Chapter 66

Something surprising happened the next morning; an event I don’t think any of us were expecting. I certainly wasn’t, and it threw me for a complete loop. We had gathered at the FBI’s New Orleans office for the morning briefing. There were about thirty of us in a large and sterile¹ room that looked out on the muddy brown Mississippi River.
At nine o’clock, Kyle began to address the surveillance team that had been on the watch during the previous twenty-four hours. He finished with them and went on to the day’s assignments. He handed them out and was very specific. It was a typical Craig performance: clear, to the point, efficient, never a mistake, or the hint of one.
When he was finished, or thought that he was, a hand shot into the air. ‘Excuse me, Mr Craig, you didn’t mention me. What am I supposed to do today?’
It was Jamilla Hughes and she didn’t sound happy. -Kyle was already collecting his notes, shuffling² a few papers into his thick black briefcase³. He barely glanced up as he said, ‘That’s up to Dr Cross, Inspector⁴ Hughes. Please see him.’
The remark and its delivery were unnecessarily curt⁵, even for Kyle. I was taken aback by his rudeness, or at least the lack of any tact⁶.
‘This is complete bullshit!’ She rose from her seat. ‘It’s unacceptable, Mr Craig. Especially that irritating, blase⁷ tone of yours.’
The FBI agents in the room looked at her. Usually, no one dared confront Kyle on anything. After all, he was rumored⁸ to be in line for the director’s job some day. Moreover, many of them felt he deserved it. He was certainly smarter than anybody else in the Bureau. He also worked harder than anyone I knew.
‘Look, this is no reflection on Detective Cross,’ Jamilla went on, ‘but my work in California helped open this case up. I don’t want anybody’s pat on the back, no condescending⁹ applause, thank you, but I came all the way down here and I can contribute. So use me, and respect me. By the way, I couldn’t help noticing there’s only one other woman on this entire task force. Don’t bother to make excuses,’ she said, and waved off anything Kyle might have been ready to say in his defense¹⁰.
Kyle kept his cool.’Like the supposed vampires¹¹. Inspector Hughes, gender¹² doesn’t matter to me. I do applaud your efforts during the early stages of this case. But as I said, you can see Dr Cross about your assignment. Or you can go back home right now, if you like.  Thank you, everyone,’ he said as he saluted¹³ the team. ‘Happy hunting. Hopefully, today will be our day.’
I was surprised, mostly by Kyle’s response, but also by Jamilla’s quick anger. I was uneasy when she came up to me after the meeting.
‘He got me so mad. Grrrr/she said. She shook her head and made a face. T have a quick temper sometimes, and he was wrong. There’s something fucked-up about that man. I have a bad feeling about him. Why would he have it in for me? Because I’m working with you? So what do we do today, Dr Cross? I’m not leaving because he’s a goddamn idiot.’
‘He was wrong. I’m sorry about what happened, Jamilla. Let’s talk about what we do next.’
‘Don’t be condescending,’ she said.
‘I’m not. Why don’t you get off the soapbox, though.’ She still wasn’t over her bad scene with Kyle. ‘He doesn’t like women,’ she said. ‘Trust me on that. He also practices the three Cs that some men are so fond of: compete, criticize, control.’
‘So tell me what you really think about Kyle. And men in general.’ Jamilla finally managed a smile. /! think, and I’m being pretty objective and measured about this, that your so-called friend is a total control freak and a complete asshole. As for men in general, it varies with the individual.’

1 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

2 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

4 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

5 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

6 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

7 blase   

adj.厌烦于享乐的

参考例句：

• She's very blase about parties.她非常腻烦聚会。
• The film star is blase about endless flattery now.那位电影明星现在对无休无止的吹捧已经厌烦了。

8 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

9 condescending   

adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的

参考例句：

• He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。
• He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时，他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

12 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

13 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》