Above Reproach

by Lynn Ames

  Astin stared slack-jawed at his uncle, wondering how in the world he could’ve known all that. First, who the man was and what information he had come up with, second, that Astin had shot him to death for failing to identify the owner of the house, and third, that the man owed money to a bookie. It was one thing to know in the abstract that Grayson talked to other people on the outside. This…this was something else. Clearly, Astin had underestimated his uncle’s reach.

  Grayson continued, “When my sister asked me to take you under my wing—to be a father figure to you—I agreed. I thought you could be the son I never had. Now I wonder if all those lessons were wasted on you.”

  Astin’s left eye twitched. It always had, ever since he was a young boy and discovered that disappointing Uncle Wayne usually had dire consequences. He knew he never quite measured up to his uncle’s standards. Yet he was beholden to his uncle for everything he had—his company, his house, his lifestyle, his present position in the most powerful organization in the world. No matter that he was a grown man, a distinguished businessman in his own right—he forever would be in the shadow of this ghost sitting across from him. It was time to say what he’d come to say so he could get out of this godforsaken place and back into the real world, where he was the boss.

  “We’re putting a team in place to intercept and eliminate Ramos and whoever is helping her. Daniel says we’ll be operational within twenty-four hours. He’s also designating her as a terrorist. Troops will be looking for her at every border leading into the active zone.”

  “And if she gets past you again?”

  “She won’t. We’ll have that place sewn up tight as a drum.”

  “You’d better be right about that, Astin. We’ve worked too hard and there’s too much at stake for you to screw up again. If there’s the slightest glitch, I’m holding you personally responsible.”

  “There won’t be.”

  “I hope you’re right. Because if it turns out otherwise, you’ll be shredding paper as an errand boy for one of my companies in some third-world country for the rest of your days. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “It’s a good thing I loved my sister.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I know what you’re thinking, Astin. ‘The old man has been locked up for twenty-two years and he’ll be stuck behind bars for the rest of his life, he can’t touch me.’ Don’t underestimate me, boy. That would be a very foolish mistake.” Grayson pointed the bony finger again. “Those who have aren’t around to tell the tale.”

  “Yes, sir. I won’t let you down.”

  “See to it.” Grayson stood, signaling that the meeting was over.

  Astin couldn’t get out of there soon enough. Someday, the old man would get what was coming to him and Astin would finally, finally be free.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Sedona kept her hands busy by cleaning her Glock-40. Her fully packed duffle bag and briefcase sat on the floor next to the bed.

  She and Vaughn had walked back to the safe house from the beach in complete silence, their arms close but not touching.

  It should have felt awkward, but Sedona was too shell-shocked to notice. What happened in those few wild moments was so out of character, so unexpected, she had no idea what to do with it.

  “Hey,” Peter said, as he knocked on the doorframe. “Mind if I come in for a second?”

  Sedona put down the cloth with the silencer in it. “Not at all.” She motioned for Peter to sit. “What can I do for you?” She prayed that he wasn’t here to talk about her and Vaughn. It occurred to her that she hadn’t paid any attention to their surroundings. She had no idea if the two of them had had complete privacy or not. That’s how out of her mind she had been. She frowned. The whole episode was surreal.

  “You okay?”

  “Huh?” Sedona looked up sharply. “I’m fine. Why?”

  “You just seem a little distracted.”

  “Well, let’s see.” She started counting off items with her fingers. “Some unnamed party is doing a bang-up job of trying to kill me. Because of me, five other people’s lives are in danger. Vaughn had to blow up her own house. And we’re about to fly into a war zone.” She smiled kindly at Peter and let her hand drop. “Personally, I can’t imagine why I might seem off balance.”

  Peter laughed. “That’s fair, except I take issue with some of your points. First, our lives aren’t in jeopardy because of you—they’re in jeopardy because of whoever is behind whatever is happening at Tuwaitha.”

  Sedona started to interrupt, but Peter held up a hand to forestall her. “Please, I’m on a roll here. Second, Vaughn chose to blow up her house. We don’t know that she didn’t have other options available to her. Third… Well, I don’t have a third, but if you give me a few minutes I’m sure I can come up with something.”

  Sedona affectionately bumped Peter’s shoulder. “I’m sure you could.” She went back to cleaning the barrel of the silencer. “Is that why you’re here? To lift my spirits?”

  “No.” Peter bumped her shoulder back. “But is it working?”

  Sedona thought for a second. “Yeah, you know? Actually, it is.” And that was the truth. “So, if that wasn’t your primary objective in coming to see me, what was?”

  “I have a question for you.”

  “Shoot.” Sedona picked up the disassembled gun and pretended to hand it to him.

  “Oh, very punny.”

  “It wasn’t my best, but it’ll have to do.”

  “What I wanted to ask you is, is it really necessary for you and Vaughn to fly from Atlanta instead of Miami like the rest of us?”

  Sedona knew her face registered the surprise she felt at being asked the question. “Peter, this is Vaughn’s op. I wouldn’t presume to second guess her decisions—”

  “No. No. That’s not what I mean,” Peter said. He searched for the words. “What I’m asking you is, in your…other capacity…can you see if splitting up is really necessary in order for you to go undetected?”

  “Ah.” Sedona nodded. “Wow. That’s different.” She scooted back against the wall. “I’ve never been around anybody on an op who sought that kind of advice.” In truth, she’d never told any of her colleagues about her abilities. For once, it felt good to be considered for all of who she was.

  “Is that something you can do?”

  “Yes. Give me a second.” Sedona closed her eyes and took several deep, cleansing breaths. Archangel Michael, I need crystal clear advice. Would it be safe for all six of us to travel on the same aircraft out of Miami?

  “Yes.”

  “We’d be fine if we all took the same flight.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Sedona shrugged. “It’s not me. It’s Archangel Michael. I got a clear yes.”

  “Okay.”

  “Why are you asking me this?”

  “I know Vaughn believes it’s her job to keep you safe, but I feel pretty strongly that the best way to do that is to stick together. If you two go off by yourselves and fly via Atlanta, there’s nothing any of the rest of us can do if something goes wrong. Not only that, but we’d have no way of knowing.” Peter shook his head. “I can’t explain it. I just don’t feel comfortable splitting up like that.”

  “You’re someone who relies on your gut.”

  “In my experience, sometimes that’s all you’ve got,” Peter conceded.

  “You do realize you’re intuitive, right?”

  “As in gifted like you are? Not a chance.”

  “Maybe not as intuitive as I am, no. But you have abilities. You probably never recognized them as such, but I’d wager you’ve been using them all along.”

  Peter seemed to think about that. “I don’t know. I suppose if you consider trusting hunches while under fire, I guess I have a little of that.”

  “Yes, you do.” In the lull in the conversation, the full implications of what Peter asked sank in. “You want me to challenge Vaughn’s decision on the trav
el arrangements based on abilities she doesn’t even know I possess?”

  “God, no. I would never leave you exposed that way.” Peter put a comforting hand on Sedona’s arm. “No. I’ll take care of it. I just wanted to be sure I was right in my assessment.”

  “You were looking for a little insurance.”

  “Something like that. I already had the conversation with Vaughn once.”

  “How did that go?” Sedona could just imagine how Vaughn would feel about being second-guessed.

  “About the way you’d expect. She blew me off.”

  “So what makes you think you’ll get a different reaction this time?”

  “I don’t know that I will, but it just feels to me like I ought to try again.”

  Sedona slid off the bed and stood up. As much as she didn’t want to see Vaughn right now, she knew she couldn’t leave Peter to deal with the situation alone. He was right. They were better off traveling together. She just had no idea how to convince Vaughn of that without explaining more than she was ready to reveal.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m coming with you of course.”

  “Absolutely not.” Vaughn stood with her arms folded across her chest.

  “I understand how you feel—”

  “Don’t give me that. You have no idea how I feel.” Vaughn watched as Sedona’s jaw clicked shut. She realized that Sedona might have misinterpreted her meaning. She wanted to add that this wasn’t personal—she was speaking only about the travel arrangements—but now was not the time.

  “Vaughn,” Peter said. “Nobody is questioning your authority or your right to make decisions.”

  “The hell you aren’t.” Vaughn pointed her finger at him. “We had this discussion once, as I recall. I told you then and I’ll tell you again—if you don’t like the way I run things, take it up with the president.”

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Justine strode into the room and stood in the middle of the group with her hands on her hips. Lorraine and Sabastien were close on her heels. “I can hear you all the way on the other side of the condo.” She looked first at Peter, then at Sedona, and finally at Vaughn.

  “We were just discussing the travel arrangements,” Sedona said. “Peter and I believe we should all leave out of Miami.”

  “Vaughn insists that she and Sedona should go out from Atlanta, instead,” Peter said.

  “It’s my responsibility to keep Sedona safe.” In her mind’s eye, Vaughn saw a glimpse of Sara opening the explosives-laden casket and then Sage, her body battered, her eyes filled with fear. Never again would she rely on anyone else to protect someone so important to her. “This is how I choose to do it.”

  “In other words,” Sedona finished, “Vaughn seems to think it should be her way or the highway.”

  Vaughn recoiled at Sedona’s unflattering summation. Didn’t she see the danger? At this critical juncture, Vaughn didn’t want any distractions, that included by other members of the team. If it was just the two of them, her focus would be razor-sharp. “There can only be one person in charge of an op. Period. I’m that person. Sedona is the only known factor. The two of us traveling together presents a lower profile than six of us. That’s how I see it, and that’s how this is going to go down. Case closed.”

  “I understand your logic, Vaughn,” Lorraine jumped in, “but I think Sedona and Peter are right on this—it makes more sense to stay in proximity to each other so that we all have backup—you included. If you isolate yourself by going out of Atlanta and something goes wrong, we have no Plan B.”

  “Sedona is the only one with experience at Tuwaitha. She’s our most valuable asset on this mission,” Justine added. “Without her, we have little chance of succeeding, not to mention that we lose our ground transportation from Baghdad. These guys are right, Vaughn. It’s all of our jobs to protect Sedona.”

  Vaughn wanted to scream. She’d been in the field as long as any of them, with just as many successful ops under her belt. Why couldn’t they accept that this was the way she wanted to handle the trip? However, the fact that Lorraine thought she was off base gave her pause. After all, Lorraine was the agent Vaughn wanted to be all those years ago. She was the gold standard for CIA agents. But she also was married to Peter. Would she side with him for that reason? Vaughn didn’t want to think so.

  She looked around the room at each of them. She clearly was outnumbered. “So, which one of you wants to be in charge? You figure it out and let me know.” She stalked out of the room.

  “What did I miss there?” Lorraine asked. “What was that really about?”

  Sedona blew out an explosive breath. Although she hadn’t “looked,” she could guess at part of Vaughn’s disquietude, since she was feeling it too. She was off balance. The episode on the beach was a mistake. It changed the dynamics between them, and therefore the dynamics of the group. That led to clouded judgment. Did Vaughn want them to travel separately purely because of the mission? Or was it more personal than that? Either way, Sedona couldn’t allow one or two moments of passion to jeopardize the operation. Should she tell the group? Did they have a right to know what was eating Vaughn?

  “The woman just blew up her own house. I think we ought to cut her some slack,” Peter said. “I’d be out of sorts too.”

  “I’ve worked with Vaughn on several ops. I can tell you I’ve never seen her lose her cool before.” Justine looked directly at Sedona as she said it, and Sedona blinked.

  She wondered if Vaughn had said something to Justine about their tryst and then discounted it. That didn’t fit Vaughn’s profile. It wasn’t the first time, though, that Justine made a comment that led Sedona to think she might know more than she should. She flashed back to her discussion with Justine on the plane. What had made her think Sedona wanted to know so much more about Vaughn? It occurred to Sedona that perhaps Justine had some intuitive abilities of her own.

  Sedona wanted to volunteer to go talk to Vaughn, but she wasn’t sure that would help the situation.

  “Ah, if I may,” Sabastien shyly interrupted, “I think I might have a solution that would work.”

  “I’m all ears,” Peter said.

  “Well, since we know that someone is looking for Sedona, we could give them what they want.”

  “And that helps, how?” Lorraine asked.

  “I am not saying this well,” Sabastien said, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “What I mean is, I could fix it so that whoever is chasing Sedona thinks they know where she is. I could create a misperception.”

  “You mean a misdirection.” Sedona laughed and went over and kissed Sabastien on the cheek. “That’s brilliant.”

  Sabastien blushed. “C’est ça. I could create a false paper trail of credit card activity that would have them think she is someplace far, far away from her actual location.”

  Peter nodded. “I’ve used tactics like that before. It might work, and it would make the travel arrangements less of an issue.”

  “It would certainly take a lot of the pressure off, at least temporarily,” Lorraine agreed. She looked fondly at Peter. “It worked for a while when you did that with Kate. Where was it you had us thinking she’d gone?”

  “Ironically, it was Sedona and then Flagstaff.”

  “Well, it seems that would be fitting,” Sedona said. “Do you really think they’d buy it? I mean, me using my debit card after all this time? They probably know I’ve intentionally gone dark. Wouldn’t that be too obvious?”

  “Whatever they think about it, they’d at least have to investigate,” Justine said. “Any distraction is better than no distraction.”

  “What if you had run out of cash and you were desperate? You would have to do something for money,” Sabastien said.

  “Where would I use the card?” Sedona asked.

  “Since they showed up at my house,” Vaughn said quietly from her position in the doorway, “we should assume they’ve made the connection between you and the satellite pic
tures we tried to get.”

  Sedona’s breath caught at the sight of her. She looked almost haunted. “Vaughn, I’m—”

  Vaughn waved Sedona away before she could finish the sentence. She walked into the room and sat down on the edge of a table. “If they have a brain between them, whoever they are, they’ll figure out that you’re going to try to get more intel on Tuwaitha. So it doesn’t make any sense to try to have them chase their tails in the US. It stands to reason that you’d head to the site.”

  “But that is where we’re going,” Sabastien said. “Why would we want to give them a real destination?”

  “Who said anything about that?” Vaughn countered. “We know there are at least five countries through which Sedona might enter Iraq. We considered them ourselves.”

  “All we have to do,” Peter picked up the thread, “is help them to pick the wrong entry point.”

  “Precisely. Sabastien, let’s have Sedona travel to Istanbul, Turkey via New York and Frankfurt,” Vaughn said. “What day would you all think we should have her fly?”

  “Can I talk to you?” Justine asked.

  Vaughn looked over her shoulder at her friend. “You’re really predictable, you know that?”

  “I’ve been called worse.” Justine joined Vaughn on the balcony. “And you haven’t answered my question.”

  “Would it make a difference if I did? You’ve obviously got something to say, which I knew you would, so let’s hear it.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Vaughn could see Justine’s furrowed brow. She recognized that she had been hard on her friend since the moment Justine arrived on the island. She wasn’t sure she could explain the reason herself. Maybe it was that having Justine around reminded her of her failed relationship with Sage, a relationship that Justine had encouraged. Or maybe it was that being around Justine conjured memories of Sara. Whatever the reason, Vaughn found herself angry all the time whenever Justine was around.