“No, sir, I’ll make sure you have what you need,” Stephen said through gritted teeth.
Oz had to work hard not to snigger. It had the same effect on CIA agents as it did on teenage girls. Sweet.
“I’ll just be needing that extra body, Junior.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent. In that case, I’ll be in the van outside running ops.” Billy pointed at the plan. “AJ will be on the ground floor with Mr. Whittaker. Agent, you and Oz will take sixty-nine, Junior with Finn. Any questions?” Everyone shook their heads. “Good. Junior, before you hang up I want a word with your dad. There’s a couple of things I need him to send down with the boy.” He winked at Finn. “Just in case of emergency.” Junior handed the phone over, a wide grin covered his face.
Stephen turned to Finn. “Who is AJ?”
Oz smiled and watched the interplay between the two of them, knowing he thought Finn was the easy mark in the room. A few months ago, he would have been right. Her naivety made her trust—it still did, to a certain extent—but she’d been burned now, and her trust was reserved for those who had earned it. He wasn’t one of them.
“Junior’s younger brother.”
“Is he a SEAL too?”
Oz wondered at the questions but realized that maybe the agent wasn’t as stupid as it might seem. He’d been a CIA agent for fifteen years. She’d done her homework, and she was sure he’d done his too. He would know the background to her entire family. He’d have to. He wouldn’t have lasted fifteen years otherwise. So why ask questions you already know the answer to? Simple. He was testing her, and by extension, all of them. Her opinion of the agent rose. Slightly.
“No.” Finn crossed her legs and folded her arms on the table. “AJ’s a lieutenant in the Coast Guard.”
“Great.” Stephen didn’t try to hide the sarcasm in his tone.
Finn offered him a sweet, insincere smile. “If you didn’t want them to take over, you shouldn’t have done a half-arsed job, Mr. Knight.”
“I thought I told you to call me Stephen.”
“I’d rather not. It implies that I might actually like you.”
Stephen threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, my dear Finn, you might actually be able to pull this off after all. You need to let your inner bitch out more often.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
“I’m serious. If you want Mehalik to believe that you’re prepared to sell him this weapon, knowing exactly what it can do, you need to be able to pull off the callous bitch routine. Your father was a greedy bastard. Mehalik doesn’t respect that, but he understands it. You have to give him another reason to understand you.”
“Why wouldn’t greed work like it did for my dad?”
“Because you’ve created this, from the root up, as they say. You know this beast too well to be able to let it go for money alone. You need some other reason behind it or he won’t trust you. He’ll smell the trap a mile away.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Anger.”
Finn frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Channel the anger you feel at your father, and play being angry at the world for his failings. Mehalik thinks Westerners are spoiled brats, so he’d believe that. If you can make him think that you’re willing to deal with him to prove to your father that you’re better than he was, that he should have given you more credit or whatever, he’ll believe that. If you can convince him that you’re angry at the world for some reason then he’ll buy into your willingness to destroy it.”
“What possible reason could I have to be prepared to destroy the world, other than anger at my dear old dad?”
“Your mother died when you were a young child. Killed herself, right?”
Finn nodded and Oz could see the tears well in her eyes. She gritted her teeth, knowing how the mention of Finn’s mother affected her. She followed Finn’s lead though, and gave no indication that anyone in the room thought differently in regards to the fate of Cassandra Finsbury-Sterling. Stephen Knight simply wasn’t trusted enough.
“That’s enough to screw up a lot of kids. Add to that a father who was trying to steal your work out from under you.” He shrugged. “You don’t have to actually feel that way, but you need to act like you do. Channel your inner actress.”
“She’s on holiday right now.” Finn smiled and Oz knew she was trying to alleviate some of the pressure she was feeling.
“Then get her back.” Stephen looked her in the eye. “You really need him to believe you, or everyone in this room is likely to end up dead.”
“You stupid son of a bitch.” Oz grabbed his lapels. “Don’t you think she’s under enough pressure? Do you really think it helps telling her shit like that?”
He wrapped his hands around her fists and tried to break the grip she had on him. “She has a right to know the truth.”
“Do you think she’s stupid? She knows what’s at stake here. Probably more than you do. Like you said, she knows exactly what this toxin can do. She’s the one trying to create the damn antidote for it.” Oz tugged him closer to her and watched his face pale as she towered over him. “So back the fuck off and help.” She pushed him away from her and watched him stumble backward. “Don’t put any more roadblocks in the way.”
“What are you talking about? What roadblocks?”
“Putting together a piece of shit plan like this one.” She pointed to the plans of the Rockefeller Center. “No on site ops? Are you fucking kidding me? And where the hell’s Whittaker? He should be here while we plan this.” She watched his jaw clench at Whittaker’s name and the twitch at the corner of his eye fired again, and she knew without a doubt that he knew more about Whittaker than he was telling them. Fucker. “We’re supposed to be working together on this, and it’s you putting us all in jeopardy right now. Not Finn. So back off, buddy, and act like the professional you’re supposed to be.”
“Oz.” Billy put a hand on her shoulder. “He’s got the message.”
“He better remember it then.” Oz balled her hands into fists and tried to concentrate on her breathing. She felt soft fingers caress her knuckles and looked down. Finn slowly uncurled one of her hands and entwined their fingers.
“I love you.” Finn smiled up at her and Oz felt her anger dissipate.
“I love you too.”
“Pops says we’ll have everything we need by midnight,” Junior said.
Billy grinned. “Excellent.”
“Want to fill me in?” Stephen Knight glowered at Oz but took his place next to Billy.
“Just a contingency plan, should we need one.”
“We really aren’t expecting anything to happen at this party.” Stephen frowned.
“I know.” Billy pushed his fingers through his shaggy, dirty blond hair. “But I was taught the five P’s when I was at boot camp.”
“The five P’s?”
“Proper planning prevents poor performance.” He looked the CIA agent in the eye. “I don’t take any chances when it comes to my family.”
The room was silent while Billy and Stephen stared at each other. No one moved. The tension in the room went up another notch as the seconds ticked by. Slowly, Stephen dropped his gaze. She’d expected more of a fight. And from the surprised glance from Junior, so had he. Stephen’s capitulation had effectively handed control of the operation to Billy.
“Understood.”
Oz’s distrust of the agent grew. Why would a CIA agent cede control of the operation with so little fight? She’d seen agents cling to a case with their last professional breath and never concede control. She’d also seen the flicker of something in Knight’s eyes when she’d stood toe-to-toe with him. He was hiding something. She didn’t know what, but she was damn sure she was going to get to the bottom of it. If it had anything to do with Mehalik, it put them all in danger. She glanced at Finn. And that was a chance she simply wasn’t willing to take.
Chapter Twenty-two
&nbs
p; Bailey pulled into the parking lot at the small motel. It was just after eight thirty, the sun had long since set, and her eyes felt full of sand. Fifteen hours on the road had brought them as far as the outskirts of Savannah, and they still had a long way to go, but she was happy enough to call it a night. Cassie was curled up in the passenger seat, and Bailey smiled at the soft snores that filtered out from under her long auburn hair every now and then. She decided to let her continue sleeping while she arranged them both rooms for the night. Her stomach rumbled loudly as she opened the car door, and she quickly looked over at Cassie to see if the noise had woken her. She smiled as another gentle snore greeted her ears. Guess not.
“Jazz, watch the car, then we can worry about dinner.” The dog let out a tiny bark, as though she was trying not to wake Cassie either. “I swear you’re just too smart for your own good, pooch.”
The motel reception was small but clean, with a small office behind the desk. She could hear cries for one player or another to “put the damn ball in the net” or “pass, you greedy son of a gun.” She rang the bell on the counter and smiled when a guy poked his head out.
“Hi there.” He smiled.
“Sorry to interrupt the game.”
He waved his hand. “They couldn’t hit the side of a barn with that ball, never mind the damn net. I’m Doug. How can I help you tonight?” Doug was easily seventy if he was a day. The stooped shoulders and thin hair was a dead giveaway even without the lined, weather-beaten face that smiled broadly at her.
“Nice to meet you, Doug, I’m Bailey, and I hope you have two rooms? I have a dog with me too.”
“No problem with the dog, just don’t leave it in the room alone. But I’ve only got one room available tonight. It has twin beds though.” He smiled. “That okay?”
Bailey shrugged. It would have to be. “Sure.” She hoped Cassie would be okay with it, but she wasn’t up to driving anymore tonight.
“It’ll save you some money, anyway.”
“Good point.” It was a business trip, after all. She quickly paid for the room and took the key on its oversized key ring. Cassie was still snoring when she got back to the car and let Jazz out. Bailey opened the passenger side door and shook Cassie’s shoulder, only to have her hand brushed off, like a fly being shooed away. Bailey grinned and tried again.
“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty.”
“G’way.”
“Come on. Time to get out of the car.” Bailey shook her leg this time, and received a slap for her trouble. “Ow.”
“I’m not driving anymore.”
Bailey laughed. “You were the one who said we should just drive straight through and not stop.”
“You should have told me how foolish that idea was.”
“I did. And that’s why I’ve got us beds for the night at this fine establishment.”
Cassie finally cracked open one eye.
“I could kiss you right now.” Cassie paled slightly. “I-I, I didn’t—shit—I meant that metaphorically.”
Bailey had to work saliva back into her mouth before she could speak. “I figured.” Her voice sounded thick and lower than normal even to her own ears. “I’ll grab the bags and then we can check out our palace for the evening.”
“You already checked in?” Cassie stretched her arms over her head as she climbed out of the car and Bailey couldn’t keep from staring as Cassie’s sweater pulled tight across her breasts and rode up her tummy just enough for her to catch a glimpse of creamy white flesh. Bailey swallowed hard and slammed the trunk closed.
“Yeah. They only had one room left though.”
Cassie raised an eyebrow as she tugged on the hem of her sweater and swung her coat around her shoulders.
“Doug at reception assured me it has two beds though. I haven’t seen it. I just checked in. I’m sure we could find another motel somewhere, I just—I mean, I’m really tired and I couldn’t face driving around for God knows how long trying to find somewhere else when it’s got two beds anyway—”
“Bailey?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re rambling.”
“Sorry.”
Cassie took her bag from Bailey’s hand and slipped the strap over her shoulder. “It’s okay. Are you going to show me the way?”
Bailey locked up and led them up a small flight of concrete steps. Room twenty was at the end of the row, and the heavy beige curtains danced in the air when she pushed open the door. Neutral colors, a small pine dresser between the two beds, a reading lamp, alarm clock, and telephone on top of it. Not luxury, but functional. The scent of disinfectant in the air attested to the recent cleaning the room had undergone, as did the overlying odor of lavender-scented air freshener.
“Do you mind if I open the window and let some of the hideous smell vent?” Cassie wafted her hand in front of her nose.
“I’ll get it.” Bailey dropped her bag on the first bed she came to and wrestled with the window catch as Cassie moved to the other side of the room.
“Otherwise it’s not a bad room at all.” She smiled, and Bailey let out a relieved breath.
“Yeah, I think we can make do with this, don’t you, Jazz?” The dog jumped on Cassie’s bed and turned in circles a couple of times before dropping down and promptly falling asleep. “I think that answers that question.” Bailey’s stomach growled again and Cassie giggled.
“Can I interest you in dinner?”
“Afraid I’ll eat you if you don’t feed me?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Bailey wanted to pull them back. She could feel her cheeks burning again, and she hoped Cassie didn’t think about what she’d said. The raised eyebrow told her she wasn’t that lucky, but Cassie was gracious enough to let it pass.
“I’m a little hungry myself. Did you see anything nearby?”
“Yeah, there’s a diner across the street, or I can go to reception and see what Doug recommends.”
“Across the street sounds good. I don’t feel like getting back in the car again tonight. I’d forgotten how long this drive feels when you’re stuck in the car all day.” Cassie unpacked her toiletries and tucked her sleepwear under her pillow.
“You’ve made this trip before?” Bailey was grateful for the change of subject, and it seemed the farther from Boston they got the more talkative Cassie became. She seemed to feel safer with greater distance. Or maybe it was the excitement of getting closer to her daughter. Whatever it was, Bailey didn’t care. The more Cassie talked, the less she had to—and that meant she made less of a fool of herself, which seemed to happen with alarming regularity.
“When Karen and I left England. My family lived in Sarasota Springs. We had no one else to turn to for help. We used everything we had leaving England.” Cassie quietly finished unpacking her bag, placed her things into one of the drawers in the dresser, and tucked her bag under her bed.
“This was after your death?” Bailey curled her fingers in the air, making air quotes as she commented on Cassie’s supposed death.
“Yes. To say they were shocked to see me is a bit of an understatement.” She smiled sadly and sat on her bed, slowly dragging her brush through her hair. “I honestly thought my dad was going to have a heart attack right there on the lawn.”
“I take it they helped though?”
“Eventually. At first he told me to get out of there and never come back.”
“Why?”
“Because of Karen.” Bailey was pretty sure the look on her face told Cassie exactly what she thought of that response, and Cassie smiled at her. “She looked at him like that too.”
“Sorry.”
“No need. It was a long time ago, and as you said, he did help us. He gave us money, a car, and falsified documents. Everything we needed to start a new life. The only catch was that we do it far away from him and my mother.”
“Homophobic?”
“It was more than that. By the time he helped us, he was certain that William was watching them. While he didn’t like tha
t I was involved with Karen, they would have gotten used to it and been fine, eventually. But none of us could take the chance that William would find us through my parents. It wasn’t safe for them, for us, or for Daniela.” She put her brush into her drawer as Bailey’s stomach rumbled again. She nodded toward the door. “I think we should get going before you start chewing on the furniture.”
Jazz beat them both to the door, holding her leash in her mouth and looking up at her “service” vest hanging from a coat peg, which made Cassie giggle. “She has you very well trained, Bailey.”
“You’re not kidding.” The diner was quiet, and they chose a booth in the corner by the window. Jazz slid under the table silently, settling her head on Bailey’s foot. They ordered burgers, fries, and a pot of coffee and Bailey watched Cassie fidget with the salt shaker, spinning it around on the Formica table top. “Tell me about Karen.”
The salt shaker toppled over, and Cassie hurriedly righted it and swept the spilled salt off the smooth surface. “What do you want to know?”
“How did you meet?”
Cassie smiled, and Bailey was sure she didn’t even realize she’d done it. “I went back to work pretty soon after Daniela was born. I’d been working on a project before I went on maternity leave, and I was itching to get back to it. There was a nursery at the lab. I’d insisted upon it when William and I started the company. I knew one day I’d have children, and I wanted to keep them close by while I was working. Control freak, right?” She laughed a little. “Anyway, Karen was one of the nursery assistants there.”
“I thought you said she was a cook.”
“She was. But that came later.”
“After you died?”
“Yes. Do you have to keep saying it like that?”
“What would you prefer me to say?”
“I don’t know. Can’t we just say left or something?”
Bailey shrugged. “Okay. After you left.”
“Yes. When we moved away, it was the only job she could get then.”
“So she was involved in Daniela’s life pretty much from the start?”
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