by Mel LeBrun
“Of course not,” Michael said. “In fact, if we can indeed convince him to pay for our services, we may just be able to discover who he sold the weapon to. As of right now we don’t know where he keeps his money. None of his listed accounts show any unusual activity. There’s no doubt he has other accounts that we don’t know about and may likely never find. That is, unless he gives them to us by means of wire transfer.”
“You think he will pay you from the same account he used to facilitate the sale of the nuclear weapon?” Osin asked.
“I think it’s very likely,” Michael answered. “Grekov received millions for his share of the profits. How much did Ivchenko get and where did it go? Those are questions we can’t answer. But if he pays us from a numbered account, it may just give us a leg up.”
“OK,” Osin finally agreed. “It could work.”
“There’s just one thing we haven’t worked out,” Martin interjected. “If he does have FSB on his payroll, he can easily find out that you are not in fact FSB.”
“I already thought of that,” Osin said. “Leave it to me. I will take care of it.”
“Great,” Michael said. “Let us know when you’re ready to go and in the meantime, we will continue watching Ivchenko.”
Chapter 41
Jessica was lying in bed fighting a wave of nausea after eating lunch. Her door was closed and window open just a crack to let in fresh air. She lay with her eyes closed imagining herself in Michael’s strong embrace. There was a soft knock on her door which she assumed was Kevin checking in on her.
“Come in,” she said, just loud enough to be heard.
The door slowly opened and she saw it wasn’t Kevin, it was Corvo smiling warmly with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
“Lance!” She tried to sit up to greet him but he quickly gestured for her to remain where she was.
“Don’t get up,” he said. “How are you feeling?” He asked as he set the flower on the bed stand and then sat on the edge of the bed next to her.
“I’m OK,” she replied.
There was an undercurrent of emotion in her tone that told him otherwise.
“You sure?” He reached out and squeezed her hand.
The concern in his voice made it impossible to keep her feelings concealed. She turned away from him as a tear fell.
“You miss him, don’t you?” Corvo ascertained.
She nodded as more tears fell. “Have you spoken with him?” She pulled her hand from his to dry her tears.
“Not in a few days. But Martin is with him and he’s doing fine.”
“How’s Dmitri?” she asked. “Is he here?”
“He’s fine. We crossed over the border in Alaska and then decided we should part ways.” Corvo didn’t want to tell her that Dmitri had turned himself in and was now in a Russian prison. He hoped maybe she wouldn’t find out until after Dmitri had been cleared.
“What are they going to do?” she asked.
“Lay low. Alaska is a big place.”
She smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Corvo’s heart fluttered and he had to fight an intensifying urge to hold her close. He smiled back. “Me too.”
As he was reasoning to himself it wouldn’t mean anything if he hugged her, he realized his emotions were yet again overwhelming his sense of right and wrong. He decided he should take his leave before they completely took over.
“You look like you need rest,” he stated, hoping to ease into his departure.
“Actually, I think I’d like to get out of bed for a while. Would you help me downstairs?”
“Of course.” He stood and held his hand out to her.
She eased herself up and regrouped for a minute before standing. Corvo wrapped one arm around her back to support her and held her hand with the other.
She looked up at him with an amused expression. “I’m not that feeble, Lance.”
He felt immensely embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said as he pulled himself away from her. “What do you need me to do?”
With an enormous grin and restraining the urge to laugh she replied, “Just let me hold onto your arm.”
“Yes, of course,” he agreed. In the moments that passed his face turned bright red. He was clearly mortified but it struck Jessica as funny and she couldn’t stop grinning which only made him feel worse.
Corvo helped her to the family room where the kids were playing video games. Tatiana ran over to hug her as she sat on the couch.
“Do you want me to get you anything to eat or drink?” Corvo asked Jessica.
“Some juice and crackers, if you don’t mind?” she replied as Tatiana curled up in her arms.
“I don’t mind at all.”
Corvo returned a few minutes later carrying juice and crackers with Jinx and Josh right behind him. They were happy to see Jessica was feeling well enough to be out of bed. Everyone found a seat and began chit chatting about the beautiful weather and how the girls were doing with school. With everything that had transpired with Tatiana, Jessica contacted her school and arranged to have her work temporarily sent to Kevin’s so she wouldn’t get too far behind. She explained that Tatiana was experiencing anxiety and by doctor’s request, was keeping her home for the time being. Kevin hired a tutor who had been coming for a few hours a day to help her get back on track. It also had a stabilizing effect, allowing her to return to a more normal life. She still frequently asked about Michael, but she was coping much better being in a familiar place and surrounded by people she felt safe with.
“Why would James Marcroft be involved in hacking Ivchenko’s server?” Jessica asked from out of the clear blue. “Why do you think he’s involved?” Corvo asked.
“Because he was there. He was supervising,” Jessica answered.
“What do you mean he was supervising?”
“He watched everything I was doing as if any moment he would need to step in.”
Corvo silently processed the information. He wasn’t sure what it meant but it was unusual.
“Should I be concerned?” Jessica asked.
Corvo shook his head. “No. He’s been around a long time. He knows what he’s doing.”
“OK. But that still doesn’t explain why he would need to be involved with this.”
“The agency must know something we don't,” Corvo reasoned.
“Can you find out what that might be?” Josh asked.
“Well,” Corvo took a deep breath and let out a nervous smile. “Perhaps if I wasn’t suspended I could try to find out.”
“You’re suspended from the FBI or the agency?” Jinx asked.
“Both,” he replied. “FBI suspended me pending an inquiry into what happened to my vehicle and why I went to Canada. Agency suspended me for taking off without approval and for jeopardizing my cover.”
“I’m so sorry, Lance,” Jessica said, feeling as though it were her fault.
Corvo shook it off. “It’s not a big deal. I just have to stick to my story and I’ll be fine. I claimed it was stolen while I was spending a few days in Toronto to recuperate from what happened with Special Agent Lavene.” He gestured to Jinx. “They knew I crossed the border, so that’s the only thing I had to admit to. However, since that whole mess with Dmitri happened in Toronto at the same time, they want to question me further. They’ll never find the car, though, and there’s nothing to say I’m lying.”
“It didn’t have GPS?” Jessica asked.
“No. They don’t put trackers on vehicles issued to agents. Privacy concerns. Plus I checked before I left, just to be sure.”
“But won’t they make you take a lie detector?” Jinx asked.
“I could pass that in my sleep,” Corvo replied unconcerned. “To be honest, they should know better how useless those things are. They only catch amateurs. If you have a real monster in your ranks, you’ll never weed him out with a lie detector.”
“That’s reassuring,” Jinx said sarcastically.
Josh’s phone rang just then.
“Hello?” he answered and then listened for a few minutes while the caller spoke. He turned to Jessica. “They received a packet from the keylogger. Whatever that means. They want you to come back.”
“That’s great. I’ll come now if they want,” Jessica agreed.
“They do,” Josh answered her. He assured the caller they would be right down and ended the call.
Feeling much more settled and secure, Tatiana wasn’t quite as clingy as before. She didn’t want Jessica to leave but Jessica was at least able to reason with her and she agreed to stay with Lauren and Emily while Jessica returned to the CIA’s remote IT office to see what information they had received from Ivchenko’s server.
Jessica looked over at Corvo. “Will you be here when I get back?”
He smiled warmly feeling a flutter in his chest. “I have nowhere else to be.”
“Stay for dinner then?” she asked.
Corvo grinned. “Thought you’d never ask.”
Jessica grabbed a couple bags to take with her in case she got sick in the car while Josh pulled his truck out front. She joined him and they headed back to the CIA’s secret office downtown.
While they drove, something Josh observed in the family room weighed on him. After a few more minutes, he worked up enough courage to say something.
“You and Lance seem to have grown closer,” Josh observed.
Jessica scrunched her face, not understanding what prompted Josh to say something like that. “Not anymore than normal,” she said feeling almost offended at the implication in his tone.
Josh said nothing more, though the awkward silence that followed made her feel that he was still thinking about it.
“We’ve been through a lot lately. That’s all,” she reasoned. “It’s normal to draw close to friends in times of need.”
“Absolutely,” Josh agreed.
More uncomfortable silence followed and it was beginning to unnerve Jessica. “What exactly are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything,” Josh said calmly. “Just making an observation, that’s all. Why are you so self-conscious about it?”
“I’m not self-conscious about it.”
“OK then,” Josh looked at her and smiled. Unlike Michael though, Josh wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions. Clearly he was troubled but wouldn’t say why.
The tension in the air grew thick and Jessica’s stomach turned into knots. She held a bag ready in case she needed it. “Will you just spit it out, Josh?” she said exasperated.
“It’s nothing, Jess. Forget it.”
“You’re acting like I’m having an affair with Lance.”
“I know you’re not having an affair with Lance. I’m just tired. Ignore me.”
“Now you’re just trying to brush it off. You can’t start something like this and then just expect me to drop it like it never happened.”
Josh took a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably in his seat but still wouldn’t speak.
“Just say it, Josh,” Jessica raised her voice feeling more frustrated by the minute.
“If I didn’t know better, Jess, I would think you and Lance had a thing for each other.”
“What?” Jessica was blown away by the accusation. “How could you possibly think that?”
“It’s just a vibe I got. It’s nothing. I know you’re loyal to Michael. So like I said, just ignore me.”
“What is it I’m doing that would make you think that? Or what is Lance doing? We’re just friends. What do you think you’re seeing?”
Josh now understood Michael’s frustration when he talked to her about how other men looked at her. “Nothing, Jess. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just drop it.”
Jessica’s mind raced. She couldn’t let it go. She was terribly disturbed that Josh would even suspect she was having romantic feelings for someone else. She reflected back on how she was acting and whether anything she had done would have given validity to Josh’s feeling. She was unable to see anything inappropriate in her actions which only made her more paranoid. What did Josh see that she couldn’t? For that matter what did Michael always see, that she never did? Why was it so obvious to them but so oblivious to her? It was haunting her so badly she didn’t even notice they had arrived.
“You OK?” Josh asked.
“Fine.” Clearly not true, she opened her door and stepped out.
Josh followed noticing how her demeanor changed. He wanted to apologize for upsetting her but he didn’t want to keep talking about it. He concluded it would be better to take his own advice and drop it.
They were escorted into the same room as before and were met once again by James Marcroft who warmly greeted them. Josh smiled and shook his hand while Jessica, in a fog, hardly acknowledged his existence before turning her attention to the computer. Not knowing what she was upset about, Marcroft decided he didn’t want to be in the middle of it. He granted her access to the computer and let her get to work.
Jessica quickly isolated the server’s credentials along with a curious string of text.
“Are you seeing this?” Jessica asked Marcroft.
“Yeah.”
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.
“It is,” Marcroft confirmed.
“How the hell did this guy get missile codes?” Jessica turned in her chair to face Marcroft.
Seeming troubled, Marcroft didn’t readily answer. He took a deep breath and typed something on his keyboard. A message to someone else, she presumed. He then looked back at her.
“We need to know what’s on that server.”
“Someone needs to access the server directly with the password we just got and make an image of the data,” was her response.
“The sooner the better,” he agreed. “When I have an ETA, I’ll call you back in.”
Josh and Jessica rode home in strained silence. Josh was simply afraid to open his mouth and make her more upset. His silence though had just that effect.
“I love Michael,” Jessica blurted. “How could you think…”
“I don’t think that, Jessica,” Josh quickly countered. “I know you love Michael. And I know you’re completely devoted to him. Trust me, I see that.”
“Then why would you even suggest ...” Jessica couldn’t even finish the statement.
“Look, Jess. You just seemed a lot friendlier than you used to be. That’s all I was saying. I don’t know what happened but something definitely changed between you two. And if it’s just friendship then it’s just friendship. I’m sorry I even brought it up. Just forget I said anything.” At this point, Josh just wanted out of the conversation.
“What do you mean ‘if it’s just friendship’?” The combative tone in her voice made it clear the conversation was deteriorating.
“Poor choice of words. I’m sorry.”
“You think we’re having an affair!” Jessica just couldn’t let it go.
Josh pulled the truck off the road and put it in park. Since she wasn’t going to move off of it, he decided to face it head on.
“Did you kiss him?” Josh asked flat out.
Jessica was stunned by the question and could only stare back in horror with her mouth gaping open.
Josh cursed and turned away wishing he had never asked. He cursed again as he buried his face in the steering wheel. Though he had suspected something happened between them he had hoped it was something more innocent.
“It wasn’t like that,” Jessica said. Her heart pounded and her head felt faint.
Josh was speechless. He couldn’t even look at her.
“You have the wrong idea, Josh. It wasn’t like that at all. The Russians were watching my house and we had to give them a reason for Lance coming over. If they knew he was helping us escape we wouldn’t have gotten away.” Tears streamed her face as panic set in, wondering if Josh would believe her and what he might say to Michael. “It wasn’t real. It was just for show.”
“What else happened?”
“
Nothing. He’s just been a good friend, Josh. That’s all.”
Josh looked in her eyes. “Did you sleep with him?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “Nothing like that happened. I would never do that. You have to believe me.”
Josh ran his hand through his hair and looked back out the window. “I do believe you, Jess. but you are going to tell Michael when he gets back,” he said as a statement rather than a question.
“I had already planned on it.” Though Jessica did intend to tell Michael, seeing Josh’s reaction made her question just how Michael would react. Maybe he wouldn’t be as understanding as she thought he would. Yet now she had no choice.
“And maybe you should re-evaluate just what kind of friendship you and Lance have,” Josh added.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Just think about it, Jess. That’s all I’m saying.” He put the truck in gear and merged back in with traffic.
Jessica sat quietly obsessing over Josh’s words for the rest of the ride back to Kevin’s. The mood was tense and it didn’t go unnoticed upon their return.
“How did it go?” Corvo asked, picking up on the friction between Josh and Jessica.
“Good,” Jessica answered. “We got what we needed to move forward.”
“That’s good,” Corvo said. “Is everything OK?”
“I’m just tired,” Jessica said. “I’m going to lay down.”
“Do you want me to bring you anything?” Corvo offered.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” She abruptly turned and walked away.
Josh went to the kitchen to get a drink with Jinx hot on his heels.
“Josh, what happened?” she asked.
“It’s just a stressful situation,” he assured her. “It’ll be better when Michael is back.”
“What happened with you and Jessica?”
“Nothing. We just had a disagreement. We're fine. It's not a big deal.”
“What kind of disagreement?”
“Sweetheart, it’s fine.”
“Then why won’t you tell me what happened?”
“Frankly, Jasmine, because I’d rather she tell you. If she wants to.”
Looking at her husband, Jinx could see he felt overwhelmed by whatever had transpired. She ceased questioning him further and instead slipped her arms around his waist and snuggled against his chest. He responded in kind, wrapping his arms securely around her. As he held her, the agitation he was feeling just melted away.