Final Stand

by Lisa Phillips

She shook his hand. “Director Bramlyn. That’s right.”

  “We’ve had a development on the search for the two unaccounted for agents.”

  He realized after he said it that he sounded like a kid trying to impress their parent.

  The director nodded. “I’ve decided to take a personal interest going forward. Too many things are happening, and we need to get all this straightened out.”

  “We would appreciate your assistance, sir.”

  “I’ve also brought Pacer’s replacement with me.”

  “You can’t replace a man like that.” Victoria lifted her chin, daring him to challenge her assessment.

  “Nevertheless.” The director eyed her. “Duty demands that we do our best.”

  “True.” She nodded her head.

  “I can walk you through what I have, if you’d like.”

  The director strode to Mark’s desk, rounded it and set his briefcase on the surface. “I’d like all updates in email.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mark motioned for Victoria to go with him, and they stepped out. He shut the door, leaving his boss in his office occupying his desk.

  She stopped and looked up at him.

  Mark read everything he needed to know on her face. He smiled. “It’s fine.”

  She chuckled, shaking her head. It had been cute when she was twelve, and it was still cute now.

  With a whoosh, the director yanked the blinds cord so it raised all the way to the top of the door. He stared at them through the glass. Caught again, having a personal moment in the office. During work hours.

  Victoria turned away. Probably so he wouldn’t be able to see her face. “I’m going to leave now.”

  Mark followed her to the elevator. “I’d rather you stayed here.”

  “Like your boss is going to be okay with that?”

  They walked past Special Agent Tines, who shot Victoria a side glance. Whatever that was about. But she didn’t know what Victoria had been through.

  When he didn’t say anything, she hit the button to go down. “I’m not going to be standing next to you when the next car comes barreling down the sidewalk.”

  Despite the bravado in her tone, he’d known her long enough to read between the lines. “Where do you think I want to be when your life is being threatened?”

  The elevator doors opened. She got on and it was empty, so he did as well. No way would he pass up the chance for a few more minutes of quiet conversation with her.

  Victoria shot him a look, but there was the edge of a smile on her face. “Are you going to pull the emergency button and make the elevator stop between floors so you can get in my face?”

  “That wouldn’t be what I’d do.” He shot her a look and let her figure out what he meant by that.

  Victoria’s cheeks flushed. A former spy, a woman who’d seen probably everything and hadn’t been left unscathed by the horrors of the world. Still, there was a slash of innocence that hung in the air between them. Like a secret shared by only the two of them.

  “Please let me keep you safe.”

  Her gaze drifted to the side. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  He took a step closer, but didn’t touch her. “Can you see how I’d think the same about you?”

  She scrunched up her nose.

  “So what aren’t you telling me?”

  She opened her mouth, but hesitated first. “We need to find Langdon.” A shutter fell over her eyes, blocking him from reading any expression. “He put me in that prison. I think he’s one of these FBI agents.”

  “Only one left. The other one was in Florida, but not the guy from the shed.”

  She nodded.

  “Are you going to draw him out?” Though he wouldn’t assume she’d lose that fight, it would likely cost her dearly.

  “I’m going to do what it takes to bring him down.”

  “And then?”

  She shrugged, not meeting his gaze.

  “So there’s no future for us?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “I know the worst about you, and you can say the same about me. What could be so bad?”

  She inhaled and he saw her entire body shudder. Fear. That was all this was. God, give her Your love that casts out fear. He didn’t have any answer for her, aside from faith.

  The elevator dipped. She moved to him, kissed his cheek, and then strode out into the lobby while he stared after her.

  Chapter 9

  Seattle, WA. Wednesday, 7.42p.m.

  The car door opened. There was a breath of fear, and then Victoria smelled food. “Please tell me that’s Pad Thai.”

  Mark slid into the passenger seat with a white grocery bag on his lap. “I got your text.”

  All she’d told him was where she’d parked. The dinner was all him. He handed her one of two cartons and a plastic fork. She flipped the lid and the smell wafted up. “Yum.”

  Mark chuckled.

  “Good day at the office, dear?”

  He shot her a sideways look. She knew what that meant. Yes, she was happy. And why not? She got to spend time with him, and the lighter she could make it the better. Even though what they were doing had huge implications, she needed the banter. The sharing of a meal and friendship.

  As much as she loved their quiet “moments” where feelings swelled and words were shared, she knew it wasn’t helpful for either of them.

  “The director told me to show up tomorrow with movement on the case.”

  “Or what?”

  “I don’t know.” He shoved a forkful of sticky beef in his mouth.

  Victoria stared out the front windshield, watching the house down the street. The wife and her kids had come home an hour ago, the little girl dressed like she’d been at dance class.

  Her phone rang in the cup holder. The screen read, Talia, but she didn’t answer it. Nor did she explain the reason to Mark. Even though he shot her another look.

  “Are you wearing jeans?”

  “What?” She swallowed the bite before attempting to speak around it again.

  “Have I seen you in jeans since high school?”

  “I don’t know? Have you?”

  Mark didn’t comment on her sneakers, though maybe he couldn’t see them in the dark. He ate, then pulled the paper file she’d stashed between the seat and the center console, the spot where everything disappeared down under the seat. He flipped through the pages. “Is there a reason why you want to sit on the ex-spouse’s house of a man last seen in Florida?”

  It didn’t sound as accusatory as it probably could have.

  She wanted to retort, ask why she couldn’t simply have wanted an excuse to have dinner with him. But she didn’t. That man had been in her grasp, and she’d left him in that shed. One of their missing corrupt agents.

  “I got word he was seen at the Denver airport, on security cameras. We think Vance Davies made his way back here after the police in Florida let him go.”

  “To come after you again?” He sounded like he might think that was a bad thing.

  “I want him to,” she said. “This is the only place I can think of that he’d go.”

  “Better than you standing on a street corner wearing a sign that says, Come get me.”

  “Please.” She grinned, still watching the house. “I’d be more eloquent than that. I might even craft a haiku for such an occasion.”

  Mark laughed. He reached over and squeezed her knee. “I’ll be there to help.”

  “Bear already did.” Dog snuggles cured basically everything.

  “You saw him?”

  She nodded. “I let him out at lunch and then took a quick nap.” He was quiet long enough that she finally glanced over for a second. “What?”

  “Not that I mind you helping take care of my dog, but your place doesn’t work?”

  “Too obvious.”

  “I thought you wanted to draw him out?”

  “On my terms.” She bit her lip. “I don’t like the idea of being surprised in the shower.”

&nb
sp; “So you’re using mine instead?”

  “What can I say? I appreciate your handyman skills.” The tile he’d put in the master upstairs was better than anything she’d seen on Pinterest.

  Mark went quiet again. She didn’t disturb him. Neither felt the need to fill the silence with more awkward conversation.

  She needed the man from the surveillance in Florida—the one who had likely kidnapped her grandfather—to show up here. She wanted to sit him down so he could explain everything. He had to know about Langdon, among several other things she needed answers to.

  The second file Mark pulled out was thicker. “This is the agent we think is Oscar Langdon.”

  She nodded, though he probably didn’t need her to confirm that.

  “Colin Pinton. Forty-nine, with more than twenty years on the job as an FBI agent. Stationed in Europe for most of that, working with Interpol and local agencies. Racked up some commendations. Closed a lot of cases and only got one mark on his record when an artifact was lost in transit and unaccounted for.”

  Victoria huffed out a breath as she looked at the picture; fighting the urge to wince. The man from that office in Austria? She still couldn’t remember.

  “We can’t prove that Colin Pinton is Oscar Langdon, right?”

  “If we could, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” she bit out. Of course, that would be the answer she was looking for. The thing she’d been trying to figure out for years. “And Pacer wouldn’t be dead.”

  It was past time to admit the truth to herself.

  Colin Pinton was Oscar Langdon.

  “No, you’d probably all be dead. Every single one of your committee. A guy like this doesn’t go down easily.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I know that. I have the scars to prove it.” Not to mention stitches that didn’t feel good right now. She’d raided his medicine cabinet for over-the-counter pain killers, but they were wearing off now.

  “Maybe I should have brought ice cream.”

  She whipped her head around to face him. “Get some if you must, but don’t even think about touching my Pad Thai.”

  Mark chuckled. “Anything?” He motioned to the window.

  “Not yet. Maybe he won’t show up.” She blew out a breath. “Maybe he’s watching my condo. Or sitting in his car watching us.”

  “Or he’s got a rocket launcher, and we’re about to be blown up.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Any last words?”

  “Depends on whether you’ll say them back.”

  Victoria didn’t move. She stared out the window so long her eyes burned, and she had to blink. He had too much hope. That was the problem. Too much faith that “God would work things out in the end,” or whatever. There was no point in admitting that what he wanted might also be what she wanted. It would never change.

  “I don’t care about this guy.” She needed this conversation steered back around and on track. “I mean, he and I need to finish that conversation we started in the shed in Florida, but my focus here is Langdon.”

  “And we have no idea where he is.”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll find him eventually. He’s covered his tracks for years.” She did appreciate a formidable opponent much more than a stupid one who made mistakes enough to land him effortlessly in her lap. “But he’s the one who put me in that prison in South Africa. For that alone, he’s going to answer.”

  Mark didn’t move, and he didn’t touch her. “That’s always been a mystery to me. He could have killed you right then and there.”

  “He’d have had to explain a body.” And the ambassador would never have let her death go unanswered.

  “He could have dumped it.”

  “My disappearance would have caused an international event when Andrew heard of it. No one in law enforcement across three continents would be able to rest until he found out what happened to me.”

  She heard him shift. “Andrew?”

  “Jakeman.” She glanced at him. “The secretary of defense.”

  “That’s how you did it. The Sec-Def is on your committee.”

  It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.

  “Why am I not surprised? I wondered who was sending me those emails. The ones that led me to South Africa. I’d have never found that lead if not for him.” Mark said, “There still has to be a reason why Langdon didn’t kill you.”

  Victoria knew exactly what the reason was. She just had no intention of telling Mark.

  She changed the subject again. “Does Talia have all that information on Colin Pinton, a.k.a. Oscar Langdon?”

  “You didn’t send it to her?”

  Victoria didn’t answer that. “Their boss doesn’t like it when I contact them. He gets all butt-hurt, like I think they still work for me.”

  “So you’ve been cut loose.”

  “I still get paid. Technically the secretary of state is my boss, but I don’t think he likes me anymore after all that business with his psycho-terrorist son. I don’t think I’ll get my next pay raise.”

  “I can see how pointing out the fact he wasn’t helping anyone by covering up the issue might have been a problem for him.”

  “He should take a leaf out of the FBI’s book,” she said. “Press conference. Full transparency. Efficient cleanup of the situation, with your best assistant director on the case.”

  He chuckled. “We try.”

  Mark barely got the words out before she had the door open and was climbing out of the car. The dark figure up the street approaching the wife’s house might be the man who’d kidnapped her grandfather. She was going to find out.

  Victoria snuck along the outside of the cars, running down the street with her head ducked. The man walked under a streetlight and a breath escaped her. She sucked in another and held her breath so she didn’t have to cough.

  She could hear Mark’s muted footsteps coming up behind her but kept watch on the man. They needed to intercept him before he—

  Something had to have spooked him. He looked in her direction. She ducked down, but wasn’t convinced she was fast enough.

  Then he turned and ran.

  Victoria groaned and raced after him. The stitches in her side pulled, but she’d maintained a decent fitness level for years now. She could hold her own. Which hopefully was more than this guy from Florida could say.

  “Left.”

  Mark broke off, taking a side street. It was a gamble, trying to cut the person off, but she hoped it would pay off for him.

  Victoria pumped her legs and tried not to swing her arms too much. She didn’t want to rip her stitches.

  The man turned the corner left, up ahead. She breathed a thank you to whoever was listening. It seemed natural to offer gratitude to someone other than herself for something that benefited her but that was completely out of her control. She wasn’t going to tell Mark that, though. He’d get all excited and think she wanted him to explain his beliefs again.

  She darted around the corner at a full run. Every step she gained on him. When the man stumbled to turn again, she covered even more ground.

  At the last second, it occurred to her that it might not be a good idea, but it was too late. Victoria tackled the guy, and they fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

  His elbow jabbed into the exact spot where her stitches were. Victoria cried out and kicked him away from her.

  “FBI! Freeze!”

  She lay there, staring up at the cloudy night sky, just trying to breathe and not throw up.

  Vance Davies lifted both hands.

  “Don’t move.” Mark kept his gun aimed on the guy, but said, “What was it you said about not needing me?”

  “I never said I didn’t need you.”

  She realized what she’d said and studied his expression since he wasn’t looking at her. Then she focused and got to her feet. This was about finding Langdon. Being this close to Mark, and spending this time with him, was an anomaly. Soon enough things would go back to normal
. Sure, she’d have to move again, but that was no big deal. She didn’t care about her apartments. They weren’t home.

  She faced off the guy on the ground. “Where is my grandfather?”

  Chapter 10

  Seattle, WA. Wednesday, 9.30p.m.

  Mark’s heart clenched. Not normally a sensitive type or to take cases personally, Victoria was the one person who brought that out in him. Her grandfather’s fate was going to haunt her. Whether he lived or died—because of her actions and choices—would be something she lived with for the rest of her life.

  Davies said nothing and didn’t seem inclined to do much right now but lie there on the ground looking up at them both like all of this was amusing to him.

  Mark handed her a set of cuffs and held aim on the man while she flipped him and put the bracelets on.

  If this guy made one move to harm her again, Mark would shoot him. No matter that he could be their star witness against the FBI agent they thought was Oscar Langdon.

  It should stun him to realize that all along an agent had been working for himself, causing mayhem. Murdering people. But given all that had happened recently, he just couldn’t bring himself to be surprised. So much corruption had been revealed. The FBI needed a culture change now, and he intended to spearhead that as the head of the Seattle office.

  That promotion had been a surprise in itself. Not that he’d argued it. He’d been seriously flattered that the director had appointed him. That a man who didn’t seem to like him had respected him enough to know he’d do a good job and had invited Mark to apply.

  Now he was doing the best job he could. Just as he had all along.

  He hauled Vance Davies up, and they walked him to the car. Victoria followed, but he couldn’t gauge her expression in the dark of the evening. She’d mentioned her grandfather before Langdon—the person he’d thought she was going to ask Davies about. A reflex.

  Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

  He knew she hurt for her grandfather and the suffering he might be enduring right now. Regardless of how Mark felt about how the guy had treated Victoria, she cared for him. Some people just never experience what a healthy family relationship feels like. He’d seen her try to keep that toxic relationship because it was all the “family” she had.