by CW Browning
Charlie nodded.
“The last I heard from your brother, he was gathering information and would send it all along together. He was killed a few days later. Once he died, I realized that more people knew about what was going on out there than I’d originally thought. It wasn’t as simple as a couple of soldiers jumping into the black market. I can’t tell you everything, but I will tell you that there are many more bodies involved in this thing than you’re aware of. Many good, and not so good, men and women have lost their lives over this. Your brother’s death, while tragic, did have one benefit. It convinced me that the problem wasn’t necessarily on the ground in Iraq, but right here in Washington with me. Unfortunately, with your brother’s death, the trail went cold.”
“You didn’t know anything?” Viper asked disbelievingly. “Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that you had no inkling of what my brother was sending to John. You know I’m going to sneeze before I ever get the cold! How did you not know?”
Charlie considered her thoughtfully for a long moment.
“I knew your brother had found something. However, he was very good at hiding his tracks. I personally went through every transmission he sent out of Iraq for the last month before his death. There was no indication that he ever sent any information to John. I had no idea that any information had gone out.”
Alina pursed her lips and stared at him, her mind churning.
“He must’ve sent them from a different station each time,” she said almost to herself, “blocking the IP with each email and re-routing it. It’s what I would have done with such limited resources.”
Charlie smiled faintly.
“That’s the conclusion I came to after you told me about the emails.” He shook his head. “It takes a lot to get something by me, even back then, but he did it.”
Alina couldn’t stop the smile that crossed her face. “Dave always was full of surprises.”
“Why John?” Charlie asked.
“Trust me, I’ve been trying to figure that one out for the past two months. I have no idea why he sent the files to him.”
They fell silent for a moment. Alina was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Dave had been working for Charlie, and this conversation was simply creating more and more questions. Why didn’t he trust Charlie enough to send the files to him? It made no sense. Unless...Alina exhaled.
“What?”
She looked up in surprise to find Charlie's gray eyes studying her closely. Her lips twisted into a rueful smile.
“I think I know why Dave sent the information to John and not you,” she said.
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“A few times in the emails, he said he didn’t know who to trust. At first, I thought he meant you, but that didn’t really make sense. Now I think it wasn’t that he didn’t trust you, per se, but rather he didn’t trust the people the information might go through before it reached you.”
Charlie was silent for a long moment, and when she looked at him, his eyes were like great chips of ice.
“So he sent the information to someone he trusted to keep it safe until he could pass it directly to me from this side of the ocean.”
“It’s what I would do if I were in his position. At least, what I would have done if I hadn’t been trained by the Organization yet,” she qualified with a slight smile.
Charlie pursed his lips. “Dave would have made one hell of an asset.”
“Dave was one hell of a person.”
“After our troops pulled out of Iraq, I lost the trail altogether. Not only was the equipment and artillery missing, but there was no corresponding money trail to follow. After some time, I shelved the whole project and moved on.”
Viper regarded him steadily. “What opened it up again?”
“You.”
Viper stared him. “Me?”
“Well, more specifically, you and Johann Topamari. Do you remember when I told you that as far as I was concerned, Cairo was a success?”
“Yes, and I said that I hoped one day you would explain that.”
“Johann was the first time I got a clue to what happened in Iraq all those years ago. I won’t go into details, and I can’t even if I wanted to, but suffice it to say something popped up in his financials that indicated he received some of the missing artillery. After the past few weeks, I’m sure you understand what that means.”
Viper felt stunned, but she kept her face emotionless.
“When you sent me to Cairo, did you know we would end up here? Did you know I would end up following a trail right back to Iraq? Did you know about all of this?”
Charlie met her gaze solemnly. “In all honesty, no. But, I did hope.”
“You have to explain that.”
“When you joined the Navy, I watched your progress through training camp with great interest. With every record that you broke, I became more convinced that you could take your brother’s place. When you requested military intelligence, I ensured your placement.”
“Are you telling me that you manipulated my entire military career just to get me into the Organization?” she demanded in disbelief.
The look on Charlie’s face was impassive. He didn’t answer her, nor did she think he would.
“When you got to the training facility, Harry didn’t think you’d make it through the first phase. I knew better. You’re so much like your brother, especially with the rifle.” Something close to a smile crossed Charlie’s face. “When you passed phase one, I told Harry to push you harder than the others. I knew that one day, I would need you to be a weapon unlike any other. And that’s what we created. We did our job so well that, as you worked over the years, I began to question if I had created too much of a weapon. When I told you that Cairo was a success in my eyes, it was because you failed.”
Viper felt her mouth fall open. “You wanted me to fail?”
“No. I wanted you to prove to me that there was still some humanity left inside you. I knew Johann surrounded himself with innocents, and that the likelihood of you catching him alone was slim. When I read the report, I realized that the weapon we created could still think for herself.”
“I don’t see how that’s a benefit,” she said dryly. “My job is to follow orders, not think for myself.”
Charlie smiled faintly. “And yet, isn’t that what you’ve been doing for the past year?”
Her brown eyes met his gray ones, and she bit her lip. He was right. Ever since she’d gone back to New Jersey, she hadn’t just been following orders. In fact, once Damon came into the picture again, her isolated and sterile existence had ended. Suddenly, following orders wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted to know that what she did, she did for a reason other than because Charlie had deemed it so. After a moment, she nodded ruefully.
“I suppose I have.”
“And that is why Cairo was a success. You retired for two years and lived in a commune in South America. In that time, you found yourself again. You discovered your humanity again. We wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation right now if you hadn’t done that.”
“Forgive me if I’m being dense, but I don’t see what any of this has to do with my brother or the bastard in Washington who’s trying to kill me and every other asset you’ve created.”
“I needed someone I could trust. You proved to me that you still believe in what’s right and are willing to fight for your country, regardless of the cost. I have no doubt that you will give up your life for the greater good, and believe me, there are not many who would.”
“Let me get this straight,” Viper said after staring at him for a moment. “You’ve been grooming me for six years to kill a traitor so well hidden in Washington, DC that no one could find him?”
“Well, that’s a much more simplistic view of the situation, but essentially yes.”
Alina stared at him, her eyes hard and penetrating.
“Were you ever going to tell me about my brother?”
<
br /> “Not unless it became necessary. You don’t have a good track record when it comes to Dave. You tend to get emotional where he’s concerned, and it has been known to affect your judgment. However, since that choice was taken out of my hands, I have to say that I’ve been quite impressed with your self-restraint. You proved me wrong, and I appreciate that.”
“Tell me about Johann,” she said after a long, silent moment.
“After Cairo, he went underground, and so did my lead. When the Vice President brought him into the country to create a terrorist attack, I knew we were back in business.”
Viper gaped at him in disbelief.
“You mean to tell me this has all been in play since last year?” she demanded. “It started with Three Mile Island?”
“Yes.”
“Son of a bitch!”
He let out a short laugh.
“Precisely. He’s been playing you since you came out of retirement. He’s been playing all of us. He used Regina Cunningham and the Vice President as pawns, and then used me to move you into position, just where he wanted you. I knew it was happening, but I didn’t know who was playing puppet-master. So I waited, and watched.”
“Why me? He was in the clear. After all those years, no one had a clue about him. What changed to make him come out in the open again? And why come after me? Why has he been targeting me for the past year?”
“I’m still working on that. I think Al-Jibad played a big role in that, to be honest. Whether or not he was blackmailing him, or just calling in some old favors, that’s when I think it began. When I sent you after Al-Jibad, it may have been the straw that broke camel’s back. I don’t know.”
“You saw the photo in the attachment,” she stated rather than asked.
Charlie nodded. “I’ll do you one better. One of those financials from Johann connected back to him.”
Viper shook her head, anger welling up inside her. She tamped it down and met Charlie’s gaze.
“The Vice President wasn’t the one who brought Johann into the country, was he?”
Charlie shook his head. “I don’t believe so, no.”
“Did he know about it? Or was he just an innocent pawn?”
“I think he knew about it,” he said. “He had his own agenda and his own ends he wanted to meet. Of course, with both he and Regina dead, there’s no way to confirm.”
Viper let out a short laugh.
“Convenient how everyone who knows anything about this dies. And here, this whole time, I thought you’d arranged for the Vice President’s death.”
“Quite the contrary,” Charlie said grimly. “The President and I had come up with a different resolution. Before I could implement it, the Vice President died.”
She was silent for a long moment as she absorbed everything that she had learned in the past twenty minutes. Sorting the stunning amount of information into priorities, Viper focused on the most pressing.
“When he failed with Johann, he tried again with Moon and the bank virus,” she said slowly. “When that didn’t work, he turned to Asad. By that time, Al-Jibad was already dead. Even if Al-Jibad was behind it in the beginning, he wasn’t any longer. The bastard was just going after the country for his own sake then. He couldn’t have the banking virus, so he tried for a deadly one instead.”
“Yes. Although, he did try to get the banking virus again. I pulled it from the FBI after a security breach when it was almost stolen.”
Viper looked at him in surprise. “Where is it now?”
“Safe,” Charlie said shortly. “Tell me about Kasim and Tarek.”
“It was all in our debriefings,” she said, dropping the subject of the traitorous leak for the time being. “Hawk and I were able to neutralize them without any collateral damage. We went old school to keep the risks low.”
“It’s much appreciated,” he told her. “There were over six hundred school kids there that day. If even one of those bombs had detonated, the loss of life would have been devastating.”
Vipers lips twisted. “Tell that to the media.”
Charlie chuckled. “Ah, so you’ve seen the news.”
“Hard to miss it.”
“If you wanted thanks and recognition, you should have joined the Girl Scouts.”
“I’m happy where I am, thanks,” she said, then she paused. “Although, I’m waiting for the news of Kasim and Tarek to go public. When it does, it won’t be pretty.”
Charlie’s eyes darkened.
“It’s already not pretty,” he muttered. “I assume you’re referring to the open letter circulating with your location and photo?”
Viper nodded, unsurprised that Charlie knew about the letter.
“It was released the day before we killed them,” she said. “Once news of their death gets out, and it will, I’m going to have every member of Al-Jibad’s group and most of the ISIS cells across the globe looking for me.”
“I’ve already pulled the letter and our cyber-team is working on damage control. They’re circulating several other letters to make that one look like a fake, but it will take time. You’ve changed your appearance, so that will help. But there’s no way around the fact that your identity is compromised and your cover blown. You know what that means.”
Viper nodded, her face impassive.
Charlie studied her for a long moment in silence.
“What are your current views on running ops for me?” he finally asked. “That offer is still viable.”
Viper’s lips twisted and her dark eyes met his.
“I have to finish this first,” she said flatly. “You trained me to take on Goliath, and that’s what I’ll do. If I make it to the other side, then we’ll talk.”
Charlie nodded and stood.
“I’m working on getting the information you requested,” he told her. “It’s taking a bit more time than I anticipated. I should have something for you by Monday, at the latest. Are you sure about this?”
Viper stood and the smile on her face was chilling.
“You asked me that once before” she said. “I’m always sure.”
He nodded. “And the other arrangements?”
“I’ll take care of everything. I just need you to keep the skies clear.”
“Of course.” Charlie turned to go towards the door, but paused before reaching it and turned to face her. “I probably won’t see you again until this is all over. Do me a favor? Stay alive.”
Viper smiled slowly.
“I’ll do my best.”
Chapter Eight
Hawk eased the front door open and slipped into the apartment, closing it softly behind him. The murky light from the partly sunny day outside couldn’t penetrate the closed mini blinds on the front windows, and the apartment was filled with gloom. He reached out and flipped the light switch on the wall, then froze.
Stephanie’s apartment was trashed. Furniture was upended, pictures were off the wall and laying discarded on the carpet, and the contents of her entertainment center were strewn around the living room. Hawk reached behind him to pull his Beretta from the holster at his back and, making his way through the mess to the dining room, he let out a low whistle. All the neat piles on the dining room table had been thrown across the table and onto the floor, and two of the chairs were on their sides. Glancing into the kitchen, he found more of the same.
After making sure no one lurked in the kitchen or outside the sliding back door, Hawk turned to go down the small hallway towards the bedrooms. He held his Beretta up near his shoulder, listening for even the slightest sound. There was none. He poked his head into the spare room on the left. Storage boxes had been ripped open, the contents gone through and dumped out onto the floor. The closet stood open, empty. He shook his head and left the spare room. Someone had been very thorough.
After checking the small bathroom, Damon went into Stephanie’s bedroom. He’d been in here before, when he’d searched the apartment and found John’s safe deposit box contents. He was no stranger
to the safe in the closet, and he went there first. The safe stood open and he bent down to peer inside. After studying it for moment, he straightened up and turned around slowly, surveying the disaster.
Whoever had done this knew exactly what they were looking for. All of Stephanie’s spare weapons and cash were still in the safe. They didn’t even try to make it look like a robbery. They were sending a message.
Confident that he was alone in the apartment, Damon tucked his gun back into its holster and left the bedroom. He went into the bathroom and opened the drawer under the cabinet to the right. There, just as Alina had promised, was a plastic box filled with pill bottles, lotion, powders and tampons. He grabbed it and went to the shower. After pulling out the shampoo and conditioner, he added them to the box and turned to leave the bathroom.
Before she left this morning, Alina asked him to stop at the apartment on his way to get Stephanie and Blake. As she said, the least they could do was make sure Stephanie had her meds. Hawk glanced into the box as he carried it to the dining room. So far as he could see, none of the meds were crucial to survival, but far be it from him to stop Special Agent Stephanie Walker from taking her birth control.
He set the box on the dining room table and looked around in the mess on the floor until he found a Kindle Paperwhite, partially hidden under a side table. Bending, he swiped it up and added it to the box. That was it. Alina hadn’t said anything about clothes, and he wasn’t about to guess. Stephanie could make do. As far as he was concerned, she should just be happy that she was still alive.
After gazing at the destruction around him for a moment, Damon grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and pulled it over to the far wall. Standing on it, he reached for the vent above the doorway leading into the short hallway. He lifted off the grate and reached inside, extracting the small wireless camera that Viper had placed when they came to get Buddy. He touched the button on the side of the camera and replaced the grate, tucking the camera into his cargo pocket.
Getting off the chair, he pulled it back to the table and picked up the box again. When Viper had placed the camera in the vent, he’d thought she was being overly cautious. Evidently, it turned out to be the right move. At the very least, they’d know who trashed Stephanie’s apartment.
