Assassin Games

by Sidney Bristol

  It all happened so fast.

  “Put her in the truck. Now.”

  Kristina sobbed, blinking back tears. She had a life to live, money to enjoy. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen.

  The agent holding her shoved her in the back of the SUV, but the seat didn’t have a metal grate. It was just…a regular back seat.

  The man sitting on the other end of the bench turned toward her, studying her from behind his sunglasses.

  “We all have a choice, Kristina, if we’re going to create our own narrative, or if it’ll be created for us. Which would you like?” he asked.

  “I don’t want to die.” She knew what they did to people who didn’t measure up.

  “You died the day you issued orders that were not yours to make.” He turned toward the front of the vehicle. “Have it your way.”

  “No—wait. Please?” Kristina swallowed. “Can it be peaceful?”

  “We don’t deal in peace, Kristina, don’t you know that?”

  …

  Carol gripped the armrests, her chest heaving. She could still smell blood on her clothes, drying on her skin.

  Any moment those cops were going to turn around and come after them. They had to.

  Or at least she’d been telling herself that for however many miles they’d gone.

  “I think I saw a package of wipes in the glove box.” Andy glanced at her, his gaze flicking from her head down to her toes. “She didn’t hurt you?”

  “No.” Carol opened the compartment and there was the package.

  She couldn’t get blood off her clothes, but she could at least scrub it from her skin.

  The act of wiping away the evidence brought her into the present.

  They’d made it this far, somehow.

  “What happened to you?” She’d been certain Andy would make it out, and then he’d never made contact, nothing.

  “You saw the basement. I went downstairs, started the upload, and had a look around. That’s when they caught me.” He grimaced. It was likely a moment he didn’t want to relive.

  “What did you see down there?”

  “A well-run operation. They’ve been in that facility for…years? It’s much bigger than we knew.”

  “My mother was their agent. I was right about the family connection. I have a half brother. He’s like you. And my mother killed herself protecting us.” So much had happened in the last day. Carol stared straight ahead, still shell-shocked.

  “It sounds like we have a lot to talk about.” Andy reached over and took her hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

  They drove another half an hour, talking in bursts, then sitting in silence for long stretches.

  Andy finally turned into the little regional airport. Jan’s layover in America was just for fuel and to drop off people. His real destination was farther south, closer to a golf course Senator Fowler was spending an extended weekend at. The plane sat on the little runway, a security guard on the stairs, and next to it another plane, both of which seemed poised to take off.

  “Stay here,” Andy said.

  He popped his seat belt and tucked his gun under his shirt and into his waistband before getting out of the car.

  The SUV pulled up next to them and the rear door opened. Mitch stumbled out with Irene in his wake, gesturing at the plane. His voice was muted, but Andy nodded.

  He turned toward her and tapped on the window, waving her out.

  Whose plane was that?

  Carol joined the others on the tarmac, Andy in the lead as they walked toward the planes.

  Jan ducked out of the larger plane and waved to them.

  Carol had never been so relieved to see him.

  Their group filed up the stairs. Halfway up, Carol had to wonder if they weren’t making a mistake. If this could be a trap, but it was too late now.

  The interior of the big plane was cool, clean, and sectioned off much like Jan’s aircraft. Only on a much larger scale.

  Jan laid his finger across his lips, meeting the gaze of all who could fit in the entry.

  No speaking?

  Just what the hell were they doing?

  The flight crew kept their backs toward them, busy with whatever it was they were doing, and studiously not looking at their group.

  Carol swallowed and remained where she was. This wasn’t right, was it?

  Andy reached back and took her hand, tugging her forward.

  Their group passed through a small sectioned-off area with ancient-looking computers mounted on the walls and turned in to a conference room.

  Carol stumbled to a stop, peering over Andy’s shoulder.

  Holy shit.

  The director of the CIA sat at the head of the table with Senator Fowler to his left, Jan to his right, and a woman behind them.

  “Hi, Mom.” Kevin didn’t have the same shocked reservations. He circled the table and gave the woman standing in the background a hug.

  His mother?

  But, he’d said she was…

  The assistant to the director of the CIA.

  Carol swallowed.

  “Everyone, please take a seat. We have a medic standing by, Mitch, if you’d like to be seen now or after we do this.” Director Shemar Donovan leaned forward.

  Carol stumbled to the closest seat while Andy remained standing behind her. She didn’t think her legs were going to remain steady for long. The rest took what seats they could.

  “First, I want to thank you all for what it is you’re doing. You are true patriots, though the world may not see that for some time.” Shemar clasped his hands in front of him and glanced around the nearly full table. “What I am about to tell you is done under the strictest confidence. If you don’t want to know, or want an out, this is your chance.”

  “Sir?” Jesse raised his hand. “I’m not part of this, I’m just—”

  “Jesse—that’s what you’re going by now, isn’t it?” Shemar leaned back in his chair.

  Jesse blinked at the man, his jaw going slack.

  “It’s at times like these that we need Americans to step forward.” Senator Fowler jabbed his finger at the table. “Who you work for doesn’t matter. What you believe in does. If you’re in, you’re in.”

  No one moved.

  Shemar and Senator Fowler both glanced around the table.

  Andy’s hand rested on her shoulder, a comforting reminder that he was with her again.

  “You are all aware that we have a leak within the CIA.” Shemar’s mouth twisted into a distasteful grimace.

  “Kristina Butler?” Andy asked.

  “You knew?” Carol glanced up at him.

  “She tried to interrogate me.”

  “Kristina Butler was arrested—and died—during her transport to booking,” Shemar said. “She was low-hanging fruit.”

  “Oh my God…” Carol cradled her head.

  “They killed her, just like they killed Charlie,” Mitch said, his words slurred.

  “That is my belief, yes. Any time we get one of theirs, they die.” The director nodded. “This is an issue I inherited from my predecessor, and he from the director who came before him. The problem we face is homegrown. It’s greed. It has nothing to do with what we believe in. Cutting out the problem we know about would not remove the deeper issue. That we have people embedded on all levels of the CIA who are not working toward the same goals we are. Because they are careful, we have not been able to penetrate their network or identify more than fringe players. The units we’ve put together to meet this threat head-on have, for lack of a better word, been slaughtered from the inside.”

  Carol didn’t think she was going to like where this was going.

  “What the director is getting at in a far more eloquent manner than I could say”—Senator Fowler slapped the director on the shoulder—“is that, you’re our team.”

  Yeah, that’s what Carol was afraid of.

  “You should have started with, this is your mission, should you choose to accept it. Fuck
ing hell.” Noah pivoted, shoving his hand through his hair and muttering curses.

  “What do you need us to do?” Andy asked. “We’re—all of us—burned.”

  “Take the fall.” Shemar stared at Andy. “Let the world paint you as traitors, leakers, moles. It will allow you to move freely in circles these people market themselves in. Find out who they are, and then we can take them down.”

  “How do we know we can trust you?” Carol asked.

  “You don’t.” Shemar spread his hands.

  “We have a list of people we believe might be involved. Your name was on that list.” Carol didn’t look away. She’d seen his name, she knew trusting him was a risk, but so was everything they did from here on out.

  “I would be shocked if my name weren’t on a list. What better move to make than incriminating your enemy as one of you?” Shemar shrugged. “I can’t provide you with evidence I’m innocent. I know I’m asking a lot for you to all believe me.”

  “Us,” Senator Fowler said.

  “The international community knows there is a leak in the CIA,” Jan said, speaking up for the first time. “I am here as a representative for a group of people who want to help our ally from this internal threat. But we need you—a team—to see this through.”

  “Can we talk—without you four?” Andy asked.

  “Of course.” Shemar pushed to his feet. “We have a limited window of opportunity to move before fingers start being pointed at you, so please, time is of the essence.”

  The director exited the conference room, followed by the other three. They closed the door behind them, leaving their rescue group alone.

  No one spoke for a moment, though the room did feel as though they exhaled at once.

  “Just so we’re all aware, this room could be wired to record us,” Andy said.

  “Yeah, I assume it is.” Noah wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like this double-double agent business.”

  “Then leave,” Andy said with a shrug.

  “That’s— No.” Noah glared at Andy.

  “Man, you’re the one person I didn’t expect to still be here, so why are you staying?”

  “Because…” Noah glanced at one of the partially open windows. He slid it fully closed, then glanced back at Andy. “I have my reasons.”

  “Fine. So, down to business.” Andy braced his hands on the table. “Either we turn this offer down and we go to ground, running for the rest of our lives. Eventually someone will catch up to us, and that’ll be it.”

  “Or, we say yes to the director’s plan and we…we become criminals.” Carol stared at the tabletop.

  “Have we committed crimes?” Andy asked. “Yeah, but we did it because we believe in something. That doesn’t wipe our soul clear, but…”

  “You’re still the tarnished heroes of this country.” Irene stared around the room. “The ones who make the hard decisions, the calls that no one else can. You’re the ones who protect us from the threats no one can know about.”

  “I’m in,” Carol said. She had nothing left—except Andy. And if her working toward this goal meant his family remained safe, then she’d do it.

  “Not without me.” Andy stared down at her, gaze narrowed.

  “We’re all in,” Irene said “We’re all in, or none of us are. And if we’re all in, that means no one, not even the director, can assist us. This has to be the most thorough undercover operation we’ve ever pulled off. We will be labeled terrorists and our faces on every most-wanted list out there.”

  “We should work in teams.” Carol had seen what this could do to a person, how they’d need to guard one another’s back. “Support and field. Me, Irene, Mitch, we could all—”

  “We can’t put all the brainpower in one place,” Andy said.

  “He’s right. We split the knowledge base,” Noah said.

  “What about me? And the Matthews girls?” Jesse asked.

  “Plausible deniability,” Carol said. “Camilla and Lillian were not really involved.”

  “Noah, Jesse, and Kevin need to stay here,” Andy said. “That way we have people in DC to move if we need them to.”

  “We’ll need to tell Rand and Sarah to move, what’s happened.” Carol’s gaze fixed on her hands. Everything was falling into place. She was numb inside, but that wouldn’t last for long.

  “I can do that,” Irene said.

  “I’ll go with you,” Mitch chimed in.

  Carol glanced at the two agents. She hadn’t seen it before, but now that she’d been there, felt the pull of attraction, what it was like to love someone who didn’t see her, she could see the potential between Irene and Mitch.

  “That leaves the two of you.” Noah stared at Andy and Carol. “You better get moving soon.”

  Carol stared up at Andy, part of her overjoyed to be near him, the rest of her withering away.

  She loved him, and Andy would never see her as anything but a burden.

  …

  In the span of fifteen minutes they made a plan. Andy wasn’t certain it was a good plan, but it was the best they had in the moment. Scattering their three teams of Rand and Sarah, Irene and Mitch, and Carol and Andy across the globe would give them coverage.

  They had the list, they even knew who to look at more or less, but they needed to go deeper.

  Today, all of this, was a victory worth celebrating. But there wasn’t time. They could throw a party when it was truly over, until then these was their battle lines.

  Noah, Jesse, and Kevin took Andy’s sedan in the end, driving back to reality in the hopes that they could evade notice. The powers supporting them had promised to do their part to assist in creating plausible deniability for them.

  Irene and Mitch remained aboard the CIA director’s plane.

  Andy found himself once more on Jan’s private jet, but this time it was just the three of them.

  He watched Carol and Jan whisper at the rear of the plane.

  She didn’t need him as much as he wanted her to. With Carol’s connections and her smarts, she’d learn the ropes fast enough. He should be proud of her, of what she’d done. Instead he was tired and grouchy.

  The pilot announced their immediate takeoff in German.

  Andy took the closest seat, his weary body ready for some rest.

  Carol plopped down into the seat next to him a few moments later, her hand going to his.

  “What about your family?” she asked, ever concerned about people she hadn’t met.

  “Here’s the thing about my brothers.” Andy glanced out the window, then at her. “They’re the type to shoot first, ask questions later. I think if anyone goes after them, they’re biting off a bit more than they can chew.”

  “You think they’ll be all right?”

  “I do. Besides, I haven’t visited them since before I was sentenced. There’s no reason for anyone to suspect I care about them.” Because he’d done his part and stayed away from the only people who really knew him.

  And now—there was Carol.

  Perhaps the best thing for her would be to leave her, too.

  Yeah, he couldn’t do that. He was in too deep, whether she cared for him or not.

  “You shouldn’t have come back for me,” he said.

  Carol stared up at him, her gaze searching his face, going back and forth as though she were reading lines of text.

  “I figure once we get to Germany we will hear what Jan’s contacts have to say, and then we can head south by car. Toward the Mediterranean.” Andy kept talking, hardly aware of what he was saying, he just needed to fill the silence.

  “Andy?”

  “We shouldn’t plan so much. Just play it by ear.”

  The plane accelerated and the nose lifted off the ground. Within moments they were airborne, his stomach doing odd loops in his gut.

  “Andy—just stop for a moment.” Carol clutched his hand so tight her nails dug into his skin.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just…need a moment.”
She huffed, a poor attempt at hiding the tears clinging to her lashes. “You could have died today.”

  “I didn’t. Everything’s fine.”

  “I know, but… You just…mean a lot to me, and…”

  It was Andy’s turn to look at her and really see what was there staring back at him. It’d been there all along, they just hadn’t faced it. Couldn’t. Giving it a label meant speaking it to life. Once they said it, either of them, there was no going back. He could pretend otherwise only for so long.

  “Whatever you say next, think about it very carefully,” he said softly.

  “What? That you mean a lot to me?” She swiped at her cheeks.

  “Whatever comes after that.”

  “Are you trying to keep me from embarrassing myself?” She leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.

  “What I mean is…I took you from your home, forced you into a life on the run, and I’ve made you like me. I can’t…ask you for anything else. You have to decide what it is you want, Carol.”

  She swallowed. He’d never been more intent on the flex of a throat than he was in that moment.

  Carol turned her face toward him, a tear clinging to the corner of her eye.

  “What? Like, I’ve fallen stupidly in love with you? Something like that?” She didn’t flinch at the words, she owned them.

  “Yes, exactly like that.”

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  Andy leaned across the armrest. Carol remained where she was, her gaze locked with his.

  “I haven’t cared—loved—anyone in a very long time. I’m not likely to do this right,” he whispered, for her ears only.

  “Is there a right way?”

  “I know what you deserve, and it’s not me.”

  “You see me.” She lifted her hand and stroked her fingers over his cheek. “You saw the real me when everyone else saw what they wanted.”

  “I love you, Carol, and that puts you in danger.”

  “In case you didn’t notice, we’re already in danger.”

  “True.” He turned his face in to her hand, kissing her palm. “Do you want to be in love with me?”

  “I don’t think I ever really had a choice.”

  “Of course you did.”

  “Then I guess I chose before I realized it.”