The Shadow List
Page 23
So what would happen today? Judd genuinely didn’t know. What did he want to happen?
Jessica opened both eyes.
“Morning, sweets,” he whispered.
She blinked in reply.
“You all right?” he asked.
She nodded slightly and wet her lips.
“You sleep?”
She shrugged. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Sorry? About what?”
“Everything. The lies. The half-truths. The danger. It’s all my fault. I brought it all on us, on you, on our family.”
“You saved my life again,” Judd said.
“No, I didn’t. You saved me. I’m the one who nearly got you killed yesterday. That would have been on me. I allowed that animal to follow me. I made the mistake. I brought him to you.”
“That’s not your fault, Jess.”
“Of course it is. I was trying to keep us apart, and I failed. I was trying to do my job, and I failed. I was trying to protect you. And I failed.”
“How could you know, Jess?”
“I could have taken him out when I had the chance. I could have ended it all before he followed me to Nigeria. But I failed at that, too.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He must have seen my tell. I must have given something away. Judd, remember you saw it earlier in the week. You could read me. You knew I was going to Russia. That I was working on organized crime. They must have read me, too.”
“You don’t know that, Jess.”
“I was right about one thing. Your inner bravery. That your courage would show up when we needed it. That you wouldn’t hesitate. I told you, Judd.” She squeezed his arm. “When your family was in danger, I told you that you’d do what you’d have to. That, to protect me, you’d even kill.”
“I did,” he said, still not quite believing it himself.
“You killed that monster before he could kill us all. You did that, Judd.”
“I did,” he whispered confidently.
“But no one will ever know,” she insisted. “I took care of that. You don’t need to worry.”
“I’d rather not have seen that,” he said.
“Forget about what I did. No one will ever identify his body. No one who matters will ever know he was even there. That he even existed. I’ve made sure of that.”
“What about his bosses back in Russia? They must know he’s missing. They must know where he was going. That he was chasing you. Won’t they come after you now?”
“I’ll handle it. The world is messy—”
“And dangerous. I know that. But what will you do, Jess?”
“I said I’ll handle it. A diversion. Maybe a decoy. Have some confidence in me, Judd.”
“Confidence,” he repeated. “Is everything about confidence? Is everything a con?”
“Not everything.”
“The scam I was chasing was really Isabella’s operation. A sting against Congressman Truman. The Coyote’s business. The shadow list. The whole thing was one big con. I just didn’t know the mark.”
“Things are rarely what they seem, Judd.”
“Like Bola Akinola,” he said. “I thought we were helping him fight corruption in his country. I thought we were helping him defend Nigeria’s democracy. But it was the other way around. He was helping to defend ours.”
“Rarely what they seem,” she repeated.
“After everything they threw at Bola, all the false charges, all those stories planted in the press. Mariana was right that it was coming. And that it was all bull.”
“Bola Akinola will be fine,” Jessica said. “He knows what he’s doing.”
“He got Tunde free with a single phone call. I still don’t know how he pulled that off.”
“Sometimes the best cops have to treat the criminals like brothers,” she said. “Sometimes you have to go deep into his den to fight the devil.”
“So where did the ransom come from? If we didn’t pay, then who did?”
Jessica just gently shook her head.
“Bola’s playing such a dangerous game,” Judd said, exhaling loudly. “I don’t think I could do it.”
“You couldn’t. I couldn’t. That’s what makes Bola so special.”
“I still can’t believe he didn’t get on the plane,” Judd exclaimed. “That he refused asylum. That he chose to stay in Nigeria to clear his name. After everything that’s happened.”
“When you fight corruption, corruption fights back.”
“That’s exactly what Isabella said.”
“I like that woman.” Jessica smiled. “She’s got a bright future.”
“Yes, she does.” Judd sat up. “So . . . what about us?”
“What about us?”
“What’s our future, Jess? When I walk back into the State Department today, I have no idea if Landon Parker is going to congratulate me for rescuing Babatunde. Or if I’m going to be fired. I don’t know what he believes. I don’t know if what happened was a confidence game or if it was real. I don’t know if S/CRU is the hero or if it’s going to be shut down. And the funny thing is”—Judd scrunched his face—“I’m not sure which outcome I really want.”
“You have to decide, Judd.” She placed both hands on his shoulders. “Are you in or are you out?”
“I should ask you the same question, Jess.”
She let go of him and brushed her hair behind one ear.
“Jessica Ryker, are you in or are you out?” he asked. “Are we going to keep playing this game? Are we going to keep testing the Ryker rules of engagement?”
“Avoid, assist, admit . . . or abandon?”
“What do you want to do, Jess?”
“What do you want to do, Judd?”
“Whatever we decide, we have to do it together,” he said.
Jessica nodded. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
She reached underneath the bed, clicked the battery back into her phone, and powered up. Judd cradled his BlackBerry and watched it light up, too. After a few moments the two phones each bonged and bleeped to life with dozens of missed calls and messages.
Both phones suddenly rang. Jessica held hers up to show Judd a 703 area code but a blank phone number. A scrambled call from northern Virginia. Judd showed his, 202, and nothing more for Washington, D.C.
“Your boss is calling,” she said.
“So’s yours,” Judd said.
Jessica nodded. “Are you ready?”
“Let’s do it,” he said.
They both tapped their phones and pressed them to their ears. Then, in unison, “This is Ryker.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Inspiration for The Shadow List is owed in large part to my friend, the true-life hero and corruption hunter Nuhu Ribadu. I highly recommend Show Me the Money, his insider account of building the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. I’m also grateful to unwitting inspiration from Riva Levinson and her Choosing the Hero, Dayo Olopade for The Bright Continent, Adeola Fayehun for her hilarious news show Keeping It Real, and the antics of Congressman William Jefferson. Thanks to Priscilla Agyapong, Maria Barragan-Santana, Kenneth Christian, Judd Devermont, Antony Goldman, Charles Kenny, and Max Moss for edits and suggestions. Thanks to the amazing Putnam team of Neil Nyren, Ashley Hewlett, and Alexis Sattler. Special appreciation to rock star Josh Getzler and no-nonsense Mary Diamond Stirewalt. Most of all, love and gratitude to my best friend and partner in everything, Donna.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
© Shawn Miller 2015
Todd Moss is Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, a Washington, D.C. think tank, and a Nonresident Scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute. From 2007 to 2008, he served as Deput
y Assistant Secretary of State, where he was responsible for diplomatic relations with sixteen West African countries. Previously, Moss worked at the World Bank and the Economist Intelligence Unit and taught at the London School of Economics and Georgetown University. He is the author of four nonfiction books on international affairs and the Judd Ryker thriller series, including The Golden Hour, Minute Zero, and Ghosts of Havana. He lives in Maryland.
toddmossbooks.com
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