Deep Cover

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  Then they nudged him aside, loaded Devin onto the gurney, and rushed into the hospital while Noah could only stare after them, his hands stained with Devin’s blood.

  Chapter 21

  Kelsey entertained a brief, fleeting hope that Noah had changed his mind when her doorbell rang at seven o’clock on Tuesday night. Right up until she pulled the door open to find James standing outside on her front stoop. “What are you doing here?”

  “I hope you didn’t have plans tonight,” James told her apologetically. “The duty officer sent me to pick you up. You’re wanted in your office.”

  Kelsey let out a resigned sigh. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be right out,” Kelsey said and shut the door between them. She retrieved her cell phone and went through the protocols to make a secure call to the duty office to verify what James had told her. When she learned that she was indeed wanted on base, she sighed again and slipped on her shoes.

  Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at her office and was surprised to find it empty. She settled down at her desk and used her secure phone to call the duty office once more. “This is Kelly Park. I was called into my office, and I need to know who called me in.”

  “Yes, Miss Park. I have a number here you are supposed to call.”

  Kelsey scribbled down the number and thanked the man on the other end. She then dialed the phone once more.

  “Manuel.”

  “Hi, it’s Kelly Park. I understand you called me in?”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. I hope I didn’t mess up your evening plans too much.”

  “No, it’s fine. What’s going on?”

  “I’ve been running audio analysis on some calls that the FBI was interested in earlier today. One of the guys is using some kind of audio masking, but I was hoping you could identify some of the other players. You seem to have a good handle on Salman and his men.”

  “I’ll try. Go ahead and call me on video mode. Just give me a minute to fire up the equipment.”

  “Okay.” He hung up, calling back a minute later just as Kelsey was settling down into one of the chairs across from the plasma screen.

  His confusion was evident when her image appeared. “What’s with the crutches?”

  “I aggravated an old injury.” Kelsey shrugged off the question. “What have you got for me?”

  “Here’s the first one. We can’t pinpoint exactly where the callers were located, but it appears that one was in Abolstan and the other was in Turkey.” He hit a button, and Kelsey couldn’t help but flinch when she heard Salman’s voice fill the room. He spoke in Arabic, and Kelsey translated the words automatically.

  Someone is spying on me. If not you, then one of your people. You know how I feel about loyalty. And what happens when that loyalty is broken.

  It isn’t me. The second voice was masked, but even with the electronic distortion, Kelsey could hear the man’s hesitation. She also recognized that the man was not a native speaker.

  I pay you to protect me against these kinds of things. It’s time you earn what has been given to you.

  I will. I promise you, I’ll find what you’re looking for.

  Kelsey felt like she had taken a bullet to her chest. The way the second man hesitated before promising to find her made her think that he knew exactly who she was. The question was whether he knew her only as Kelly or if he also knew she was Kelsey.

  Kelsey listened to the rest of the conversation—more threats and promises. After the audio ended, she looked at Manuel, confused. “I’m sure your voiceprint analysis told you that the first man was Salman.”

  “Yes,” Manuel said. “I have one of our analysts doing a rundown on any other calls on that number.”

  “Any idea how long that will take?”

  “We should have something by tomorrow or the next day, but there’s more.” A line of concentration appeared on his brow. “When I first listened to it, I didn’t think anything of it, but now I’m not so sure.”

  Kelsey waited while he hit a button so she could hear another recording. This time it was Salman’s son Gabir and the man Kelsey suspected was his other son, Fathi.

  Gabir spoke first. The day has been set. Aamina’s time will soon be known by all.

  Will Father have our new supplies available by then?

  They will be in place next month.

  We will be ready. I look forward to seeing you again.

  And you.

  Kelsey let the words echo through her head for a moment, translating the Arabic to English while also deciphering what they meant. Aamina’s time. The day Aamina would marry: June 11. Kelsey said the words as soon as they registered in her brain. “That’s the day the attack will happen.”

  “How did you figure that out?”

  “Aamina Nassar will marry that day. Whatever Salman is planning is going to happen at the same time.”

  He looked at her skeptically. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”

  Kelsey shook her head, little details that previously hadn’t made sense now snapping into place. “It makes total sense. Salman would want it to happen at a time of celebration. He would see this as an example of his power to have his followers carrying out his plans while he is celebrating at his daughter’s wedding,” she explained. “June eleventh is right after the end of Rajab, a month Muslims recognize as a time without battles. It never made sense to me why Aamina’s wedding was planned then. I always thought Salman would have insisted that she marry either during Rajab to make sure they were protected from rival tribes or during Shawwal.”

  “Shawwal?”

  “The time following Ramadan. It’s a blessed month for marriages.”

  “I’ll flag Aamina’s name as a new search parameter for our analysts here, but it’s going to take a day or two.”

  “Obviously we need that as soon as possible. I’m sorry, but it looks like you’ll be working late tonight.”

  Manuel took that observation with a nonchalant shrug. “You might as well go home and get some rest. We won’t have anything before tomorrow.”

  Though rest was unlikely with so much adrenaline pumping through her system, Kelsey nodded. “Have the duty officer call me in if you find anything.”

  “I will. Try to enjoy what’s left of your evening,” he said and then severed the connection between them.

  Kelsey stared at the blank screen and muttered, “I doubt there’s any chance of that.”

  * * *

  Noah dragged a hand over his face. Devin was going to make it. Or at least the odds were now in his favor, much more so than when he had taken two bullets to the chest.

  Surgery had lasted nearly twelve hours, a team of medical personnel performing the delicate operation. More than ten hours ago, the nurses had tried to convince him to go home and get some rest, assuring him that they would call once Devin was out of surgery. Noah hadn’t been willing to leave.

  Instead, he had spent the first several hours pacing the hospital waiting room, taking occasional breaks to go outside to use his cell phone. Devin’s parents had been notified, and Noah had left a message for his immediate supervisor. He had briefly considered calling Kelsey to let her know what had happened, but he pushed that instinct aside. Telling her about the shooting certainly wouldn’t help anything, and he was a little annoyed with himself that he would think to call her in the first place.

  By three in the morning, exhaustion had finally kicked in and he had dozed on and off for a few hours in an uncomfortable chair.

  Burt had arrived shortly after six and had expended his own restless energy wearing a path in the carpet. Now the doctor was here, explaining how fortunate Devin was that the bullets had missed his heart.

  “So he will be okay?”

  “He’s still critical, but we hope to be able to bump that up to serious within a few hours. For now, he’ll be kept sedated,” the doctor told them. “I suggest you both go home and get some rest. Make sure you leave your contact information with the front desk, and we’ll have someone
call you if there is any change.”

  Wearily, Noah nodded. As soon as the doctor left, Noah asked, “Are you going into your office now? There are a few things I need to tell you before I head to Quantico.”

  “I’ve got a few stops to make first.” He motioned down the hall. “There’s a meeting room down there we should be able to use.”

  Burt stopped briefly at the nurses’ station and verified that the room he spoke of was indeed empty. Then he led Noah inside. “The hospital staff let us meet in here after Carter was shot. What’s going on?”

  “I already told you Devin asked me to meet him here,” Noah told him. “He said he uncovered information that points to our mole being from the CIA. I hoped you could track down any files Devin might have on his hard drive and all of his correspondence logs from yesterday.”

  “You think someone figured out he was on to them?”

  “Yeah. That’s exactly what I think,” Noah said. “And if I’m right, then his correspondence logs will give us a list of suspects.”

  “He may not have logged all of his calls,” Burt considered. “I’ll put in for his phone records too.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  “What about the CIA reps on the taskforce? Are you sure they aren’t involved?”

  “I’m sure that one of them was here in the country when a suspicious phone call was made. The only one I’m not sure about is the guy heading up the taskforce.”

  “You’re talking about Cullen Plesky.”

  Noah took a step back. “How would you know who is on the taskforce?”

  “I just know Cullen because he’s the one who came to me asking for recommendations for our FBI representative,” Burt told him. “You can trust him. He hasn’t worked overseas for at least three years. He had some sort of family emergency when he was on his last assignment, and he’s been stateside ever since.”

  “Then the Agency really did vet all of their members on the taskforce,” Noah said. “If you can get me Devin’s research, hopefully they can help find the missing piece to this puzzle.”

  “You got it.”

  Chapter 22

  Noah stepped through his front door and stopped for a moment. He knew immediately that Kelsey hadn’t been over to use his kitchen, although he suspected she wouldn’t feel comfortable using his key to let herself in after what had happened at work. He forced himself not to listen to the silence, instantly annoyed that he now noticed it.

  For six years, he had learned to ignore the fact that he was without family, without anyone to come home to. Then Kelsey had shown up and made him want things he hadn’t seriously envisioned before, like a family of his own.

  “I’m just tired,” he said to himself. He would adapt to the silence again, just as he had after the accident. Eventually Kelsey would go back overseas, and she would be reduced once more to the person everyone talked about at family gatherings but never saw.

  He climbed the stairs and gave a wistful look at his bed. All he wanted to do was fall face-first onto the mattress and sleep until he could pretend that last night was only a bad dream that could be erased with a hot shower and a good meal.

  Though his stomach was already grumbling, he headed for the shower. Beneath the spray, he washed the remaining traces of Devin’s blood off his hands. The hot water helped wake him up, and he prayed he could last through the day without falling asleep on his feet.

  As soon as he dressed, he headed for the kitchen in search of something to eat. His gaze landed on the Ziploc bag filled with fry bread on the counter. He turned from that reminder of Kelsey and opened the fridge to see more leftovers from the last dinner they had shared. He pushed the plastic container aside and snatched a yogurt and bagel, slamming the refrigerator door closed hard enough that the contents in the door rattled.

  Already late for work because of his impromptu meeting with Burt, Noah grabbed a spoon and headed for the door. He sent up another prayer, this time asking that he survive his next encounter with the woman who was currently making him crazy.

  * * *

  Kelsey searched the Internet for events of significance on June 11. Other than the US Open golf tournament, most of the hits were on various cruises and vacation packages. She had hoped when she arrived at her office this morning that she would find a message from Manuel, but apparently he had been accurate when he told her that it would take his team a day or two to gather the information they were looking for.

  She looked around the room, unsettled that Noah had yet to arrive. He should have been there nearly an hour ago. Despite her exhaustion, Kelsey had barely slept last night. The thoughts running around her brain simply wouldn’t shut off no matter how many times she tried to silence them.

  Knowing the date of Salman’s plans should have been a source of relief, since the date was still two months away, but Kelsey found herself wishing they had even more time. Analyzing data and searching for new intelligence was often tedious and time-consuming, and she knew there weren’t any guarantees that they would find the information they were looking for. She also worried that she would still be recovering from her injury when the attack occurred. The thought of squaring off with Salman when she wasn’t a hundred percent was daunting, to say the least.

  Still, she preferred that scenario to reliving that moment when Noah had first walked through the office door. An ache squeezed in her chest, mirroring the pain that had taken up residence in the center of her forehead. She knew the uncomfortable sensation wasn’t going to go away until they’d had the chance to talk. Really talk.

  Part of her was annoyed that Noah was judging her for keeping her profession from him, but on another level, she thought she could understand his reaction. Even though he would be expected to work undercover as an FBI agent, he could still tell his family and close friends whom he worked for. That was a luxury she had never enjoyed. The depth of her cover was also something that wasn’t easy to explain, even to someone who had a security clearance.

  She glanced at the door now, her eyebrows drawing together when she noted the time. Although she had known Noah for only a couple of weeks, she had never known him to be late except for the one time his work had demanded it. Even then, he had tried to let her know. So where was he now?

  Surely he wasn’t trying to get reassigned because of her. Or was he? That thought worked its way through her mind, causing her to shift uncomfortably. With the possibility of a mole working in one of their agencies, surely he would understand the need to put any hurt feelings aside until their job was done.

  Her stomach roiled painfully at the possibility that he wouldn’t want to work through those hurt feelings on a personal level.

  When Noah walked in the door twenty minutes later, relief and concern overshadowed her nerves. Quite simply, he looked exhausted. He crossed to his desk, hung his suit jacket on the hanger attached to the side of his cubicle, and secured his weapon in the top drawer of his desk.

  He didn’t look at her during what appeared to be his morning routine, nor when he turned to cross to Ted’s desk.

  Noah lowered his voice, but Kelsey was able to hear pieces of the conversation. “Another leak . . . last night . . . critical.”

  Then she heard Ted mention her name. A moment later, he called out, “Hey, Kelly. Cullen. I think you need to hear about this.”

  “What’s going on?” Cullen asked.

  Kelsey swiveled in her chair to face the open part of their office space. She was pleased when Cullen took position a few feet away and motioned for the others to join them near her desk so she wouldn’t have to use her crutches to participate in the impromptu meeting.

  “There was another leak last night,” Noah said, his attention shifting to Cullen. “One of my colleagues uncovered data about who has been feeding information to Salman. Within hours, he was gunned down.”

  “How is he?”

  “He’s critical.” Noah glanced at his watch. “Although hopefully his condition has been upgraded by now
.”

  “Who was this colleague?” Cullen asked.

  “Devin Byers.”

  Kelsey felt her stomach pitch with emotion. She knew firsthand how close Noah was to Devin and how worried he must be right now.

  Cullen clearly wasn’t concerned about Noah’s emotional state. If he had been, his voice might have held some sympathy when he asked, “Isn’t he one of the agents who has worked on the Medrano case since the beginning?”

  “Yes,” Noah said, his expression carefully guarded.

  “Then it’s possible that he was the mole and he was shot by one of Medrano’s or Salman’s men to silence him.”

  Now Noah’s jaw set. “That’s not what happened.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because he was trying to tell me who the mole was when he was shot.”

  Cullen’s stance softened a bit. “I’ll arrange to have extra security posted outside of his room at the hospital.”

  Noah shook his head. “No way. The FBI will take care of his security.”

  “The FBI isn’t equipped to deal with Salman alone.”

  “Maybe not, but we’ll take our chances. There’s no way I’m letting anyone from the CIA near him. Not after what he told me.”

  “And what was that?” Cullen asked defensively.

  “It’s one of yours.”

  Cullen’s eyebrows lifted in disbelief. “I beg your pardon.”

  “The mole,” Noah said in a carefully controlled voice. “He’s one of your agents. Not one of ours.”

  Cullen’s eyebrows rose. “I’m sorry about your friend, but that’s no reason to make blanket accusations.”

  “I’m not making blanket accusations,” Noah said. “I’m stating a fact.”

  “Where’s your evidence?” Cullen demanded.

  “Devin was tracking down phone calls from Medrano. The trail led back to one of your agents overseas.”

  “But you don’t have proof, do you?”

  Tension vibrated from Noah. “I have a partner lying in a hospital bed in critical condition because he uncovered something. He says it’s one of your agents. I believe him.”