Intercepted Risk

by Sidney Bristol

“No shit. Are they doing an autopsy?” she asked.

  Evan nodded.

  “Damn it,” she spat and turned a circle.

  This was a massive blow should Dixon back out on their agreement. Without Robert to apply pressure, they were going to have to rely on Santiago. A much less reliable informant.

  “Fuck. Okay. We’ll deal with this later. We’ve got Santiago on the hook. Let’s focus on him. You ready?” She grabbed the door and waited.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Kelsey took another deep breath and mentally wiped the news aside.

  They entered the interrogation room again. Santiago was exactly where they’d left him. He still looked nervous, but he wasn’t sweating bullets now that he had his deal.

  “What do you want to know?” His voice was resigned.

  “Do you still want your lawyer?” she asked. That had to be cleared up first.

  “No. I’d rather avoid pointless legal fees.” He tapped the paper. “This is enough for me.”

  “Alright then, what do you know about Skilton?” she asked.

  “Historically speaking? Or current events?”

  The way he said current events made the hair on Kelsey’s arms stand up. She propped her chin on her hand in an attempt to appear casual.

  “What sort of current events?” she asked.

  Santiago licked his lips. “Word is...Skilton is here. In DC.”

  Kelsey didn’t move. She gave no reaction, but inside she was instantly a mess.

  Skilton?

  Here?

  Was that why there were so many people using their list of fake identities coming into the country?

  Evan jolted. He clearly hadn’t been prepared to hear that.

  “Why would he be here?” she asked.

  “Dixon.” Santiago spread his hands. “Dixon is why. Skilton’s people don’t think very highly of South America. To them, that’s the asshole of the world. Sure, they can sell to people there. They’re happy to move drugs made in South America. But they don’t respect the people.”

  “But Dixon does?” she asked.

  He snorted. “That’s not what I’m saying. Dixon saw an opportunity to make money and not have to split the profit with Skilton. Dixon is in deep debt to Skilton. He thinks he owns Dixon, and Dixon doesn’t like that. It’s why he started...you know.”

  “Selling kids into the sex trade?” Kelsey asked.

  Santiago glanced away. So he had a conscience in there, just not a very loud one.

  “Okay, so Skilton is here to take issue with Dixon over going into business and cutting Skilton out of the profits.”

  “I think it’s more than that.” He leaned toward her. “The way I understand it, if I can trust what Dixon was saying, he’d cut ties with Skilton. Just—snip. And wasn’t sending Skilton’s cut to him anymore.”

  “I see. Have you met Skilton before?”

  “No. Very few people have. I don’t think Dixon’s been face-to-face with him.”

  That made Kelsey pause.

  Having a name was one thing, but if they couldn’t match it to a picture, what good was it?

  MONDAY. TASK FORCE Headquarters. Washington, DC.

  Logan’s head was abuzz with the dozen or so tasks he had to accomplish today. All while making sure his guys didn’t make fools of themselves.

  They were all in over his head.

  It had always seemed like the FBI and CIA agents didn’t do much, and that the bulk of the heavy lifting fell to Logan and his team. Now he knew how wrong that assumption had been. Filling in while the agents were secluded was stretching the boundaries of what he felt comfortable doing. Hell, he wasn’t even technically law enforcement, yet it seemed like that was the role he and the guys were falling into. And they didn’t know all the rules. At least not yet.

  He strode toward the lab, ready to get this damn meeting over with and on to whatever came next.

  “TL,” Evan called out.

  Logan paused and turned.

  Evan jogged toward him. Out of all of them, Evan had settled into wearing a suit the easiest. It fit him better somehow.

  “How’d it go?” Logan asked.

  Evan glanced over his shoulder and shook his head.

  That bad? Or good?

  Now Logan really wanted this meeting over with.

  They turned and began walking together.

  There wasn’t anything they could talk about freely. Not right now.

  Except for one thing.

  Logan peered sideways at Evan. “Did you know about Kelsey’s apartment?”

  “That she’s living off a futon?” He sighed and shook his head.

  “God damn.” Logan bit his tongue, but he had a serious issue. Evan had just allowed Kelsey to spend her entire furniture allowance on Felecia?

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Evan scowled at Logan. “It didn’t go that way. Kelsey surprised Felecia. Felecia still doesn’t know, and she’d be very upset if she found out. I bought a damn mattress with my own money, bedframe and all. Kelsey wouldn’t let the delivery guys in. She chewed me out afterward. I barely got her to accept a fucking air mattress, okay?”

  Logan stopped in the middle of the hall. “Sorry, man...”

  “Nah, I deserve it.” Evan turned to face him. “It’s just frustrating, you know?”

  Logan nodded.

  He was beginning to see the bigger picture with Kelsey. Words didn’t hold much weight with her. Actions did. Which was why she’d acted in Felecia’s best interest. It was easier for Kelsey to do for others. She’d been betrayed and let down by those closest to her growing up, and as an adult she didn’t know how to rely on people.

  In short, it didn’t matter what he said to her. It would always come down to how he showed her he cared. And to do that, he had to listen a whole lot better. Both to what she said and what she didn’t.

  Logan glanced up and down the hall, then lowered his voice. “Felecia still doesn’t know about...me?”

  “No,” Evan confirmed.

  Damn.

  This might be easier with a little female coaching. Maybe he should reach out to Merida back at the Aegis Group offices? Or even his boss’ wife?

  That was a problem for another day. Right now Logan just needed to take things slow, watch what he said and follow up on everything with action.

  It was a plan. A flimsy one, but if he was patient, he thought he could show Kelsey they could be good together. And not just for a week or a month, for a long time.

  Evan pushed the door open to the outer lab. Logan nodded a greeting to those who worked in the front area, then headed back to Diha’s secure area.

  Logan and Evan were the last to arrive. There was a palpable energy to the room. The air practically crackled with it.

  Logan looked to Kelsey immediately as he locked the door. She sat to Zora’s right, perched on the very edge of her seat.

  The interview must have gone well.

  “Great, we’re all here,” Zora said. “I’m just going to jump into it. First, Robert Brown passed away last night. Officially, it was due to a heart event. We’re waiting on the autopsy to find out more. All signs were pointing to a long road to recovery.”

  “Fuck,” Logan muttered. “We think someone did this?”

  “Possibly.” Kelsey’s eyes were dark with barely contained anger.

  “Moving on,” Zora said. “According to Kelsey’s interview, Skilton is here in DC. Which means the likelihood that he had Robert killed is much higher. Dixon went from being Skilton’s tool to cutting off ties and stealing business from Skilton. Now, obviously, Skilton wants to shut it down. That’s why we saw such a big move here. Skilton doesn’t want anyone else in a position like Dixon’s to think they can get away with breaking ties.”

  Logan leaned against the wall and blinked.

  Their target, the real target they’d been after all along, was within their grasp.

  “Do we know where he is?” Logan asked.

  Zor
a’s mouth twisted. “We don’t even know what he looks like. Not yet, at least. I’m going to make a visit to the secure site and see if I can’t convince Obran to talk. Felecia, I was hoping you’d accompany me on that trip?”

  All eyes went to Felecia.

  She glanced at her husband, then Zora.

  It was hard to see the woman they’d pulled out of that hell-hole in the vibrant person that worked alongside them now. She’d blossomed. Grown into a happier person.

  “Fine. Okay. Yes.” Felecia sighed. “I’m not sure he’ll say anything to me.”

  “In all of the hacker’s stuff, there isn’t a single picture?” Kelsey asked.

  Zora shook her head. “There are pictures, but even our hacker’s brother said they never met Skilton in person.”

  “Damn,” Logan muttered. “Okay, what role do we play?”

  Zora pressed her fingertips to the table. “This is our chance to not only lure Skilton out into the open but also our chance to capture our mole. This is how we do it, people.”

  He pushed off the wall. “How do we do that? That sounds like an awfully tall order.”

  Zora stared around the room at each of them as she spoke. “We’re going to release all four to do limited work within the building. They’ll be restricted from leaving, so they’ll know they are still being watched. Dixon claims he has to appear at the Capitol for a vote today. We use that.”

  “Does Dixon know he’s bait?” Logan asked.

  “No,” Zora replied without hesitation. “And he won’t be aware of it. What we will do is have four different people brief Baruti, Samuel, Nadine and Quinten individually.”

  “And we tell them different things,” Kelsey blurted out. She clapped a hand over her mouth and muttered, “Sorry.”

  Logan smothered a laugh behind his hand.

  “Yes. Exactly.” Zora nodded. “The rest of the Task Force doesn’t know those four have been sequestered. All four are still getting emails and messages. Diha has already agreed that she can alter their email. Plant the information we want them to see.”

  “Fucking hell.” Harper scratched his head. “This is...this is movie level shit.”

  Logan peered at Diha, who was still at her desk tapping away at the keys. “How long until it’s already? When does Dixon need to be present for the vote?”

  “Everything should be lined up in the next thirty minutes,” Diha said, her tone brisk.

  “What are we telling them?” he asked.

  “They’ll each be appraised of Dixon’s travel to the vote, but told a different location for where he’ll be afterward.” Zora shuffled papers around in front of her. “I’ve already sent requests for four safe houses to be prepared and officers on-site to watch. After the vote, we’ll have five SUVs. We’ll divide you all up and send you to the locations to supervise.”

  Logan nodded. “The fifth, I’m assuming, is where Dixon’s really going?”

  “Correct.” Zora lifted her chin. “I’ll be staying close to Dixon. See what I can squeeze out of him while we’ve got him.”

  “Do we have any other intel? Any evidence at all which one it is?” He spread his hands.

  She didn’t shy from his gaze. “I’m going to refrain from answering those questions in the interest of not creating bias. The last thing we need to do now is focus on the wrong person and miss something.”

  Logan sighed and nodded. “Makes sense.”

  It was time. The cards were finally on the table and the end just might be on the horizon.

  MONDAY. UNKNOWN.

  Skilton sipped the tea and studied the televised stream from the Senate chamber.

  There was Dixon. Right where Skilton had hoped he’d show up. It made sense. Dixon was one of the senators who opposed the day’s vote. They were a dwindling lot, so Dixon couldn’t afford to not show up today. It was optics. And business.

  The phone rang. Glancing at the display, he decided it was best to answer. No reason to ruffle feathers by letting it go to voicemail.

  “Yes?” he said into the phone.

  “Sir, contact was just made by a priority one source.”

  “What did they say?”

  “They sent over a digital packet.”

  “Forward it to me.”

  He’d only labeled three people as priority one right now. Each of them were involved with that blasted Task Force.

  Skilton hung up and turned toward his laptop. His quiet space was full of quiet movement, clicking keys and activity.

  It was routine to dispatch a handful of men to dispose of people who had become a problem. In a way, it was still a professional courtesy of sorts. Either those people proved themselves to be lacking by dying quickly. Or they drew Skilton’s attention directly.

  Most gave themselves up.

  But not Dixon.

  Skilton couldn’t decide if the man was daft or arrogant enough to think he’d get away.

  The email client chimed with a priority message.

  He clicked it and the attachment.

  The status bar crawled along the bottom of the screen for nearly a whole minute before opening up a folder. Within that folder were others, but only one was labeled Priority.

  Skilton clicked that and opened the one PDF inside. It was a printout of an email.

  An email containing the instructions for where, when and how Dixon would be transported from the Capitol into a safe house and held under watch.

  He leaned back in his chair.

  This was too easy.

  And yet, his people were that damn good.

  Finally, he could take care of Dixon and be done with this mess.

  18.

  Monday. Task Force Headquarters. Washington, DC.

  Logan gripped the wheel of the SUV and kept his eyes straight ahead. He didn’t often use his position as Team Leader to place his men in a position he himself didn’t want to be in.

  This time he was making an exception.

  Evan and Kelsey had briefed him about their meeting with Santiago that morning.

  Logan was of a mind to hand Dixon over to this Skilton guy himself.

  What a piece of shit.

  Bad guys hurting and killing bad guys was the nature of the world they chose to live in. But selling innocents into...?

  He couldn’t even think it. Not without rage threatening his better sense. So, instead of personally protecting the senator, he’d left that duty to Jamie and Harper. Tucker served as their back-up while Evan and Logan waited in the wings with the SUVs.

  Any moment now...

  The passenger door opened. He reached for his gun reflexively before he realized it was Kelsey.

  “Easy there.” She chuckled and settled into the seat. “He’s coming in now. All the SUVs have been gone over three times.”

  He blew out a breath. “You think this will work?”

  “I...hope so. And I don’t.” She sighed. “No matter what happens, it’ll suck. Whose address did you get?”

  “No idea.” He shifted so he could keep an eye on the mirrors and her. “I had Zora divide them up and not tell us which location was given to which agent. That way we can’t have an opinion.”

  “Smart.”

  He reached over and rubbed his hand up her arm and across her shoulders. Something caught on his nail. Something sticky?

  “Hold on one second,” he said and tugged.

  Whatever it was, came away easily enough.

  He held up what appeared to be a small, circular sticker. Sort of like a security tag or something?

  “What is—?” Kelsey placed her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

  Logan froze.

  She looked at him with her finger across her lips.

  He nodded, catching her meaning.

  Kelsey dug in her pocket, pulling out a slim zipper pouch. He’d seen her with it before and knew the size was a lie. It hid a variety of personal items. She yanked a tissue out of it and carefully wrapped the sticker in the tissue, then slid it all into
the pouch.

  “Microphone,” she mouthed.

  Logan gaped at her.

  Kelsey had a microphone stuck to her coat? For how long? Since when?

  She hurriedly got out of the SUV as Dixon, Jamie, Harper and Tucker entered.

  “Fuck me,” Logan muttered.

  He watched her bolt to the SUV where Zora waited for Dixon and Tucker. The exchange lasted maybe five seconds. In that short moment, everyone dispersed. This revelation couldn’t have come at a worse time.

  They’d have to worry about the implications of the microphone later.

  Logan shifted into drive.

  Kelsey sprinted back toward him, throwing herself into the SUV as the radio crackled.

  “We are cleared to exit. Proceed along plotted route,” Zora’s voice said.

  “A microphone?” he repeated.

  “Oh my God. Oh my God. It was stuck to me. For how long? Fucking hell. God damn it. Mother fucker,” Kelsey raged.

  It couldn’t be Joon.

  Logan didn’t want to say it out loud, but Quinten Joon couldn’t get that close to Kelsey without making himself noticeable.

  Baruti was unlikely.

  Which meant they were down to Samuel or Nadine, and Logan didn’t like either of those options.

  Logan shifted into drive, half of his attention on the road and his surroundings, while the other half was still reeling from the discovery.

  This wasn’t good.

  “What if they know? About today?” he asked.

  Kelsey threw her hands up. “I don’t know. I don’t fucking know.”

  “What do you know about that model of microphone?” He pulled up to a light third in line of the SUVs.

  From here they all went different ways, and with luck, confused anyone following them.

  “Standard issue. Could come from anywhere. They’re short range, so someone has been following me and I didn’t fucking know it. The good news, at least, is that they don’t last for more than two days, give or take. They don’t have a power source, so when the battery dies, they’re useless.”

  “If one of the four put it on you, we’re safe. They’ve been locked up for days.”

  “But...” She twisted to face him. “What if there’s someone else? What if that person put it on my jacket, bumping into me this morning? Yesterday? Friday? We don’t fucking know, Logan. We don’t know a God damn thing. They’re always ten steps ahead of us. Fuck.”