by Jacob Chance
“Explain yourself.” Grabbing hold of his badly broken nose, I squeeze.
“Ow. Okay - okay, alright.” Ruslan snarls, shaking more fresh blood from his face. He takes a deep breath and drops his chin to his chest.
I wait, never taking my eyes from him.
He sighs loudly, before raising his head and looking straight into my eyes. “So, you are the FBI man, right?” His gaze flicks over to Georgia and he smiles. “Is this her?”
“Who?” I blurt out without thinking.
Nicholas’ smile widens as he turns his head back to face me. “Now who’s playing dumb? Marius has come a long way to find her.” His gaze returns to Georgia. “He spoke of you often girl, it’s Zoe, right? I know he’s looking forward to seeing you again.”
My head spins hearing him say Zoe’s name. “Where is he?” I pull Ruslan up from the chair by his throat. “Tell me where he is.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Nicholas struggles to get words out of his closing windpipe before I finally let go and watch him fall to the floor.
Nicholas coughs and hacks. “Marius didn’t tell me where he was going.” His voice is a hoarse croak. “Marius only said to tell the FBI man he was back in the U.S. He said he would tell the girl himself, when he sees her.”
I grill him for another sixty minutes, but his answers never change. I’m thinking we’ve gotten all we can when two quick knocks on the office door let me know Karyn is thinking the same.
“There’s no meat left on this bone. Popov is the priority.” She keeps it short and sweet. Walking out into the display room, she heads for the door. “I was never here.”
“What about Belfast?” I follow her through the main shop.
Karyn stops to think about it. “I’m gonna flag him as an asset. You never know.”
“And Ruslan?” I call out as she reaches the door.
“Who?” She continues out the front entrance without looking back.
As I retrace my steps into the display room, I nearly walk straight into Georgia. Belfast is standing behind her with his gun at her back and her gun in his other hand. Fuck.
“All right now, take it easy.” He backs up and lowers his weapon slightly, so I can see it. Georgia and I respond simultaneously, disarming him and leaving him pinned face first to the floor before he can react.
“Big mistake, asshole.” I rest my knee on the back of his neck.
Belfast is submissive and calm. “Just looking to keep everybody honest.”
It takes me a few seconds to catch on before I realize what he’s doing. “Oh shit.” I run for the office but by the time I make it back there Nicholas Ruslan is gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nash
“I figured they stayed inside with you.” Martin explains for the sixth time as we walk inside the Boston Field Office for a meeting with Karyn. “The two goons brought him in to you and that’s the last I saw of them. They never came back out.”
“So, you just hung around out there with your thumbs up your ass?” Georgia won’t let up.
“Fuck you.” He doesn’t appreciate her verbal jabs. “I followed orders. You’re just pissed because the Irishman got the drop on you.” He fires back at her. “Marry me luf’ and I’ll share me pot of gold with ya,” in a bad Irish accent.
Georgia stops walking and spins around to face him, blocking his path. “You want to be very careful what you say to me next.” She leans in with fire in her eyes, until she’s only a few inches from his face. Martin backs up and slowly steps around her as she stares straight through him.
“Are we finished?” I ask her after he passes. “Let it go.”
“I should’ve seen it coming.” Georgia finally admits once Martin’s out of earshot. “How did I not see it coming? Fucking Belfast.”
“He got to you.” I can’t help but think of Zoe. “It happens.”
“Not to me.” Georgia walks away without another word. I watch her stalk through the front entrance security checkpoint and part of me can’t help but feel bad for what Belfast has coming, if she ever sees him again.
“My understanding is you’ve come across information regarding a High Priority Target?” Karyn walks into the conference room we’ve been waiting in since shortly after our arrival. She’s followed closely by her second in command at the station and the Special Agent in charge of the region’s Critical Incidents Response Group.
“Yes, ma’am.” I answer for the squad. “During our investigation into an international human trafficking operation we received credible information that leads me to believe HPT Marius Popov is back on U.S. soil, and has been for approximately one week.”
“This evidence is the same hard drive you turned in to me upon your arrival at the field office this afternoon?”
“Yes ma’am, the same.”
Karyn continues for the record. “This hard drive is being analyzed by the digital forensics lab as we speak.” She nods to her second in command, who nods back in agreement.
“Now Agent Garrison can you tell us, for the record, how you obtained this evidence?”
There’s no mention of the abduction, drugging and setup of James Parker. In my official report he's an attorney who got in over his head with a ruthless Chechen gangster. Upon questioning he became frightened and eventually turned in the drive as evidence.
I tell them how Nicholas Ruslan murdered Parker for his betrayal and then vanished, current location unknown. Karyn suggests Ruslan may be one of the multiple bodies being pieced together for identification after the warehouse explosion, suggesting a possible connection between the two events.
No one talks about Belfast. There will be no accounting for the murders he committed at the warehouse, or the explosion he used to cover it up. Ruslan’s abduction, torture, interrogation and then loss at the dispensary will never be part of the official reports. This is the version of events Karyn and I agreed to report during our private meeting after my team and I arrived. This is the same version both Georgia and Martin will confirm under oath.
“This report will remain sealed pending completion,” Karyn addresses everyone in the room. “And from this point forward no one outside this room will be read in on this mission without my direct approval.” She nods to her second who begins to hand out the standard agency non-disclosure contracts while she continues. “The CIRG team will handle point on the investigation and any search for Popov. You can use the secondary command center, off site. Garrison, your team will handle our in-house security concerns.” Karyn quickly dismisses everyone else and asks me to stay behind, waiting for the door to completely close again before she speaks.
“From the moment she leaves this building today, your team is her shadow.” Karyn looks concerned. “I want you close enough to catch her spit before it hits the ground,” Her need to protect Zoe again is apparent. “Without her knowing. I want Marius Popov to pay for everything he did to her, to us and for threatening our family. You’ll be kept up to speed real time with the CIRG’s progress and whatever else you need is yours, but it’s time to end this bullshit once and for all. I want Marius Popov to pay for everything he’s taken from her, and from this agency.”
“Consider it done.” I try to keep my feelings less obvious as Karyn stands up to leave.
“Nash keep your eyes open on this, Popov knows his status with us and he’ll want to make his first move fast.” On her way out the door she stops to issue one final warning. “He couldn’t have gotten this far alone, and he didn’t just come back for Zoe, there has to be more to it.”
Georgia, Martin and I set up in two agency impounded, nondescript vehicles and rotate watch once Zoe leaves the Field Office. We plan on catching sleep in shifts across one of the back seats as needed and we all post up in one vehicle once we’re at Zoe’s place. I let them sleep first while I deal with the flood of memories and re-emerging feelings that I worry might compromise my focus. I spend most of the night floating between thoughts of Zoe and racking my
brain, thinking through every possible scenario we may encounter. I get routine updates from CIRG but nothing promising. Popov is a ghost and the only way we’ll find him is when he comes for Zoe.
“You shouldn't have let me sleep through my watch.” Georgia wakes with the sun and calls up from the back seat.
“Relax, you didn’t miss anything.” Martin answers from behind the wheel.
“I need caffeine.” Georgia stretches her lean frame and starts to rub the sleep from her eyes as she steps out onto the sidewalk.
“Dunks is two blocks up on the right. I’ll take a large black,” I say, feeling a little tired after a long night with zero sleep and no fresh leads from the station.
“How about you, sunshine?” She asks Martin with a sleepy smile.
“I’m all set, thanks.” Martin smiles back and tilts his head under the rear-view mirror to watch her walk away. “So exactly how much sleep didn’t you get last night?”
“All of it.” I lean forward and rub the back of my neck.
“What’s with you? I’ve never seen you worked up like this on an op.”
“I’m not sure really, I’ve been thinking about it all night and something isn’t adding up. I get Popov coming back - hell I figured he’d be back years ago. What I don’t get is why he feels he has a legit shot at pulling this off now. This isn’t a stupid man, he wouldn’t risk this without truly believing he could get it done - not after all this time. Where is he getting intel that gives him that level of confidence?”
“What do you mean?” I can hear in Martin’s voice, he already knows my answer.
“What I mean is, I think we’re looking at this as only coming from outside the agency - from Popov. But maybe we need to look within for a connection as well.”
We sit in silence as Martin thinks about what I’m saying.
“You don’t really think someone inside the agency has been helping him, do you?” Martin doesn’t want to believe it, but I know from his voice, he’s considering it.
“I do and so does Karyn. I reached out to her last night and she agreed. The CIRG team is digging into every agent who has even mentioned the Boston Office in the last ten years.”
“You did what?” Martin sounds like I have his attention now.
“I was going to fill you both in once Georgia got back with the coffee, but I can catch her up in a minute.” I'm so tired I can’t fight a long, slow yawn as I check Zoe’s house for activity.
“Yeah, where the hell is she? What are they roasting each of the beans individually?” Martin pulls himself up with the steering wheel to look for her from the driver’s seat. “Do you see her?”
I lean up again in my seat and glance down the sidewalk, but don’t see her coming. Before I can answer I feel the sudden, sharp prick of a needle stinging the side of my neck. I try to stop it but I’m too late. I try to fight it, but the struggle doesn’t last. All my strength is sapped within seconds and my senses are blurring.
The last thing I see is Martin’s face. The last thing I hear is his voice. “I’m sorry.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Zoe
“I witnessed Agent Young operating the vehicle as it sped away and he was not under duress.” Agent Georgia Cohn is briefing Karyn Smith over the phone from the front seat of my car as we speed toward the field office. I know Georgia works with Nash, but until about fifteen minutes ago we’d never spoken. She showed up banging on my door as if she was going to kick it in and flashing her badge while fast talking about an agency emergency. Before I had time to even think about what she was saying we were in my car and on our way.
“Agent Garrison appeared to be unconscious in the passenger seat and I found their comms on the sidewalk.”
“What did you just say?” Nash is unconscious? I ask but she isn’t listening. Oh my God.
“Yes, ma’am.” She listens, and I can hear Karyn’s voice in the background, but not what she’s saying.
“Yes ma’am, I considered the same possibility and proceeded directly to the residence. Yes ma’am, package is secure.”
“Wait, am I the package?” This is beginning to piss me off. “What the fuck is going on?”
My shout gets her attention and Georgia finally stops talking and looks my way. “Yes, ma’am.” She holds out her cell phone, placing it on speaker.
“Agent Thomas…” Karyn sounds angry.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Shut the fuck up and drive that car to this office.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I stop asking questions and do as I'm ordered.
The rest of the ride is spent in silence, but I can tell Agent Cohn is concerned, which worries me. If she, a seasoned FBI Agent, is concerned about Nash, then the situation must be even worse than I imagine. My stomach whirls uneasily with anxiety as I navigate us through traffic.
Ten minutes after we arrive at the Field Office I’ve been read in on the operation, from Ruslan to Popov and everything since.
“Are you aware Agent Garrison and I spoke last night?” Karyn paces behind her desk, like a newly caged wild animal. I’ve never seen her like this before.
“Yes ma’am,” Georgia admits.
Karyn stops pacing and seems surprised. “I was under the impression we were in a private conversation.”
“I’m a light sleeper ma’am,” Georgia explains.
Karyn appears satisfied and resumes pacing, but decidedly slower. “Did you have the same suspicions?”
“I did not.” Georgia doesn't hesitate. “Until I overheard Agent Garrison speaking to you. After hearing him and given some time to consider, I'd come to agree. And now after what just happened…” Georgia’s voice fades.
Karyn finishes for her. “It’s hard to look anywhere else.”
“Exactly.” Georgia slams both hands flat against the table in anger. “How did I miss him?”
“Apparently, we all did,” Karyn agrees. “But there’s no time to waste wishing we noticed something to prevent this. We have very little time; if any.”
“If any?” I know what she means but I ask anyway. Oh God. If something happens to Nash… I can’t even bring myself to consider what the worst-case scenario would mean. I just got him back - I can’t lose him.
“The car you were using from impound has no GPS and all of Martin’s electronics have been dumped as well. I’ve got agents combing through his apartment as we speak but we need to accept the possibility that Agent Garrison is already dead.” Karyn’s words hang in the air briefly as we all consider what she’s just said. “But we’re going to proceed on the belief he’s still alive and we are going to get him back, no matter what it takes.”
We’re interrupted by a member of the CIRG who rushes into the office without knocking and quickly pulls Karyn aside for an update. After a brief whispered exchange, he leaves the room and Karyn turns her attention back to Georgia and I. “Based on Nash’s theory, I’ve had the CIRG digging in to a connection within the Bureau since we spoke. I’ve just narrowed their search parameters significantly.”
“Do they have anything else?” I ask, hoping there’s something.
“They’ve compiled a list of all possible locations with connections to Ruslan where someone could be hiding Popov or holding Agent Garrison.” Karyn doesn’t look or sound optimistic.
“Thirty-six locations spread out in and around the city.” She calls up an active map displaying all the locations on the smartboard attached to the wall.
“Thirty-six?” Georgia sounds like I feel, deflated.
“We started with forty-nine and it’s been filtered down twice. I’ve just ordered every available body in the region to assist in performing hard target searches of all thirty-six locations.”
“That’ll take more time than we have.” I point out the obvious.
“These locations are yours.” Karyn zooms in on three waterfront locations.
“Ours?” Georgia and I ask together.
“Yes yours, so suit up and meet me in the g
arage, five minutes.”
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
“I’m coming with you. Is that a problem Agent Cohn?”
“Not for me,” Georgia answers quickly as Karyn dismisses us from her office.
“You better buckle up rookie,” Georgia whispers to me. “Things are about to get interesting.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Nash
“You may find this hard to believe, but I am sorry.” Martin’s standing over me as I come around. He grabs my chin and forces open one of my eyes. “C’mon Nash, you and I both know the tranquilizer wore off five minutes ago.”
“I’ll wait for Popov.”
“Really, no why Martin why, or at least maybe a Martin how could you?”
“I know why.”
“You do, do you?”
“Because you’re weak.”
“I’m weak? Fuck you. I didn’t want this, I didn’t want any of it.”
“But here we are, Martin. I’m tied to this chair like a mark and you put me here, old friend.” I don’t really give a flying fuck what he has to say, but I’m trying to keep him talking and stall until I can get my bearings and hopefully find a way out. It looks like we’re in some old garage or barn and I can smell the salt air of the ocean nearby.
“He got me early on, just after the academy. An old friend, with some shady connections reached out asking me to step in on a petty misdemeanor. I was so busy trying to show off as the big bad FBI man.” Martin can’t help but tell me his story. “I made a call without even looking into it. I didn’t know it was for Popov, hell I’d never even heard of him, until he showed up one day asking for information. It was just a little to begin with and he paid so well for so little, but it didn’t last. Every time he came the ask got bigger, until I found myself...” Martin stops talking and runs a hand nervously through his hair.