Deep Cover

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  “And this is why you don’t use your real name at work.”

  Again, she nodded. “I know this puts a burden on you, but you can’t ever let my family know what I really do. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them.”

  “I know.” He slid out of his chair so he was on his knees right beside her. “And I’m sorry for how I reacted when I found out what you really do for a living.”

  “I know it had to have been a shock.” She managed a small smile. “Especially after thinking that I worked as a nanny.”

  “You are definitely full of surprises.” He reached out a hand and cupped the back of her neck. Leaning forward, he pulled her closer until he could lay his lips on hers.

  Kelsey’s eyes fluttered closed as she fell into the kiss. A spark flashed, and warmth seeped through her. She was home. Why that thought popped into her mind, she couldn’t be sure, especially since she wasn’t even sure what “home” meant anymore.

  Noah pulled back, his stare intense. Then, as though he was surrendering to some unnamed need, he kissed her again. Swaying toward him, she lifted a hand to his chest and felt his heart beating wildly. Chills rippled through her, and she found a sudden sense of clarity. This man knew the real her.

  Staggered, she leaned back and stared at him. Did he understand that he was the first? This was the first time since joining the CIA that anyone had shared both of her worlds. Even the people she worked with didn’t know all of her identities.

  Kelsey let her breath shudder out. “This is scary for me.”

  “What’s scary?”

  “You.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You scare me.”

  “Why?” Noah sat back on his heels. “You lived undercover in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Why would you be afraid of me?”

  “Because you know too much,” Kelsey admitted. “I’m not sure who I’m supposed to be now when I’m with you.”

  “Be yourself.”

  “I don’t remember who that is.”

  “Yes, you do.” Noah reached out and took her hand. “And if you need me to, I’ll help you remember.”

  Chapter 29

  “I’m taking you to the doctor,” Noah insisted after he had fixed himself and Kelsey some breakfast. Her leg was so swollen that he had insisted on bringing the food to her so she didn’t have to go to his house. After taking a closer look at her leg, he worried that the redness and swelling might indicate the wound had become infected.

  “I’ll be fine,” Kelsey said, a phrase she had repeated several times over the course of the past hour.

  “Kelsey, you can’t even go upstairs in your own house.” He looked down at the wound again. “You need to at least have it checked out.”

  “I can’t exactly just go into urgent care. I’d have to go all the way up to Bethesda Naval Hospital.”

  “Don’t they have doctors on staff at Langley?”

  “Not for this.”

  “Then I’ll take you to Bethesda.” Noah grabbed her crutches and handed them to her. “Come on.”

  “You aren’t going to give this up, are you?”

  “Nope.” Noah noticed the backpack on the floor. “Do you need a purse or anything?”

  “Yeah. Just grab that. Everything I need should be in there.”

  “Okay.” He slid the strap over his shoulder and motioned toward the door. “I’m going to get my car. I’ll be right back.”

  Noah jogged over to his house and returned as Kelsey was locking her front door. He circled around and opened the passenger-side door for her, reaching for her crutches when she moved to get into the car.

  After depositing the crutches in the backseat, he slid behind the wheel. As soon as he pulled out of the driveway, Kelsey asked, “Did you check your car for bugs too?”

  “Yeah. I just checked it again this morning.” He gave her a wry smile. “Working with the CIA is making me paranoid.”

  “Can you tell me what’s been going on with the taskforce while I’ve been gone?”

  “Devin told me the name of the mole, but apparently, someone else already figured it out because Cullen said he’d already been captured.”

  Kelsey nodded. “What else?”

  “The guy Ted had been monitoring gave himself up. He said the weapons Medrano had been shipping overseas were now staying in the country,” Noah told her.

  “Do we know where?”

  “Yeah. We raided the place and found a huge stash. Weapons, plastic explosives, some chemicals, even a bunch of missiles.”

  “Any idea what they were going to be used for?”

  Noah shook his head. “There was a hidden room where we found a bunch of maps. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore. There were several other cities too, all located here on the East Coast. There was also a note pad with Arabic writing on it. We haven’t gotten the translation back yet.”

  “Did you keep a copy?”

  “At the office.”

  “Let’s swing by there on our way,” Kelsey suggested. “I want to see the writing.”

  “Don’t you think we should see the doctor first? We can stop by on our way back.”

  Kelsey shook her head. “I really want to see it now. It’s only a few minutes out of our way.”

  “Okay.” Noah turned toward the back entrance of Quantico. They made their way to their office, and Noah headed straight for the mission files from the raid. Kelsey took a seat, and Noah flipped through the various papers inside. He pulled out the photographs of the hidden room, including the close-up of the table with all of the maps spread out and the US map pinned on the wall.

  Unfortunately, the copy of the notebook wasn’t in the file. “It’s not here,” Noah said, lowering the file onto the top of the filing cabinet. “Cullen probably has it on his desk. He was going to work on the translation.”

  “Where’s the original?”

  “With forensics. A copy went to the CIA for an official translation, and FBI forensics is checking for fingerprints. Ted scanned a copy into the electronic file first though.” Noah booted up his computer, and after a few keystrokes, he pulled up the image he was looking for. “Can you read that?”

  Kelsey rolled her chair closer to Noah’s desk so she could get a better look. Her face paled.

  Noah put his hand on her arm. “What is it?”

  “These are notes about different cities. Norfolk, Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.” She took a deep breath and pointed at the screen. “Someone was listing the pros and cons of each one, along with possible casualty numbers.”

  “So these are targets.”

  She nodded. “Salman has been expanding his training camps for months. We knew he was planning something big, but we hadn’t been able to piece together what exactly.”

  “Based on the stash we found, it would make sense that he had multiple targets, but seven . . . ?” He looked at her skeptically. “There were only five missiles. I have to think that a couple of these aren’t real targets.”

  “I agree. There’s a note here about how the mortality in Boston would likely be too low.” Kelsey swallowed hard. “I think these maps indicate what their possibilities are, and they were in the process of narrowing it down.”

  “I’m surprised they wrote something like this down,” Noah said with a shake of his head. “Even though this was in a hidden room, I wouldn’t think Medrano would take the chance of something like this falling into the wrong hands.”

  “It’s written down, but it’s all in code.” Kelsey looked up at him with almost a sheepish expression. “I used to sneak into Salman’s office and copy his papers. It took me almost a year of eavesdropping on him to piece it all together, but I finally learned how to read it.”

  “Sometimes I really don’t want to think about how you spent the last two years,” Noah told her and forced himself to focus on the latest information. “Assuming we’re dealing with one missile per target city, that still leaves us with fiv
e. How is he planning on pulling off five strikes on American soil?”

  “I don’t know, but I do know when it’s supposed to happen,” Kelsey told him. “June 11. If I’m right, it will be at one p.m. East Coast time.”

  “How did you figure that out?”

  “Manuel intercepted a recording and asked me to translate. I was able to piece together a cryptic conversation between Salman’s sons.”

  “I’m surprised no one said anything about it at any of our taskforce meetings.”

  “That’s probably my fault. I’m sure Manuel assumed I would write up a report and give it to Cullen, but he didn’t know I would end up flying out of town so soon after we talked.”

  Noah started to ask why she hadn’t taken the time to pass along such important information, but then like a bolt, he found a sudden sense of clarity.

  “It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one who figured out who the mole was.”

  At first, Kelsey said nothing. Then her shoulders lifted. “You gave me most of the clues. Or Devin did. Then Manuel called me in and played me a recording of a phone call between Gregory and one of our chiefs of station. I recognized the voices.”

  “Come on. You can share the details on our way up to the hospital.” Noah shut down his computer and stood up. “I want to hear all about it.”

  * * *

  The doctor assumed they were a couple. Kelsey couldn’t think of any other reason he would speak so bluntly in front of Noah about her injury and the course of action he expected her to take to recover.

  Admittedly, she couldn’t remember a single time in her adulthood when someone had accompanied her to the doctor or even expressed a sincere interest in her health other than her superiors’ basic concern that she be fit to do her job.

  She tried to tune in to the doctor’s words as he and Noah continued to talk around her.

  “For this injury to heal, she has got to stay off her leg, at least until we can get the swelling down,” the doctor told Noah. His tone made her wonder if he thought of her as a child who couldn’t be trusted to follow directions. Granted, she had done more than she was supposed to over the past two weeks, but it wasn’t like she’d had a choice.

  Kelsey broke into the conversation, hoping to get to the bottom line. “How long until I can go back to using the cane?”

  “We’ve got to get this swelling down. The muscle is trying to heal, but you keep straining it and aggravating the wound.” He gave Kelsey a stern look. “I’d say you’re looking at a minimum of two to three weeks. Maybe longer.”

  Kelsey’s heart sank. Before she could consider the ramifications of being hindered for so long, Noah spoke for her. “Don’t worry, doctor. I’ll make sure she takes it easy.”

  “And no driving until I clear her,” the doctor added. “I want to see her back here a week from Wednesday. We’ll reevaluate her at that point.”

  “We’ll be here,” Noah promised.

  As soon as the doctor left the room, Kelsey shifted off of the examining table and took the crutches from Noah. “Well, that didn’t go very well.”

  “I don’t know what you expected,” Noah told her. “You need some downtime, and from what little you’ve told me about your trip, you obviously haven’t had any for a while.”

  Kelsey waited until they were safely in Noah’s car again before speaking. “With Salman planning a major attack a few weeks from now, I don’t feel like I can really take any downtime.”

  “Kelsey, we already intercepted his stash of weapons. You can’t think that he’s still going to be able to move forward with his plans.”

  Kelsey let her thoughts take over her mind, remembering the long months of living as Taja Al-Kazaz. She had been trusted enough for the men to ignore her when they spoke of most things, but one comment stuck in her mind, a phrase Salman used often.

  “Salman has more weapons hidden somewhere else. Those weren’t the only ones.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Every time he planned anything, he always told his men, ‘Remember that it always pays to be overprepared.’”

  “You think he has a backup stash?”

  “That’s exactly what I think.”

  Chapter 30

  “I think Kelly’s right about Salman having another stash of weapons. I’ve been going over the inventory lists from the raid at the storage facility and comparing it to the list of weapons Rodney Teasdale admits to stealing.” Ted held his file up in his hand. “They don’t match.”

  “In what way?” Noah asked.

  “According to Rodney, he sold off ten missiles. We only found five.”

  “Maybe the first five were shipped overseas,” Cullen suggested. “We’ve documented that some of the missing weapons turned up in Abolstan, and Rodney thought that’s where they were going originally.”

  “That’s what I thought at first, but when I looked back through our surveillance reports, I realized the original weapons that disappeared didn’t include any missiles. Those thefts were all recent.”

  “Which again supports Kelly’s theory that Salman has a backup supply of weapons somewhere else.”

  “But where?” Ted asked. “And how do we find it?”

  “Most likely, those weapons were housed in that warehouse in Lorton. When Medrano realized we had set up surveillance so close to where they were, they must have decided to move them.”

  “Since the target cities are all on the East Coast, we know it has to be somewhere along the Atlantic seaboard,” Kelsey added.

  “We found two of Medrano’s trucks abandoned outside a warehouse area in Fairfax.”

  “Then you can be sure that Fairfax isn’t where their other storage unit is,” Kelsey said. “In fact, I would guess it’s in a completely different area.”

  “We know they aren’t in Lorton anymore. If Fairfax is out, where else would you suggest we look?” Ted asked.

  Kelsey shrugged. “My guess would be somewhere near one of the other target cities. Probably Philadelphia or Baltimore, since they’re somewhat centrally located.”

  “I’ll have my guys search traffic cameras for any sign of those moving trucks leaving Lorton,” Ted offered.

  “The FBI has already been searching. We haven’t found anything so far,” Noah told him. “Unfortunately, moving trucks are pretty common, especially in that area of town.”

  “We need to figure out what all of these targets have in common,” Noah suggested. “Where and how is Salman going to attack? We have the date. Now we need more specifics on the locations.”

  “We also have to figure out which ones are still targets.”

  Ted started discussing commonalities of the cities chosen: historic significance, common businesses and industries, water access, etc. On the plasma screen, Manuel and Skip added their thoughts along with their ideas of how they could continue their searches for electronic clues.

  Noah turned to see what Kelsey thought and saw a silent exchange occur between her and Cullen. If he wasn’t mistaken, Cullen had every intention of putting Kelsey back in the field despite her current physical limitations. Noah wasn’t about to see that happen without making sure someone was there to keep her safe.

  As soon as their briefing ended, Noah approached Cullen. “What’s going on with Kelly?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Look, I’m not as clueless as you might think. I know that her last little excursion aggravated her injury, and from what I just saw out there, it looks like you’re planning on sending her back into the field.”

  “She’s an integral part of this taskforce. There are things only she has access to.”

  “I’m perfectly aware of that,” Noah said. He lowered his voice and added, “But you can’t expect her to recover from a gunshot wound without giving her a little more downtime first.”

  Cullen stiffened, and instantly, Noah regretted his words. Lewis had told him to keep his knowledge about Kelsey to himself, and he had just given Cullen
a hint that he knew more about her professional life than he was supposed to.

  “I see you’re closer to Kelly than I realized.”

  “I’m just concerned about her.”

  “Don’t worry about her. She knows what’s at stake, and I know exactly what she’s capable of.”

  * * *

  Kelsey didn’t think she could sit around much longer. She hated that she could barely do anything for herself, and she was trying hard to appreciate everything that Noah was doing to make sure she had the chance to recover. She honestly didn’t know what she would have done had he not been so willing to help her with everything from fixing meals to driving her everywhere she needed to go.

  She knew that the Agency would have continued to provide a driver for her, but knowing that she would have to inconvenience James every time she wanted to go somewhere definitely hadn’t been a pleasant thought. Besides, even though he was cordial enough now, she still felt awkward around him.

  “What are you doing?” Noah asked when he walked into his kitchen on Wednesday morning and found Kelsey sitting at his counter, a cutting board in front of her and her mother’s slow cooker sitting by her elbow.

  “I was just putting some lentils on to cook so they would be ready for dinner tonight.”

  “When I asked you to come over for dinner, it was so you would take it easy and not try to cook.”

  “It’s not that big a deal. I’m almost done.” Kelsey motioned to the stool she was sitting on. “Besides, I’m still resting my leg.” She gave him a grin. “You should be proud.”

  “I’d be prouder if you would have let me pick you up so you didn’t have to walk over here.”

  “Noah, you live two houses away. I have to take almost as many steps to get in your car and then walk up your driveway.”

  “Still . . .”

  “Are you always this overprotective?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I’ve never really had a reason to be protective before.” His eyes narrowed when he watched her chop up an onion with a little more efficiency than he would have expected.

  “You’re sweet to worry, but I’m doing fine.”