Deep Cover

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  She hurried into the bathroom and closed herself into one of the stalls. Quickly, she unscrewed the top piece on the support bar of one of the crutches and retrieved the knife hidden there. Tucking it into the fold of her pocket, she reassembled the crutch and listened to the handful of other women in the restroom.

  Hoping to hide behind the crowd, Kelsey left her hiding place and followed the other women back out into the hall. Patrick was walking toward her, and following a few short yards behind him was the man who had been working at their gate. Casually, Patrick glanced behind him, and Kelsey suspected that he too felt like he was being followed.

  The women she had been trying to blend in with veered off toward another gate, leaving Kelsey exposed. A few bystanders were clustered near the gates, but she didn’t have anyone to hide behind. With her crutches, she was far too easy to identify.

  The man behind Patrick quickened his pace and caught up to him when they were only twenty feet away. Kelsey could hear the man’s lowered voice when he spoke in Arabic. “You need to come with me. You and the woman.”

  A few bystanders looked up with curious stares.

  Kelsey reached into her robe and flipped open the blade of her knife. She hesitated a moment, not certain if this man was an ally sent to protect them from some unknown danger or if he was the danger. When she saw him reach his hand beneath his jacket and caught a glimpse of the weapon hidden there, she didn’t wait to find out.

  In a fluid movement, she pulled her hand out of her pocket, swung her arm, and sent the knife flying. Her pursuer cried out in pain when it impacted his right arm. It wasn’t where she had been aiming, but at least she hadn’t missed him altogether.

  A woman screamed and several other bystanders scampered for safety.

  Without hesitation, Patrick stuck out his leg and knocked his pursuer to the ground. Swiftly, he disarmed the man, pocketed the gun, pulled the knife from the wound, and retracted the blade. As though he didn’t have any clue or care as to why this person was now lying in the middle of the airport, Patrick started toward the exit.

  As he passed by Kelsey, he slipped the knife into her hand, and they tried to blend in with the people who were rushing out of the area. Then he guided her through an intersecting corridor and led her toward what they both hoped would be safety.

  * * *

  The mole had been found. His identity remained classified on a need-to-know basis, but the threat had been contained. That was the word Cullen had passed on to the rest of the taskforce on Monday morning. At least he passed the news on to everyone who was there—everyone except Kelsey.

  The thought that Kelsey had been involved in rooting out the mole surfaced the moment Noah heard the news. As the hours passed by without any sign of her, the possibility continued to take hold. He remembered exactly when he had seen her last, that moment when some guy had picked her up from her house on Thursday and sent his emotions into turmoil.

  Thank goodness work had dominated most of his weekend so he didn’t have as much time as he normally might have to wonder who her mystery date had been and where she was now. He had been prepared to confront her at church on Sunday. Or rather, he had been prepared to insist she speak to him privately after church. That hadn’t happened because she had been noticeably absent both at church and at family home evening on Monday night.

  When one of the contractors working on her parents’ house stopped by on Tuesday morning to update him on the progress, Noah’s conflicting emotions about Kelsey turned to worry. According to the contractor, no one on his crew had seen her for several days.

  So where was she?

  The question was still circling through his brain when he pulled into the parking lot at work and his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Justin. Noah’s concern for Kelsey heightened. Justin rarely called before nine unless something was wrong.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Noah. Sorry to call so early, but I figured you were already up.”

  “It’s not a problem. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I just wanted to see if you had talked to Kelsey lately. We wanted to see if both of you wanted to come up for dinner on Sunday, but she hasn’t been answering her phone.”

  “Actually, I haven’t seen her for a couple of days,” Noah admitted.

  “You don’t think she already took off again, do you?”

  Noah tried to ignore the hollow feeling in his stomach at that thought, the idea that she had already taken another overseas assignment. “Wouldn’t she have told you if she was leaving town?”

  “Usually she does, but every once in a while she just disappears. Then a week or two later, someone will get an e-mail or a phone call.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Justin, but if I see her, I’ll let her know you’re looking for her.”

  “Okay. Now, about dinner on Sunday . . .”

  “Can I get back to you on that? Work is a little crazy right now.”

  “Sure. If it doesn’t pan out this week, we’ll have you come up another time.”

  “I’ll let you know. Thanks.”

  Noah looked around the parking lot in search of Kelsey’s car but didn’t see it. He thought for a moment, realizing that he hadn’t noticed her car in the days before she had disappeared either. Wondering if she might switch vehicles before coming to work, Noah headed for his office in the hopes that Kelsey would be there.

  When he saw that once again she wasn’t present, he headed straight for Cullen’s desk, determined to get some answers.

  “Where’s Kelly?” Noah asked, trying to act casual. “I haven’t seen her in a few days.”

  “She had some family emergency. Her mother ended up in the hospital or something like that.”

  Noah fought the urge to call him out on the lie, reminding himself that he wasn’t supposed to know who Kelsey really was or that her mother was perfectly fine and had e-mailed him just last night. “That’s too bad. Any idea when she’ll be back?”

  “I thought she would have been back by now, but I would think within the next day or two.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Noah took a step back. “I was just wondering where she was.”

  “Hey, Noah. I wanted to ask—have you been able to talk to your partner yet?”

  “No. I’ve stopped by the hospital a couple of times, but he’s still pretty weak. Apparently the doctors had to operate again. Some kind of complication from when they removed the bullet in his chest.”

  “I just wondered if you’d been able to get a name out of him,” Cullen said.

  “I was going to swing by after work today, but I didn’t think the name would matter anymore since you already know who it is.”

  “If he does give you any information, make sure you let me know.”

  “Yeah, I will.”

  * * *

  The phone call from the hospital had come only moments after Noah finished work for the day. Anxious to see for himself that his partner was indeed recovering, he turned toward the hospital instead of home. When he arrived, he found that Devin’s condition had been upgraded and he was finally out of the ICU. Security personnel still guarded his door, and Noah showed his ID before being admitted.

  Noah stood beside Devin’s hospital bed, waiting as his partner’s eyes fluttered open. The doctor had told Noah he could only stay for a few minutes, but he wanted to see for himself that Devin was indeed still living and breathing.

  “How are you feeling?” Noah asked, knowing that it was a dumb question the moment the words were out of his mouth.

  “Like I got hit by a truck,” Devin said hoarsely.

  “Close enough.” Noah pulled up a chair. “The doctor said you’re doing great.”

  “I hate to know what it would feel like to be doing lousy.” He tried to shift and winced in pain. “I needed to tell you, I know the mole’s name.”

  Noah glanced back at the hospital door to make sure it was still closed.

  “You said it
was someone with the CIA. Who?”

  “He was a chief of station in Turkey. I think his name is Jerry Allenbaum.”

  Noah reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll make sure the right people get the information.”

  “Noah. Be careful,” Devin said, his voice already fading from fatigue.

  “I will.” Noah stood, hating to leave and knowing that he needed to. “And you get better soon.”

  Devin nodded weakly, and his eyes closed.

  With a last look at his partner, Noah headed for the door, determined to make sure the men who did this to him would pay.

  * * *

  “Where is she?” Salman demanded. “Don’t you understand? She can lead us to the woman who was working with Bealton. Taja’s got to know who the other spy is who keeps interfering with our plans.”

  Gabir looked at the ground briefly. “We thought we found her contact in Riyadh, but she slipped away. Sudi was injured trying to keep her and the man traveling with her from escaping.”

  “How was he injured?”

  “We think the woman hid a weapon in her crutches.”

  “Crutches?” Salman’s face reddened. “You idiot! That probably was Taja.”

  He took a step back. “We don’t think so. She was traveling on an American passport. The woman’s name was Kelly Park.”

  “Was she dressed like an American?”

  “No, Father. She wore traditional garb,” Gabir told him. His shoulders stiffened when he continued. “Our contact believes that this woman was injured when she stole Taja from us.”

  “Find this woman. I want to meet this Kelly Park.”

  “Yes, sir.” He shifted his weight. “There is one more thing you need to know.”

  “What is it?”

  “One of our weapons stashes was discovered in Virginia. The authorities have seized our supplies.”

  Salman gritted his teeth, and his face flushed with anger. “How did this happen?”

  “The man who sold us some of the weapons is missing.”

  “Our people know what to do when he is found?”

  “Of course.” Gabir bowed his head slightly, and his voice was cautious when he asked, “What shall we do about the items that have been lost?”

  “It will be okay, my son,” Salman said, drawing a deep breath in an effort to convince himself. “This is why it is always wise to overprepare.”

  Chapter 28

  Kelsey slept on her side, one hand tucked under the throw pillow she used to cushion her head, the other gripping her mother’s afghan tightly around her. The journey out of Saudi Arabia had been painfully long, taking nearly forty-eight hours before she and Patrick managed to cross the border into Kuwait.

  A flight to Frankfurt had resulted in another round of questioning with Marty. The results had been the same, and Kelsey was still convinced that Salman had someone else in the government protecting his interests.

  Because of the security breakdown in Riyadh, Kelsey had flown from Frankfurt to London before heading back to the States. The overseas flight had landed her in New York, after which she had taken a train down through DC and then on to the station at Quantico.

  She knew she could have called in to the Agency for a ride, but instead, she had opted for taking a cab. By the time she got home after nearly two weeks of traveling, she could barely figure out what time zone she was supposed to be in.

  Her injury had been aggravated from all of the travel, and she hadn’t dared try to tackle the stairs. Instead she had changed into a T-shirt and a pair of shorts she had in her backpack and collapsed onto the couch.

  Exhausted both mentally and physically, she dropped off into a sleep much deeper than she normally allowed herself. When a hand came down on her shoulder, she whipped one hand out to push it away and a split second later found herself staring down her gun barrel at Noah’s shocked face.

  “Hey, relax. It’s just me.”

  Kelsey relaxed her arms and let the gun rest on her stomach, too tired to put the weapon back beneath her pillow. She let out a sigh born of relief and exasperation. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

  “Sorry. I figured you heard me come in.” He motioned to her weapon. “You know, we really have to find a new way to greet each other.”

  She let her eyes close, trying to capture her identity after being Taja and Kelly for the past several days. When she opened them, she saw that Noah had sat down on the chair beside her.

  “I wasn’t sure if you were still talking to me,” Kelsey said, her voice husky.

  His shoulders jerked up, and Kelsey could have sworn she saw a flash of emotion in his expression before he controlled it. “I tried coming over a few times, but you weren’t available.”

  “Sorry. I had to work.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “I wish I could,” Kelsey said apologetically. She rubbed at her eyes and shifted to look at him. “What time is it, anyway?”

  “Nine thirty.”

  “A.m. or p.m.?”

  “A.m.”

  “Can I ask why you’re at my house at nine thirty on a . . . Saturday morning?” She forced herself to ask it, and her stomach tightened with anxiety when she added, “I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

  “I never said that. I just needed some time to sort some things out.” A flash of hurt appeared on his face when he continued. “I didn’t realize you were going to start dating someone else so quickly.”

  “What are you talking about?” She set her gun aside and propped herself up on her elbows so she could see him more clearly. “I’m not dating anyone else.”

  “Then who was that guy you drove off with last week?”

  She struggled to remember when last week was, to remind herself what had happened when she had last been in Virginia. “Do you mean James?” Her eyebrows drew together. “He’s just the guy who’s been driving me to and from work. I’m not allowed to drive for a couple of weeks.”

  “Patty Henderson said he’s your old boyfriend.”

  “That was a lifetime ago.” Kelsey stared up at him, searching for any sign of what he was feeling. “James was assigned to be my driver because he already knew my real identity. The Agency is being very protective of who knows where I live.”

  Noah studied her. “Why aren’t you allowed to drive?”

  She waved toward her leg, still covered by the afghan. “I had a little setback.”

  Noah shifted restlessly in his chair, and color rose in his cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

  Her shoulders lifted noncommittally. Without thinking, she threw the afghan back and started to swing her legs over the side of the couch. Instantly, she winced in pain.

  “Are you okay?” Noah leaned forward and laid a hand on her shoulder as though he was afraid she would fall over. His eyes lowered to her legs, widening when he saw the swelling around the single bullet wound.

  She could see his confusion followed by a glare of accusation. “I thought you were hurt in a car accident.”

  “I never said car accident,” Kelsey said weakly. “I said I was recovering from an accident.”

  Noah released her shoulder and pointed at her leg. “This is your definition of an accident?”

  “I definitely didn’t choose to get shot.” Gently, she gripped her bad leg with both hands and lifted it so she could swing it over the side of the couch and sit up. She lowered her voice. “You know I can’t talk about this, especially not here.”

  “Yes, you can,” Noah countered. At her confused look, he continued, “After I found out that the mole was in the CIA, I borrowed the equipment from the Bureau to check my house for listening devices.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I wanted to make sure that when the CIA came and swept our houses, they didn’t leave anything behind,” Noah told her. “After one of the contractors stopped by my house and told me they hadn’t seen you for a few days, I came over here and swept your house too, just to
be safe.”

  “You checked my house for bugs after the CIA did it themselves?” Kelsey asked, not sure whether to be impressed or annoyed.

  “I’ve been checking both houses every day.” He motioned toward her leg. “You can tell me what happened. I really want to know.”

  Kelsey’s training told her to deflect his questions or to at least minimize her answer. She couldn’t say what made her willing to share. Perhaps it was the earnestness of his face or the knowledge that he had been read in on Salman’s operation. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Regardless, she sighed and told him the truth.

  “I was there when Gregory Bealton was executed,” Kelsey said quietly. “He was my contact, and he died protecting me.”

  Noah’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “But you were shot.”

  She blinked back the tears that tried to form. “Salman didn’t know I was CIA. He only knew that I was someplace I wasn’t supposed to be. He shot me to make sure I learned my lesson, to prevent me from making that same mistake again.”

  Noah stared at her, and Kelsey could almost see him trying to readjust his image of her in his mind once more. “You’re the tutor. You’re the one Salman is looking for.”

  Kelsey said nothing, not sure what she could say. Noah had pieced together the truth, the truth known by only a handful of people.

  Silence stretched out for a long minute before he asked, “Who else knows?”

  “Lewis knows and my old boss, the chief of station in Turkey.” Kelsey shrugged. “I assume Cullen has been granted access to my file since he knows about my injury.” She forced herself to look him in the eye. “And now you.”

  “This is why you haven’t been home for so long.”

  She nodded, a single tear escaping. She brushed it away quickly, annoyed that her emotions were so close to the surface. “I couldn’t take the chance that I would lead anyone back to Virginia. I couldn’t risk my family.”