“Tricked,” Blunt said.
Jana smiled and nodded.
“Someone has been jerking us around, leading us one way and then the other,” Blunt said. “And that’s not going to matter who’s in charge. Us, the FBI, the CIA—anyone—it doesn’t matter.”
“But they’ve taken all our computers away,” Jana said.
“Yes, our desktops, but we all still have laptops,” Shields said. “And I’ve already been at work on mine.”
“Oh?” Blunt said, his eyebrows shooting upward. “Any news to report?”
“As a matter of fact, there is,” Shields said. “On the way home last night, I sent a message to our contact and let him know that I appreciated the opportunity to work with him and shared photos of Saeed Moqed, just to verify with him that we did the job.”
“Then what?”
“The contact sent us another assignment,” Shields said. “He said this would be our last assignment for a while and that he’ll contact me in due time. He also said this would be the final time we would communicate this way, telling me that he would use another method to make contact with me after this.”
“Do you have the name of the target?” Blunt asked.
“Yes. This time we’re supposed to eliminate Talik Nazid, or Terry Nugent to us.”
Blunt snapped his fingers. “Contact Nugent. Let him know we have to exercise the same protocol as Moqed Saeed to get him out of there.”
“Sir, there’s something about that I’ve been wanting to tell you,” Jana said.
“Go on,” Blunt said.
“Moqed Saeed was found dead this morning, so I’m not sure that we can keep Agent Nugent safe, even after we get him home.”
Blunt sighed and then waved his hand dismissively. “We’ll worry about that later. In the meantime, we have work to do.”
Chapter 37
Washington, D.C.
THREE DAYS LATER, news of Talik Nazid’s death circulated through news agencies in the Middle East. In the U.S., Nazid was identified as a CIA agent who’d been captured by a group of terrorists and beheaded, complete with graphic video to accompany the story. Blunt, who watched the video in his office, was impressed by the CIA’s video team.
“Did you see this?” Blunt asked Black and Shields as they entered the office the next morning.
Shields shrugged. “If it’s a cat video, I most definitely watched it. Mr. Snuggles has gone viral before.”
Blunt furrowed his brow. “Mr. Snuggles? Is that your cat’s name?”
She cocked her head to one side and squinted. “Well, not exactly my cat. It’s my neighbor’s cat. I sometimes cat sit when she’s going out.”
Black shot her a sideways glance. “You actually cat sit for someone?”
“It’s not a someone,” she said. “It’s Mr. Snuggles. But he’s like a someone.”
“Okay, I need to help you get out more often,” Black said. “That’s just sad.”
“What’s sad about it?” Shields asked. “I like cats and I’d rather stay home on the weekend and read a good book. I actually prefer it that way.”
Black shook his head. “I just never imagined you as the cat lady when you get older.”
“If I ever settle down, I’ll get a dog,” she said. “But cats aren’t that bad either.”
Blunt cleared his throat, ending the discussion of canines and felines. “What I wanted to show you was the video of Talik Nazid’s supposed beheading.”
“I’ll pass,” Shields said. “We see enough violence on missions that I don’t need to watch a video depicting it.”
“Black?” Blunt said, gesturing toward the screen.
“It’s faked?” Black asked.
Blunt nodded. “What can’t the CIA do?” He pushed play and sat back, allowing Black to watch the apparent gruesome beheading of the man with the sack over his head. Once the blade made a clean sweep through the man’s neck, the head hit the floor with a thud.
Black leaned closer to the screen. “Amazing. Are you sure that’s real?”
Blunt nodded. “I spoke with Nazid this morning. He’s on a plane back to the U.S. for debriefing.”
“That was flawless execution,” Black said. “I couldn’t even see the tape spliced at all.”
“I couldn’t either,” Blunt said. “And I slowed down the footage several times to get a closer look. It’s damn near perfect.”
“It’s like something out of Hollywood.”
Shields sighed and crossed her arms. “So now what?”
Blunt leaned back in his chair and closed his laptop. “Alex has been busy, and has created some work for this team.”
“What kind of work?” Shields asked. “Well, Alex took it upon herself to reach out to the contact.”
“But he specifically said not to contact him,” Shields said, her eyes widening.
“I know.”
“Show us the conversation,” Black said.
Blunt pulled up the screenshots Alex had sent him. While he hadn’t authorized her to engage with the insider, her ambition seemed like a move that rattled him.
“Here,” Blunt said, backing away from his screen, “you can read the discussion for yourself.”
Alex: Did you see how we handled Talik Nazid’s attempt to infiltrate the cell?
Informant: Why are you contacting me? I told you specifically NOT to contact me after the job.
Alex: I just wanted to make sure you saw that we completed it.
Informant: I did and I will deposit the money into your account shortly. But you shouldn’t go against my wishes again.
Alex: Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of what happened. Since you said you weren’t going to send me any more assignments, I wanted to make sure that you saw my good work on this one.
Informant: Contacting me after I said not to isn’t helping prove anything about how well you did.
Alex: Again, I’m sorry. I’ll be here whenever you need me again to take care of someone else in the future.
“So,” Black said with a shrug, “she screwed up and then apologized. I’m not sure how this helps us.”
Blunt held up his index finger. “Before you rush to any conclusions, you need to know that when Alex did this, she was using her hacker skills to expertly trace the IP address of the person she was communicating with.”
“And?” Shields said.
“And you won’t believe what she came up with,” Blunt said, holding up a slip of paper between his index and middle fingers. “Here’s the stress address of where the IP address originated from.”
Shields took the paper from Blunt and read the address aloud. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
Black shook his head and sighed. “It’s the Unify Washington building.”
“Bingo,” Blunt said, pointing at Black. “You got it.”
“But we already went there and couldn’t find anything,” Shields said.
“Well, we need to go back,” Blunt said. “One more visit, just to make sure.”
“I get spoofing us once on a phone call, but also on an IP address?” Shields said. “Either someone wants us to go there or they aren’t nearly as skilled as we think they are.”
Blunt nodded. “It’s worth checking out. But you’ve got to send someone else this time. And my vote is on Jana.”
“Me?” she said, furrowing her brow.
“Yep,” Blunt said. “You should go in as a structural engineer, sent by the architectural firm to investigate some problems you’ve noticed that developed in buildings designed by a fired partner. You should be able to bullshit your way through something like that, inspecting all twelve floors and the basement.”
“Let’s get you prepped and ready,” Black said.
Jana offered a weak smile and hustled off with Black and Shields to prepare for the operation.
* * *
JANA SMOOTHED HER straight brown locks one final time before exiting the van and walking down the sidewalk toward the Unify Washington building. Going unde
rcover wasn’t new to her, and posing as an engineer to inspect a building was nothing compared to serving for Mossad in Iran under the constant threat of death if she was ever discovered. Nevertheless, she preferred to remain behind the scene when possible. But it wasn’t possible. Blunt demanded it, and she wasn’t about to let him down.
She wore a red skirt and red sports coat over a white blouse. With an executive memo pad tucked beneath her arm, she entered the building. Her glasses transmitted everything she saw back to the van where Black and Shields sat huddled together over a pair of computer monitors.
“Ask to speak to the facility manager,” Black said over the coms into her ear. “And get ready, you’ll be in for a fun ride.”
Jana did as Black requested and sat down, awaiting Kenny’s arrival. When he finally appeared from behind the receptionist’s desk, he held a hotdog in one hand and was wiping ketchup from his thumb onto his pants. However, the job was insufficient, prompting him to suck up the rest of the ketchup. Then he offered his hand, which Jana refused, resorting to smiling and nodding.
“I love Kenny,” Black said. “This is America, people.”
“That is a slob,” Shields fired back.
“Ssshhh,” Jana said.
Kenny stopped and turned around. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jana said. “I just sneezed.”
“Nice recovery,” Black chimed in over the coms.
She loudly cleared her throat, hoping to send a clearer message to her chatty colleagues. Then Jana proceeded to explain the purpose of her visit to Kenny, who didn’t seem to care much.
“I’ll take you to each floor,” he said. “When you’re finished, just meet me back here in the lobby near the elevators and we’ll move to the next one. Easy enough?”
She nodded. “I can handle that.”
“Good,” he said. “Let’s go.”
As Jana inspected each floor, she discreetly placed a device into the back of one of the computers. The gadget enabled Shields to access each computer’s IP address. The process to assess all the computers took a half hour, meaning Jana would have to endure the constant roaming from room to room and floor to floor before she could leave.
In her ear, she listened to Black and Shields analyze the different computers as well as look for people who seemed familiar to them. The facial recognition program whirred on one computer, pulling off images of people’s faces and matching them up against an international database, while the other looked at the computer in each room.
When they were finished, Shields delivered the grim news. “Nothing, Jana.”
“What do you—” she said before catching herself.
“Excuse me,” Kenny said. “Did you need something?”
“No, I’m fine,” Jana said. “Sorry for the confusion.”
“I can’t find any computers with IP addresses matching the computers online right now,” Shields said.
Alertly, Jana tapped Kenny on the shoulder. “Do you have any other rooms you haven’t shown me on this floor?”
Kenny shrugged. “Well, there’s the interns’ office area, although I was warned never to let anyone see that room.”
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“Millennials,” Kenny said with an eye roll. “It’s almost embarrassing to see how this company coddles those clowns. They constantly whine about how much work they have to do, demanding raises while simultaneously demanding less responsibility. I swear I don’t know what the world will look like thirty years from now, but I can promise you that I don’t want to be here for it.”
He came to a stop and started to launch into a story about one of the millennials at the office before Jana smiled politely and nodded toward the door.
“Is this where the interns are housed?” she asked before looking at her watch. “I’m really getting pressed for time.”
“Oh, of course,” he said. “I don’t mind exposing these little brats.”
He pushed the door open, and Jana stepped inside. As she did, the interns flew about the room and hustled over to different computer stations.
“Keep scanning the room,” Shields said over the coms.
Jana complied, slowly turning her head from one direction to the other. As she moved forward, she poked her head around the cubicles.
“Don’t mind me,” she said. “I’m here inspecting the structure of the building.”
One woman’s jaw dropped. “Is this place not safe?”
“It’s fine for now,” Jana said. “Just doing some routine inspection.”
Jana continued to work her way along the row of cubicles until she reached the back corner. There she found a woman hunched over a book.
“Get her to look at you,” Black said over the coms.
“Excuse me, Miss,” Jana said. “Would you mind if I inspect the wall next to your desk?”
The young woman looked up and glanced at Jana. “Sure. Do whatever you want.”
“Wait a minute,” Black said. “I know her.”
“Me too,” Shields said.
Jana thanked the woman for letting her intrude.
“Get out of there,” Black said. “I think I know who our insider is.”
Chapter 38
Washington, D.C.
BLACK CLUTCHED THE LEASH of the hyper Maltese as he walked along the path at King’s Crossing. A posh community for upwardly mobile millennials, it was within walking distance of many government buildings. However, that didn’t dissuade residents from having a car, keeping the parking garage packed.
Black fiddled with his earpiece. “Jana, I might just take this dog home with me after this op tonight.”
“I know you’re a trained assassin, but you will have to kill me if you think you’re going to take Maya with you,” Jana said over the coms. “And I don’t think I need to remind you that Agent Shields has been training me at the range.”
Black chuckled.
“I’m not joking,” she said.
“Oh, I know,” he said. “I’m just wondering why you’d get an amateur to teach you how to shoot.”
Shields’ voice interrupted their conversation. “Sounds like someone I know has a very short memory. Would you mind telling Jana what happened the last time we went to the range together?”
“Jana, it’s called a confidence booster,” Black said. “I let her win so she wouldn’t be afraid to take a shot every now and then.”
“I’m going to strangle you, Black,” Shields said. “Maybe not now, but one night you’re going to be sound asleep and then—boom.”
“See what I mean, Jana?” Black said. “This is the thanks I get for helping a fellow agent develop a little more courage for when she’s out on the field.”
“If I could see you right now,” Shields said, “I might just put several rounds of lead in your ass.”
“Save it,” Black said. “The target just arrived.”
Black walked Maya down the path leading to the parking garage. He kept his cap pulled down low across his brow and avoided making eye contact with the woman.
“I’m confirming visual,” Black said. “The target is headed your way, Shields.”
“Copy that,” Shields said.
Black waited until the woman rounded the corner of the building before he doubled back with Maya and followed the woman up two flights of steps. He stopped and peered around the corner as Shields confronted the woman.
“Campbell Morgan?” Shields asked.
“Who are you?” Campbell asked.
Shields held up her badge. “Agent Christina Shields with the FBI. We need to talk.”
Campbell dropped her briefcase and spun on her heels. She raced along the breezeway, not looking straight ahead until she ran face first into Black.
“What the—” Campbell said as her gaze met Black’s.
Maya yapped at Campbell.
“What’s this all about?” Campbell asked.
Black knelt next to Maya. “It’s all right, girl. She’s n
ot going to hurt anybody, at least, not anymore.”
“Agent Black,” Campbell said, her eyes widening.
“Didn’t think we’d meet again so soon, did you?” he said. “But we need to talk.”
Campbell crossed her arms. “Say whatever you need to say. I’m kind of busy tonight.”
Shields walked up behind her. “We need to do this in private.”
Campbell led the two agents back to her apartment and unlocked the door. She gestured for them to go inside, but Black held his ground, insisting that he go in last to prevent her from getting any ideas about dashing away.
“Is this going to take long?” she asked as Black shut the door.
“Depends on how cooperative you are,” Shields said. “If you tell us what we need to know, this will be as painless as possible.”
“And if I don’t?”
Shields shrugged. “My partner here has no qualms about coercing the information out of someone, especially someone he’s rescued previously in good faith.”
“What are you talking about?” Campbell said. “I was abducted and—”
Black held up his hand. “You can stop the act now, Campbell. We know why you went overseas. And you weren’t abducted like you told us.”
“My kidnapping was captured on a security camera,” Campbell said as she tied her hair up in a bun. “If you don’t believe what you see, I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you.”
Black nodded. “It was staged, that’s one thing I’m certain of. I’m also certain that you had a delivery to make, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Campbell said. “I was in France for a week-long getaway.”
“You travel to Europe often by yourself?” Shields asked.
Campbell shrugged. “I have friends all over the world. It’s what happens when you run in the circles I do.”
“It’s also what happens when your boyfriend is a member of Alsheri,” Black said.
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“Your dumb act won’t work with me,” Shields said. “We know all about Ramon, whose real name is Kalil Fareed. But we’re not telling you anything you don’t already know.”
Honorable Lies (A Titus Black Thriller Book 6) Page 18
