“Here we go,” Archer mumbled from behind.

“Well, we had a case to wrap up,” I countered, keeping my voice level and unaffected as we started making our way down the wide red-carpeted hallway now. “Would your husband prefer I do a half-ass job and give him an incomplete report?”

“You have no idea what I have to deal with each time you anger him—”

I wanted to tell her not to bother covering for me again, and that I’d never even asked her to, but she wisely cut herself off ...