by MC Lee
Anderson was watching him closely. “You think he’s cleared school grounds and has taken Freya to safety,” he said. “I imagine he won’t contact you just in case your position has been compromised. No, he’ll wait to hear from you that the coast is clear. You probably have some kind of code so he knows it’s definitely you contacting him.” He tipped his head to the side again. “Either that, or you have a prearranged meeting place.”
Jack kept his expression blank. He was fully expecting Anderson to start making threats, so he was surprised all over again when instead he just shrugged. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
Anderson’s self-assurance was starting to get to Jack. He certainly wasn’t acting like somebody whose careful plans were crumbling.
“I’ve shown you mine,” he said. “Your turn. Tell me why you were sent here.”
Anderson’s irritating smirk returned. “You’re right about a couple of things. I was sent to shadow Freya Moore. And when Leo McCormack showed up, I was not particularly happy. Top marks for that observation.”
“You thought you recognized him, so you looked up his history—”
“Let me walk you through this, Jack,” Anderson cut in, sounding disturbingly offhand. “I knew Leo had spiked the school’s computers. Why would I use them to check up on him when I knew the Center would be tracking their use?”
Jack frowned, quickly cataloging the clues Anderson had let slip. If what he was saying were true, he had not only known Leo’s real identity, but he’d also known he worked for the Center. Jack racked his brain for a motive that didn’t involve operative incompetence. Anderson’s previous boasts presented an obvious answer.
“It was deliberate.”
“Top marks again,” Anderson said. “I can see why Sean is so proud of you.”
The icy chill that slid down his spine made Jack shiver, despite his best efforts at maintaining composure. He’d been drilled repeatedly in staying focused, so he let the troubling mention of his handler slide and concentrated on the rest.
“You wanted to alert the Center that somebody knew who Leo really was so they’d pull him out and give you a clear field.”
Anderson sighed. “It’s a little pedestrian, don’t you think?”
Jack didn’t let Anderson’s smugness rattle him this time. He tried again. “You knew Leo would get in the way of your operation. You knew he had Freya constantly in his sights and you’d never get close to her. You wanted him out of the way—”
“If I’d wanted him out of the way, he’d be long gone by now,” Anderson said. His expression hadn’t changed, but everything about his tone was instantly menacing. Jack couldn’t believe he had ever considered Ryan Anderson an ordinary high school student.
“What did you want with Freya?” he asked. It occurred to him that Anderson’s assignment might hold the key to all this. “Why were you shadowing her?”
Anderson’s smile was chilling. “Finally, a useful question. I’m shadowing her for the same reason you’re shadowing Leo.”
It didn’t register at first. The parameters had been too certain, the assignment totally straightforward. Or at least that’s what Jack had thought. Freya Moore had turned up at Bayfield Heights; Ryan Anderson had appeared shortly afterward. He had done absolutely everything an operative would do when shadowing a target.
But she wasn’t Anderson’s target.
“You’re here to back her up,” Jack breathed. “You’re not shadowing her. You’re working with her.”
Anderson shrugged.
Jack’s gut clenched as something else fell into place. He clamped his mouth closed around the words, but Anderson guessed his intent.
“Leo thinks he’s protecting Freya from me. But who’s protecting him from Freya?”
Jack felt his knees buckle, and he had to concentrate to stay upright. The gym seemed to be spinning around him, and he felt dizzy. He pulled in a stuttering breath to keep from throwing up.
“Where are they?” he demanded.
Anderson threw up a hand. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Jack had to consciously stop himself from launching across the room and wrapping his hands around Anderson’s throat. Though he knew it was a useless gesture, he pulled his cell phone out and hit one of the preset keys. Unsurprisingly, the call went directly to Leo’s voice mail.
He ignored Anderson’s snort of derision and tapped out a rapid text, pressing Send, even though he was sure the message wouldn’t reach Leo. He waited in silence, every second that ticked by making him feel more nauseous. Finally, he returned his gaze to Anderson.
“You had to check for yourself. I respect that,” Anderson said. He held out his hand. “But now I think I’ll take that.”
Jack backed up a step, his fingers tightening around the phone.
Anderson didn’t make any move to follow. “It’s just a guess, of course, but I figure you want to know where Leo is. You two seem… close.”
Jack gritted his teeth and reluctantly closed the gap between himself and Anderson. He held out the phone, some small, distant part of him proud his hand didn’t shake.
“What do you want with Leo?”
Anderson waved a dismissive hand. “You were doing so well figuring it all out for yourself.”
Jack swallowed his anger and frustration and forced himself to think.
“Freya is at Bayfield Heights because her father accepted a new position at Informa Tech—”
“The Center’s fake company,” Anderson put it.
Jack ignored him. “Dominic Moore was recruited by Informa after a tip from a government source.” He frowned deeply and then nodded as the real picture took shape. “The tip was a hoax. Your people planted it.”
“Go on,” Anderson said. “You’re doing good.”
“The Center sent in an extraction team, as you knew it would.” The frown returned, deeper this time. Something here just wasn’t adding up. He looked up at Anderson’s face, almost as if he expected to find clues in his guarded expression.
“Don’t stop now,” Anderson said, sounding amused. “You’re almost there.”
“You got exactly what you wanted, but you tipped your hand anyway.”
“Because?”
Jack pulled in a ragged breath and let the possibilities fill his mind, discarding those that made no sense, examining those with even a shred of plausibility. When the penny dropped, it was so obvious Jack couldn’t believe he hadn’t considered it until now. “Because you wanted them to send in backup. You wanted them to send another team.”
“And who was most likely to be sent as backup? Given a certain special relationship.”
Jack straightened and shoved his hands into his pockets to stop them shaking.
“It isn’t Leo you want,” he said with conviction. “This whole operation has been a setup to get to me.”
Chapter Twenty
ANDERSON CLAPPED his hands slowly. “I knew you’d get there if you tried hard enough.”
Jack remained impassive, though underneath the cool exterior he was seething with anger. He had trusted Freya; hell, he had actually liked her. He’d felt so twisted with remorse at his part in trying to sabotage her life that he’d risked Sean’s wrath by trying to help her. And she’d turned out to be nothing more than an operative, on an assignment targeting Jack.
“What happens now?” Jack asked, surprised at how steady his voice sounded. “You wanted me, you’ve got me. What do you plan to do with me?”
“We’d like you to come and have a chat,” Anderson said.
Jack snorted in disbelief. He ran the scenario through his head, abandoning the obvious play, and then he abruptly turned on his heel and started walking out of the gym.
“You don’t want to do that,” Anderson said, sounding panicked.
“Just watch me,” Jack muttered.
As expected, Anderson rocketed off the bench and strode across the floor. He was only inches away when Jack dropped to the ground, pivoted on o
ne foot, and kicked out, sweeping Anderson’s legs out from beneath him and sending him crashing to the parquet floor.
Anderson let out a grunt of pain as his head bounced off the hard wood, and a moment later Jack had thrown himself across Anderson’s prone body, knocking the remaining air out of his lungs in a rush. He rolled onto his back, pulling Anderson with him by hooking an arm around his neck, crushing his larynx.
“Now tell me,” Jack hissed against Anderson’s ear. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t break your fucking neck.”
Anderson swallowed convulsively, struggling in vain to release Jack’s grip.
“Leo McCormack,” he croaked.
It was the only thing that saved him from getting choked out. Jack relaxed his grip marginally, just enough for Anderson to gulp down a frantic breath.
“What about Leo?” he snarled.
“If I don’t report, Freya will take him out.”
Jack released his hold, and Anderson struggled onto his side, choking for air.
“Where has she taken Leo?” Jack demanded. He climbed to his feet; Anderson wisely stayed where he was.
“I don’t know,” Anderson croaked. “He’ll be safe. Just as long as I make contact in exactly four minutes.”
Jack glanced at the clock on the wall. He dropped to a crouch and fished Anderson’s cell phone out of his pocket. He almost dropped the phone when it buzzed softly and vibrated against his palm. The message on the screen was from Freya and contained a single word: Report.
Jack typed two words in return: Fuck you.
In less than a heartbeat, a return message read: Hello Jack. He waited, immediately connecting to the call that followed.
“Where’s Leo?” he demanded.
Freya laughed. “Would you believe he’s getting my popcorn?”
“Why hasn’t he answered his phone?”
“Relax, Jack. I have his phone right here. When he comes back, I’ll pretend he dropped it.”
Jack pulled in a deep breath. “What do you want with him?” He stepped back as Anderson struggled to his feet, swaying a little and looking a nasty shade of green.
“We’re not interested in Leo. It’s you we want.”
“Why?” Jack asked.
“Where’s Ryan?” she countered, ignoring his question.
“Ryan’s just fine. So, you have my partner and I have yours. Where do we go from here?”
“Come meet me,” she said.
“Where?”
“The movie’s just about to start. Hurry and you’ll catch the last half hour. Theater two. Now be a good boy and put Ryan on.”
Jack felt a rush of anger, but he swallowed it down quickly. Leo’s position was compromised. Until he knew exactly what was going on, he wasn’t about to do anything stupid. He held the phone out to Anderson, who approached warily. His fingers had just closed around it when Jack grabbed his arm in an iron grip.
“Anything happens to Leo and you’re a dead man,” he growled.
Anderson yanked hard, and Jack released his hold.
“You’re in no position to make threats,” Anderson said, but he backed away quickly.
Jack listened closely, but he couldn’t hear Freya’s side of the conversation, and outside of a couple of grunts of agreement, Anderson didn’t say much. When the call was over, Anderson disconnected and shoved his phone into his pocket. He then retrieved Jack’s phone and held it out.
“I presume it’s password protected?”
Jack nodded.
“Unlock it.”
Jack reached out, and this time he was the one flinching as Anderson’s fingers closed around his wrist.
“Remember, I know the Center’s protocols. Try anything stupid and you’ll be picking up pieces of your boyfriend for days.”
Jack kept his expression absolutely impassive, though his insides quaked. Anderson was right. With a couple of subtle keystrokes he could alert the Center that he was in trouble. Nothing would appear on the phone—no messages, no texts, no indication that contact had been made. But the right combination of keys would trigger an undetected alarm that would have his immediate backup team converging on this site within minutes, and armed operatives dispatched from nearby units within hours. He wasn’t sure how much was bluff and how much Anderson really knew about the Center’s inner workings, but he wasn’t about to risk Leo’s safety to find out.
When Anderson released him, he took his phone and carefully entered his password.
“Text Leo. Two words only. Everything cool.”
Jack did as he was told and sent the text. Thirty seconds later his phone pinged with a return message. Meet as planned.
Anderson grabbed the phone out of Jack’s hands. “Now, I want you to send a text to your field handler. I presume you have protocols in place so that he recognizes that the message really was sent by you. If you play this smart, you and Leo will be home by end of day.” He held the phone out again, refusing to release it when Jack’s fingers closed around it. “But if you try to act the hero, it won’t end well for your partner.”
He finally let go of the phone, and Jack took it and pulled up Evan’s details. He wavered for a second, rapidly considering his options. During their last assignment, Leo’s phone had been used to lure Jack into a trap, and the Center’s technicians had since modified the equipment to prevent that happening again. Jack’s fingers hovered over the keypad, but in the end, Leo was all that mattered, so he opened a message screen using the code that had been built into his phone specifically to identify him as the user.
“What do you want me to say?”
Anderson smirked. “Tell him the truth. You’re skipping school this afternoon to track Freya.”
Jack shrugged and sent the message, and barely a second later, he received a return message. Anderson made a grab for the phone, and Jack gave it up without a struggle, having read Evan’s reply: Be careful. Report as soon as you can.
Anderson was moving as he read. He turned his head when Jack hung back. “You want to see Leo again, you’d better haul ass.” He walked out without another word, and Jack had little option but to follow.
ANDERSON’S CAR was parked in the school lot, a beat-up Ford with a souped-up engine that sprang to life as soon as he turned the ignition key. Jack climbed wordlessly into the passenger side seat, his eyes darting left and right.
He was surprised when Anderson slid the car out of the lot and then pulled up opposite the school. He took his phone out of his pocket and typed a quick message, and moments later Jack heard the dull sound of the fire alarm as kids began to stream out of the doors and mill around outside.
“In case you called in backup,” Anderson said.
It was a good plan, Jack silently admitted. It would certainly have slowed Martin and Evan down if he’d actually sent a warning.
“You can keep your tracking device on,” Anderson said, nodding toward the copper bracelet Jack always wore during assignments, which, as Anderson correctly surmised, contained a built-in tracking system.
Jack hid a grimace with practiced ease. Anderson knew a disturbing amount about the Center’s habits. As he pulled into traffic, he fished Jack’s phone out of his pocket. “I presume this also contains a GPS?”
Jack nodded as Anderson stepped on the gas and peeled away from the school.
“You seem to know a lot about who I work for,” Jack said, glancing at Anderson. “So how about you? Who pulls your strings?”
Anderson laughed. “Are you familiar with the phrase ‘need to know,’ Jack?”
Jack didn’t think it was a question that required a response, so he kept his mouth shut.
“I thought so,” Anderson said, correctly reading his muteness. “From what I understand, it’s pretty much the Center’s default setting.”
“So what do you want with me?” Jack asked.
Anderson smiled. “I’ll let Freya answer that question. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
After that there was nothing
more Jack could pry out of Anderson. He deflected all of Jack’s questions about whom he worked for and what his assignment entailed, until Jack shrugged and gave up trying. They drove the rest of the way in silence, Jack using his tracking skills to catalog every turn and directional change so that he could figure out where they were heading. Anderson only broke the silence once.
“We’re meeting Freya and Leo at the Galleria Mall.”
Jack hid his consternation over the wasted effort, while frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He tensed when Anderson pulled into the parking lot of the mall, just as he’d promised. He parked the car on the north side, closest to the multiscreen theater complex, and then he glanced at his watch and turned his head.
“I’m going to send a text to let Freya know we’re here. She’ll persuade Leo to walk out of the movie with her. We’re going to meet them in the lobby. It’s a public space, so you should feel less paranoid.”
“Then what?” Jack asked suspiciously.
Anderson shrugged. “Then we talk.” He reached out and grabbed Jack’s sleeve. “Just so you don’t think of doing anything stupid, you should know we have people surrounding the place. We’re not expecting any real trouble. When you hear what we have to say we’re pretty sure you’ll want to cooperate. But just in case….” He didn’t need to complete the warning; Jack understood the threat. He nodded curtly, and Anderson let him go.
They exited the car together, Jack’s radar on high alert. He spotted several potential operatives on the short walk to the movie theater and hanging around the lobby. They all had the same look, casual but watchful, their body language outwardly relaxed but with telltale signs they were ready for anything. It made Jack’s skin crawl when several pairs of eyes surreptitiously swiveled to track his every step.