Final Stand

by Lisa Phillips

  Which was exactly why it had taken Victoria, and an entire committee, to finally identify Oscar Langdon as the FBI agent Colin Pinton.

  Mark needed to get her take on this.

  He pulled out his phone and checked the screen. All the notifications were FBI related, no personal ones. Especially not the one he was waiting for, telling him Victoria would be at home when he got there.

  As though that was normal, and this was another life entirely.

  One where she wore her ring. He wore his. She lived at his house.

  The director headed for the door and Mark followed. Out in the hall, his boss said, “Not much. Let’s hope it leads us to something.”

  Mark nodded. There wasn’t much to say, considering all that was swirling in his head right now.

  “You don’t work anything else until Langdon is caught.” The director stopped at the elevator and turned. “I’ll be giving you back your office, but I’m not going far.”

  Mark knew he had a meeting scheduled for tonight with the director of Homeland Security as well as other branches of the federal government, local and state police. There was no time to lose making preparations for an imminent attack. They needed all hands on deck and every eye open and peeled, watching for Langdon.

  The director said, “I want half-hourly updates.”

  “Yes, sir. And I’ll let you know if we get anything from either the email or the scientist angle.”

  “Very well.” He hit the button for the elevator. “I’m trusting you. This is bigger than the limb I went out on by promoting you simply on the recommendation of a few key people who seem to enjoy having their noses in this investigation. You’ve proven yourself thus far, but we’re all under a microscope on this. Don’t let me down.”

  Mark frowned. “Who recommended me for this job?”

  The director said, “Enough people I didn’t have a choice, even though it was made clear I should have one. I don’t like that kind of pressure, Welvern. And I intend for it not to happen again.”

  The doors slid open. The director stepped in.

  Mark slammed his hand to the side, forcing the door to remain open. “Who specifically recommended me for the assistant director position?”

  He’d been a controversial choice. Untested, a choice that had surprised a lot of people when he’d been offered it. He relished the chance to prove himself and figured he’d done that to the extent he deserved a straight answer to his question.

  “The secretary of defense, for one.” The director frowned. “Don’t get all hung up on this. So you have friends in high places, so what? It’s done now, isn’t it? We all have to live with the choices we’ve made. Thankfully some of us didn’t betray every oath we swore like these scum bags.”

  Mark let go of the elevator door.

  “Find Langdon.”

  The doors slid shut, leaving Mark alone in the hallway. For a second, until Mason and the US attorney walked out of the interrogation room.

  Mason frowned. “Everything okay?”

  He opened his mouth, ready to say something, then shook his head.

  “Okay.” Mason handed him a piece of paper that he’d made notes on. “I already sent it all to Talia.”

  Mark nodded.

  Zane muttered something about the Secret Service assistant director being old school. Mason shot him a look. “Can’t hack a piece of paper.” He glanced at Mark. “Sure you’re okay?”

  Mark turned and headed for the stairs. He took them two at a time up to his office, calling Victoria’s phone on the way.

  She never picked up.

  Chapter 23

  Seattle, WA. Saturday 4.40p.m.

  “It’s freezing out here.” Victoria tucked her coat tighter around her and dipped her chin behind the buttoned collar at her throat.

  The reply came through the comms earbud. “It was your idea.” Niall was quiet for a second. “Want me to hand off a cup of coffee?”

  Like he would be able to do that without it being completely obvious what they were doing? Victoria shook her head. Sitting alone on a park bench, only occasionally passed by someone walking the path with a stroller, or a dog. A couple jogged by her. The man gave her a sideways glance the woman didn’t like.

  She wanted to toss a clump of dirt at him. Where she grew up, people said “hi” to each other. They didn’t invite trouble, mostly because they had enough in their lives already.

  Her mom might have split before she turned four, leaving Victoria with her grandfather to begrudgingly taking care of her. And that was putting it nicely. She wanted to know where he was and if he was all right, but she wouldn’t pretend he cared about her. Or that he would pick up the phone and call if he was all right.

  Don’t be dead.

  As much as Mark was right about the way her grandfather had treated her, she would mourn him. Of course she would. He might be hard and cold, but he was her family. Maybe the kind of person he was made her the kind of spy she had been, able to detach herself from her emotions and make the best choice to get the results she needed. Had Mark ever considered that? Probably he only thought that her being a spy meant she maybe wasn’t a good person.

  Considering he was the best kind of person, she gave him a little leeway on that stuff. He just assumed everyone else would be as good as he was in spite of reality. Not that he was naïve, he simply preferred to believe the best of people until they proved otherwise. Well, life didn’t work like that and he’d figure it out sooner or later when he’d been slapped in the face with reality enough times.

  “Helloooo,” Niall sang over the comms. “Earth to Victoria.”

  “What?” She glanced around like Langdon was going to be right in front of her. As though he’d shown up while she was daydreaming.

  Niall chuckled in her ear. “Are you sure you don’t have a concussion?”

  No, she wasn’t. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

  “You were pretty deep in there. I was beginning to get worried.”

  She wasn’t going to tell him that she got like that when she thought about Mark. Enough that she’d started to trick her brain into forgetting about him altogether when she was on a mission. But that was before they’d kissed.

  Everything was different now, and she was looking forward to seeing how that would work out as soon as Langdon was caught.

  “You don’t need to worry.” She didn’t tell him that he just needed to do his job. Niall knew that. As soon as Langdon showed up, they would arrest him.

  Victoria just hoped she was sufficient enough bait to get him to come in person. To try and kill her, up close. Probably with his hands.

  She shivered, and not just from the cold.

  “Mmm. Tell that to Haley,” Niall said. “And Talia. Dakota. Jakeman sent two teams of NCIS agents, like they don’t have other cases.”

  “This is highest priority.”

  “Sitting in a park waiting for Langdon to not show up?”

  “If you didn’t think there was a shot,” Victoria reminded him, “you wouldn’t be here.”

  “I’m here because you’d do it without backup if I refused.” Niall’s tone hardened. “And I’d rather not explain to everyone that you got killed because I decided to have a ‘tude.”

  Victoria had to smother a smile. “Did Jakeman really send them?”

  “He signed off on it, if anyone asks.”

  “So you fumbled the paperwork in the hopes no one would notice?”

  Niall sighed. “Like I’m going to not bring an army?”

  Victoria wasn’t sure she was worth all that, especially considering the flack Niall could receive if he was called on it. Jakeman couldn’t know she was hanging herself out here to try and catch Langdon. If he did, he’d throw her in protective custody she didn’t even want to think about. He wasn’t over any law enforcement, and she didn’t want to know what the military would consider “protection.” It made her think about secret bunkers on ships, and prisoners with no names.

  S
he hoped Jakeman did come up with Langdon’s whereabouts. It seemed everyone was looking, and no one could find…

  Victoria’s body froze, though it wouldn’t have appeared to have done so from a casual observer’s point of view.

  She glanced up at a couple of birds. As she did that, her gaze drifted over a man walking at the edge of her peripheral vision.

  “Red jacket. Blue ball cap.” They were generic, no labels. He had a medium build. Not someone you’d notice in a crowd; he blended in.

  The face shape was too far away for her to see. “Anyone got an angle?”

  Several people radioed in that they couldn’t see him well enough. One could, but wasn’t sure if it was Langdon or not.

  Stood to reason he was a master of disguise, considering his resume. Both as a criminal mastermind in international arms and antiquities dealings, and as a decorated FBI agent. She’d read everything. She’d put them side-by-side once she knew who he was, and tracked Langdon’s activities over the last decade. Then she’d read his FBI psychological profile.

  No one had missed anything.

  There hadn’t been anything to miss.

  Either the man was the best actor in the world, and a complete sociopath to pull this off under everyone’s noses, or…she didn’t know what the alternative was.

  Someone asked. “Should we intercept?”

  Niall replied, “Hold until my signal.”

  She’d given him control of this operation, making it clear to the others that he was in charge. Victoria couldn’t command the operation from behind the collar of her jacket while innocent people wandered within earshot of what she was saying.

  Deep in the pocket of her coat, Victoria’s phone rang.

  She lifted her hand and glanced at her wrist, and the smartwatch she’d dug out of her suitcase this morning. She hadn’t worn it since before she went on that mission to talk to Genevieve. It felt foreign. As did the name Mark on the display. He was calling her.

  For an update, or for another reason?

  Either way, she couldn’t talk right now. She couldn’t even spare a moment to think about him, considering how distracting he was to her.

  The man in the red jacket wandered a path headed for her, in a roundabout way. Not direct. Not obviously intending to go away from her. The view was obscured by bushes and trash cans. A tree.

  His whole body flashed into view.

  The guy held a dog leash for a small beagle. The dog trotted along behind him on a doggy adventure in the park.

  Victoria dipped her chin. “It’s not him.”

  Niall’s reply was immediate. “Are you sure?”

  She rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the same time. She could tell him she was sure, but then he would want her to explain how she knew. She’d only seen him from Mark’s bedroom window, other than that he’d been a specter in her life. A ghost she knew was flesh and bone, but hadn’t managed to prove yet. They had his picture, but this guy could be using a disguise. He could be good, as good as she was with latex and glue on facial hair. A wig.

  “It’s not him.”

  She’d been trained to be observant, down to the smallest detail. The ears. The walk. The way a person carried themselves, and what they did with their hands. Natural things that couldn’t be augmented, no matter how much the façade was changed.

  “All positions, stand down.” Then Niall said, “Victoria, we’re getting a call. I’m patching it through.”

  “Hello? Hello? Anyone?”

  Victoria pulled out her phone and held it to her ear over the comms earbud, as though she was on the phone. “Hi, Talia.” Victoria smiled, still not all the way recovered from thinking she’d seen Langdon.

  “I heard you’re swinging on the line, trying to be bait.”

  “Not trying. Just bait.” Now Langdon just had to take it.

  “Couple things.” She spoke in a singsong voice Victoria refused to allow her friend to distract her with.

  “Go ahead. Just be quick.”

  “Copy that, boss. Nothing on the email, Langdon’s address originated with a dark web email server. Untraceable, and not just like it’s hard but I manage to figure it out anyway. I mean impossible.”

  “Right.” Victoria kept scanning the park. “Anything else?”

  “Mark had an idea about a scientist, someone Langdon could use to put together the bomb. I’m looking into it, and I’ve got Homeland agents knocking on doors.”

  “Okay. Keep me posted.” It was a long shot, but it could pay off. “Gotta go.”

  Another man had entered her peripheral vision. Before she could alert Niall, the man stopped in front of her. “Victoria Bramlyn?”

  She blinked. This was how he was going to play it? “So he sends someone else.”

  Skin around his eyes flexed. He wore the hard features of someone who had seen a lot. He worked out. His suit was nice. He almost looked like…

  “Please answer the question.”

  “Yes, I’m Victoria Bramlyn.” Anytime now the NCIS agents would move in, and this guy would get a clue about what was happening here.

  “Wow, the rest of the squad is never going to believe this.”

  Her instincts had been right. He was a cop, a detective if she wasn’t mistaken. Victoria shifted to put her cold hands in her coat pockets.

  “Hands where I can see them.” He even reached toward his gun. Then he produced a shield which he slid onto his belt so she could see it. Yep. Seattle Police Department.

  “Is there something wrong, detective?”

  “I need you to stand up and turn around, hands behind your back.”

  “I’m being arrested?” The comms had gone completely quiet.

  He tugged on her elbow, and she had no choice but to stand. Victoria bit her lip to distract her from the instinct to struggle. She fought back. It was what she’d been trained to do her whole life.

  “What is this about?”

  “There’s a BOLO out for you. Came across the wires yesterday. Something about a guy missing from a retirement home in St. Petersburg. That’s in Florida.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “So you know about the man?” He slid the cuffs over her wrists.

  “He’s my grandfather.” She wasn’t going to stoop so low as to try and defend herself to this man who had no idea who she was, and probably didn’t care whether she’d actually committed the crime or not. He wasn’t investigating it, just doing his duty.

  “You’re under arrest. You’ll be transported back to Florida for questioning.”

  “Hang on a second.”

  NCIS agents approached from all sides.

  “Easy fellas.” The detective held up one hand, the other on her elbow.

  They flashed badges, Niall at the center. “You’re not taking her.”

  “You can fight about that with my captain. She’s coming with me.”

  Victoria stumbled as he tugged her away from the bench. “You’re ruining a perfectly good operation, you know.”

  “Is that right?” He didn’t sound like he believed her, or cared.

  The hair on the back of her neck tingled. Victoria spun around, assessing all angles as to where the threat was coming from.

  “Easy.”

  She glanced at him, long enough to see the red dot on his chest.

  Victoria slammed into him, and they hit the ground just as the shot rang out.

  Chapter 24

  Seattle, Washington. Saturday 9.37p.m.

  Mark saw the moment they walked Victoria into the FBI office. He got up from his desk and moved to the door, watching her get escorted through the sea of desks toward the conference room. Two plain clothes detectives and their captain. Niall, and his director.

  He wondered how long it would take Jakeman to show up. Whenever Victoria’s life or her future were being discussed, it seemed like he was always there. In the middle of it.

  Mark’s coworker, Special Agent Tines, moved to stand beside him. She said, “My brother
is an NCIS agent. I heard she was on an operation trying to catch Langdon when the cop spotted her. Apparently the police got the BOLO from the PD in St. Petersburg who were investigating the grandfather’s disappearance.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to defend Victoria. He was about to tell Tines that Victoria didn’t have anything to do with her grandfather’s disappearance. Then he realized that he didn’t know that to be unequivocally true, did he? All Mark had was her word. As though he should trust that, because she’d proved herself to him. As though their years of friendship—or whatever they had—meant he could trust her.

  Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.

  Maybe it was just Jakeman that Mark didn’t trust as far as he’d be able to throw the guy.

  Victoria spotted him right before she stepped into the conference room with his director and the group.

  She opened her mouth. To call his name? Didn’t matter, she had to have read the look on his face because she frowned.

  Then she disappeared into the room, swept in there with no choice. She had to explain herself. No one who’d been anywhere near this FBI corruption would be content taking anyone’s word for it now. Even if previously they’d have been afforded a whole lot of leeway.

  “How did we not know about the BOLO?”

  Tines shrugged. “Must have been missed somehow.” There was a look on her face, one Mark didn’t like and would have to follow up on later as her boss.

  Right now, he said, “Find out how. I won’t stand for slip ups, not when we need to be on our A-game these days.” None of them could handle another scandal. The FBI’s reputation barely survived the breaking news of so many corrupt agents in the West Coast offices.

  Tines flinched like he’d reprimanded her and wandered off.

  Mark made his way to the conference room where the group had settled around the table. They weren’t going to interrogate her in a room? Maybe they would, but first there would be the usual bureaucratic back and forth. He wondered how long it would be before Jakeman showed up to throw his weight around.