The Agent's Proposition

by Stone, Lyn

  “They might. I left Bulgar’s briefcase and the laptops in the trunk. Selim had the car key, and the car was unlocked when we got to it. I’ve been too busy to check yet, but I expect they took everything with them.” He ran a hand over his face as he cursed. “Damn. There went our evidence, too. Well, if you’re well enough, I guess we should head to the airport and wait for a plane.”

  “Maybe we’ll find them there!” Tess said hopefully. “They might think we were trapped in the hotel or at the hospital.”

  “Wouldn’t that be convenient? Not likely, but I guess it’s as good a place as any to look for them, considering the hundreds of alternatives.”

  He helped her to the car and got her settled inside. Just as he went around to the passenger side, his cell phone chirped. “Cochran,” he answered, so sure it was Mercier, he didn’t even bother to look at the readout.

  “Is Tess alive? Is she okay?”

  “Zahi?” Cameron was astounded. “Yeah, she’s all right. Where the devil are you?”

  “Consider me a hero lost in the storm. I am no problem to anyone ever again. I vow this on the head of my precious mother. Oh, by the way, Bulgar is in the boot.” The line went dead.

  Cameron stared at the phone. Tess’s number. So Selim had taken her phone. He’d been waiting for his chance to escape. “Slippery as an eel,” Cameron mumbled.

  “Was that Jack?” Tess asked when he opened her door again.

  “No, it wasn’t Mercier. Come on, I know moving is painful, but you have got to see this.” He helped her get out and led her around to the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk. “I see it and I still don’t believe it.”

  Bulgar lay on his side, his hands still bound securely behind him with the plastic restraints. His ankles had been tied together with his necktie, pulled up and secured to the wrist cuffs. He glared up at them, unable to speak even if he’d been willing to. Selim had gagged him with his own handkerchief.

  “He left the computers, too!” Tess exclaimed with delight. “But the briefcase isn’t here.”

  “There was cash in it. Are you surprised it’s gone?” Cameron unzipped Selim’s computer case. “So is Zahi’s passport and ID.”

  Tess looked up at him. “We’ll have to go after him.”

  Cameron raised an eyebrow. “I believe Zahi Selim was forever lost in the storm. At least that’s what he said happened to him.”

  Tess sighed. “You’re testing me to see if I’m capable of bending the rules. I admit I’d like to let him go, but we need to find him and you know it.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He untied Bulgar’s feet and dragged him out of the trunk. “Let’s get this one taken care of first.”

  Tess suffered every bump and jolt on the way to the airport. Her ribs ached abominably, and she felt as if her head were spitting. Cameron commandeered an unused conference room in the terminal and ordered a cot and pillow for her.

  He first secured Bulgar to one of the chairs and then gave Tess the pain meds that he had gotten at the hospital.

  “Get some sleep now,” he ordered. “And as soon as you reach D.C., I want you to get to the hospital and get thoroughly checked out again. They were too rushed by all the emergencies here to suit me.”

  She agreed, touched by his concern. She watched as he settled at the table and began working on his computer. Doing his post-op report, she supposed. His powers of concentration amazed her. He had to be suffering an adrenaline crash. She knew she was.

  Poor guy looked as bedraggled as she felt. They had all been soaked from the rain, splattered and half-coated by mud and then showered with plaster dust at the hotel.

  Bulgar remained steadfastly silent, though she couldn’t imagine he had anything to say that would help him. Cameron hadn’t even tried to interrogate him, and she guessed there was little need for it at this point.

  Three hours later Tess woke as Mercier entered the room. He acknowledged Cameron with a nod, then went immediately to the cot. “How are you feeling, Tess?”

  “I’ll be all right,” she said, sitting up with some effort.

  Cameron had rushed to help her stand and did so gently as he spoke to Mercier. “She needs medical attention before you start debriefing. Are you flying directly to Washington?”

  “The plane’s ready.” Mercier glanced at Bulgar. “Where’s the other one?”

  “Got away when the hotel was collapsing. He’s probably found a way off St. Thomas by now, but I’ll find him,” replied Cameron.

  “He’s headed home,” Tess said. “You have his parents’ address?”

  “How do you know that?” Cameron asked.

  “He was thinking about reconnecting with his parents. Thinking seriously about it,” explained Tess.

  Cameron smiled. “In English?”

  “Some things transcend language. I felt his need,” she said.

  “Ah, you could read his need.” Cameron looked into her eyes. Neither of them said anything.

  Mercier cleared his throat. “Well, if you’re ready to board, we’ll get out of here. Cochran, good work. Report when you have Selim in custody, and I’ll give you directions for delivery and arrange your debriefing.”

  Cameron nodded. “I’ll help Tess onto the plane if you’ll bring the prisoner.”

  “No need for that,” Mercier said and went to the door and opened it. “We’re ready to go.”

  Clay Senate, an agent Tess had briefly worked with before, entered and took charge of Bulgar. The fierce-looking Native American was twice the size of his charge and usually just as silent.

  Danielle Michaels, the primary agent on Tess’s last case, came in, too. They had a lot in common, and Tess considered her a friend. She grinned at Tess. “Girl, you could use a bath and a good dose of chocolate! We’ll fix you right up on the plane.” At Jack’s direction, Danielle, who went by Dani, picked up the computers belonging to Tess and Selim.

  Mercier put his arm around Tess and supported her with his other hand. “I’ll take care of Tess.” He spoke over his shoulder to Cameron as they headed out. “We need Selim’s testimony. You know what’s at stake.”

  Tess knew Cameron understood that Selim’s eventual testimony was not the most crucial element involved in the capture. Cameron would have to bring Selim in to clear the shadow from his own record. This was a test.

  She and Mercier might know full well that Cameron had not warned Selim two years ago and allowed evidence to vanish, but Cameron was still blacklisted, because some people did believe it.

  Tess couldn’t leave him without a goodbye. She knew Mercier didn’t believe in goodbyes and wouldn’t afford her a chance to say anything if she didn’t insist. “Wait a minute.” She stopped at the door and pulled away from Mercier’s hold. “Cameron?” she said, suddenly at a loss for words. She didn’t move any closer, afraid she would rush into his arms and betray the fact that they had been intimate. “Thank you,” she said finally, hating how formal and impersonal it sounded. How inadequate. “For saving my life and…everything.”

  Cameron’s eyes remained solemn. He wore a tightlipped expression that spoke of resignation, lost hope and frustration. Then he nodded once. “You’re welcome.”

  Mercier looked from one to the other, then embraced Tess again with his arm and ushered her out.

  She wanted to burst into tears, to run back to Cameron, but managed to control herself. Hadn’t she known from the beginning that the fantasy would end when the mission was over? Sure, Cameron had asked if he could call her after, but what good would that do?

  Even if they didn’t live so far apart, even if he got a job near her, they were so totally different that a real relationship would never work.

  He had been making love to his invented Tess, not the person she really was. She wasn’t even certain who he really was, and maybe that was what constituted her fascination with him.

  She did know how sweet and funny he could be, how compassionate and how gentle when he tempered that fierce strength of his. He
had risked his life to save hers. Twice. How could she not love him?

  Chapter 14

  Later, on the plane home, Dani joined her, bringing coffee and a sandwich. “Here you go, sweetie. Eat something, and then I’ll help you freshen up a little.”

  “I’m okay,” Tess said, forcing a smile.

  “Not hardly. You’re in pain and in love, neither of which makes you okay.”

  Tess sighed and took the coffee. “I didn’t know you were an empath.”

  Dani laughed. “I don’t have to be. You wince every time you move, and I saw your Mr. Cochran. Muddy and scruffy as he was, he looked like a heartbreaker. Your little farewell scene gave you away.”

  “Damn. You don’t think he realized it, do you?” Tess asked.

  “Are you going to eat that sandwich?” Dani asked, avoiding the question. “At least try half of it.” She took half herself and bit into it, probably to keep from having to answer.

  Tess finished the coffee, unwilling to share anything about Cameron with Dani or anyone else. “Is Jack with Bulgar?”

  Dani nodded. “You know Jack can’t read him, though, and the man hasn’t said a word since we got on the plane.”

  “He hasn’t said anything since we took him down twenty-four hours ago except that he wants a lawyer.”

  “Really? Have you tried getting in his head?”

  “No,” Tess admitted. “We had plenty of evidence even before we caught him, and I figured he’d be mentally interrogated, anyway, once we got him squared away.”

  “Eric is on assignment and couldn’t come with us for this. Jack, Clay and I don’t have that skill. But you’ve worked with Eric on yours in the past few months. So Jack and I think you should give it a go now if you feel up to it, see if you pick up on something he might be ruminating about.”

  Tess knew she couldn’t begin to do what Eric Vinland did. He was amazing, his ability incredibly reliable. “Eric says I try too hard and should just loosen up and let it happen. I wish it were that easy.”

  Dani sighed. “Well, I can’t do it at all, and believe me, I’ve tried. Guess you either have it or you don’t. I get premonitions sometimes. You know, flashes that often pan out. Do you get like internal conversations or what?”

  Tess tried to explain it. “Well, you know how sometimes people talk to themselves out loud, sort of for emphasis or to hear the problem stated audibly? We tend to do that inside our heads, too. Those words I can get if I am focused on subjects and can see their eyes.”

  “Windows of the mind as well as the soul, huh?”

  “Exactly. But some people rarely think in actual words, only in a jumble of impressions and emotions, usually too erratic to follow. Some who do internal verbalization do so in other languages, as Zahi Selim did in Arabic, his mother tongue. I could get his intent and his feelings, though, so he was a pretty good subject. It’s exhausting when it does work, and I usually can’t keep it up for long.”

  She thought of reading Cameron’s mind the night they made love. That had been exhilarating.

  Dani was tapping her lips with her finger as she thought about it. “Interesting. Why not go and sit with Bulgar, stir him up a bit and see what happens?”

  “It might work,” Tess said, thinking out loud. She had read Selim pretty well, and that had given her confidence a boost. She had gotten into Cameron’s head a time or two, though only when he intended for her to do it.

  It was certainly worth a try with Bulgar. He was probably too busy worrying about his fate to worry about guarding his thoughts. He wouldn’t know that he needed to. And he’d probably be thinking a lot since he wasn’t saying anything.

  “Maybe I could ask some pointed questions to steer his thoughts,” she told Dani. “But I’d feel a little more confident doing it if I felt human and didn’t look like the wreck of the century.”

  “You’re a trouper, kid. C’mon, we’ll take ten and get you decent. I’ve got makeup in my purse and a change of clothes in my carry-on. We’ll fix you right up.”

  Forty-five minutes later Tess proceeded to do what she could with the brooding Bulgar. “Your attorney will meet with you after we land, but if you cooperate, it will only help your case.”

  Bulgar’s chest ached. His fists hurt from clenching them. How had this happened? Had Eckhardt ratted? Or maybe Acton had. But neither of them knew where he was living. Selim had led these federal agents here to trap him. How had he known the location? He was just a tool, a second-rate hacker, a kid, for God’s sake.

  Somehow everything had fallen apart. Somehow they had traced him, but how?

  “How long have you lived on Martinique, Mr. Bulgar?” The woman kept asking him these random questions, as if he would answer anything she asked. “You might as well talk to me. The evidence against you is pretty conclusive.”

  Did she take him for a fool? They had nothing on him. Nothing! Let them drag him back to the States. Let them check his finances, talk to his wife. There wasn’t a speck of evidence anywhere that could link him to anything. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut, and they’d have to let him go eventually.

  It would all fall on Selim; he had set him up and seen to that. Bulgar decided if he said anything at all, it would be to admit that Eckhardt and Acton had a grudge against him. He could say they were simply using him to deflect attention from their plan to shut down the grid. Accusing him because he hadn’t been around to defend himself. After all, they were the ones with access. What could he have to do with it? he’d ask. He had been gone from there for years! Best defense in the world and it would work, too. Neither of them had any proof of his involvement.

  But for now, he wouldn’t speak. He wouldn’t say a word. He shot the female agent a look of disgust. She was government, the embodiment of everything he despised. Government, the Department of Energy especially, had wrecked his whole life. He would have the last word on this, that was for sure. Once they had to turn him loose, they would learn who held the power in his hands.

  When Tess finished the one-sided interrogation with Bulgar, she left the prisoner and reported to Mercier. “Sir, I have two names for you. The first is Ekherd, or Ekhardt, something like that. The other is Acton.”

  “Do you know who they are and if they’re related to the threat?”

  Tess nodded. “Either formerly or currently employed by DOE. Currently, I think. Bulgar’s planning to say they’re pointing the finger at him.”

  “Motive?” he asked.

  “Revenge against the government in general, most likely because they cut funds, and the Department of Energy in particular, because he was forced to leave it.”

  “You got all that? I’m impressed. Anything else?”

  “He’s still determined to do something, even if he has to do it while incarcerated, but he hasn’t formed a backup plan yet. Hatred and a burning need for revenge on Selim are distracting him. I did what I could to increase that in order to keep him frustrated and his mind busy.”

  “Excellent.” He began making notes.

  “His thoughts are pretty repetitive. That’s all I could get.”

  “Certainly more than we hoped for,” he said with a smile. “There will be a commendation in this for you. You performed extremely well under unexpected and hazardous conditions. I’ll admit, I would never have sent you in without a senior agent if I had known this much physical danger would be involved. To tell you the truth, because of your lack of experience, I figured Cochran would carry you on this, but you surprised me with your initiative and adaptability. Good work, Tess.”

  She blushed, warmed by the praise and a little embarrassed by it. “Cochran does deserve much of the credit, sir. He suspected all along that there was an insider running the show and Selim was only a tool.”

  Mercier pointed at her with his pen. “And you just discovered two more insiders. Valuable information we could not have gotten any other way. Vinland might have given us that once he returned to D.C. and interviewed Bulgar, but it could have come t
oo late. So don’t be modest.”

  Tess felt Cameron might get the short shrift, and she wasn’t having that. “Cochran’s experience in the field actually drove the investigation all the way, and he saved my life twice. I hope he’ll be commended, too.”

  Mercier was busy writing again. “Of course. Now, take a break, Tess, get some rest and I’ll get cracking on these names you gave me.”

  “You don’t think Cochran’s coming back with Selim, do you?” she asked Mercier.

  In fact, she worried about that herself. Selim had kindly left them all the evidence, even the communications on his laptop that incriminated him. And he had called to assure Cameron that he was no threat. He was going back to Egypt to make up with his parents. Would Cameron let sympathy for the young man influence him?

  Mercier was regarding her with an intensity that made her nervous. “I think,” he said slowly and meaningfully, “that you are overly concerned about a former agent who is no longer your affair.”

  No longer your affair. That said it all, didn’t it? Tess wished she could forget it, but she couldn’t. Cameron had awakened something inside her and changed the woman she had been. He had given her his trust and earned hers.

  Attraction, lust, respect, admiration, compassion as well as trust. All that almost equaled love, didn’t it? Maybe if he had thrown in commitment, but it had been too soon for that, she supposed.

  So what was she hoping for even if he did come back, even if he called her and wanted to get together again? He’d told her plainly that he liked what he did, fishing off the coast of Savannah. She would never fit in there. No hope they could have any sort of regular relationship.

  “Let it go, Tess,” Mercier advised.

  “I didn’t think you were telepathic, sir,” she said with a sigh.

  “I’m not. Just observant. It’s hero worship, Tess, and misplaced at that, so get the stars out of your eyes. Cochran won’t settle down. He never has.”