back,
Director Peters steepled his fingers in front of his face. “Well, Nick, Equitable Services was founded to stop Brilliants from hurting innocent people. I’d say that you met our goals admirably. Yes, you did go a little off-mission—but I knew you’d do that before I even let you get on the plane.”

Cooper
wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed or pleased. Peters had always liked him. “Yes, sir.”

The Director concealed
a grin. “The fact that your killer escalated out of control and started killing Normals definitely worked in your favor.” He slid another folder over, opened it, and gave a brief glance to the papers inside. “Selene Cook was just tested, and you were right—she is a tier-five talent. Was completely unaware of it.”

Cooper
wasn’t surprised.

Peters mulled
over the case. “We’ll be able to harvest some good publicity out of this, but all in all it feels like you got lucky. I won’t lie. You played a hunch, and it was quite a stretch, but it worked out in your favor. From now on, though, let’s not push our cases so close to the wire, okay? We’ve got a lot of territory to run in and a lot of Brilliants to watch. We don’t have so much time and resources that we need to go pushing into the gray areas.”

Cooper nodded.
“Yes, sir.”

“
Very well then, with all that said—good job, Nick. You keep this up, we might even be able to find an office bigger than a closet for you. Dismissed.”

Cooper finally relaxed.
Although Peters was his boss, their relationship bordered on something more than that of boss and employee. “Can I ask one thing before I leave, sir?”

Director Peters glanced up from his desk.
“And what would that be?”

Cooper tapped the file.
“Adam Lee.”

“
What about him?”

Cooper grinned.
“I want to offer him a job.”