"Shut up."
The woman's gaze never moved.
"You should listen to him."
The senior officer swallowed.
Then glanced toward the pathway.
A man wearing a gray jacket had stopped beside a park maintenance vehicle.
He appeared to be watching the confrontation.
The officer's face became even paler.
The woman noticed.
Then she looked toward the gray-jacketed man.
Their eyes met for one brief moment.
And he immediately turned away.
The woman felt a sudden chill.
Because she recognized him.
She had seen his face in a confidential photograph less than forty-eight hours earlier.
He wasn't a parks employee.
He wasn't a tourist.
And he certainly wasn't supposed to be standing within thirty feet of her undercover meeting.
He was the private security director of a construction company that had allegedly stolen millions of dollars in federal housing funds.
And now he was watching a police officer search her belongings.
The woman looked back toward the rookie.
"Officer, I need you to do something very carefully."
The young man swallowed.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Keep your hands visible. Don't interfere with the evidence on that table."
He nodded.
She continued.
"And call your supervisor."
The senior officer stepped forward.
"Nobody is calling anybody!"
The woman held his gaze.
Then said four words that finally destroyed his confidence.
"You're already being recorded."
At the far end of the pathway, a man wearing a navy baseball cap lowered his newspaper.
Another man rose from a bench.
And a woman who appeared to be an ordinary jogger stopped beside a fountain.
All three were looking toward the picnic table.
The senior officer slowly turned.
He saw the man with the newspaper touch an earpiece.
Then heard a voice behind him.
"Federal agents. Step away from her."
The officer froze.
The man with the gray jacket began walking faster.
The jogger turned toward him.
And the senior officer suddenly understood that the woman he'd slapped wasn't simply someone who happened to carry an FBI badge.
She was part of an operation already underway.
He had walked directly into it.
And he'd brought his own secrets with him.
Three hours earlier, the woman in the olive-green gown had been standing inside a luxurious Manhattan hotel ballroom overlooking Central Park.
Beautiful chandeliers hung above rows of elegant tables.
Florists arranged enormous displays of white orchids.
Caterers moved quietly between the kitchen and dining room.
And wealthy donors gathered beneath a banner celebrating the success of a charitable construction initiative.
The event was called the Harbor Renewal Benefit.
Its stated purpose was to raise money for public housing improvements, emergency repairs, and educational programs serving low-income families throughout New York City.