“No, this Patterson person…” he says the name like he was eating something unpleasant and needed to get the taste out of his mouth, “…was unknown to me until the briefing I just received.”
Fermin steeples his fingers, then sighs, plunging onward, “Near as I can tell, what we have is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Because of this, we have two talents dead and a huge and very public mess to have to clean up.”
He gets up and walks to one of the polarized glass windows, staring at it as though he can see through the frosted snow. “I have been ordered to make this disappear, and I have been given complete authority in that regard. The suggestions I have been given are to simply wipe the slate clean, clear cut and salt the earth, but Pandora likes you, and plus there are these heretofore unknown talents in misters Crenshaw and Baker to consider, there should be some compensation for bringing their skills to light. So I have to ask you three a question you wouldn’t normally be asked in your line of work.” He walked back to the table and looked at you each in turn.
“Can I trust you, and can you, in turn, give me your trust?”