“Almost without a hitch. We got the intel we needed. Our guy confessed. He’s in custody. Diana’s in the hospital getting checked out by the docs now.”
“Is she okay?” Kieran shouted. So he was on speakerphone. Great.
“She’s fine. She fainted, but she sucker punched him first, so I think she’ll be okay.
Kieran and Donaldson chuckled with relief. “Stay there. Make sure Diana’s alright,” Donaldson said.
“I’m thinking that maybe you should consider a deal with Surgeon, sir,” Peter said. He hated deals but they were expedient. Surgeon had worked for some of the biggest scum in the world. And the information he could provide would be invaluable.
“I’m surprised at you, Hopkinson,” Donaldson replied. “Not your usual style.”
“The intel would be gold, sir. Surgeon will sell out anyone if it benefits him. We could take a lot of perps out of circulation with his help. I’m sure Diana will agree,” he added.
“He’s right about that,” Kieran said.
“Okay, Kieran and I will talk,” Donaldson responded.
Peter ended the call and settled in to wait. He could barely keep his eyes open now. His adrenaline high had completely dissipated, and exhaustion was blanketing him. His eyes fluttered as his thoughts switched to Diana. Why did she hate hospitals so much? He made a mental note to ask her, but forgot it almost immediately as he slipped into a restless sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THREE DAYS AFTER her ordeal, Diana was back at VPD headquarters, ready to get to work. She’d been forced to stay in hospital for twenty-four hours, an order she’d found ridiculous. But no matter how insistent she’d been that she was alright, they wouldn’t let her go. Of course, Peter had betrayed her. He’d colluded with the doctors and made sure she stayed put. She hadn’t been happy. She’d been held against her will. Again!
When she finally made it home, Peter further annoyed her when he didn’t let her do anything for another day. He’d stayed with her and done everything, including feeding and walking Max. He’d even gone out and bought her favorite chocolate.
“No, you aren’t coming.”
Diana opened her mouth to say something. “No,” Peter interrupted her before she could get a word out. “It’s no, and it’s staying no.”
She huffed and pouted. “It’s been nothing but no for these past few days.”
“Hey, you. Remember who put their ass on the line for you,” Peter retorted.
“You’re so mean,” she grumbled, but she smiled at him.
His face turned serious. “Diana, I don’t know if I said this earlier, but I’m very glad you’re alright.”
Diana chuckled. “You have said it. Several times. But I should thank you. I never had any doubt you would rescue me,” she winked at him and Peter blushed. She noticed. Oh, she would remember that. And she’d be reminding him of it in the future.
Diana continued to be crotchety and grumbled incessantly, but Peter hadn’t budged, and in the end, she’d relented and relaxed into his care. It felt good. It had been a very long time since she’d last allowed herself to be cared for by anyone.
With Surgeon in custody, she’d put a ghost to rest. She had thought that her past experience with him hadn’t had much of an affect on her, but now that he was locked up, she felt calmer, more relaxed. Knowing where he was and that he wasn’t about to grab her gave her a sense of security she hadn’t realized she missed until the threat was gone.
But now she wanted to get back to work. They could extract a lot of information from Surgeon now they had him. But Peter wanted her to rest some more.
“I think you should stay off work for a while longer,” he said. “We’ve got him behind bars, we’re not on a deadline anymore.”
She’d objected.
“They could hire someone to replace Garibaldi. Surgeon’s not the only assassin in town. If Greene is the target, he still could be hit.”
“Another day with you out of action won’t matter. The world doesn’t stop turning at VPD, or CSIS for that matter, when you’re not around.”
Diana threw herself against the back of the sofa. It really was like dealing with a child.
“We have other people, experts even, who are working the case. They can take care of things. You don’t have to do it all.”
There was more grumbling, but again she relented. She’d met her match.
But now she was back. Her trek up to Major Crimes was something of a victory walk. Just about everyone she passed stopped to ask if she was alright, to tell her what an inspiration she was, and how brave she had been. When she passed through her dad’s old department, normally reverently quiet when she went by, the bullpen burst into applause.
She entered the conference room. Donaldson, Kieran and Steve rose when they saw her. They too clapped, and she blushed.
“Thank you, gentlemen. Triumph is sweet, that’s for sure. As is putting some of my demons to rest. Peter’s not here, but let’s not forget what I owe him, the entire team who got me out, and you. But we must move on. There’s work to do.”
It was a pretty speech, if a little grandiose, but the victory glow only lasted a moment.
“Are you insane?” Kieran shouted.
“Who came up with this lunatic plan? We were going nuts here,” Donaldson was just as loud as Kieran. And they kept shouting.
“Seriously, Diana. What were you thinking?”
“Give us one reason why we should trust you in the future!”
She held up a hand, and they quieted. “With you both shouting at the same time, I can’t understand a word you’re saying. But you’re welcome,” she said with a grin. Donaldson looked exasperated and Kieran went red as his nostrils flared.
Peter blithely walked in. “Any news?” he asked as he took a seat, oblivious to the atmosphere.
Thankfully, Steve took the reins and order was restored. “We’ve informed our counterparts, agencies in other countries, that we have Surgeon in custody. There’s been congratulations all round. Your profile with the various agencies is substantially elevated, Ms. Hunter.”
“Interestingly, the Americans informed us – after a lot of poking and prodding and a few subtle threats – that Surgeon used to be a CIA agent. Apparently, he went rogue over fifteen years ago, and they’ve never caught him. If Surgeon were to be extradited, there’s a good chance he’d be sent to Guantánamo Bay, somewhere he’d obviously prefer to avoid, especially after we might have intimated that we’d get word out among his fellow inmates about his former status. As a result, Surgeon, or Mr. Ferrier-Hill as he has informed us he’d now prefer to be called, has been extremely helpful.”
“Quite a few of his former clients are guests in Gitmo,” Kieran said, “and I don’t think they’d take lightly to hearing about his lack of loyalty.”
“He doesn’t know the meaning of the word. He is utterly self-serving. Dead inside a week would be my guess,” Diana said.
“Luckily for us, Mr. Ferrier-Hill is paranoid and has kept detailed files on all his clients, going so far as to record all his meetings and phone conversations. He generously handed everything over to us,” Steve said with a grin. “Diana, what you did with Surgeon is incredible. Not only did you facilitate his capture, but he’s acting like a lamb and given us intel that will save us years of work.”
Diana frowned. “I’d be careful with him. He has a way of manipulating people to get what he wants.”
“We know what we’re doing,” Kieran growled.
“Okay, what can we do to clean up the loose ends in this case? We still don’t know why Garibaldi was killed. What about Greene and Kloch? Any movement there?” Peter asked.
“Nope. And don’t you go messing around, young lady,” Donaldson warned when Diana pursed her lips and frowned. “The D.C. has made it clear we are not to touch them.”
They all fell silent for a moment. “What about working it from the other end?” Peter asked.
Diana looked at him an
d her eyes widened. “You’re right,” she breathed out.
“So far, we’ve only been looking at it from the target’s angle, but how about we start investigating the terror group? I mean, isn’t it about time CSIS started doing something?” Peter looked over at Kieran.
Kieran sat up straighter in his chair and looked at all of them in turn. He blinked before replying.
“So, what can I do to help VPD? Seeing as your looking for some assistance.”
Diana snorted. “Kieran, you wanted in on this case, remember?”
He grinned. “You’re so good at what you do that I got the impression I’d only be getting in your way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DIANA ROLLED HER eyes, and Peter huffed. She cut a glance at him and tried to hide her smile. He was glaring at Kieran. She checked herself. She was slightly annoyed that she took pleasure from this tussle they were having. She conceded that it made her feel powerful, if slightly appalled at her reaction. Hadn’t women in the 21st century refuted this position of relating to themselves in terms of men? She should know better.
“Okay, okay. It might surprise you to know that while you,” Kieran looked at Diana, “were playing damsel in distress and you,“ he looked across at Peter, “were playing knight in shining armor, we were following up on some leads at our end. Then, when Surgeon spilled his guts to protect that sorry ass of his, he gave up that he’d heard on the grapevine that his ultimate paymaster for the Garibaldi hit was a group called the Islamic Front, or ILIF for short. We started doing some digging.” He opened a folder in front of him and handed out three smaller ones. “This information is sensitive, so understand that all folders must be destroyed after this meeting,” Kieran said with a pointed look at everyone.
Diana nodded. It was standard procedure. Never send sensitive information over an unsecured network and always destroy hardcopies, preferably in a very hot fire that wouldn’t leave a trace, or more usually, in a robust shredder.
She opened her folder and found precious little. A few photographs and some notes. She looked at Kieran questioningly. “A little thin, isn’t it?”
Kieran acknowledged her point. “We haven’t been able to find out much about them. They operate mainly out of Afghanistan. We have photos of suspected group members but that’s about it. We’ve got our people on the ground digging into ILIF to see what else they can come up with.”
“So, we’re talking about a terrorist group that has plenty of money, has got a Canadian official on a kill list, is obviously well organized considering they’ve managed to evade everyone up until now, but we know virtually nothing about them?” Peter asked.
“Yes,” Kieran growled.
Donaldson shook his head. “This has the potential to blow up into a catastrophic mess. What if Greene isn’t their only target? Maybe he was just a single obstacle standing in their way. What if their ultimate goal is to pull something massive in Canada?” he asked.
Peter objected. “We could come up with all kinds of disastrous scenarios and any or none of them could be true. The fact is they paid for a hit on a member of our government and we don’t know why. That’s enough for us to be going on with. Speculation about anything more disastrous is pure conjecture at this point and not particularly helpful.”
Donaldson hesitated for a moment. “Well, what do we do now? We don’t even have a starting point. Where do we look? What do we look for? Who are we looking for? I mean, we barely know who this group is. It could just be a few crazies holed up in a cave.”
Kieran shook his head. “This group could be two or three nutcases in a cave, but they have money and connections. They could very well be a front for a much larger group. And in our world, it’s always best to assume the worst. It’s what keeps us all safe.”
“First things first. We’ll start on the ground. Kieran has his feelers out. We’ll see what that reels in,” Diana said.
“I’ll make some calls and—“ Kieran paused and pulled out his phone. It was vibrating. “Give me a second.” He got up and left the room.
“I don’t like this,” Donaldson said. “I don’t even want to think about what this might mean.”
Kieran walked back into the room. “Diana, a Major Lennox has contacted CSIS. Says he has information for us and wants you in on the meeting. He’s an American.”
Diana’s eyes widened in surprised. “Ethan Lennox?” she asked.
Kieran nodded. “The message was relayed to CSIS through the CIA. Something you forgot to tell me?”
Diana shrugged. “No. Can you organize a secure link?” she asked.
“Sure. I’ll have to clear it with the CIA and CSIS command, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“The sooner, the better,” Diana said. “If Ethan’s calling, something big is happening.”
“I’ll get right on it. Don’t forget to destroy those files,” Kieran said on his way out.
“So, who is this Major Lennox?” Donaldson asked.
“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s information I am not at liberty to reveal.”
“But you clearly know him.”
“Yes, the Major and I are well-acquainted.”
Donaldson sighed. “I’m liking this less and less. Now the Americans are involved,” he grumbled. “Maybe we should just hand everything over to the Mounties. They have their own counter-terrorism unit. Let them deal with it.”
“Bring the RCMP in on what?” Peter asked. “We have nothing concrete so far. Just,” he flicked the folder in front of him dismissively, “ stories and theories.”
“Peter’s right. The RCMP won’t lift a finger until we can provide concrete proof of a terrorist threat. Once we have that proof, we can bring them in. But until we have accurate intelligence, they won’t pay any attention to us,” Diana said.
Donaldson sighed. “This better not blow up in our faces,” he complained, “We’ll end up stationed in Alert. And that’s way too close to the North Pole for my liking.” The tiny village of Alert is one of the most remote places in the world, only five hundred miles from the North Pole.
“Don’t worry, sir, we’ll figure this out. You’ll be a hero,” Diana said with a grin.
Donaldson’s eyes widened. “I’d rather be stationed in Alert, thank you very much.”
Diana and Peter looked at him quizzically.
“If I’m the hero, then the powers that be will force me into a promotion that I don’t want,” he continued to grumble.
“We could give CSIS all the credit, if it bothers you that much,” Diana said with a smile.
Donaldson snorted. “You know what? You two solve this and save the world, and then we’ll figure out who gets the credit. For now, I don’t care what it takes, you two make sure that these lunatics don’t succeed, whatever their plans are.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
TWO HOURS LATER, Diana and Peter were on their way to CSIS. Lennox had made it clear his message was urgent, and it couldn’t wait another day. It was ten o’clock at night. Diana had called Terri and as usual, Max’s sitter had jumped at the chance to spend some time with him.
“So, how do you and Lennox know one other? And why does he insist on speaking only to you?” Peter asked out of the blue, startling Diana.
“We may have worked together at one point,” she said.
Peter glanced at her quickly, and then looked back at the road. “I know Lennox,” he said. “I know what he does.”
Diana looked at him in surprise. “You do?”
Peter nodded. “My team was called in to support his task force on an op. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a good man, if a little unethical at times.”
“Huh. I wouldn’t say he’s unethical, exactly. He does what he has to, to achieve a bigger goal.”
“And looks the other way in the process.”
“What do you know about his task force?” Diana asked. Peter’s tone sounded even handed but there was a tiny edge to it. He was staring resolutely ahead.
“I know they’re called Task Force Indigo. That he heads them up. That they were assembled to counter terrorist threats and that they have a worldwide remit. That they handle everything from intelligence gathering to acting on it.”
Diana’s eyebrows remained firmly in place but she was astounded. TFI was classified. The fact that Peter knew about them meant something. She just didn’t know what.
Ethan Lennox did indeed head up Task Force Indigo. As terrorist threats had grown in number and diversity, TFI was formed as a joint operation between Canada, the United States, and the UK. It was made up of operatives from the three countries’ intelligence agencies and Special Forces divisions. It was a secret. A very deep secret.
“What did you do for TFI?” Diana asked carefully.
“I was involved in a raid to take out a cell that was plotting to mount a terrorist attack in North Africa. The operatives were already on the ground, and we worked with the British and US forces in Afghanistan and Morocco to take out the control and field units. TFI coordinated the mission.”
Diana frowned, her mind working furiously. “Ethan is a good man. He cares about results.” she said.
“Did you work for TFI?” he asked. He spun the wheel smoothly to take a corner. Peter knew the Vancouver streets like the back of his hand and loved driving the streets at night when they were clear of traffic.
Diana nodded. “For a while.”
“Clearly, Kieran has no idea,” he said.
She sighed. “Kieran thinks I left CSIS two years ago.”
“But you didn’t?”
“Technically, I did. I was reassigned to TFI but the level of classified work meant that no one could know, not even the people I worked with at CSIS.”
“And you only worked with them for a year or so?”
Diana hesitated. “Technically.”
Peter looked over to her. “Technically?”
“I still do.”
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