Preston lifted his goggles and nodded. Adam looked between the two of them again, blinking.
Elle glanced over to see Reese studying the whole encounter.
This op had turned into one giant collision course of her private and professional lives. It wasn’t what the agency wanted, but it was unavoidable. At least he knew the truth. Did it make everything okay? His eyes were hidden behind goggles; his lower face was covered with a scarf, so she had no clue from looking at him. Unfortunately, this was no time for a chat.
“Let’s go,” she said, hurrying down the tunnel to the other end of the server to start checking.
Preston stayed with Adam as they moved to the other end. The server ran over eight feet long. It was a sophisticated machine. She hated to think of all the information it stored. She began scanning the server, looking for any kind of slot or opening that might indicate a hard disc was stored there. The lights on the server blinked and flashed. It hummed, fueled by a steady stream of electricity.
“Look out!” Reese was shouting at her and then jumping on top of her before she knew what was happening. She heard the sound of something (glass?) breaking and then heard the soft whoosh of a flame igniting. There was flickering, and then she felt the heat of the flame right before the sound of a gunshot nearly split her head in two.
She looked up to see the server was on fire and a man was lying on the ground, his head bloody.
“Are you okay?” Reese lifted her face up, cradling it in his gloved hands. She could hear the fearful note in his voice.
“Fine,” she reassured him as she forced herself to stand: she knew her legs would support her. She had to keep searching the server before it burned up.
“You need to get out of here,” he said, holding onto her for another moment before letting her go. “We don’t know how stable this tunnel is.”
“I need to get the backup disc.” They needed to know what information this group had stored; it was crucial to being able to defend against further cyber attacks. “It’s obviously important if they’re willing to destroy their own server.”
As she moved past him to start scanning part of the server that wasn’t on fire yet, he grabbed her arm. “I’m giving you an order to evacuate.” His voice brooked no argument.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t answer to you.” This was true. She wasn’t a Navy SEAL or even in the navy. She pulled her arm loose and then saw a shadow come running for them from deep within the tunnel.
It wasn’t another SEAL: she could tell that from the loose pants and top and lack of gear. He had what looked like another glass bottle that he was raising to throw.
He was raising to throw it right at Reese and her rather than the server.
Elle reached into her holster, pulled out her gun, took aim, and fired before he could throw it. The guy was thrown back from the force of the bullet; the bottle fell to the floor. It didn’t break.
Reese whirled around. More SEALs came running through the tunnel and stopped up short when they got to him. “He was the last guy loose in Building B,” one said as Reese strode over to them.
After inspecting the still body, he looked up at Elle. She gave him a wink before turning her attention to the server. No hesitation there.
It was a good thing metal didn’t burn fast, like wood. She had time to continue scanning before the entire thing blew up.
“Here’s the disc!” Adam held it up from further down the wall. Preston took it from his hand.
“Are we ready to blow this thing up properly?” A SEAL asked as he pulled out some plastic.
Elle nodded. “It’s all yours.”
She looked back at Reese, who was still looking at her. He waved her off. “We’ve got this.”
She nodded, turned, and ran up the stairs with Adam and Preston right behind her.
Chapter 30
Everyone was getting ready to extract. The SEALs had the terrorists standing up with their hands bound. They would take the men to a military plane that would then take them to a CIA holding facility for interrogation before being transferred to US soil.
Preston led the way, and Elle walked slightly behind Adam to make sure they didn’t lose him. He couldn’t move too fast in his bare feet and his gait was awkward, but each step he took seemed determined. She didn’t even want to think about what he had been through.
As soon as they got to the van, they were heading for the airstrip where their plane was waiting. Preston drove while Elle sat in back with Adam. She found the first aid kit and got started, dabbing antiseptic onto the gash above his eye. His eyebrow really did look like it was split in two; the cut wasn’t fully closed.
“This will need stitches,” she told him.
“Where are we going?” he demanded even as he winced from the antiseptic.
“A plane.” She hesitated, about to dab something on his lip. It seemed a bit too intimate to touch his lips, even if her touching him right now was about as unsexy as it got. She handed him a swab and motioned to his mouth. “We’re taking you back to the States.”
He took the swab but just stared at her, as if not believing his own eyes. “Where are we now?”
He didn’t even know where he was? Of course he didn’t: the terrorists probably wanted him as disoriented as possible.
“Izmir, Turkey.” She made it a point to keep her tone matter-of-fact. The answers to his questions were likely to be disconcerting, but at least he was getting information.
“What the hell is going on?” Adam dabbed at his lip but stopped after one dab, pursuing his lips. The antiseptic likely stung.
She held up a patch of a gauze, so he could see it as well as the tape, and then leaned forward to tape it over his eye. “We have a long flight ahead of us: I’ll tell you everything.”
***
Adam finished up his second bowl of soup, a hearty chicken soup. They didn’t want to shock his system with too much food too fast.
“So you-” He glanced at Preston to include him, “-both of you are CIA?”
Elle nodded. Even though she didn’t have any contact with Adam anymore, it felt good to tell someone from her “normal life” her secret.
Adam’s brow furrowed. “My fellowship is with a cybersecurity company.”
She sighed. “It’s a shell corporation for the NSA.” After a pause, she added, “My fellowship was funded by a shell corporation for the CIA.”
Preston gave her a look that clearly said she was oversharing. She didn’t give a damn; Adam had seen enough and been through enough to get all of the information. He deserved that much at least.
“You’ll be fully briefed once we get back to the States,” Preston said.
The stormy look on Adam’s face suggested the idea of that didn’t make him too happy. “A little late for that, isn’t it?”
Elle didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t blame him for being seriously pissed. “Why don’t you get some sleep?” The flight was going to take about eleven hours. “The chairs recline all the way back, just like in first class on a commercial flight.” She stood, reaching into the overhead bin and pulling out blankets and a pillow.
He took the blankets and pillow but his eyes were wary as he looked at them and then back up at her.
“You’re safe, Adam,” she assured him.
It took Adam a while to settle down, but he finally drifted off to sleep. She watched over him. Logically, she knew he was fine, but nothing was as convincing as seeing him.
***
“He’ll be okay.”
Elle looked up to see Preston studying her. She had been studying Adam, who finally dropped off into what first looked like a fitful sleep before settling into a deeper slumber.
“I hope so.” She sat back in her seat and stretched her neck from side to side.
Preston continued to study her from his own seat. “It’s a shock, but he’ll come back from this.”
She met his gaze. “How can you be so sure?”
Was
that a flicker of unease in his eyes? If so, he hid it fast. Typical Preston. “The agency- all of the agencies- do extensive background checks before anyone is recruited, either directly or indirectly, like the two of you. They’re pretty good about excluding people who would crack under pressure.”
She thought about all of the tests she had taken while applying for a position with the agency, the many interviews, the questions, all the hypothetical scenarios that seemed so crazy at the time. Then she looked at Adam, whose mouth had fallen open a bit as he slept.
“He didn’t go through the application process.”
“Not a formal one that he was aware of.” Preston stretched his back. “But trust me, he was vetted. We all are. And as crazy as some of their outcomes can be, they’re usually right.”
She didn’t even know where to begin with those comments but thought back to her own struggles as an operative. “Like you said earlier, when this op first started, we can’t really know what someone is capable of until they’re in the situation.”
“Tonight I watched you engage one terrorist in hand-to-hand combat and shoot another one.” He shrugged. “They’re pretty damn good at identifying operatives. I never would’ve expected it out of a woman who was explaining predictive models to me less than two years ago.”
She hadn’t even thought about the fact that she had shot and killed someone. Two years ago she never would have imagined taking anyone’s life, either, yet she had. She looked at her hands. They were clean. If she hadn’t done it, Reese would be dead right now.
“It was a kill or be killed situation,” she said.
“So it was.” He nodded in agreement, still studying her. “You’re anointed.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Now I’m in?” Then she realized what he meant. She’d made her first kill. She couldn’t think of a better reason than protecting Reese, but… she’d killed someone. Well, she had made the choices that led to her being in the situation, but she would’ve made the same choices all over again, with no regrets.
Preston continued to study her as he spoke. “You were right about entering the compound, too. The SEALs never would’ve found the backup disc.”
She was rather amazed Adam had found the backup disc. Given the size of the disc and the server, it was close to a miracle.
Preston wasn’t done with his observations. “He would’ve been traumatized when they carried his ass out of there, too.” He nodded at Adam, who was still sleeping.
Elle could almost smile. Reese would have carried him out kicking and screaming if necessary.
“And your… friend now knows.” Preston gave her a faint smile.
She took a deep breath. “We’ll see if he’s still my friend. He now knows I’ve been lying to him the whole time.”
He seemed to consider this. “You did save his life.”
“Right after he saved mine.” She could almost feel the roughness of his gloves as he cradled her face in his hands.
“Give and take.” Preston shrugged again. “That’s a big part of relationships, isn’t it?”
She sighed. “So is honesty.” That was what made working for the agency so damn difficult. Keeping such a big secret from family and friends created a barrier that felt insurmountable.
“He’ll understand.” The certainty in his voice surprised her. “You’re going to prove me wrong again.”
This time, she sincerely hoped he was right.
Chapter 31
Mason had chosen some odd meeting places, but Elle never would’ve guessed they would be meeting in a conference room at the Naval Medical Center. It was a great location though; no one would guess they were having a CIA debriefing in a hospital conference room. She sat with him and Preston at the table.
“The backup disc contained even more information than we realized,” Mason said as he eyed them both, “so retrieving it was critical.”
“What’s our next step?” Preston asked. It was typical; he was always ready to go.
“We’ve achieved our objectives.” Was Mason almost smiling? It wasn’t a true smile, but she thought she could detect the corners of his mouth lifting a tiny bit. “The mission was accomplished.”
Were they being too hasty? “There has to be an off-site backup,” Elle pointed out. “The intel is still out there.”
“True,” Mason nodded, “but now that we know what it is, we can take all necessary protective measures. We’ve already gone a long way to making sure this intel is outdated.”
“What about the exposed staff members?” Preston asked.
“They’re being protected.”
It likely meant a lot of operatives’ careers were over, but at least they could be kept safe. Would she have been happy if her name had been on the disc? No: she wouldn’t have been happy. Her career as an operative was only just beginning.
“Your exemplary work has been notated on your records,” Mason said.
Preston simply nodded, but Elle couldn’t keep herself from grinning. It was a hell of a lot better than a gold star.
***
After their debriefing, Elle went to check on Adam, who was in the hospital.
“So you’re a spy.” He looked at her as if he had never seen her before and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
She nodded, motioning for him to eat more of his soup, which he did.
Luckily, he didn’t have any severe injuries. He needed some stitches for the gash above his eye, and they taped his broken toes. He had some cracked ribs, too, but they would heal. He was in the hospital for dehydration and observation; the doctors expected him to be ready for release within the next twenty-four hours.
Yet the trembling of his hand as he lifted the soup to his mouth told her the healing process was only just beginning.
“It was the same situation as yours: the advertising company that I thought was funding my thesis at Michigan was actually a shell company for the CIA. Once they told me who they really were, they invited me to apply for a job.” She could still remember how crazy the whole thing had been.
“So Preston was… recruiting you?” Was that a glimmer of hope in his eyes? Like maybe she and Preston weren’t really an item? They weren’t currently, but they had been back then.
“No.” She shook her head, giving him a gentle smile. He’d hurt her terribly with his cheating, but karma had more than paid him back. It actually ended up opening the door to a new life she had never imagined for herself. Her hurt and anger were gone for the most part. She’d be happy to never see those pictures of him with Bella again, however.
“So you two are still seeing each other.” His already-slumped shoulders drooped just a bit lower.
“No, we aren’t.” She made sure her voice was gentle. “We only saw each other for a few months.” She hated seeing the renewed glimmer of hope as he looked at her again. “But I’m seeing someone else.” At least, she thought she was. She hadn’t heard from Reese, and his cell went straight to voicemail, so he was probably still out in the field.
Even if she couldn’t work out things with him, though, she still knew Adam was a part of her past, not her future. She didn’t want to mislead him.
He nodded, the resignation clear in his eyes.
“So how are things at school?” she asked. She wanted him to focus on the positive.
Even with his swollen lower lip, he was able to smile a little. “Good. Really good, actually. Well, they were. This project: it was exciting, working on the blended threat.”
“That is one thing about these assignments: they’re far more exciting than anything else we’d get.”
After a pause, during which Adam finished his soup, she asked, “So what do you think you’re going to do now? Have they offered you a position with the NSA?”
Elle knew they must have. They wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble of extracting him if they didn’t find him valuable. It was a cold-hearted truth about the way all of the government agencies, worked, but it was what it was.
>
He nodded. “Yep, I’ll probably take it. Paying for my entire doctoral program by doing stuff that’s interesting is too tempting. The skills I’m developing are great.”
Despite his words, which all made sense, she could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
“And let’s be honest.” He looked her right in the eye, his gaze searching. “If I say no, I won’t get any protection. I’ll be a sitting duck.”
She met his gaze with a calm one of her own. She knew his line of thinking. It was a big part of why she chose to become field rated: after Kagan had broken into her apartment, she realized she had no practical means of defending herself.
“I never would’ve imagined you as a- a spy.” He shook his head. “I can see you using your skills for data management, but how did you end up becoming a spy?”
“The short version is not too different from yours: I loved the work they wanted me to do, and…” She sighed. “It was exciting. I started out as an analyst, but things got a little dangerous. I realized if I was field rated then at least I’d have the skills to protect myself. And…” She shrugged. “It’s exciting.”
“I’ll say.” He actually flashed a grin before he winced, probably at the pain of stretching out his lower lip too much. “I thought I was hallucinating when I saw you kick one guy and shoot another one.”
She couldn’t help but grin herself at that.
They sat in silence for a few moments. He looked like he wanted to ask her more, so she didn’t say anything, just let him think.
“Would you do it again?” Adam finally asked, looking at her as if to gauge the honesty of her response.
She didn’t shrink from his gaze and even as she spoke, she knew her words were the truth. “It does require some sacrifices, and there are aspects of this job that I’m not so crazy about, but…” She thought about finding the backup, which Mason already told her contained a “treasure trove” of intel, and running through the compound, seeing Reese in action.
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