In The Valley Of Shadows

by Kat Smith

  Devan pulled Teona to the far side of the bedroom and whispered, “I have a plan, but you have to leave.” Before Teona could rebut, Devan continued, “Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?”

  Teona frowned and shook her head. “I have no friend. Why?”

  Devan began to outline her plan. “Go to work, but do not come back home tonight.”

  Teona shook her head and frowned. “No, you are weak. I will stay. I will help you.”

  Devan took her hands. “No. You’ve already risked your life to help me.” She tipped Teona’s chin up, so she could look directly into her eyes. “You will go. Stay at the hospital if you must. When it’s safe, I will turn on the light at the back door.”

  Teona sighed and nodded. She was only a nurse. She didn’t know anything about all this talk of bombs and bad men trying to start a new war. Devan was a soldier, she thought, she would know the right thing to do.

  “Tell me you understand.” Devan was insistent.

  “I understand. Do not come home until door is lighted.”

  “Thank you.” She looked around the small bedroom. “I’m sorry. I know you need to dress for work, but I need to stay in here.” She smiled shyly. “I’ll give you as much privacy as I can.”

  Payton, Mara, Frank Gilbert, and Fredrick Vaughn gathered around a conference table. Vaughn sulked in his chair, still seething from his encounter with Payton.

  Frank studied the screen. “This data is compelling. However, we need a specific timeline.”

  Vaughn snapped, “We’ve spent millions of dollars on this new program of yours, yet it still isn’t giving us what we need.”

  Frank shot a glance Vaughn’s way. “We have a hell of a lot more information in just a few days than your team has been able to come up with in months.”

  Frank passed copies of the sketch artist rendering to each of them. “Thanks to Director Cardina’s excellent interviewing technique and her crack team of analysts, we now know this man Christopher Bryzgalova to be the head of the rebel group.”

  Vaughn gave Payton a piercing glare when he saw the smirk on her face.

  “Jacob Altman. What’s his take on this?” Vaughn asked.

  Frank snarled. “Don’t give a shit. When a ten-year veteran of the CIA allows himself to be duped like a rookie, I don’t put any faith in anything he has to say.”

  Mara looked into the eyes of the man they were all betting was the key to the bombing plot. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something oddly familiar about his face. Maybe it’s the eyes, she thought.

  “Colonel?” Payton covertly nudged her with an elbow.

  Mara’s head snapped up. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  Frank was getting testy. “I said, if the director gets a solid lead on the plot, how long will it take your team to be ready to go?”

  “We already have a team on the ground in Vaziani. We’ll be ready to move out at a moment’s notice as soon as we have the target,” Mara said.

  Vaughn spoke up. “I want another go at Altman. I know he has more information than he’s letting on.” He tapped his finger on the table. “He’s holding out in case he needs to make a deal to get his ass out of a sling.”

  “Who knows, we may get lucky and pull something useful out of him.” Frank turned to Payton. “You did a great job on the first interview.” He closed his notebook. “Take the lead on this, will you, Director?”

  Frank Gilbert despised Vaughn and the underhanded, back-stabbing methods he used to get ahead. The little bastard would do anything, including undermining his authority, to reap the glory deserved by someone else, someone like himself. He stood and coughed back a smile when he saw the rage surge across Vaughn’s face.

  Payton pushed back from the table and extended her hand to Gilbert. “Thank you, Frank. I’ll push any new intelligence to you as we obtain it.”

  The meeting broke up, and Vaughn huffed out of the room. Frank turned to Payton as they walked out. “If you ever decide you want a change, I’m sure I can find a really nice spot for you back at the CIA.”

  Payton looked shocked and cast a glance at Mara. “Well, I’ve done my stint with the CIA. I’m doing good work at the ICC for now, at least. I’m happy where I am.”

  “Our loss.” He shook her hand again. “Call me if you ever change your mind.”

  When he was out of earshot, Mara chuckled. “I think you have an admirer, Director.”

  Payton watched him disappear around the corner. “Yeah, he’s always pushed that envelope a little too close for me.”

  Mara shot Payton a curious look. “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yep, we go way back to my early days with the NSA and to the time we both spent in the CIA.” She shuffled the load of folders in her arms. “He seems to forget that he’s married and that I’ve no interest.” She shrugged. “Plus, I have everything I could ever want at home.”

  Devan eased out of the bedroom, shuffled over to the fireplace on the shared wall of the apartments, and listened for movement next door. She removed a ceramic bookend from the outer side of a row of books and hobbled back to the bedroom. She adjusted her position just inside the door with the MP-443 tucked into her waistband. She got a good grip, hoped it wasn’t a family heirloom, and lobbed the bookend against the fireplace. With a resounding crash, it shattered into a hundred pieces.

  It took only seconds until she heard footsteps quickly approaching the rear of the house. She heard the door to the adjacent apartment open followed by footsteps in the kitchen. She pictured him peering out the kitchen window searching for the source of the noise. She knew his nerves were on edge, which might give her an advantage. There was complete silence for two minutes. The hardest part was always the waiting, the apprehension, the significance that your last breath may be seconds away.

  She ran the plan over in her head again, mentally rehearsing every movement, every action, every possible response. Then she heard it. It was no louder than a shoe scuffing across the floor. She turned her head, so she could see the door to the kitchen. It was a slight movement at first, testing the door. Then ever so slowly, the doorknob turned.

  With gun in hand, Christopher pushed the door open until it bumped against the wall. He paused, listened, then slowly took a step into Teona’s apartment. Devan could almost feel the tension leave the room as Christopher found the shattered bookend and realized it was nothing more than a mouse or gravity that caused the sound.

  He tucked the gun into his waistband, stepped over to the fireplace, and looked down at the broken bookend. He knelt and began picking up the chards of broken ceramic, and that was when she moved.

  He heard the creak in the floor and started to stand when he felt a presence behind him.

  “Raise your hands and turn around very slowly, Christopher.”

  He raised his hands as directed. “You know my name?” He was smooth, would bide his time, do as ordered, and wait for an opportunity to turn the tables. “And you are?”

  “Not your concern.” Devan stepped out into the sitting room.

  “I beg to differ. You have a gun pointed at my back. You could at least introduce yourself.”

  “Lay on your stomach. Arms stretched out.”

  He turned slowly, saw the mangled cast on Devan’s arm, the boot on her foot, and the large bandage on her leg. He slanted a smile toward her. “It doesn’t look like you’re in any condition for a fight.”

  She didn’t take her eyes off him. “We’re not going to fight. On your stomach.”

  Christopher lowered his arm slightly but stopped when Devan’s voice lowered in warning. “I won’t ask you again.”

  He knelt. “Very well. My men will be here soon. You won’t be able to take us all.” He stretched out on his stomach.

  She took a step toward him. “Cross your legs.”

  When he complied, Devan pulled flex cuffs from her pocket. Pain seared up her leg as she took two quick steps and dropped down with a knee in the small of his back. S
he placed the gun on the back of his head. “You move, and your brains will be all over the floor. Put your right hand behind your back.” She slipped the loop over his right wrist and pulled it tight. “Now your left hand.” She secured the other half of the cuff, then used her good leg to push herself up and backed away. “Get up. Sit in the chair.”

  He rolled and struggled to his feet. Devan held the gun on him with one hand and pulled the weapon from his waistband. She placed his gun on the mantel and continued to frisk him. She found a rubber banded wad of rubles in his back pocket and another magazine for the gun in his front pocket. “Were you thinking of shooting the place up?”

  He shrugged and smiled. “One never knows.”

  She shoved him into the chair. “Well, you won’t be needing it any longer.”

  “What is your endgame if you don’t mind me asking? If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already.”

  Devan secured his feet together with another set of flex cuffs. “My endgame is putting an end to your attack in Georgia.”

  He let out a hardy laugh. “It is too late to stop it, little girl. It will be done with or without me.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Devan spun around when she heard footsteps. She brought the gun level as a searing pain shot up her leg.

  Teona walked into the apartment and peeped out a squeal. “Do not point gun at me.”

  Devan angrily dropped the gun to her side. “I told you not to come back until you saw the back light on.”

  Christopher pulled against the restraints. “What the fuck, Teona? You know this bitch?”

  She dropped her bag beside the door. “I told you. I help you.” She glared at Christopher. “You brought evil into my home.” She stormed over to the chair, swung her hand back, and gave him a fierce slap across the face. She saw the look of surprise on Devan’s face, shook off the fury she tamped down all day, then casually turned back to the kitchen. “Shoot him. I will make tea.”

  Devan smiled and realized she had underestimated her new friend. She was glad that temper hadn’t been directed at her when she’d been broken and completely vulnerable.

  Christopher sneered from his chair. “My men will peel the skin from your bones.” He jerked his head toward the kitchen. “From both of you.”

  “You’re not peeling anything right now, buddy.” Devan followed Teona to the kitchen but left the door open so she could keep an eye on her new prisoner.

  She snapped at Teona, “What are you doing here?”

  She put the kettle on the stove. “I did thoughting today.”

  Devan’s faced contorted in confusion. She’d been pleasantly surprised how easily she could comprehend the spunky Russian woman’s broken English. However, when Teona was fired up, as she was now, it sometimes took Devan a moment to understand. She mouthed the word and finally got it. “Okay. What were you thinking about?” Might as well keep working on refining Teona’s English, she thought.

  Teona opened the cupboard and took out the tea. “You cannot stay awake always. I help you.” She practically stomped her foot when she pointed to the sitting room. “He bring evil into my home.” She gave Devan a defiant look. “I will not leave. You can no make me.”

  Devan studied Teona’s face and accepted her argument. She’d have the same response if someone tried to make her leave her home, ratty apartment as it was. “Fine.” She turned into the apartment. “You do not go anywhere near him. Do you understand?”

  Teona grunted and turned back to finish making the tea.

  Alex sat at the little table in Payton’s office. “The computer in Makhachkala has been quiet for the last two days.”

  Payton swiveled in her chair. “Nothing at all?”

  “Not a peep.” She pushed back her dark auburn hair. “I’m afraid he may be on the move. It could be the attack is imminent, and we don’t have the intel to stop it.” Alex punched the brew button on the Keurig. “Did you get anything else out of Jacob?”

  “He believes the group will convene somewhere in the mountains of southern Russia, then cross the border to Tskhinvali. That’s only seventy miles north of Vaziani.”

  Alex pulled up a map of Russia on her tablet. “They can’t just walk across the border. They’ll have to go through checkpoints.”

  “Border enforcement is languorous at best in that area. Plus, with Tskhinvali being within the disputed territory of Ossetia, it won’t be hard for them to get past any border patrols. It’s so remote, half the time, the locals don’t know who has governing power in the region, Georgia or Russia.”

  Alex pulled the coffee cup out of the brewer. “Then I doubt we’ll pick up any chatter until they arrive in Tskhinvali.” She looked down at her tablet. “I’m fairly certain there’s no internet in those mountains.”

  “Let’s hope they don’t have sat phones.”

  Alex sipped. “Good point. Maybe I can—”

  Payton cut her off. “Already tried. The DOD won’t go for it.”

  Devan was guarding Christopher when Teona walked into the room. “Come.”

  Devan limped to the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

  Teona opened the bag she’d found and grinned. “I found in his apartment.”

  Devan was elated. “A computer. Cool.” Her grin faded. “We ripped your phone out of the wall. You don’t have internet.”

  Teona grinned again, proud of herself. “He has internet. I check.” She grinned and held up her hands. “See, I help.”

  Devan gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Yes, yes. You did a great deal.”

  Teona tipped her head and looked confused. “What is great deal?”

  Devan laughed for the first time in days. Things were beginning to look up.

  Mara was in her office on a secure video call with Colonel Nathan Bowman, her counterpart in Vaziani. “Colonel, how are things progressing?”

  His gruff face filled her screen. “Our assessment is they will travel the S10 to Gori. We have vehicle checks in place on all surrounding roadways. However, without a positive ID on these guys, we’re working blind.”

  Mara pressed a few keys on her keyboard, then looked back into the webcam. “I just sent you a photo of a man we believe is the leader of the rebel group. It’s just a sketch, but it’s all we have.”

  “How many are we searching for?” He swiveled in his chair and pulled a sketch from the printer.

  “Our agent met a dozen males over the course of a few months. He’s working with a sketch artist as we speak, but I don’t place a lot of hope in getting accurate sketches on a dozen suspects. However, I’ll get what information we can obtain to you as soon as we have it available.”

  He studied the photo. “Looks like a regular chap to me.” He scratched his chin. “He doesn’t look Russian,” he said, then shrugged. “Get me what you can when you can. We’ve upped the threat level and have added more sniffer dogs to the security on the roads leading into Vaziani.”

  Teona had created a makeshift bed of blankets on the floor, and Christopher was sleeping. Devan sat on the sofa absently looking out the window as she flipped the flash drive between her fingers. She looked up when Teona entered with a tray of steaming bowls of soup and cups of tea.

  Teona set the tray on the side table. “You must eat, then sleep.”

  Devan gave her an absent smile. “I’m not hungry, and I can’t sleep.”

  “Are you sure you can do this thing?” She sat beside Devan and pointed to the flash drive.

  She gave Teona a sad smile. “All I can do is hope.”

  Teona nodded, then looked at Devan soberly. “My new friend, I have learned that hope is a very dangerous thing. You open your heart to hope, you must also be prepared for distress.”

  Tears brimmed in Devan’s eyes. “Hope is the only thing I have left.” She swiped the tears away.

  Chapter Twelve

  The analysts were crowded around the conference room table for their daily meeting when Payton and Alex entered. The chat
ter stopped, and everyone turned toward the main wall monitor when Payton dropped into the chair at the head of the table and tipped her head to Vincent. “Walk us through what you have.”

  Vincent punched keys on the laptop, and an image appeared on the large wall-mounted monitor. It looked like a photo from a magazine of a horse taped to white paper with the word “Duchess” written beneath it. “These came in last night from the computer we identified as belonging to Christopher Bryzgalova. When the computer came back online last night, we confirmed that it’s still in Makhachkala.”

  “How did you discover them?” Alex studied the image.

  “After being dark for a week, last night, he logged into a Gmail account, created several emails but didn’t send any of them, just saved them in the drafts folder.”

  One of the other analysts spoke. “Maybe these are hidden instructions or something, and he’s getting everything set up to go when the time comes, then he shoots them out all at once.”

  Payton nodded. “Possible. Show us the rest of the images.”

  Vincent punched a button, and an image with a big blue eye popped up. Beneath it were the words, “EYES always see the details.” At the bottom of the image were several lines that appeared to be phone numbers.

  “Have you tried calling the numbers?” Alex asked. Vincent sent Alex a snarky look. “Sorry.”

  He chuckled. “You keep me on my toes, Sheridan. Yes, some are active, but most are dead. We couldn’t find a link to any of the active numbers, though.” He brought up the third image. This one was a flyer for a Mexican vacation to Cancun with the heading “VACATION fever.”

  “What’s the purpose of the words in all caps?” Payton asked.