Fatal Exchange

by Cindy M. Hogan

  “We can convince her!”

  I loved that Ace was always so optimistic.

  Chapter 10

  Bright and early the next morning, Siron walked into the conference room. When she saw me, her hands went to her hips and she turned back toward Halluis and Ace, who followed her in. “Tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing. Tell me this isn’t the emergency.”

  Halluis said, “Hear us out.”

  “So, it’s ‘us’, is it?” Siron’s neck was red. “I hope you’re ready to join Christy on leave.”

  Ace shut the door and I saw an eye roll. Halluis gestured to Siron to go further into the room. “You are going to love what you hear.” He was trying hard to make the atmosphere relaxed. She sighed, but walked to the head of the table, staring at me on the opposite side. Once there, she said, “You have two minutes. Speak.”

  I glanced at the boys and they both gave me a slight nod. “Last Tuesday, I left the apartment to get food and stumbled onto something. I saw the pickpocket who stole my bag that had the drive in it.”

  Siron’s eyes rounded briefly and then narrowed. “You were just out getting something to eat?” The derision in her tone was cold as ice. “So you contacted your team. The one I told you to stay away from?”

  “Yes.” I nodded. “Anyway. The pickpocket was there, and I thought I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by.” I didn’t pause to give Siron a chance to say anything else. “He led me to the person above him and I was able to find out that the drive is still in play and I know who has it.”

  Siron bit the inside of her cheek, eyes narrowing further as she stared at a spot on the dark mahogany table for several beats. Her head popped up and she stared at me hard. “You did this without sanction. Without protection or backup?”

  I nodded.

  “You know where the drive is?” Siron had finally digested what I’d told her.

  “Not exactly. But, I know who has it.”

  She turned a skeptical eye on the guys and then peered back at me. “Tell me more.”

  “Kamal is the man who has the drive. He’s a middleman of sorts. We hit upon some major luck because his drive buyer has been out of town and won’t be back for four more days. Kamal has been collecting and saving the drives to sell him on his return.”

  “I don’t understand. Are you saying you don’t have the drive?”

  “No. I’ve checked Kamal’s apartment and it isn’t there, but it is somewhere he thinks is safe.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t retrieve them before coming here today.”

  I swallowed hard. “That’s actually what I was hoping to do, but things have changed.”

  “Now the bomb drops.” Siron sighed.

  “Someone is actively searching for the drive and has upped the bounty on any drives stolen for the next week. We can’t let this buyer get the drive before we do. In order to do that, I need Division’s help.” I wanted to say I was sorry I’d let her down before, but I didn’t want her to think about it if she hadn’t already.

  “Impulsive girl,” Siron said. “You should have come to me the second you hit on the pickpocket.”

  “You wouldn’t have listened to me. Not without concrete proof. Whoever the client is really wants the drive and fast. Like I said, they’ve tripled the bounty.”

  “And you’re sure it’s Dufor’s drive?”

  It was my turn to nod. This was a lie. The truth was that I wasn’t sure, but all the signs pointed in that direction. To have someone, a powerful someone with deep pockets, suddenly triple the bounty for drives at the very time Dufor’s drive went missing? It was too big of a coincidence. Despite that, I couldn’t get my mouth to say yes.

  “This Kamal. How have you been tracking him?”

  “Following and befriending him.”

  “Of course. Following and befriending without backup.” She shook her head. “This is against my better judgment, and if I didn’t feel in my gut this was a good decision, it wouldn’t be happening. But the search will continue on my terms.”

  I froze. Was she going to cut me out?

  “The first term is that you, Agent Hadden, are going to get a shadow. I’d replace you, but we don’t have time for that.”

  “That’s me,” Halluis volunteered. “I’ll be her shadow.”

  “You think I would trust you to be her shadow? I don’t think so. You’re on my hit list right now.”

  Halluis’s face reddened slightly. He did not like to be censured.

  I didn’t want to, but I nodded. “Fine.” I couldn’t help but think of Jeremy. Where was he and why hadn’t he already come back? If a Division director wanted him to come in and he hadn’t, he must be in deep. I hoped he wasn’t dead somewhere. I couldn’t think that way. Instead I imagined him working miracles and saving the day.

  “Come up with a plan while I go find Christy a shadow. Ace can work on new drives that can’t be tracked and we’ll try to follow these drives to the one Dufor was supposed to give us. In the meantime, Christy will keep working the personal angle to try to find out where Kamal is keeping the drives. Ace, you get Christy whatever tech she needs, and Halluis, you try to find out who else is looking for the drive. Bring me the plan when you’ve got it down.”

  Siron left the room and the three of us got to work on a plan to get the drive: How many listening devices we’d need and where to put them, how many agents to have on standby to swoop in and retrieve the drive once we found it. Three hours later we had a proposal ready for Siron. The first thing on the list was to check out the suspected clearinghouse I’d seen Kamal go into yesterday.

  “I’ll take it to her,” I said, looking over my shoulder toward Siron’s office. The door was shut.

  “You don’t need any more punishment. I’ll do it,” Halluis said.

  “All right.”

  “I’ve been working on a solution already.” Ace said. “It will blow your mind. Se magnifique!”

  “Can’t wait. I need to get out there and steal some stuff.” I rolled my eyes.

  “You are my favorite thief, darling,” Ace said with a southern American accent as he left the room. “Come see me later today.”

  I will. “And you’re my favorite tech magician.”

  “And I’ll get information gathering and see if I can find who wants the drive so bad they’re willing to pay three times for it.” Halluis went straight for Siron’s office and I watched as he knocked on the door. When it opened, I saw Summer Barnes.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and looked away. I turned back. The scene hadn’t changed. Summer was in Siron’s office. A heavy feeling landed in my gut, and I forgot what I was supposed to be doing. I stared dumbly as Halluis explained a few things to Siron as she looked over the proposal. She shook her head and then spotted me. I quickly turned away and headed for the exit. I had no intention of learning why Summer was there and could hardly bear the thought of having to talk to her. Things were hard enough as they were right now, I didn’t need anything taking my head out of the game. In two steps I’d be gone, down the hall that led to the exit and it wouldn’t matter, but Siron’s voice cut through the air. “Agent Hadden!”

  I froze. My lower jaw jutted forward, and I closed my eyes with a sigh. I didn’t think things could get worse, but I’d been wrong. I pulled in a big breath and straightened before turning around and walking to the office, shoulders squared. I put on a fake air of confidence and even managed a smile before arriving at the office, but inside, I trembled.

  I kept my eyes on Siron. “Yes, Director?”

  “Come in, Christy. Your shadow’s arrived.”

  I flashed a look at Summer, whose jaw was slack, eyes rounded. Guess this was a shock to her as well. As our eyes met, her look of surprise or maybe horror vanished and her eyes narrowed slightly before returning to normal.

  “Close the door, please,” Siron shuffled through some papers on her desk. I stepped farther in and shut the door.

  “My shadow’s arrived
?” I asked, hoping beyond hope things weren’t as they seemed.

  “Yes,” Siron said, looking up. “Agent Hadden, meet Agent Barnes.”

  Summer’s left eyebrow raised. No. This could not be. “Director, I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”

  The director’s head popped from Summer to me and back again. “Oh, you two know each other already? Great. That will make things easier.”

  “No. Seriously, with our history—”

  Siron interrupted me. “I don’t care what kind of history you have. From this point forward, your history will soon include the fact that you were both professional Division agents who worked together on a case and triumphed.”

  I opened my mouth to explain, but she cut me off again. “Summer was kind enough to leave her training in Germany to be with us today and from what her handler says, she’s a great shadow. You are lucky to have her. The next closest available shadow is ten hours away. Put the past in the past and leave it there. You two will be a cohesive team from this moment on. Suck it up. Lay it aside. We are moving forward. Understand?”

  We shot each other a look and then both nodded. “I can’t hear you.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” we both said in unison.

  “See that, you’re working as one already. I’ll introduce Summer to the rest of the team and brief her on the plan and what has already happened. I saw in the proposal that you’re supposed to be at the Louvre. Head out. Summer will find you at some point during the day to start shadowing you. You’ll finally have the protection you need, Agent Hadden. I’ll see both of you tonight for your report. Oh, and Hadden, I want every bit of intel you’ve collected over the past few days.”

  I nodded, hating the fact that I’d have to give her the file that had the contents of Kamal’s computer on it, and after opening the door, I left the room. I couldn’t believe Summer would be watching my every move. My nose wrinkled and my throat burned with disgust. Not fun. If only Jeremy were here, this would not be happening. A desperate ache filled my gut thinking about his absence. I said a little prayer for him as I walked through the office. He had to be safe. He had to continue to be safe. Memories of my past with Summer flooded my mind. We did have a history together. A history I wanted to forget.

  We’d met on a school trip, became witnesses to a murder, and ended up in witness protection at a spy school in Belgium. Summer had made it clear that she thought I was the cause of her having to leave her perfect life and family and on top of that, blamed me for the death of her boyfriend, Josh.

  I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I was going to have to make it work. From the look on Summer’s face when I’d entered the office, she was going to have just as hard a time as I was. It had been over three years, it should all be forgotten, but I knew it wasn’t. I was supposed to trust my shadow. I didn’t trust Summer.

  I went straight to Ace to see what new tech he had for me. I hoped he had something good enough to help me out of the gloom Summer’s presence had brought.

  Ace was in the sprawling lab with ten others working on various projects at different stations around the room. I walked to the very back corner where Ace liked to hide out. He’d even made the area his own by hanging paintings of colorful and dynamic superheroes.

  “Looking for a lost team member?”

  He turned, grinning like a mad scientist. “Not any more. I’m shocked at how quickly Siron took to our plan.”

  “No kidding. But I could do without my shadow.”

  “Is he already here?”

  “Yes, but he’s a she.”

  “Seriously? And you don’t sound impressed.”

  “Let’s just say I have a history with this girl and don’t trust her as far as I could throw her. Siron said she’s going to introduce her to you guys. Just don’t fall in love with her, okay?”

  “No worries there, my beautiful thief. I only have eyes for you.”

  “Seriously, though, be careful with her.”

  “I’ll keep my electronic eye on her for you.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “Check this out, Christy.” He held up a thin piece of plastic dangling from tweezers, his face tight with excitement.

  “Playing with plastic, eh?”

  “Tracking plastic, actually.” His eyes gleamed as he stared at it.

  “Tracking plastic that’s somehow not detectable?” My voice cracked as I spoke, I really wanted it to work.

  “I think so.”

  I didn’t like hearing the think part. “I’m really amazed that skin of plastic somehow tracks, but it’s no good to me if it can be detected.”

  He nodded. “Theoretically, this will work, but it hasn’t been tried and tested. You will be doing this. I’m assuming the pickpockets are using a program to identify the RFID trackers that the previous drives had attached to them. They were constantly transmitting, albeit in completely different ways. We’re going to use trackers that we activate from our end. It will only transmit once activated, and this plastic-like coating protects the drive from activation by anyone else and detection of the device itself.”

  I thought about the tracking device Division had put in my arm to help me catch a kidnapper. I was the one who had had to activate it. That seemed like forever ago.

  “So we’ll be able to activate it whenever we want to?”

  “Yes. In theory. If they have any jammers, however, we will not be able to activate from a great distance.”

  “How would we know when to activate it?”

  “Seems to me the best time would be at night when people sleep, but there is no good answer to this.”

  “Kamal told me he tests the trackers right after he acquires them. So night sounds good. Is it ready, then?” I thought about Kamal’s hesitancy in taking drives and decided that I would not be the one giving this drive to him. I would have to get that drive into one of the other pickpockets’ hands.

  “Give me five minutes, and I’ll have it for you.”

  The sparkle in his eye made me happy. “You know, we still need to get our eight-euro sodas at a café to feel the amazing ambience of Paris.” I winked.

  “Yes, we do. Yes, we do.”

  As I turned to leave, he grabbed my arm. “I’m really glad you’re back. Now, let’s go kick some pickpocket butt.” He handed me a bag of chocolate smarties.

  I smiled and chuckled before slipping into the evening air, humming. Things were looking up for me.

  ***

  I headed to the Louvre—I had three new tracked drives to plant, and the thought of it made me nervous. The fact that Summer would be following me everywhere I went made me more nervous. At least I couldn’t feel her, which meant she wasn’t following me just yet.

  This time, I was smarter about how I went about getting the drives to Kamal. Immediately after entering the museum, I headed for the bathroom where I stripped off my clothes to reveal a different outfit, pulled a wig and some makeup out of my boots and put them on to change my look completely. I was Gabrielle again. I picked the lock on a small cabinet where I stuffed my other clothes so I could get them when I needed them. I tracked down two of Kamal’s pickpockets who were in the Louvre with me and anticipated where they were headed after watching them for a few minutes.

  I slipped the first drive into the side pocket of the jacket of a young man who was in the direct path of the first pickpocket. Sure enough, the pickpocket brushed against the man at the same time someone else bumped into him on his other side. I watched the pickpocket’s hand flash through the young man’s pocket and palm the drive, setting it casually into his side pack with two small stars and a crescent moon on it. I watched him, wanting to see him take the drive to Kamal so I could be sure it got into the right hands.

  I felt someone watching me. It bugged me, but I was glad I was at least able to feel Summer. I guessed I’d rather feel her than not.

  To my surprise, the tall kid that I’d seen at l’Orangerie showed up in the romantic collection of pai
ntings near the Raft of Medusa. He signaled the pickpocket, who moved in front of one of Eugene Delacroix’s paintings and the tall kid took the drive and a few other items from the pickpocket’s side pack and put them into his own. Afterward, Tall Kid moved in the direction of the other pickpocket in the Louvre. His area was all the way in another wing called the Richelieu wing, where the most ancient pieces of art are kept, and I knew another way to get there. I hoped to beat Tall Kid there and find the pickpocket, plant the second drive, and get it picked before Tall Kid arrived.

  I walked as fast as I could without some guard kicking me out for running. When I found the second pickpocket, I watched him for about thirty seconds before planting the drive on a woman dressed in professional clothing. Two minutes later, the drive had passed through the pickpocket’s hands, into his side bag, into the hand of Tall Kid, and finally into Tall Kid’s side pack. I stuck with him like a bear to honey. I had to see the drives pass to Kamal.

  It was a big risk for me to exit the museum and get anywhere near Kamal. He could make me, and that would end my career as a pickpocket. With extreme care, I stepped out of the Louvre into the sticky hot air of the courtyard only moments after Tall Kid, but I hung back, letting him show me the way. I moved to some steps that led to doors that had long been sealed to the public and watched Tall Kid sit next to Kamal near some flowers in the same courtyard. The exchange was smooth, with Kamal taking the full side pack and leaving Tall Kid with an empty one.

  After giving myself a second to celebrate, I headed back inside the Louvre, using the entrance inside the mall this time. After changing back into the clothes I’d left in the bathroom cupboard, I went to work.

  Tall Kid visited my area twice during the morning, but he didn’t approach me. Had Kamal sent him to check up on me?

  I shook it off and headed out of the museum to get some lunch. I knew the only thing that would make me feel settled was a crepe from Mad Dogs, so despite it being a bit out of my way, I headed to Halle. I couldn’t feel Summer anymore which made me feel even better.