by M. S. Parker
“I’m still not loving this part of the plan,” Tess said as she smoothed down my shirt, her hands lingering on my waist.
“The mic is undetectable,” Brianne said. “And Clay’s going to the secretary’s office, not some back alley or shady restaurant. The worst that will happen is Clay will get escorted out by security.”
“Or I’ll get arrested,” I added with a grin. When Tess just glared at me, I winked at her, trying to lighten the mood. “But you’ll bail me out, right, babe?”
“Depends,” she said, managing a smile. “Do I get to make you my bitch if I do?”
Brianne burst out laughing, and after a moment, Tess and I joined her. Laughter might not make Brianne approve of my relationship with her sister, but it did knock out some of the tension, and with us trying to take down corrupt politicians, that was a good thing.
Now that Brianne and I had assured Tess that she didn’t need to worry about me, I didn’t feel right expressing my own concerns about Tess’s safety, especially since she was the only one who could pull this off. I was the wrong gender to try to convince Secretary Ganesh’s assistant that her boyfriend was cheating on her – though I supposed we could’ve gone that way if we’d needed to – and chances were that she knew what Brianne looked like. I hated to say it, but even if Brianne could have gone, Tess was still the better choice. Bri was too intimidating. We wanted anger, not fear.
“Do we need to go through the timeline again?” Brianne asked. “Because this only works if we time it right.”
“We know, Bri,” Tess said with a trace of exasperation in her voice.
“We’ve got it,” I added. “If we want to get this done today, we need to leave now.”
Brianne nodded, reluctance still in her eyes. This had to be killing her, sending Tess and me into danger, however small. She’d joined the army because she was a protector. Having her in the field now would be a liability at this moment. We had to pretend that she was still missing in Costa Rica. It was the only way we could maintain the element of surprise we needed.
I gave Tess a quick kiss, knowing that if I lingered, I might not be able to let her go. We might be going to the same place, but we had to take separate cars to avoid anyone seeing us together. We were even leaving at different times, just in case someone had figured out where we were and what we planned to do.
This was going to work.
It had to.
It was harder to resist the urge to text Tess than I’d thought it would be. I could do it without Brianne knowing, but if it screwed up our plan, I’d never forgive myself. I had to just trust that the sisters were doing their parts right on schedule. As the alert on my phone went off, I sent up a quick prayer that things were going according to plan and then marched around the corner and straight up to the Secretary of Commerce’s door.
“Excuse me!” The young man at the desk closest to the office called out to me. “You can’t go in there!”
I stopped with my hand on the doorknob and half-turned, giving the twenty-something a polite smile that I didn’t let reach my eyes. I recognized him from the picture at the US Embassy in Costa Rica. Dark hair and eyes, a suit that didn’t quite fit his frame. The plaque on the desk said his name was Bertrand Howell.
“Secretary Munroe will want to see me,” I said, putting as much confidence into my voice as I dared. Coming across as arrogant would most likely get me kicked out just for having a shitty attitude.
“Do you have an appointment?” Bertrand asked.
“No,” I admitted. “But my father is Congressman Clinton Kurth. If you let your boss know I’m here, he’ll tell you to let me in.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said stiffly.
I shrugged and waited for him to call Secretary Munroe. Less than a minute later, I was walking into the office.
“Secretary Munroe,” I said as I walked up to the desk and held out my hand.
With salt-and-pepper hair and pale blue eyes, he looked a couple years younger than his actual age, but not so young that people would pay more attention to his looks instead of his politics. For a moment, I wondered if he’d always planned to be in this office or if his ambitions had been higher, then I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the reason I was there.
“So, you’re Clay,” Munroe said with a campaign-trail smile. “Your parents speak very highly of you.”
I couldn’t have hoped for a better lead-in. “I’m actually here for them. Well, for my father. My mother is always careful about how much she involves herself in politics. She wouldn’t even want a hint of impropriety.”
“Of course not,” Secretary Munroe said smoothly.
“That’s why my father sent me.” I laced my fingers together and set them loosely on my knee. The very picture of nonchalance. “Plausible deniability and all that. You understand.”
He studied me for nearly a full minute before seeming to come to a decision. “Let’s say I do understand.”
Damn, he was careful. He was going to make me be the one to say it and keep his responses as vague as possible. He’d definitely been doing this sort of thing for a while. I was going to have to press harder.
“I had dinner with my parents yesterday.” I picked at a non-existent piece of thread on my pants. “I just got back in the country, you see. I’ve been on vacation…in Costa Rica.” I raised my eyes to meet his, but there wasn’t even a flicker of acknowledgment. I continued, “While I was at the house I couldn’t help noticing pictures of you and my father. I hadn’t realized the two of you knew each other.”
“Washington is a smaller place than a lot of people realize.”
I inclined my head in acknowledgment. “Still, imagine my surprise when I happened across a letter between the two of you talking about your support of a bill he’s trying to get passed. One having to do with drug trafficking.”
A corner of the secretary’s mouth tipped up, as if he found this whole thing amusing. “I’m not sure I understand why you’re here, Clay.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Then I’ll cut through the bull and lay it out for you. I want in.”
“In?” he echoed. “I don’t know what that means.”
“I’m not as foolish as some people believe me to be.”
“I am sure of that.”
“Good,” I said. “Then don’t insult my intelligence by pretending that we don’t both know about your contacts down in Costa Rica. I was just there, remember?”
His fingers tapped his chin, and I wondered how much of that gesture was deliberate. “Let’s say, hypothetically, I was aware of a few…disreputable situations in Costa Rica. I would need to be extra careful in whom I entrusted this information. Such things could always have legal ramifications here, not to mention the publicity nightmare it would be should the story get out.”
“Hypothetical story, right?”
“Right.” He opened one of his lower desk drawers, and I stiffened. Instead of a weapon, however, he drew out a bottle of deep amber liquid. “Will you join me for a drink? It’s Blanton’s.”
My gut told me that he wouldn’t trust a man who didn’t drink with him, so I accepted. After pouring us both generous amounts, he raised his glass and waited for me to do the same.
“To hypothetical stories and real friendships.”
I tipped my glass in his direction and then took a swallow, letting the whiskey flow over my tongue. Rich flavor with hints of caramel and vanilla. Under other circumstances, I would’ve enjoyed taking my time savoring every last drop, but as it was, I knew I couldn’t risk drinking too much more, no matter how well I held my liquor. As safe as Brianne and I had said I would be, neither of us actually knew just how dangerous Secretary Munroe would be when cornered.
“The letter you wrote my father made it sound like you wanted to support that proposed bill as is, but I don’t think that’s the case, is it?”
“I think there are some ways that particular bill could be improved upon.”<
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I glanced at my watch and nearly cursed. I needed to move him toward a confession faster. “Ways that would hinder drugs coming in from places like, say, Russia or Mexico?”
He nodded. “That sounds as if it would be a good start.”
“But maybe this same bill could allow easier access for exports from a friendly country like Costa Rica?”
“Opening the American market to places like Costa Rica could greatly benefit that country,” he agreed.
“I believe you’re still waiting for a response from my father on your proposal.” This was where Tess and Brianne had put their faith in me, in my belief that my father couldn’t be working with Secretary Munroe, not if he knew the truth.
“I am.” Munroe drained the last of his whiskey. “Is that what you’re here to bring? His answer?”
“I haven’t talked to him about this,” I said honestly. “And I haven’t talked to him about what I saw in Costa Rica.”
“What you saw?”
That’s when I caught it. A slight change in the secretary’s posture, in his demeanor. The power between us had shifted.
“Namely, your assistant Bertrand leaving the US Embassy in order to bail out of jail a few members of a Colombian drug cartel that’s been working out of Costa Rica.”
Munroe stared at me, but I didn’t flinch. I let my words sink in, let him process not only the fact of them but the implication as well. As close as I was cutting it timewise, I couldn’t rush this part. He’d known everything up to this point, I had no doubt. The men in Costa Rica never would have come after Brianne, Tess, and I without approval from their bosses in Colombia, and without at least informing the secretary of what they intended to do. Now, however, he knew I could link the cartel to him.
He finally broke the silence. “I have no knowledge of what my assistant may or may not have done on his personal time.”
“I wouldn’t think otherwise, but you have to admit, if such a thing were to be made public, well, some people might infer that your interest in my father’s bill isn’t entirely honorable.”
“Are you attempting to blackmail me?” Munroe asked sharply.
“Not at all.” I set down my glass. “I assume you know my line of work.”
“I do.”
“I think we could both benefit from working together.”
He considered my offer for a moment, and then asked, “What about your friends? The women you were in Costa Rica with.”
I waved a hand. “Two women I knew from my childhood. It was the damnedest thing, running into Tess looking for her sister while I was there on vacation.”
“Come now, Clay, we both know that you weren’t in Costa Rica on vacation.”
I feigned surprise. “I wasn’t aware you had…inside information when it came to the FBI.”
A sly little smile appeared on Munroe’s face. “I didn’t need to go to the FBI for that particular tidbit. An…acquaintance of mine happens to work in the Secretary of State’s office, and she overheard Secretary Ganesh talking to your partner at the FBI about a favor.”
And there it was, the connection to prove that Munroe had known both where I was and what I was doing. Any second now, the final nail in the coffin would be hammered down. While I waited, however, I figured I might as well see what else I could get him to implicate himself in.
“I’m glad you know,” I said, letting false relief fill my voice. “It’s been a hell of a time not being able to talk about everything that happened down there. You know what it’s like, Mr. Secretary. You served in the Navy. There are things that only people who’ve seen the same sorts of things can understand.”
His chest puffed up as he smiled indulgently at me. “Of course, son. You’re always welcome to talk to me about things.”
“Thank you, sir.” I waited a beat before continuing. “I was supposed to find this Taylor guy who was working with Red Care, but I couldn’t use any FBI contacts since, you know, the FBI isn’t supposed to operate on foreign soil.”
“Something I’ve never understood,” Munroe said. “We should be allowed to send in whoever we want, regardless of their department.”
“That would have made my job a lot easier.”
“I can only imagine how much easier it would have been to locate the local cartel’s drug house if you’d been able to go straight to the authorities and get them to tell you what they knew.”
“Definitely.”
“You probably could have found Tess a lot sooner as well, gotten her to a hospital and then gotten you all out in the time it took for you and Brianne to locate her.”
I didn’t acknowledge the fact that he’d just given details that I hadn’t yet shared. Everything either of us said was being recorded, which meant he’d be confronted by his words at some point. I didn’t need to be impatient.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a tall strawberry blonde in her mid-twenties stood in the doorway. Behind her, Munroe’s assistant appeared to be at a complete loss as to what to do. The woman stalked into the office without even a glance in my direction.
“Miss Golding.” Secretary Munroe gave the young woman a stern look. “I am in the middle of a meet–”
“You cheating bastard!” She pointed at him, her cheeks flushed. “How dare you two-time me!”
I stayed as still as possible despite the almost overwhelming desire to remind Kathrine Golding that Secretary Munroe was, in fact, cheating on his wife with her. While Brianne planned to use Golding’s anger at Munroe as incentive to flip on the secretary, anything between them that I could record would be appreciated.
“I told you that if I don’t have sex with my wife twice a week, she’ll get suspicious.”
The blonde grew even redder. “I’m not talking about your wife! I’m talking about Cordelia Chase!”
I swallowed a laugh. Tess had said she’d come up with an alias of her own since it just had to be something she’d remember long enough for a conversation with Golding. I should have known she’d pull one out of her favorite TV show.
“Who?”
Clearly, the secretary wasn’t a fan.
“Tiny little brunette who you’ve been secretly seeing on the side. Ring any bells?”
“Kathrine, you need to calm down.”
I grimaced. Wrong thing to say. Even as often as I’d put my foot in my mouth over the last few weeks, I knew not to tell a woman to calm down, and definitely not in that condescending tone.
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!” She stamped her foot. “You told me I was special! That I was the only one you wanted to be with!”
“Kath–”
“No! I’m always the one listening! Listening to your speeches, to your complaints, to how much you love my tits…I’m sick of it! It’s your turn to listen!”
I heard a noise behind me that sounded like a scuffle, but I didn’t turn around. My part was done, and I intended to sit tight until the whole thing was over.
“I broke the law for you because you said we were in this together!”
And it was over.
Men in black suits passed by me on either side and one of the men spoke, “Secretary Munroe, Miss Golding, you both need to come with us.”
Kathrine whirled, seemingly stunned that there were more than her and the secretary in the room. When one of the men grabbed her upper arm, she wailed, “I didn’t do anything!”
That was my cue to leave. I quietly slipped out of the office and found people waiting for me. Tess immediately threw herself into my arms, and I pulled her close, finally allowing myself to feel all of the emotions I’d been holding back.
“It’s okay,” I said quietly. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s over. We’re safe.”
“Nice work,” Brianne said as the Secret Service led a weeping Kathrine and a blustering Secretary Munroe past. “Munroe’s assistant is already saying he wants to cut a deal as soon as he can get a lawyer to make sure everything’s in writing.”
Sofi
e looked a lot friendlier than the last time I’d seen her. “Thank you. I’m sorry I kicked you out of my house.”
I laughed. “Don’t mention it.”
She glanced behind me and made a ‘wait’ gesture. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak to someone about processing the prisoners.” She looked over at Brianne. “I’ll meet you back at my place.”
“Don’t be too long.”
Tess shifted in my arms so she could face her sister while still keeping her grip around my waist. “If you and Sofie are here together, with everyone seeing you guys, does that mean your relationship is out?”
A shadow crossed Brianne’s face. “Actually, everything is out. Between Sofie pulling in the FBI to find me – even unofficially – and everything Kathrine told Munroe, it’d be foolish of either of us to try to go back to pretending to be just soldiers. Sofie and I talked, and we decided that it would be better for everyone if she and I played this off as being a classified, but Army sanctioned, mission.”
“Does this mean that you’re not…” Tess glanced around us and lowered her voice to a whisper, “black ops anymore?”
Brianne smiled, but I could still see a hint of pain in her eyes. “No, we’re not. I’ve got a lot of paperwork to do and decisions to make about what to do in May when my time’s up, but it should be standard military stuff.”
Though neither of the sisters said it, the expressions on their faces told me that a tentative truce had been called. Now that Brianne wouldn’t need to push Tess away for her own safety and all the past deceit had been revealed, the two could repair their relationship.
As for Tess and my relationship, I’d already decided where I wanted it to go from here. I just needed to find out if she felt the same way.
Thirty-Four
