Classified

by Debra Webb

  She should have run away. This was another mega mistake. But she couldn’t do it. She dropped her bag and put her arms around his neck. He tasted like sweetened coffee and the chocolate he’d had for dessert after lunch. But mostly he tasted like Stark. And she wanted to taste all of him. His arms felt so good around her…she could stay this way for…ever.

  He drew back, pressed his forehead to hers.

  What was she doing? Nothing was forever.

  Say goodbye, Casey!

  “FYI,” he murmured, “that was real. See you in one month.”

  Casey watched him walk away.

  Something deep inside her shifted.

  She was going to miss him.

  She’d been outdone, there was no denying it. That truth had her surrendering to a smile. She had a feeling he was right.

  Levi Stark was the real thing.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Colby Agency, 5:51 p.m.

  Lucas had gotten Casey’s message.

  He collapsed into the chair behind his desk. Thank God. He and Thomas had been ready to send a team to find her. Lucas had been worried sick.

  Since the Colby Agency staff meeting ended, he’d tried returning Casey’s call several times. Her cell had gone straight to voice mail. He doubted he would be able to reach her before her arrival in Chicago.

  Victoria wouldn’t question his need to meet an old colleague for a drink. No matter how hard he tried, Lucas couldn’t get past this massive lump of guilt hanging somewhere between his throat and his heart.

  Casey had news. Good or bad, he would need to share it with Victoria. He shouldn’t have kept her in the dark like this.

  He stood. There was no time like the present to right this wrong. As if his troubled thoughts had summoned her, his door opened and Victoria walked in. Generally her arrival wouldn’t startle him. Tonight it did. The guilt was weighing heavy.

  “Victoria.” He smiled, though the weight in his chest made that simple gesture difficult.

  “Lucas, I…” She held up her hands as if defeated.

  She looked as worried as he felt. “Has something happened?”

  His wife settled into the chair in front of his desk. “Yes,” she said finally. “And we have to talk about it.”

  Lucas lowered into his chair. Worry fisted in his chest. What had his preoccupation with Keaton caused him to miss? “We’ll talk about anything you want for as long as you want.”

  Her worried gaze settled on his. “I made a mistake.”

  Lucas wanted to rush around his desk and hold her. To reassure his beloved wife that he would protect her and love her no matter what mistake she felt she had committed. He had made a rather large one himself.

  This was nonsense. He moved around his desk to join Victoria. He took her hand in his. “Tell me what’s wrong.” He couldn’t bear to see her so worried.

  “Like you, I’ve continued to have my reservations about Keaton.”

  Anger unfurled in Lucas’s gut. This had gone on far too long.

  “So I sent Stark to look into a man named Paulo Fernandez in Pozos.”

  For the first time in his life, Lucas was speechless.

  “I know,” she urged, taking his surprise for something it wasn’t, “that I was the one to insist we stop looking for trouble where he’s concerned. But I had to do this. I knew how concerned you’ve been about him.”

  “Have you heard from Stark?”

  She nodded. “Finally. I hadn’t heard from him since his arrival in Mexico. I was beginning to grow anxious. But he’s on his way back. He left a message that he would be giving me a full briefing tonight and I’d like you to be a part of it. Whatever he has learned, we should face it together.”

  Lucas squeezed her hand. “I love you for caring so much, my darling.”

  She shook her head. “I should have told you. It was foolhardy of me to go this route.” She peered into his eyes, hers hopeful. “Can you forgive me?”

  Dear, dear Victoria. How did he tell her that he had done precisely the same thing?

  “There is something I need to tell you as well.” She looked at him expectantly. “I believe we can most likely call it even.”

  They shared a good laugh over their foolish decisions and then they hugged. Deep inside, they both understood that tonight’s news would not be good.

  Chapter Eighteen

  11:05 p.m.

  Levi emerged from the taxi and walked straight through the front entrance. He waved to security as he headed for the bank of elevators to go to the fourth floor.

  He was exhausted, physically and mentally.

  He’d tried to sleep on the plane but the bizarre events in Mexico wouldn’t let that happen.

  And he couldn’t get Casey out of his head.

  She was…he stalled…standing at the elevators. Of his building.

  What was she doing here?

  The chime announcing an elevator had arrived sounded, snapping him out of the daze he’d lapsed into. The doors opened and Casey stepped through, apparently in a daze of her own. Levi hurried to catch up, barely getting through the doors before they closed.

  Casey looked up, startled. “Stark. What’re you doing here?”

  Levi had the presence of mind to press the button for the fourth floor. The elevator doors closed and the car glided upward. He met her gaze. “This is where I work.”

  “The Colby Agency? Oh, my God. Who sent you on this mission?”

  He hesitated a moment. The mission was over now. They were both here at the Colby Agency—somehow. What difference did it make? “Victoria Colby-Camp, the head of the agency.”

  Astonishment claimed Casey’s face. “Victoria sent you?”

  That same astonishment surely claimed his. “You know Victoria?”

  “Her husband is my godfather.”

  “Lucas?” This moment was like the rest of their mission…crazy.

  She nodded. “He didn’t want Victoria to know. That’s why I’m meeting him here at this hour.”

  The elevator stopped on the fourth floor and the doors opened. “I guess we’re about to blow both their covers because I’m meeting Victoria.”

  The next few minutes were a little unnerving and a whole lot strange. Like everything about his and Casey’s time together so far. Victoria and Lucas had asked her son, Jim, to sit in on the briefing.

  “That’s all Alayna relayed to you?” Lucas asked. “You’re absolutely certain there was nothing more?”

  “Positive,” Levi assured him. He’d given a word-for-word account of the meeting with Alayna and his questioning by the woman referred to as the Dragon. Casey had done the same. Then, they had both shared their shock at just how much the woman resembled Victoria.

  Victoria had taken it all in good stride. She seemed to maintain a proper perspective but the whole business had to be terrifying on some level.

  “What do you make of this, Lucas?” Jim asked.

  “The Dragon has been a part of the international intelligence world for a very long time. Longer than me.” He looked from one to the other, his gaze coming to rest on Victoria. Levi noticed his eyes softened. “We had a brief affair some thirty years ago when I was a green field operative. I never encountered her again after that. The rumor was that she had turned. Gone to the dark side, so to speak. I can’t even recall the last time I saw her. Until we were in Mexico last month. I was certain I saw her in the crowd. She was there one moment and then she was gone.” He shrugged. “I decided I was mistaken. Apparently I was right the first time.”

  “There have been rumors about the Dragon,” Casey spoke up, “but I wasn’t so sure she was real until last night. She’s real.” Casey turned to Lucas then. “She hates you, Lucas. I could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice, when she questioned me.”

  “You were unable to confirm that she is Keaton’s mother?” Victoria asked, sounding strong in spite of present circumstances.

  “That’s correct,” Levi told her. “But that
was the thinking of Fernandez, the contact in Pozos. He had a direct connection to the Dragon which leads me to believe he knew what he was talking about and that she was indeed Keaton’s mother.”

  “It makes sense,” Victoria said, seeming distracted now. “Keaton insinuated himself into our lives. He has been watching you,” she said to Lucas, “all this time. His alleged mother, a woman with whom you had an affair thirty years ago, despises you. Could she have sent him to finally have some sort of revenge?”

  Jim shook his head before Lucas could answer. “But why wait so long? He’s had ample opportunity to complete his mission, if he’d had a specific one.”

  Levi had heard the story of how Jim Colby had returned over seven years ago to exact his misguided revenge. He would know that strategy better than anyone. His point was valid.

  Victoria was the one shaking her head now. The confusion and uncertainty on her face were way out of character. “Lucas recently retired,” she offered. “Perhaps she stationed Keaton here to watch until just the right moment. Perhaps she doesn’t want Lucas to be happily retired…with a wife and family.” Victoria rested her gaze on her husband, the confusion and uncertainty shifting to a palpable worry. “Since your encounter was brief, does she have another reason to hate you that much? Did you, in the line of duty, take someone she loved?”

  “Not to my knowledge.” Lucas looked equally stricken by the turn the events surrounding Keaton and this mission had taken. “She was a source who provided much needed intelligence in missions that might otherwise have failed, but that was a very long time ago. She vanished. The rumors since have connected her to ruthless criminal activity. None, to my knowledge, has ever been corroborated. Until last month I had no reason to believe that she was even still alive.”

  “There’s an avenue we’re missing,” Jim suggested. All attention settled on him. “This entire setup could be related to your connections in Washington, Lucas. That may be what this waiting game has been about. Settling in and then striking at just the right moment.”

  Silence reigned for several seconds.

  “That’s possible,” Lucas admitted. “I suppose all the coincidences, like Victoria’s abduction and what happened in Pozos last month, could be building toward a goal.” He shook his head. “But it doesn’t feel right. It feels personal.”

  “Whatever it is,” Victoria announced, sounding more like the strong woman Levi had come to know, “we have to stop Keaton and this woman who calls herself the Dragon.”

  “We need to learn their ultimate intent ASAP,” Jim suggested. “That knowledge is crucial to moving forward. I’m convinced that’s why we haven’t gotten even close to what we need on Keaton in all this time.”

  “Agreed.” Lucas gave a resolute nod. “We need your uncle,” he said to Casey, “and his team of specialists to find the Dragon and bring her to justice. It’s past time if even half the rumors are true.”

  “My uncle,” Casey offered, “may require my and Stark’s assistance, since we’re the only ones who’ve seen her recently.”

  Levi was surprised by her suggestion though he was thinking the same. “I would like to see this through,” he said to Victoria.

  “This task will require all our resources, I fear.” Victoria reached for her husband’s hand. “And much strength.”

  “Casey, Stark,” Jim said, “you two did a brilliant job with limited resources.” He looked to each person gathered around his mother’s conference table. “But now we have a far bigger mission ahead of us.

  “Lucas will coordinate our efforts with those of the CIA. Stark, you and Casey will provide whatever support is needed on the ground. First thing in the morning I’ll put Ian Michaels and Simon Ruhl, our agency’s seconds in command,” he said for Casey’s benefit, “on following up in Mexico. With their contacts we may be able to learn some additional information.” Jim looked from Victoria to Lucas and back. “I want the two of you to have round-the-clock security. We don’t know what this woman might have planned.”

  “And Keaton,” Victoria added, “with what we’ve learned, he may be an equally dangerous threat.”

  “I’m about to pay him a visit—if he hasn’t vanished as well.” Jim stood. “The sooner I have his activities under surveillance, the better I’ll feel. For all we know, he could be in danger as well.” He surveyed those around the table once more. “We will neutralize this threat.”

  Victoria and Lucas exchanged a look. “Together,” she stated with all the strength and courage for which she was known.

  He squeezed her hand. “Always.”

  WHEN THE BRIEFING HAD concluded, Levi shared the elevator back to the lobby with Casey.

  “Do you have to return to Langley immediately?” He hoped not. She’d said she was on vacation.

  “Depends on how quickly we get this new mission off the ground.”

  If Levi was really lucky he’d be right beside her for that one. “Looks like we might be partners again.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that.”

  Her comment had hope expanding in his chest. “You planning to stay at a hotel while you’re here?” he ventured. Or maybe she planned to stay with Victoria and Lucas.

  “Don’t have any plans.”

  “It’s late.” Well after midnight. He didn’t like the idea of her looking for a hotel at this hour. “I know you’re exhausted.”

  She eyed him curiously. “Is there an invitation in there somewhere?”

  “Yes. You’re welcome to stay at my place for as long as you’re here.” He decided to take it all the way. “Whenever you’re here.”

  “I warn you,” she teased, “I can be a serious pain in the butt a lot of the time.”

  “I know.” He snagged her hand and drew her close. “And you always have to have the last word.”

  “Yeah.” She pressed her palms against his chest and slid her hands up and around his neck. “There’s just one problem.”

  He searched her eyes, smiled at how they glittered with expectation. “What’s that?”

  “There’s a sizeable hole in your strategy.” She leaned into him. His body reacted hard and fast. “You see, I realized something about myself recently. I have trust issues. I have to be certain this is real. That could be a big problem.”

  “You’re right. That is a problem.” He pulled her closer, his heart pounding so hard he couldn’t breathe. “And I gladly accept the challenge of correcting that situation.” He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her with all the feelings churning wildly inside him.

  He had every intention of teaching Casey just how real this could be.

  Starting right now.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When Jim and the others had at last left Victoria’s office, she moved to her treasured window and stared out at the familiar scene, emotions churning inside her. Lucas stood silently behind her. He was no doubt reeling with similar emotions. This woman—this Dragon—who looked so much like Victoria wanted to destroy Lucas. Whatever her motives, she appeared to have vast resources.

  That was the part that terrified Victoria the most.

  She had to be stopped.

  Was Slade Keaton innocent on some level in all this? Victoria couldn’t stop thinking of how Jim had been brainwashed into wanting to kill Victoria for wrongs she had not committed. Was this woman using her own son the same way? Was that why Keaton watched Lucas so closely? Victoria had observed his fascination with Lucas on more than one occasion. Dear God, what did all this mean? What kind of mother would do this to her son?

  Lucas’s hands settled on Victoria’s shoulders and turned her to face him. “I want you safe.” The worry in his voice and eyes tore at her heart. “My history with the CIA is the issue here. I won’t have that past putting you in danger.”

  Was he suggesting she hide while he stood and fought this evil? Victoria forced the quaking inside her to calm. Those runaway emotions would work against her reasoning. She needed her head clear. “Are you sure thi
s is about your past with the Agency? Or is it about your decision to choose me as your wife?”

  A frown furrowed across his weary brow. “That moment she and I shared was a very long time ago, Victoria. I’ve been over it and over it and I can’t pinpoint a single reason she would show up now seeking revenge.” He sighed. “Unless, as you suggested, someone I didn’t know was connected to her was a victim in some capacity or another with one of my covert missions.”

  Victoria took his face in her hands. She loved this man so very much. He wanted to protect her. “We can’t ignore the fact that she and I share numerous physical features, Lucas. That carries some significance that we can’t just set aside.”

  An old ache surfaced in his eyes. “When I first met her, in the line of duty, I was stunned at how much the two of you looked alike.” He shrugged. “In truth, that’s likely why that moment happened in the first place.”

  Victoria smiled sadly. She knew Lucas had been in love with her for a very long time. But she had been married to James then. She’d pretended not to notice the way Lucas looked at her. He’d always been the perfect gentleman, even well after James’s death.

  “In that case, perhaps it’s me she wants out of the way. Maybe Keaton’s fascination with you has been a ruse. If I were out of the picture, she might have a chance to rekindle that old flame.” Before Lucas could argue, Victoria added, “People with obsessions sometimes cross that murky line called reality. We can’t be sure. Maybe she didn’t send Keaton at all.” The way the woman had questioned Casey and Levi certainly made it sound that way. “He may have grown up in your shadow—in the shadow of his mother’s obsession. Perhaps he believes somehow that getting me out of the way and delivering you to her would elevate his standing in her eyes.”

  Lucas pulled her into his arms. Her heart reacted. “The fact is,” he said softly, that same fear and worry she’d been feeling clear in his eyes, “we don’t know what he wants and how he’s connected to her or even what she wants. We have a little scrambled information and a whole lot of hard questions. What counts is that we stay safe while finding the truth.”