Traitor Games

by Sidney Bristol

  Where was Noah?

  She peered through the people, up toward the customs officers all in their respective booths.

  There.

  Noah was close to the front of the line. He’d be through in a matter of minutes. God, she wished she was with him instead of by herself.

  What if something happened to him or her while they were separated by customs? She wouldn’t be able to get to him, and he’d couldn’t get to her.

  She officially hated this plan.

  Lillian peered over her shoulder at the security guards. Noah had said it was unlikely Hector was working through official channels, which meant the danger wouldn’t come from anyone with a badge.

  She scanned the line behind and ahead of her.

  Who posed a threat? Which one of them wanted her dead?

  A man wearing a Yankees cap studied her. A man in a suit darted a sideways look at her. A woman ahead of her kept glancing back, over and over again.

  Were they working together?

  Noah approached a customs officer and handed his passport over.

  Lillian squeezed the handle of her bag.

  The people on either side of Noah were dismissed, but he remained standing there.

  Finally, he passed through the customs check and out into the public areas of the airport. The last glimpse of him she had was him doing a ninety-degree turn to the right. Then he was gone without even a backward glance.

  She was alone.

  No one here was looking out for her. At least not to keep her alive.

  Her wait ticked on. The line inched forward.

  She had to be rational, calm.

  Would Noah really leave her back here, alone, if he thought she was in immediate danger?

  Lillian blew out a breath and shuffled forward in line.

  No. He wouldn’t. Everything was fine.

  By the time she was called forward to an immigration officer those three words had become her mantra. She kept reciting it to herself, even while answering the man’s questions. She didn’t even trip up over being called Linda or her fabricated reason for being in the country.

  In less time than it had taken Noah, she was passed through customs.

  The corridor beyond wasn’t as bustling or busy as the rest of the airport. Glass and steel enclosed this outer area. Shops lined the wall, while seating for weary travelers took up a good deal of space.

  Noah wasn’t waiting for her.

  She went right. That was the way he’d gone, it stood to reason she should follow that clue. She walked slowly, glancing into the stores and at people sitting nearby.

  Two uniformed officers strode in, their raincoats splattered with water.

  Lillian ducked her head and sped up.

  The skin between her shoulder blades prickled.

  Where was Noah?

  “This way.” A woman practically walked into Lillian and slid her hand around Lillian’s arm.

  She gaped at the stranger, too surprised to dig her heels in and hold her ground.

  That nose, the profile, the wisps of blond hair—

  Chapter Nine

  Thursday. Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom.

  “Carol?” Lillian whispered.

  The other woman smiled, but never looked at Lillian. “Keep walking. Don’t look behind you.”

  They walked out through a set of automatic doors and onto a platform. The train sat waiting, doors open, hardly anyone on board.

  “Get on, quick.” Carol dragged Lillian onto the tube to the tune of, “Mind the gap.”

  She grabbed the pole next to the door while Carol crossed to stand facing her.

  Lillian continued gaping at her best friend. She hadn’t seen Carol since they’d parted ways in D.C. She’d been on a suicide mission to rescue her now husband. It was Carol’s example that Lillian had followed, inspired by her friend’s bravery and sacrifice.

  “You look good. I like the darker hair.” Carol was slimmer than before, and her hair…

  “Did you cut yours?” It was the most ridiculous thing to ask when there were a hundred other questions buzzing in her head.

  “Oh, that’s a story.” Carol chuckled. “This is us.”

  Lillian pivoted to face the doors and Carol propelled her out of the subway with a hand on her back.

  Lillian blinked at the signs. “We’re still in the airport.”

  “You’ve got a tail,” Carol said.

  “Who? Where?” Lillian kept her gaze forward, following Carol’s lead down the platform.

  “Woman, yellow scarf?”

  Lillian couldn’t recall such a person.

  “This way.” Carol pulled Lillian through the automatic doors and back into the airport.

  “Where are we going?” Lillian asked.

  “Through here. Quickly, please.”

  They passed through to a corridor with no glass. The gentle curve of it meant they had limited sight ahead and behind them. They could be walking into a trap.

  Carol finally glanced over her shoulder. Lillian turned her head, but didn’t see a yellow scarf.

  “In here.” Carol jerked Lillian sideways and pushed through a metal security door.

  She stumbled onto a landing. Carol shoved the door shut and leaned her shoulder against it. She reached behind her and drew a small handgun.

  “You have a gun?” Lillian eyed the black firearm in Carol’s grasp.

  “Did you ever take those lessons?” Carol kept glancing up the stairs.

  “No, there wasn’t time.”

  “Well, you’re going to need a crash course. Down the stairs. Now. Go.” There was a slight strain to Carol’s words. It sparked a sense of urgency for Lillian.

  She picked up her suitcase and headed down the stairs, Carol following behind her with one hand on her shoulder.

  “What’s going on?” Lillian asked.

  “The tail will realize she lost us and double back. There might have been another, but I didn’t see them. We have to hurry. The cameras and security will come back online in a few minutes.”

  The door overhead clanged.

  Lillian put on a burst of speed and Carol shoved her through a door that let out into a parking garage of some sort. A white van sat idling, the back doors open and Noah perched on the edge.

  He was okay.

  “Come on.” He jumped up and grabbed her bag.

  “They’re right behind us,” Carol called out.

  “We’ll keep them here. You, go,” a man said.

  Everything was a blur. Lillian crawled into the back of the delivery van on her hands and knees, others piling in beside her. The doors shut and the driver gassed it. She sat down hard and someone tripped over her leg, landing next to her with a grunt.

  “Sorry,” Lillian muttered.

  “You’re okay?” Noah’s hand closed around her knee.

  “Fine.”

  “Don’t put yourself in any unnecessary danger.” Andy leaned forward, the parking lights shining through just enough to illuminate his face and the radio in his hand.

  “They know what they’re doing,” Carol said.

  The other couple settled on the floor across from them while the rest of their team remained at the front of the van.

  “That was closer than I’d have liked,” Andy said.

  “You’re telling me,” Noah muttered and slid his hand onto Lillian’s knee, the warmth of him seeping into her muscles.

  “I didn’t think we were going to see you,” Lillian said to Carol.

  Carol pulled her knit hat off and shook out her short hair. Most of all, she smiled. “We got worried when you had to wait that long to make it out.” Concern creased her face. “We’ll only be here so long as it takes us to drop you off. Sorry. I wish it was longer.”

  Lillian tried to not let that news disappoint her too much. The last few months had seen her alienated from everyone except a very small circle. She couldn’t trust anyone or share what they were going through, not without great r
isk.

  “It’ll take us two hours to get to where the summit is being held. We need to change vehicles at least once. I’ve got everything you asked for here in hardcopy.” Andy grabbed a briefcase off a hook and set it on the floor between them.

  “What are we looking at?” Noah turned toward Lillian. “You all know the score. I don’t.”

  “Go on. He needs to know.” She leaned her head against the side of the van.

  “Okay.” Andy shrugged and placed her binder on his lap. “We have six countries represented at this intelligence summit, three of those by the head of their agency. We also have a handful of private entities who have approached us to offer intel, services, etcetera. SICA is bad for their business and they have what we need—a global view of what’s going on. With their help, Lillian is going to present the full dossier on what we have uncovered about SICA. Locations, resources, people, past jobs, names, photographs—almost everything we’ve got.”

  Lillian took a thick binder from Andy and began flipping through the pages.

  Carol leaned forward. “I went through and added personal data not in your files.”

  “That’s fantastic. Thank you,” Lillian said.

  “I put together some suggested talking points for you based on what we know. You obviously have access to more current events than we do. We trust you to do what’s best,” Carol said during one of Andy’s few pauses.

  “No, that’s great. My head feels so scrambled. Notes are good.”

  “What’s our aim? What do we want to accomplish here?” Noah glanced at Lillian. “We could only talk so much on the plane.”

  “We want them to realize that this threat is real,” Lillian said. “It’s not just a nightmare scenario.”

  Andy leaned forward. “We need a plan that goes beyond us. We need a joint task force that can take our ideas for shutting SICA down and pull it off in one go. SICA is a parasite. They operate by using legitimate agencies’ hard work to fund their goals. We want to coordinate arresting every individual connected to SICA in every office around the globe at once. We do that, the satellite locations will shut down in confusion and we can wrap them up one by one.”

  “That sounds like a neat plan,” Noah said. “You think they’ll bite?”

  “We’ve been planning for this,” Lillian replied.

  She closed her eyes. She could do this. She’d taken on powerful people every day doing what she could at Matthews Corp. This was no different.

  She wasn’t alone. He was with her. He was the last person she’d expected to throw his lot in with her, but here he was. She couldn’t be more grateful.

  “There’s an agenda for tomorrow. I hope it’s what you wanted. We had to give them something. In it we scheduled one-on-ones with the six agencies. I figure you can start talking about their weaknesses and potential risk without shining a light on it for the others.” Andy pushed up into a crouch and peered out through the front of the van at the street ahead. “You ready for this?”

  “I have to be,” Lillian replied.

  Carol pressed buttons on her watch, the little screen illuminating her face. “We won’t be going inside with you. The attendees know you’re coming and they’re waiting. Someone is supposed to have a change of clothes ready for you at the door.”

  Lillian would have liked to spend the time with her best friend catching up, but there were too many details to iron out. She’d missed a lot and put undue stress on Andy and Carol. It was time for Lillian to take the reins back. For the remaining drive the other couple did their best to update her.

  By the time they reached their destination they had switched vehicles and were in a delivery truck with only cell phones for illumination. There were a hundred things Lillian wanted to say to Carol and she had time for none of them. They spared a few moments for a tight hug, putting aside their new roles as secret agents and for a blessed second being just two friends.

  “Good luck,” Carol whispered.

  Lillian let go of her friend. “Stay safe.”

  The back doors opened and two figures dressed in black tactical gear stood outside, their gazes focused away from the van.

  Lillian needed more than luck if she was going to pull this off on no sleep and little prep.

  Noah got out, grabbing her suitcase, and offered her a hand getting out. No sooner had her feet touched the ancient paving stones than the van accelerated and was gone. She stood there a moment longer, blinking away the red dots in her vision from the taillights.

  Noah tugged her toward the open door. “Come on. We need to get you inside.”

  “What is this place?” She stared up at the large stone-and-brick structure. It looked like something out of a Jane Austen movie.

  Noah led her inside, as though he knew what they were doing. How was he so calm about this? The guards decked out in black never spoke to them. Not a word. It was unnerving.

  They entered a large kitchen. Serving dishes sat on every counter, their lids sealed on tight. A young man in slacks and a button-down she didn’t recognize entered through another door and paused.

  “Lillian?” he asked.

  “Yes—”

  “They’re ready for you.” He grabbed a hanger with a suit jacket and other articles hanging off it. “If you hurry, we can stay on schedule.”

  She took the hanger. “Can I have a minute to prepare?”

  “There isn’t much time. Tonight is just a round of introductions, some light Q&A. Nothing you should have to study for,” he said.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Noah. Could he help argue the point a bit?

  “You change and I’ll make notes for you.” He said it like it was the most obvious solution.

  “I’ll leave you to it, then,” the young man said.

  Lillian watched the guy walk out through the door again.

  “I knew this was going to be fast but this is crazy,” she whispered to Noah.

  “This is what you’ve been preparing for.” He pulled a pad of paper out. “Change and tell me what you want to cover tonight.”

  She looked around the kitchen. The windows were covered, there wasn’t a soul to be seen.

  “Lily? Hey.” When had he gotten that close to her? “You can do this. Everything you need to know is in your head. All you need to do is decide how to say it.”

  She nodded, a shiver running through her body. Because of his touch, or the situation? She couldn’t be sure.

  “Come on. Let’s get started.” He let his hand fall from her cheek and backed up to where he’d left the binder. “What do you want to say to them? Introductions?”

  “No, most of these people already know each other in some kind of official capacity. I’m the one being introduced. Will you just flip to the profiles on the attendees and skim the notes for me? I think if I know my audience I can talk to them.”

  “Of course.” Noah began reading the notes on each attendee, his voice rougher than normal. The important facts were all top-loaded, while the latter items were purely of interest value. Several times she told him to move on to the next person.

  Lillian blew out a breath and pulled the clothes off the hanger. She faced away from Noah and began changing, first her shirt then the pants, while Noah read. She interrupted him to ask him to make a few notations from time to time, but it was coming back to her. This was what she knew, what she was good at.

  She closed her eyes and ran her hands down the lapels of her suit jacket. Carol had good taste. The garments were both utilitarian and well made. They would help create the illusion that Lillian had her shit together.

  “How do I look?” She slid her feet into the pumps then pivoted to face Noah.

  He looked up from the binder, his gaze doing a slow once-over.

  “The jacket’s not quite centered and the blouse is bunching on the left. But you look good. Professional.” His gaze swept her body in a way that scrambled her thoughts.

  “What about you?” She adjusted the top first, then the jacke
t.

  “I think it’s best if I stay out of sight for now.” He handed her the binder.

  She hugged the book to her chest. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  “Sure you can. You’re Lillian-fucking-Matthews. You don’t need me.” He reached out and smoothed her hair on one side.

  She chuckled. “Seriously?”

  “Okay, maybe I helped you a little.” Noah grinned. “While you’re wowing the important people I’m going to have a look around, check the site, see what we’ve got going in terms of security. I’m not going anywhere without you, got it?”

  “Promise?”

  “We’re in this together, Lily.”

  She nodded, her head buzzing a bit.

  He took a step back. “Go knock them dead, tiger.”

  Lillian pushed her shoulders back and strode through the doorway.

  The same young man from before waited in the hall. He looked up from his phone, gaze going to her hair, then her clothes.

  “Open with telling them your plane was delayed. They’ll empathize with that, if they remember what flying commercial is even like. This way.” He pushed off the wall and walked with her down the carpeted hall.

  “You might as well have said I look like shit.” She smoothed her hair down and followed behind him.

  “Hmm?” He paused long enough for her to catch up to him.

  “Nothing.” She kept her stare straight ahead.

  “I’m Jeff, by the way.”

  “Who do you work for, Jeff?” She was uncertain what an admin type might have working with her friends.

  “A little of this, a little of that. I specialize in bringing people together.” Jeff smiled, but it wasn’t an expression that invited warmth.

  “You’re a neutral third party. You do this for anyone who has the funds to pay you, don’t you?”

  “There are a lot of people who just need to have a quiet room to talk their problems out. Negotiate things. I make sure a location fits the needs, is secure, and most of all—private.”

  “How can I trust you?” Lillian could practically weigh his worth in those statements.

  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Jeff smiled. “The people you’re after have robbed me of business by killing my clients. It’s in my best interest that they’re…eliminated.”