by Dee Davis
At least in part.
“I didn’t agree to kill Dominico for money. Or for political reasons.” She swallowed, praying she was doing the right thing. “I did it because they have my son.”
CHAPTER 6
So you’re telling us that Ashad has your son.” Avery frowned from his perch on the arm of a chair. “And that’s why you agreed to take out Dominico.”
“I don’t know who has him,” Annie said, the line of her shoulders defiant. “Rivon refused to say. And he’s been my main contact.”
Nash watched the proceedings with caged emotion. There were so many questions he wanted answered, none of them having anything at all to do with Ashad. He should have asked her on the stairs. Made her spell out the truth. But Tyler had intervened, insisting that any further conversation occur downstairs.
With Avery and Tom.
She’d been right, of course, but that hadn’t stopped Nash from wanting to shake the truth out of Annie anyway.
“So why didn’t you bring this to us in the first place?” Tom asked.
“You already know the answer to that,” she said, her jaw tightening as she watched him warily. “Under the circumstances, I wasn’t exactly discharged with honor. I wasn’t burned, but I’m definitely persona non grata. I had no reason to believe after all this time that anyone would lift a finger to help me. Besides, I was warned against bringing in outside help.”
“So you decided to handle it yourself,” Nash said, his anger making his words sharper than he’d intended.
“I didn’t have a choice. My son comes first.”
“There’s always a choice, Annie.” But she’d never really seen that. Never trusting anyone. Always believing she was better off on her own.
“Yes, but you had to know that Ashad was a top priority.” Avery frowned, pulling the conversation away from emotional land mines.
“I already told you that I didn’t know it was Ashad. And if I had, it would have been even more reason not to bring in outside help, because I knew that any involvement on a national scale would mean emphasis on taking out the people behind the kidnapping, not on rescuing my son.”
“How old is he?” Nash asked, surprised at himself for interjecting the question.
She shifted so that her eyes met his, her jaw tightening at the implication of the question. “He just turned six.”
Disappointment mixed with relief, the latter edging out the former by only the smallest bit. Annie had a child.
And it wasn’t his.
“What about the father?” From his peripheral vision, Nash could see Tom frown. These weren’t the questions he should be asking, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
“Not in the picture.” Annie’s words were terse, her anger evident as she looked first at Tom and then back at him.
“You didn’t think he had the right to know?” Again the words came of their own volition, the subtext hanging heavily between them.
Annie’s laugh was bitter. “I don’t think that’s really any of your business. You lost all say in my life a long time ago.”
“I’m not questioning your decisions, Annie. I’m asking if the father is around.”
“No. He isn’t.”
“So there’s no chance that he’s a part of this?” Nash asked, scrambling to pull the conversation onto more stable ground.
“Absolutely none.” She narrowed her eyes, anger making her cheeks flush. “He’s dead.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured automatically.
“Don’t be,” she snapped. “Turns out he wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
“I see.” Silence stretched between them, the others in the room seeming, for the moment, to have disappeared.
“I think,” Tom said, clearing his throat to break through the building tension, “that we’ve gotten a bit off track. What’s past is past. There’s no need to rehash it here.” He paused, his eyes dropping to Annie, and Nash frowned as something passed between the two of them.
He started to object, but Tyler cut him off. “The key here is for us to figure out who’s behind this and stop them.”
“The key is to find my son,” Annie snapped, her lips compressed with anger.
“That’s not your call,” Tom said. “You pulled yourself out of the equation when you decided to act on your own.”
“The hell I did.” She rose to her feet, every muscle in her body ready for a fight.
“Again, we’ve gotten off point.” Avery’s voice was deceptively calm, but Nash recognized the tone. “Our task was to neutralize Ms. Gallagher and trace the plot to its source. I see no reason we can’t make rescuing the boy part of finding the culprits.”
“As long as he doesn’t get in the way,” Annie said, clenching her fists.
“I have never knowingly put a child in harm’s way, Ms. Gallagher.” Avery’s eyes narrowed as he studied Annie. “And I don’t intend to start now.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“Well, for the moment, we’re all you’ve got,” he said. “And I’d submit that it’s in your best interest to suspend hostilities. The only way any of our objectives are going to be accomplished is if you give us whatever you’ve got on the people behind your son’s kidnapping.”
Annie held Avery’s gaze for a moment, still defiant, and then with a sigh sank back into her chair. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” Tom said, pulling up a chair to sit in front of her. “No detail is too small.”
From his seat on the radiator cover, Nash listened as she told them about discovering her son missing, and the first phone call from Rivon. Her pain was evident, her fear for her son coloring every word. Despite all that Annie’d done, she didn’t deserve this. And even if she did, the boy certainly didn’t.
Nash quashed the conflicting emotions battling inside him, forcing himself to concentrate on the conversation instead.
“The initial call came from Rivon?” Tom was asking.
“I think so, yes.” Annie nodded. “Although he didn’t identify himself at the time.”
“And the call came right on the heels of your discovery that your son was missing?” Tyler was transcribing the conversation on a laptop, presumably linked in to Hannah at Sunderland.
“Yes. It was maybe fifteen or twenty minutes later. I’m not sure exactly. I was pretty frantic.”
“And you never considered calling for outside help?” Nash asked, shifting so that he could better see her face.
“Of course, I thought of it. But as I said before, I wasn’t certain who I could trust.” Her words zinged across the room, taking on a life of their own. “And once they called, all I could think of was getting to Adam.”
“And there was no mention of Ashad?” Avery asked.
“No. They made no effort to identify themselves.” She shook her head. “You mentioned Ashad earlier. Are you certain they’re behind this?”
“We have credible intel that links them to Rivon,” Tyler said, looking up from the computer. “And there’s chatter connecting you to them as well.”
“Well, I didn’t even know it was Rivon until I got to D.C. And he’s never mentioned anyone specifically. Just the ever-present ‘they.’ Frankly I’m surprised I’d be on their radar. Not only has it been eight years, but most of my career was spent in Eastern Europe.”
“You know as well as I do that these groups have cells everywhere,” Avery said. “Besides, reputation carries a lot of weight.”
“But it was all such a long time ago. Why would they think I was any good anymore? I mean surely there are people out there better than I am.”
“Quite possibly,” Tom said, “but if they were aware of your abilities, they were also aware of your circumstances. Which means they’d recognize the fact that you were uniquely vulnerable.”
“Because of Adam.”
“That and the fact that you’d separated yourself from any kind of support.”
“I suppose that makes sense, bu
t it still feels off to me somehow.”
“Actually, I’ve felt the same way from the beginning,” Nash said, surprised to find himself voicing his support.
“Have you had dealings with Rivon before?” Avery asked.
“No,” she said. “And believe me, I’ve racked my brain trying to be certain. But I can’t remember ever having heard of the man before we met. Of course after the fact, I did a little research. But even that only supported the idea that I’d never dealt with him. He works primarily in Central and South America. With some admittedly dubious ties to the Middle East and, of course, his corporate work here in the States. But his rise in power has been mostly within the last five or six years. Which means there was little opportunity for our paths to cross.”
“What about in Colorado?” Tyler asked. Annie had admitted that she and Adam lived on the eastern slope of the Rockies. Some long-forgotten mining town on the Rio Grande. “Could your paths have crossed there?”
“I don’t see how.” She shook her head. “We kept pretty much to ourselves and I was really careful. I worked as a guide. Climbing. So I was mostly working with folks on a one-time basis. And the people I did have regular contact with didn’t know anything about my life before. Look, I’d never seen Rivon until I met with him in D.C. I’m sure of it.”
“Okay, so we’ll assume for the moment that Rivon is just the go-between.” Tom stood up to pace restlessly in front of the fireplace. “That means the idea to use Annie had to have come from Ashad.”
“And it really isn’t that great a stretch to assume that they’d have heard about Annie’s work for the Company and her defection after Lebanon,” Nash said.
“If it is Ashad,” Avery said, his expression inscrutable. “I tend to side with Ms. Gallagher on this one. Something seems off.”
“Under the circumstances, I think you should call me Annie,” she said.
“So tell me more about the phone call.”
“There isn’t much. It didn’t last more than a few minutes. They said that they had Adam, and that they had proof. But that I’d have to come to D.C. to see it.”
“Could you tell where the call originated from?” Tyler asked.
“I tried to track it. But my resources were limited. And to make matters more difficult, best I could tell, the phone was on a relay of some sort.”
“Which means that even with the best technical help you couldn’t have traced it.” Nash watched as she pushed her hair out of her face, the gesture familiar.
“So you left for D.C.?”
“Yes. Immediately. I drove to Colorado Springs and got the first flight out. I was in D.C. by ten-thirty the next morning. I made my way to the hotel he’d indicated. When I arrived, there was a message. A time and place for the meeting.”
“And the proof of life?”
“That makes it sound so cold,” she said with a shiver. “But yes, he gave it to me when I met with him. It was a photograph of Adam, with a newspaper. Pretty standard stuff.”
“Do you have the picture?”
“Not on me,” she said. “It’s in my hotel room with the phone.”
“Phone?” Tom frowned, coming to a halt in front of her chair.
“Yeah. Rivon gave me a phone when we met. Told me it was to be our primary means of communication. I figured it had a tracking device and I didn’t want it with me while I was scoping out Dominico’s apartment.”
“To kill him,” Tom said, his eyes flashing with disgust.
“Obviously, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that,” Annie replied. “But as I said before, nothing is more important than my son.”
“Did they tell you where to stay?” Avery asked.
“Initially, but I moved almost immediately after checking in. And then again last night. So far at least they haven’t made an effort to stop me. Which is why I figured the phone probably gave away my position.”
“So Rivon asked you to kill Dominico when you were in D.C.?” Tom asked.
“Yes. But not in the original meeting. He made it clear at that time that the people he worked for wanted me to take someone out, but he wouldn’t say who it was. And I refused to go along with any of it without first talking to Adam. The photograph was already old.”
“And I’m assuming he agreed,” Nash said, “considering the fact that I interrupted your plans for Dominico.”
“I told you, I wasn’t going to shoot him. At least not then. I was just trying to ascertain my options.”
“Annie, that’s bullshit and you know it. I was there, remember?” Nash shook his head, still not comfortable with the idea that Annie could so easily have killed an innocent. Even to save her child.
“You’re always so quick to believe the worst.” She shook her head, her mouth drawn tight. “Everything black and white. God, to think that I—”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Tom said. “The point is, you’re here. And for the moment at least, that means Dominico is safe.”
“But they still have Adam,” Annie said, her voice breaking on her son’s name. “And if I don’t contact them soon, they’ll think I’ve double-crossed them and gone for help. Which means my son’s life will be worth nothing.”
“When did they tell you that Dominico was the target?” Avery asked.
“Just before a video call with Adam.”
“So you have talked to him.”
“Yes.” Tears filled her eyes, and she angrily brushed them away. “They seemed to be treating him okay. He’d said he’d been playing video games.”
“With Rivon?” Tyler asked, looking up from the computer.
“No. At least I don’t think so. I talked with Rivon first—in a separate call. He told me the target was Dominico. Then a few minutes after he hung up, the phone rang again and this time it was Adam. If he’d been there, there wouldn’t have been a need to terminate the first call. And after I talked to Adam, there was another voice—electronically altered so that I couldn’t identify it. But I had the distinct feeling I was talking to whoever is really behind all of this.”
“And there was nothing that gave you any clue to his identity?” Tom frowned, dropping down into the chair next to Avery.
“I can’t even really be certain it was a man.” Annie shook her head. “As I said, the voice had been altered. It sounded like one of those really bad computer programs. Definitely seemed male, but that could have just been a trick. I did try to record the call. The phone they gave me is pretty high-tech.”
“Smart move,” Nash said.
“Just because I’ve been out of the game, doesn’t mean I’ve lost my edge,” Annie snapped, sounding just this side of losing it. Which wasn’t really all that surprising when one considered that her son was trapped out there somewhere while she was stuck in the brownstone rehashing the past couple of days with them. “Although in the end it didn’t work. I got nothing but static.”
“We still need the phone,” Tyler said. “Hannah might be able to use the phone to triangulate a location.”
“Hannah?” Annie repeated.
“She handles our intel,” Avery explained. “We’ll need the picture, too. There’s a chance she could pull something from that, as well. Has she contacted Jason?”
“Yeah.” Tyler nodded. “Per your instructions, he and Drake are on their way here now. Emmett and Lara are heading back to Sunderland.”
“Good,” Avery said, with a satisfied shake of his head. “If anyone can find something on the phone it’ll be Hannah and Jason.”
“Jason’s IT,” Nash said, in answer to Annie’s obvious confusion. “He’s really good,” Nash assured her. “The best actually. If there’s something there, he and Hannah will find it.”
“And in the meantime?” she queried.
“You’ll be transferred to Washington for further questioning,” Tom said. “Despite the mitigating circumstances of your son’s kidnapping, you still attempted to take out a U.S. dignitary. Which means you’re in serious trouble. Worst case you co
uld be tried for treason.”
“Don’t you understand? I can’t go anywhere,” she protested, rising to her feet. “If they don’t hear from me at the appointed time, Adam is dead. They made it perfectly clear what would happen if I contacted anyone. Please, you can’t send me away. I’ve got to stay and see this through. It’s Adam’s only chance.” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she clenched her fists, her body taut with anxiety. “Please.”
“If we can get Rivon,” Tom said, his attention on Avery, “we’ll get him to flip. And from there, we’ll have a chance to dismantle the entire operation.”
“Maybe,” Avery said. “But she’s right; if she disappears, the principals are going to go underground fast. And the kid becomes a liability.”
“Oh, God,” Annie whispered, her voice cracking.
“Look, Tom,” Nash interjected, her pain cutting him in a way he hadn’t expected, “if we use Annie, we’ll have an almost guaranteed shot at getting to the real culprits. And at the end of the day, isn’t a sure thing better than a long shot? Especially when the payoff is the same? The truth is that Rivon has reason to fear Ashad as much if not more than he fears the CIA. Which means that getting him to turn may not be as easy as you think. And you’re assuming that you’ll be able to find him. Annie’s right; if he doesn’t hear from her, he’ll probably disappear completely. And then the whole thing falls apart.”
“Including the plot against Dominico.” Tom’s tone remained stubborn.
“Not necessarily.” Nash frowned. “And even if you’re right, do you really want Adam’s blood on your hands?”
“He’s just a child,” Annie added, her voice pleading.
“Well, we certainly can’t let you just waltz out of here.”
“I don’t think anyone is suggesting that, Tom,” Avery said, as usual the voice of reason. “But I do think that Nash has a point. We’re far more likely to make inroads with Rivon and the others if they think Annie is still a player. What time are you supposed to make contact?”
She sucked in a ragged breath and glanced down at her watch, flinching as she read the dial. “Just over an hour.”