His fingers crept up the side of the wall, searching for the light switch. He tensed, turning and bringing his right hand up in a defensive pose. And then he flicked on the lights.
John Crais stood at the back of the room, palms raised in surrender. “Don’t yell, Black. I’m here to help you, just like I promised. Tami, the woman who escorted you here, thinks she left you in an empty room after making sure you were all turned around. But I trust you know where you are?”
Noel’s jaw tensed and he ground his teeth. How was Crais here? And why? “Trust? You put Yasmine on the FBI wanted list. You’d better give me one good reason why I should trust you.”
Crais shrugged. “It got you inside the Pentagon, didn’t it?”
So Crais had known it would work all along. Maybe he was on their side. “Why are you waiting in here in the dark?”
It was Crais’s turn to look upset. “I came here because somebody thinks they can get to me. I told you yesterday about my orders, but the pressure mounted after I came to. That Browder woman sure packs a wallop.”
Noel nearly snorted. “Tell me about it.”
Crais moved closer, lowering his voice. “After issuing the alert, I hopped the first flight here. It took some maneuvering, but I’ve been waiting here for your arrival. I was able to learn that this is where General Stark will speak with you about the Department of Defense account you discovered. I assume you have more information now? Aside from what we discussed at the safe house?”
“Yes,” Noel said, trying to keep up. Crais needed to get up to speed, too, so Noel filled him in on what they’d learned from Shaun’s digging. “But why is General Stark going to speak to me?”
Why would the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff actually consent to speak to him? The best he’d hoped for was one of the man’s advisors. A classic negotiation technique was to ask for more than one wanted, expecting to receive less. But for the general to deign to speak with someone like Noel, barely even out of the FBI Academy...
“Think about it,” Crais said. “You called in this information last night, right?”
Noel nodded. “I did.”
“It would have been passed up the chain, and it should have been stopped and cut down by the person who was responsible for the secret account. That would have provided a clue where along the chain of command things fell apart. But it didn’t. It went all the way to the top, Black. The news stopped with General Stark alone, who has personally agreed to speak with you.”
Noel gaped at Crais as the situation became clearer. The funds. The influence. The power. The incredible reach and ability to recruit soldiers to be officially reported killed in action, then bringing them back to life with new identities. The amount of money and organizational skills it would take to manage an operation like that and the experience it would take to keep it quiet—permanently. The manpower required to tie up any potential loose ends, no matter how slight.
“It’s General Stark,” Noel murmured. “He’s behind this. He’s behind everything.”
Crais nodded. “I’ve done some poking around on my own since I arrived, and all signs point to Stark. This goes higher than I could have foreseen.”
“So, how do we stop him?”
“We don’t,” Crais said, his voice taking on a tinge of sadness. “The general is in the Press Briefing Room for the daily broadcast right now, but it won’t be long before he reaches this room. If you try to run, the idea is that you’ll be too turned around to know where to go.”
“And I won’t get out of the meeting alive, anyway.” Noel squeezed his hands into fists. If the general found him here, he’d be able to kill Noel—and probably Crais—and get away with it without anyone blinking. He could claim almost anything as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the government would back him, especially with the amount of money and reach he’d accumulated. Noel’s stomach sank in despair, the inevitability of failure settling in. “How can we stop this? I’m a brand-new agent, Crais. I have no pull or influence, and if you dare to make this kind of accusation—”
“I’ll lose my job, and the next person who takes over for me will inevitably be in the general’s pocket. There are few people higher up, and with more influence in the government than Stark, especially in post-9/11 America.” Crais dropped his hands to his hips and stared at the floor, his head shaking as if in disbelief at his next words. “The way I see it, we convince either Chairman Furlow or the POTUS himself.”
“Or everyone,” said a woman’s voice.
Noel whirled around as Crais looked up. Yasmine stood in the doorway. Noel’s heart leaped and then plummeted at the look on her face—scared but determined. “How did you find me? What are you doing in here? How...how did you leave the holding room?”
“Long story. Short version is I pressed my ear against every door with a drawn shade in this hallway until I heard familiar voices.” Yasmine grimaced and tilted her chin at Crais. “We’re trusting him? He didn’t betray us?”
“I didn’t.” Crais raised his palms toward them. “I’ve read Noel’s records from the Academy. I know how he thinks. It’s why I accepted him to the Buffalo FBI branch and agreed to be his mentor.”
“You knew we’d use the FBI alert as a way inside,” Yasmine said. Noel resisted a strong urge to reach out and pull her into an embrace, but the look on her face told him that she hadn’t made her way to this room for a social visit. “I heard some of what you were talking about through the door before I came in, but you need to know that Stark isn’t acting independently. He has other people working here at the Pentagon. At least, that’s my assumption about the people who just tried to kill me.”
“What?” Noel stepped toward her, fury rising. “How?”
“With a painkiller that wasn’t a painkiller. Two men came to check my pulse, but I managed to throw them off and make my way here. We can discuss the details later, but right now, I want to know—why did the men who tried to kill me mention Crais?”
Noel whirled around to Crais. “Explain.”
“Those must be the guys who tried to recruit me into the scheme, probably working for Stark. I suspect they’re the ones who communicated Stark’s orders to the FBI. I suggested we meet in DC and talk, since I planned to fly here as soon as I set up the alert on Miss Browder, but I took off from our meeting once I’d confirmed my information. Either they think I’m on a very long lunch break in the staff cafeteria or they’ve realized I’ve declined their offer. Either way, I’m as much a target as you are.”
“Breaking up their party is going to be mighty difficult,” Noel muttered. “What did you mean when you said we could convince everyone?” He looked at Yasmine, who now leaned against the wall next to the door. Dark circles of exhaustion ringed her eyes, and the natural bronze of her complexion had turned ruddy from the lack of sleep and proper nutrition, but part of him thought she’d never looked more beautiful. Here was a woman who’d run from bullets and been willing to joke about it afterward, who’d lost so much and yet refused to give up or give in. Even her faith still held strong.
If they made it through this, he would never let her go again. Never. No matter how difficult it might be to stay together, he couldn’t deny the truth. He loved her, deeply and fully, and even if he ended up stationed in Los Angeles or Austin or anywhere at all, he would fly across the country every morning and every night if it meant spending even one hour with her.
Ten years they’d been apart. From this moment on, he knew that even ten minutes away from her would make his heart ache.
“Yasmine—” His voice lowered to a whisper as she met his eyes. She shook her head, stopping his words.
“The Press Briefing Room,” she said. “We don’t have much time.”
Noel shoved his emotions aside and focused on words. “Stark is there right now.”
“Actually,” Crais said, tapping his
watch, “he’s done. He’s on his way here, so you’d better move out. The Press Briefing Room will be empty, but why go there?”
Yasmine pulled back the shade that covered the door’s small window and looked both ways. “I’ll explain on the way. Do either of you know how to get there?”
Crais spoke up. “Go straight down the hall and turn right. It’ll take you there the long way, but if Stark is headed to this room, you can’t risk running into him. Once you’ve turned right, take another left and you’ll circumvent the short route. Once you see Press Briefing Room listed on the directional placards at the entrance of each hallway, follow those.”
Noel stepped toward Yasmine as she turned the handle, but laid his hand on her shoulder as he looked back at Crais. His mentor hadn’t moved. “You’re not coming?”
Crais shook his head. “I’ll stall him here as long as I can.”
“You’ll put your own life at risk.”
“I’m doing my job, Black. And I’ll ask you to do the same. Now, go.”
With a nod at his mentor, he turned back to Yasmine. “You have a plan?”
“I do.” She began to open the door but seemed to think better of it. Then, so quickly that he’d barely realized it had happened until it was over, she whirled around and planted a nimble kiss on his lips.
Then she opened the door and slipped out, and he followed. He wanted to believe that the kiss was her way of saying she loved him, too.
There was only one way to find out: they had to stop the people after Yasmine and escape the facility alive. But with someone like General Stark possibly behind the violent attacks and the mysterious banking accounts, Noel was becoming increasingly unsure of anything at all.
SIXTEEN
Yasmine followed Crais’s directions, sensing that Noel kept pace behind her. She checked each corner before proceeding, but even so they had to duck into an alcove more than once as employees passed by. Strangely, no one seemed to be in a hurry, and no alerts sounded.
“Why hasn’t anyone come after us?” Yasmine mumbled as they followed the third sign they’d seen for the Press Briefing Room.
“Raising an alarm might cause too many people to ask questions,” Noel said. “Especially with FBI agents on the premises. I have no doubt that some of the general’s lackeys are hunting us down, though, especially knowing two of them already tried to take you out of the picture. Again. The longer we’re in these hallways, the more likely it is they’ll find us.”
As if on cue, a set of doors loomed at the end of the next hall. A plaque beside the doors indicated that they’d reached the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, while an inconspicuous door to the left, a few yards down, was identifiable by a small sign that read Technical Room.
“That’s what we need,” Yasmine said, waving Noel forward. The hallway was empty, and Yasmine held her breath as she gripped the handle of the tech room door. It turned without resistance, and they both slipped inside.
The broadcast booth sat empty of personnel, but the equipment remained full of life. Banks of computers, soundboards and screens were set up in a long line facing a massive glass window. Through the window, the tech team could monitor the actual Press Briefing Room, which was set up with a podium, a Department of Defense backdrop and rows of chairs lined up from the front to the back of the room.
A surge of hope at finding everything still fired up sent Yasmine rushing across the room to the computer bank. “If they’ve just finished, the tech team must be on break after the morning broadcast. This is even better than I’d hoped. We don’t have to talk anyone into helping us.”
Noel joined her, staring at the equipment as though it might bite him. “You said you want to—what—broadcast the information?”
Yasmine waved her hand at Noel. “Phone.” He handed it to her as she hunted for a cable. Finding it, she plugged the phone into the computer tower and slipped into a chair. “Exactly. Look at the screen over there.” She pointed at a monitor mounted in the upper corner of the room.
Noel squinted at it. “There’s another broadcast in two hours about, uh, some defense policy. Is this normal? I knew the Pentagon did live broadcasts, but I didn’t realize they were so regular.”
Yasmine shrugged, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She opened her phone’s storage on the monitor and began to transfer the files they’d received from Shaun the day before. “I know only because of Daniel. He once told me about this because he was so excited to be a part of a facility contracted by the Department of Defense. He read the entire Department website and liked to watch the broadcasts on his days off. He loved hearing about how his work was making a difference in the lives of people, and he took pride in knowing that he was a link in the chain that kept this country safe and secure.”
Her voice hitched as her emotions threatened to take over, but suddenly Noel’s hands were on her shoulders, reassuring her. His presence reminded her that she wasn’t alone in this—neither the moment nor her grief.
“We’re going to end this, Mina. Right now.” He whispered the words in her ear, gentle and yet full of strength. She couldn’t help but shiver. Why had she kissed him before they’d left the room to head here? She wanted to tell herself that it was a fluke, an anxious gesture in the moment done out of panic and thankfulness that she’d found him, but she knew better than that.
When she’d seen Noel, her heart had flipped upside down, and it had been all she could do not to fall into his arms. How had she come to be so reliant on him, so willing to depend on him, despite so many years apart?
Because we’re meant to be together, came a still, small voice inside. Because you love him, even after all this time.
He treated her as an equal and respected her need not to sit back and wait for things to happen. He knew she could take care of herself, and these past few days had shown that they worked together well as a team in dire circumstances. Would they be able to work together just as well without bullets flying or bad guys chasing them?
She didn’t know, but sitting there with Noel’s hands on her shoulders—knowing that he had complete confidence in her plan—made her anxious to try. She wanted to tell him, to turn around and let him know that she didn’t care if she had to sell the bakery in Newherst. She’d start another one somewhere else. They could make it work, if only he was willing to give them a chance.
But they needed to make it through this day first. Telling him now would be a distraction, and they were going to require every ounce of focus for the next few minutes.
She loaded the last file onto the computer and yanked the cable out of her phone. “Noel, hit that switch over there.” She pointed to the soundboard a few feet away, then returned her attention to the screen while she loaded up the broadcasting program that had been up on the screen when they’d stepped into the room.
Her heart squeezed as she navigated the program. It was, without a doubt, because of Marc that she interacted with the program with ease. He’d been an information technology specialist for a reason, and she hadn’t been able to help but absorb some of his ability and knowledge during their years together.
For the first time since she’d boarded the airplane to return to the United States, she felt grateful for her relationship with Marc while it had lasted. It hadn’t been for nothing. Without those years, however much she’d felt they’d been wasted up until this moment, she wouldn’t have known that the button she was about to click on the broadcast program’s screen would be the thing that might save their lives and finally, finally bring justice for Daniel.
She clicked the button and stood. “Let’s get inside that room.”
Noel nodded, trusting her without question, and headed to the inside door that connected both rooms. He paused as she came up behind him.
“What is it? Let’s go. The information is going live.”
“I know. I just—Before we go in there, I ne
ed to say something. I’m sorry for pushing you away in the car last night. I thought I knew what was best for you and for me, but—”
“You were wrong?” The tension around Yasmine’s insides began to ease. “I’ve been wrong, too. I didn’t see—I didn’t want to see—what’s been in front of me all this time. I don’t know why this is happening, and I wish that seeing you again had been under better circumstances.”
“But God’s reasons aren’t our reasons.” He smiled as Yasmine’s eyes widened in surprise. Had she heard him correctly? “I know, I know. I’m learning. Your faith and strength makes me feel strong, Mina, and I want the assurance you have as you face obstacles head-on. I know it’s my own fault for pushing God away, but you’ve shown me that having faith doesn’t mean giving in. It makes you stronger, more courageous. I love you for it, and I want that, too.”
The air rushed from Yasmine’s lungs as she processed his words. “You...what?”
He smiled, gentle and sweet and tinged with the anxiety of the moment. “I love you. And when we get through this, I’m going to show you how much. We can make it work. I know we can. But for now?” He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips, as rushed and yet full of hope as the one she’d given him only minutes before.
She parted her lips to speak, searching for the right words to respond, but he shook his head and pulled the door open a crack.
“Uh-uh. Later. The information is going live, remember?” He winked and stepped through the door as Yasmine forced herself to breathe again. She followed him through, her heart light and surging with joy. They walked to the front of the room, heading toward the podium where she would expose the general’s schemes to the whole world, and—
Outside the Law Page 16
