“So why am I here?” Maggie asked, getting to the point of their little meeting.
Helmsley leaned forward. “These people need to be stopped before they can do any more damage.”
Maggie knew where this was going. She kicked her chair back and headed for the door. Leaving the Unit was one of the hardest decisions of her life, but she’d made up her mind, and nothing was going to drag her back in.
She opened the door and stopped at the threshold. “I’m sorry about Jim and what’s happened, but it’s no longer my problem.”
Helmsley spun her chair around to face Maggie. “Unfortunately, it is.”
Maggie squeezed the handle in her grip and took a deep breath, trying to keep the rising nausea at bay. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not just active agents on that list.”
Maggie slammed the door closed so hard, it almost broke the glass. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“I wish I were,” Helmsley said, her face grim.
Rage bubbled inside Maggie. She shoved out the chair next to Helmsley and sat down, getting in the older woman’s face. “Talk.”
If Helmsley was afraid of her, she didn’t show it. Instead, she merely faced Maggie and told her what she knew.
“Everyone who has worked for us, past, present, active, or inactive, is on that list. We’re still not sure what else the Romanians took, but they have enough to expose any one of us at any given time.”
Which meant Maggie. Leon and Ashton, too.
Not only that but if the Romanians had access to the missions each of them had carried out, it wasn’t just the agents at risk. It was everything. The entire workings of the Unit could be exposed, and the people within it.
Helmsley nodded, seeing the cogs turn in Maggie’s mind. “If they managed to obtain even a fraction of the sensitive information on our database, the results of it going public could be catastrophic.”
“Not exactly ideal for international relations.” Or for that matter, Maggie and her friends. All three of them had lied, stolen, double-crossed, and assassinated for Queen and country. Most of which had been done under the guise of someone else, aliases being a particular specialty of Maggie’s. Those aliases would be exposed, airing out everything she had done.
“Everyone spies on each other,” Helmsley said. “We all know that, but we can’t come out and admit it. It’s another thing entirely for any given country to learn the details of our efforts, allies or otherwise.”
Maggie had been on many of those assignments. While things may appear rosy between countries on the outside, it was another thing entirely beneath the surface. Supposed allies were actually rivals, rivals turned to allies. It was a continually evolving series of relationships, and even the slightest thing could tip the scale for the worse.
“They didn’t release Jim’s name to the public, though.” Maggie had checked every available news outlet she could on the way home, trying to figure out what had caused the Director General to send for her. There was nothing about her former colleague anywhere.
“We believe the Romanians are keeping it between them and us for the time being. They know the impact a public release could have and are using it to force our hand.”
Had they immediately gone public and exposed the Unit, they would have no more leverage, nothing to hang over the Unit’s head to get Ivan Dalca released from prison. Better to keep the information to themselves and leak it to those select people on the receiving end of the Unit’s spying.
“You never really leave this kind of life once you decide to live it,” Helmsley said, seeing the struggle in Maggie’s eyes. “It has a tendency to follow you whether you like it or not.”
Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why me? You’ve got other agents at your disposal. Ones who actually still work here.”
Helmsley met her eyes, too proud to beg. “You were my best. If anyone can stop this before it gets any worse, it’s you.”
A couple months ago, Helmsley’s words would have stirred a sense of pride in Maggie. Compliments were never part of Helmsley’s management philosophy, preferring to stick to the facts. And the fact was Maggie had the best record among her peers.
It was also a fact that she was no longer an agent.
Maggie’s eyes drew to Bishop’s desk where an unpacked box of files and other office items sat. Had Bishop still been alive, he would have been present at this meeting. His predecessor wasn’t. “And Leon? Where’s he?”
“He’s tied up right now on another issue.”
Maggie was about to pry into what that issue was, but the director pursed her lips. She may want Maggie’s help, but it was clear Maggie was still very much out of the Unit.
Not that it would stop her name from being released to the people she’d fucked over during her time as an agent. That list of names alone was longer than all the agents who have worked for the secret agency.
“I’ll need to think about it.”
“Don’t take too long. The people on that list don’t have much time.”
Maggie heard the implied threat within: Neither do you.
Chapter 4
Ashton sat back on the sofa in Maggie’s riverside apartment and finished the rest of his whisky in one gulp. “Well, shit.”
Maggie paced the floor in front of him, nursing her own drink in her hand. Willow, the stray cat who seemed determined to be a constant guest, danced between her legs, evidently happy to see Maggie back from her travels. “A succinct way of putting it, but yes. Shit.”
She’d filled him in on everything she’d learned from the Director General. Usually, when Maggie told her best friend about Unit business, she was breaking the rules of her employment. Now that she’d left, all those rules went out the window. Aside from the fact she’d signed and agreed to the Official Secrets Act, of course, but it had never stopped her from discussing work with Ashton.
Besides, the Unit had bigger things to worry about than Maggie spilling classified information now that the Romanians had their list of agents.
Ashton poured himself a refill and topped up Maggie’s glass. “What are you going to do?”
Maggie sipped the amber liquid and relished the warmth as it burned down her throat. “I don’t know yet,” she admitted.
Rain continued to spatter her window like blood. It dripped down the glass in globs, distorting her view of the illuminated city skyline and the rushing Thames below.
“You always have a choice, you know,” Ashton said, as if reading her thoughts. “If you don’t want to take this on, then don’t. You’re not an agent anymore. Helmsley and her little minions can deal with it.”
Maggie pressed her forehead against the window and let the glass cool her aching head. Taking a back seat and letting others do the work was never one of Maggie’s strong points.
Could she trust the Unit to handle this? Helmsley didn’t seem to think so. Otherwise she wouldn’t have called Maggie. The dent in her pride alone must have been a tough pill to swallow.
“What about you?” Maggie turned to her best friend. “Your name is on that list, too.”
Hard as he might try to hide it, Ashton was just as shaken by Maggie’s revelation as she’d been. If any of his nefarious business contacts learned of his past deeds as an agent, he’d be in just as much danger as everyone else at the Unit. Maybe more so, given the kind of people he did business with.
Ashton finished his drink, not meeting her eyes. “I’ll send my parents off on holiday until this all blows over.”
A pang of hurt echoed through Maggie. While it was a relief she didn’t have more than Leon and Ashton to worry about in all this, the thought of family stirred the void not having one brought. It was a part of her life she didn’t like to dwell on.
“What about Declan?” Maggie asked, shoving the poisonous concoction of loneliness and jealousy back down the hole and sealing it away.
Ashton shifted in his seat. “He’s in rehab, again.”
�
�I’m sorry.” Ashton didn’t speak about his older brother much. Over the years, he’d tried and failed to get him sober and back on his feet. It killed a little piece of Ashton every time Declan relapsed, but even after all these years, he never gave up on his brother.
“Best place for him,” Ashton replied with a light tone that didn’t match the pain behind his deep-blue eyes. “I just hope he stays there this time.”
Maggie knew Ashton well enough to know Declan wouldn’t be admitted into the rehab facility under his real name. Even if Ivan Dalca’s people did leak Ashton’s name, they’d be hard-pressed to find his brother. For someone who played his life like a dangerous game of chess, Ashton always made sure his family was safe and secure.
Maggie slumped down next to him on the couch, curled up her legs, and leaned on his shoulder. “And you?”
“Business as usual. I have a few ongoing … projects to tie up.”
Maggie didn’t like the sound of that. “Be careful,” she warned.
Ashton shot her a wicked, dimpled grin. “I’m always careful.”
“I’ve heard that before.” Maggie had lost count of the number of times she needed to help get him out of a sticky situation. “I don’t need to remind you of our last ‘vacation,’ do I?”
Where most would shrink at the mention of the time they almost got their friend killed, Ashton simply laughed. “Now that was a fun holiday.”
Maggie sipped her drink to hide her smirk.
“What did Leon have to say about all this?” Ashton continued in a not-so-subtle shift of topic.
“He wasn’t there. Helmsley said he was dealing with another issue.”
Maggie bit at her bottom lip. Did Leon know Grace had interrupted her vacation and dragged her back to London for a meeting? Was he on board with Maggie coming out of retirement so soon? He was shocked when she’d left, but he had respected her decision to follow a different path. If he knew the Director General’s intentions, surely he would have called Maggie first to warn her.
Ashton’s face turned sour. “Helmsley wants you to do her dirty work for her, again, but won’t even tell you where your man is or what he’s doing that’s so important not to be dealing with the hack?”
“He’s not my man,” Maggie said automatically.
Ashton rolled his eyes. “Aye, he is. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you both can get on with your lives. But that’s beside the point. How do you know this isn’t some ploy to get you back into the fold?”
“You’re saying Helmsley had Jim killed as part of some elaborate scheme? Come on, Ash.” Ashton’s distrust of the Unit and their dealings ran deep, but even he knew they wouldn’t resort to killing one of their best remaining agents to get her back.
Ashton arched his eyebrow, knowing exactly what the Unit was capable of. “I’m just concerned, that’s all. You finally made it out, and now suddenly you’re ready to dive back in. Can’t you do something else?”
“Like what? Stay home and knit?”
Ashton scooped up Willow, who sat by his feet, and scratched under her chin, her fur the same color as his styled, dark hair. “Well, you’re two more of these away from being a cat lady already.”
Willow let out a deep, satisfied purr in agreement.
Maggie sighed. “I’m about as happy with all this as you are, but how can I even think about moving on and starting my new life with my past threatening to ruin it before it even starts?”
“They can’t come running to you every time they can’t deal with their own problems, Mags.”
But it wasn’t just their problem. It was Maggie’s and Ashton’s, too.
“It’s the fact they’ve asked me for my help that concerns me. For Helmsley to do that means it must be bad. They’ve already lost Jim, and it’s just a matter of time before the Romanians release the name of another agent.”
Maggie let her unspoken point settle into the silence. That next name could very well be one of them.
Ashton downed what was left of his drink and smacked his lips. “Well, I’ve got to get going.” He stood and stretched his tattoo-covered arms into the air, his fingertips brushing her ceiling, and then shrugged on his expensive designer coat. “I’ll have our friend Gillian fix us all up some new identities, just in case. In the meantime, keep me posted. I’ll ask around and see if I can learn anything about these hackers.”
“Thanks, Ash.”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, giving Willow one last chin scratch before leaving. His phone was at his ear before he was out of her apartment. “Hi, Dad, it’s me. Listen, how do you and Mum feel about a wee trip to Mexico?”
The door closed behind him, leaving Maggie alone with her thoughts.
A shiver ran through her. She wrapped a throw around her shoulders and stared out the large window to the sounds of windswept rain that promised stormy times ahead.
The penthouse in Alicante seemed like a whole other world now, one that she had only been allowed to visit before being dragged back into reality. The Director General’s words replayed in her mind.
You never really leave this kind of life once you decide to live it.
As much as Maggie hated to admit it, Helmsley was right. No matter where she had gone over the last six weeks, no matter how many miles away from London and her old life she ventured, her past came along with her like an unwelcomed guest.
No matter how hard she tried, her grief over Brice Bishop had taken its toll. Both for the man he once was, and for the man she thought she’d known before his secrets spilled out and altered everything for her.
It wasn’t just the loss of her mentor, and the only person close to resembling a parental figure she’d had since losing her mother at the tender age of six. It was the loss of justification for everything she had done as part of the Unit. Every slice of a knife, every bullet she let loose from her gun. Every lie she’d told, and every life she’d taken. All of it she could cope with, knowing what she did was for the greater good. That those she took down had destroyed innocent lives and threatened many more to come. It was the one thing that allowed her to sleep at night, no matter the nightmares that plagued her slumber. As long as she was on the right side, a soldier on the front line of justice, she could continue to do what others could not.
All of that shattered with Bishop and his unofficial missions.
Maggie didn’t know how many of her assignments over the years had come from Bishop’s side gig. A part of her didn’t want to know.
Bishop had used her and the other agents as pawns, pimping them out to anyone who could afford the high fee of his services. He had made Maggie one of the very people she believed she was fighting against. He had guided her hand countless times to carry out the nasty work of criminals to benefit from their shady dealings. Adam Richmond, the reporter, the final innocent Maggie had killed on Bishop’s orders, was the last, but he was by no means the first.
While she was vacationing in paradise, her mind was in hell. Night after night she lay awake, thinking of the countless missions she’d completed, of each and every face she’d taken out with vicious efficiency, wondering which of them hadn’t deserved it.
Now that she was back home, all of it wore on her even more. Bishop had made her a monster, and she didn’t know how she was ever going to restore what he had taken. Didn’t know if it was even possible.
Maggie spent the next few hours in silence, weighing her options. Her own demons aside, there were more imminent threats to contend with. When it came down to it, people’s lives were at stake, including her own and those of the people she cared for most.
Her hands had dialed the number before she even realized it. Straight to voicemail.
“Hey, it’s Leon. I can’t take your call right now but leave a message after the beep.”
Maggie made to speak but ended the call instead and dialed a new number.
Grace Helmsley answered straight away.
“Fine, I’ll help you.”
Maggie
didn’t know how she could even begin to make amends for the things she had done under Bishop’s command, but one thing she did know how to do was to protect the people she loved. Right now, they were in danger, and she would do all she could to save them. Even if it meant returning to the very life she’d just walked away from.
“Good,” Helmsley replied. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at seven o’clock.” Without another word, the director hung up.
“You’re welcome,” Maggie muttered and tossed her phone on the table.
Willow came and curled up on her lap, staring up at her with those big, bright eyes.
“I’m only going back this once,” Maggie told her. “As soon as the mess is settled, I’m out for good.”
Willow considered her for a moment, then closed her eyes, decidedly unimpressed. Maggie sat up late into the night, vowing with each sip of her drink that her return was only temporary. Only it wasn’t the cat she was trying to convince.
Chapter 5
11 July
* * *
At precisely seven in the morning, a black SUV pulled up outside Maggie’s building. Though she couldn’t see through the tinted windows, she knew it was her old boss. The thick bulletproof glass and armored wheels were a dead giveaway.
The rain hadn’t let up from yesterday and poured from the heavens. It plummeted to the pavement and splashed back up upon impact, ensuring those who ventured outside got well and truly drenched.
Maggie put the hood of her jacket over her head and tucked her long blond ponytail out of the way. The front passenger side door opened as she ventured out into the summer rain and recognized a familiar face.
“Hello, Baldy,” Maggie said, as he opened the door for her with one hand and held an umbrella over her head with the other. His face sported a nasty bruise that was almost as dark as the scowl he gave her. Not a word came from him, though, the big man on his best behavior in front of his boss.
Maggie got into the back of the car where the Director General sat waiting, impeccable as always in a fine woolen coat and power suit.
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