by L. T. Ryan
“How are we going to approach this one?”
“Bad cop, bad cop,” Sadie said. There was no hesitation. “I’m tired of the runaround. Langley picked her up last night and put her on a plane. She’s been at MI5 headquarters for a couple hours now. I told them to keep her comfortable but to leave her alone until we got there.”
“She’s going to know something is up,” Bear said.
“I’m counting on it,” Sadie said. “The more on edge she is, the more likely we’ll be able to crack her.”
“Are you sure about that?” Bear asked. “If she’s as tight with Thorne as we think she is, she’ll know all our tricks. She might clam up instead.”
“And we’ve underestimated her in the past,” Sadie admitted. “But we’ve played nice before and she walked all over us. Time to confront her head-on.”
Bear didn’t argue and they remained silent for the rest of the ride to HQ. It didn’t take long, but he was aware that every minute was one step closer to the inevitable. They had one day left before their deadline was up. Fredericks might be a traitor to his country, but Bear still felt it was his duty to find him and the other agent, Samson.
By the time they arrived at HQ and were escorted to the interview room where Maria was being kept, Bear was ready to get some answers. He thought back to when he first met her—dirty, injured, and so drugged up she could barely function. He thought finding out she was working with Thorne was betrayal enough, but what if she had never stopped working for him? What if all of this was part of Thorne’s master plan, even from the beginning?
Bear was really tired of being a cog in someone else’s machine.
Sadie entered first, with Bear close behind. Maria, still a redhead, sat at the table cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. She was in an oversized sweater and leggings. The agents who brought her in had been instructed not to use force or handcuffs unless absolutely necessary. From what Sadie had heard, Maria hadn’t really put up much of a fight.
“Good morning,” Sadie said, not bothering to smile.
“Is it?” Maria asked. Upon closer inspection, Bear noticed her hair was tousled and she had dark circles under her eyes. “I didn’t really sleep well last night.”
“I’m sorry for having to put you on a plane like that.”
“It’s fine,” Maria said, and she looked like she meant it. “I want to help, but they didn’t really tell me much. What’s going on? Did you find the other two agents?”
“Not yet,” Sadie said. She sat down across from Maria, and Bear joined her. “We’re hoping you can give us some more information.”
“I basically told you everything I know,” Maria said. Her gaze was earnest and Bear had to remind himself she was lying. Thorne had taught her better than they all thought. Took her natural abilities and enhanced them.
“That’s not quite true.” Sadie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “You never told us about your relationship with Agent Fredericks.”
Maria froze and her eyes went wide for a split second before she regained her composure. Bear could practically feel her brain scrambling for an excuse.
“I didn’t mean to keep that from you.”
“But you did.” Bear couldn’t stop himself from sounding disappointed.
“I knew it was inappropriate,” Maria said. She slid her cup farther away from her and placed her palms flat on the table. “I honestly didn’t think it had anything to do with them going missing, so I… Wait a minute, do you think I killed that agent? That I kidnapped the others?”
“No,” Sadie said. “No, we don’t think that. But it’s clear you were involved somehow.”
“Now would be a good time to come clean, Maria,” Bear said.
Maria sat up straighter. “Everything I told you is true. Thorne sent me there to help keep the agents informed. I was meant to sound local, so as to not raise suspicion. I was meant to get close to them to gain their trust. All they knew about me was that I had access to information. They took advantage of my connections.”
“How close were you meant to get?” Sadie asked.
“Nothing was supposed to develop between us,” Maria said. “I’ve had missions like that before and it wasn’t meant to go down in that way. But Aaron and I just sort of hit it off.”
“And you didn’t think that could compromise the mission?” Sadie asked. Bear could hear the criticism in her voice.
“No,” Maria said, sitting back. It seemed like she could hear it, too. “No, of course not. What we did outside of the information exchange had no bearing on the mission. They were still doing their jobs and I was still doing mine.”
“But when you went back to check on the agents, it was for personal reasons,” Bear said.
Maria chewed on her bottom lip before she answered. “I knew something was wrong because I hadn’t heard from him in a while. When I couldn’t figure out where he went, I got in contact with you.”
“How did you know he wasn’t just blowing you off?” Sadie asked.
Maria’s face turned red. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“You didn’t know him for very long,” Bear pointed out. “How can you be sure?”
“Look, I didn’t love him or anything,” Maria said. “I knew what it was. But we were honest with each other. We knew it wasn’t going to last. But he would’ve told me if he was leaving. He would’ve said goodbye.”
“If you were honest with each other, then he would’ve told you about his side business,” Sadie said.
Maria opened her mouth and closed it, but she couldn’t form any words.
“He either lied to you, Maria, or you lied to us. Which one is it?”
When she remained silent, Bear leaned forward. “Whoever you’re trying to protect, just remember they’re not the ones in the hot seat right now. You are. I understand loyalty, trust me. But at the end of the day, you have to look out for yourself first and foremost.”
“It was Thorne’s idea,” Maria said after a moment. Her voice had dropped half an octave. The innocent act was over.
Bear sat up straighter. “What was?”
“He knew Fredericks was dirty. This isn’t the first time he pulled a scheme like this. He wanted me to get close to him, to figure out how we could use him to either get in on his schemes or blackmail him. Thorne didn’t really care which.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about this from the beginning?” Sadie asked.
The tears in Maria’s eyes might’ve been the first real ones Bear had seen from her. “I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of him,” Maria said. “Of Thorne. Who else?”
“He’s locked up,” Bear said. “He’s going to be in there for a long time.”
Maria shook her head. “He’s going to get out. I know he is. Part of me hopes he does, that he’ll come for me. And the other part…”
“Is worried he won’t,” Sadie said. Her voice told Bear she understood what Maria was feeling in that moment, even if he was having trouble grasping the scope of it.
Maria nodded, tears still streaming down her face.
“Thorne doesn’t care about you, Maria,” Bear said. “You know that. He proved that the last time you two were working together.”
“I know.” Maria wiped her tears on her sleeves and tried to get her voice under control, but it was still shaky. “I know that. I’m not stupid. I know what kind of person he is. I was just sort of hoping I was the exception to the rule.”
Sadie nodded her head. “He made you feel special, and then you found out he saw you the same way he sees everyone else. I’ve been there. I know how difficult that is to process. It’s going to take a long time to get over those feelings of betrayal and worthlessness, but you can do it. I did it. I can help you.”
Maria looked up at Sadie, her eyes still wet with tears. “I’m scared.”
“I know.” Sadie reached out and put a hand on Maria’s arm. “But the only way you’re going to heal is by moving on from
him. And the only way you can ensure that is if you tell us everything you know about why he was interested in Fredericks in the first place. You’ve got all the power this time, Maria. I trust that you can use it to do the right thing. Can you do that? Can you do that for yourself?”
Maria swallowed and took a shaky breath. When she met Sadie’s eyes, Bear noticed a fierce determination there.
“I can do that.”
29
Sadie had someone bring Maria a bottle of water and some tissues. After a few minutes to gather herself, Maria’s voice no longer shook when she spoke.
“Thorne has a network of people from all over the world that he uses to carry out his own personal business. Agents, criminals, government workers, ordinary people. It doesn’t matter who they are, but it does matter what they do.”
Bear had so many questions, but he was afraid that if he spoke, it would break the spell and Maria would stop divulging information.
“Some of them are like-minded people. Others have been bought out. Some have been blackmailed. I’m pretty sure there are even some who have no idea they’re part of a larger scheme. Thorne is smart and charming. He can get anyone to do anything he wants.”
Maria took a moment to sip her water.
“He wanted Fredericks on his team. I was meant to get close to him so I could find out what sort of approach was needed. Could Fredericks be bought out, and if so, would it be worth it? Or was blackmail a better option? I thought I was handling the situation just fine until another one of Thorne’s assets showed up.”
“Who?” Sadie asked.
“I didn’t catch his name, but I know he was former military. He never rubbed me the right way.”
“His name was Miller,” Bear said. “What seemed off about him?”
“He was like a bull in a china shop. I was worried he’d blow the whole thing. I don’t think he knew I was with Thorne either. Kept bragging about how his boss was untouchable, and that meant he was untouchable, too. I wasn’t really sure what Thorne saw in him.”
“You were jealous,” Sadie said, gently.
Maria opened her mouth, clearly intending to argue, but nodded her head instead. “I worked so hard to have Thorne put his trust in me. And this guy waltzes in like he’s better than me?”
“Different people have different purposes,” Sadie said. “It doesn’t mean Thorne thought any less of you.”
“I guess.” Maria brushed away another tear before continuing. “Either way, I knew Thorne was testing me. He’d been hands-off on my missions for a while now, but he went dark this time around. I was supposed to figure out what needed to be done and handle it on my own. The Marine was a wrench in the system. I knew I was supposed to handle it on top of my assignment.”
“All of the newspaper articles you had looked through when you got the anonymous tip were fake,” Sadie said. Her voice was still gentle, cautious. “And the tip came from Miller himself.”
Maria’s mouth hardened. “Guess I should’ve known that.”
“It might’ve been a test,” Bear said, “but that didn’t make it any less real. The terrorist cell exists.”
“But the tip implied they had planted bombs already. That wasn’t true. This tunnel job was going to be the first one,” Sadie said. “No one knew about these neo jihadists until the agents disappeared.”
“Thorne did,” Bear said. “He told Miller to phone in the tip. He knew about them.”
“So, was he trying to help us by informing the CIA and eventually MI5 of the new cell?”
“Nothing is ever that straightforward with Thorne,” Bear said.
“He’s not a bad person,” Maria said. When both Sadie and Bear raised their eyebrows at her, she rushed on. “I know that makes me seem crazier than I already am, but Thorne isn’t evil. He doesn’t always do the right thing, sure, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy. He just lives in a gray world. He sees things differently than we do.”
Sadie’s gentle voice was in full effect now. “This job requires you to visit that gray area from time to time, but Thorne has been living there for far too long. After a while, those lines start to blend and you begin making the wrong calls. It happens to good agents all the time.”
Maria bowed her head.
“What did Thorne want to accomplish by putting Fredericks and his team on the trail of the neo jihadists?” Bear asked.
When Maria didn’t offer any explanation, Sadie started thinking out loud. “For one, he knew Fredericks was dirty, so Thorne wanted to see if he’d take the bait and set up a deal. From what we know, Fredericks was never going to let the terrorist plot go down after he got his money. Thorne likely knew that, so this seems like a two-birds-one-stone situation.”
“Get Fredericks on his team and take out the cell in the process,” Bear said.
“Exactly.” Sadie ran her fingers through her hair. “But when it went sideways, he was nowhere to be found.”
“After he was caught, I went back to check in on Fredericks hoping I could secure the deal with him,” Maria admitted. “When I realized he was missing, I knew my best bet was getting help to track him down. Thorne had a backup plan, like always, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come down to that.”
“A backup plan?” Bear asked.
Maria took another sip of water before answering. “If I failed to secure the deal, or if something went wrong, the cell still needed to be taken care of. He had a special asset who was going to come in and wipe everything clean.”
“What kind of asset?” Sadie asked.
“I honestly don’t know. Thorne didn’t tell me anything. No name. No details. Nothing. But it sounded like a big deal. Like someone really dangerous.”
“Great,” Bear said, leaning back in his chair. “Another player on the board to keep an eye out for.”
Sadie opened her mouth to speak when there was a sharp knock on the door. Director Winters walked in without waiting for an answer. She glanced at Maria before settling her gaze on Sadie and Bear.
“A word?” Winters asked.
Sadie and Bear followed Winters out into the hallway. Sadie waited for the door to close behind them before taking an aggressive step toward the Director.
“We could’ve been in the middle of a pivotal part of an interrogation. Your disruption could’ve cost us the entire interview.”
“I waited as long as I could. I didn’t do this lightly.” Winters handed Sadie a manila envelope. “But considering these were your men, I figured you’d want to know, regardless.”
“Know what?” Bear asked, watching as Sadie opened the envelope and pulled a stack of papers out.
“We found them,” Winters announced. “The terrorists and the missing agents. We know where they are.”
30
Bear found himself sitting in the back of a van with Sadie and a handful of Director Winters’ best operatives from the anti-terrorism division. One was driving the vehicle, while the others were taking time to double check their weapons and secure their gear.
For his part, Bear was working with a borrowed vest and helmet, but it fit well enough. Maybe on the snug side. He was used to running into bad situations even with his best hopes and prayers, so it was nice to have a little extra padding between him and the bullets that were surely headed his way.
He looked over at Sadie, who was loading her MP-5. “You good?” he asked.
“Better than ever,” she said. “Ready to bring our boys home.”
Despite Winters’ untimely interruption, Sadie had jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the team to take down the neo jihadist cell and get the two CIA agents back safely. They were about twelve hours out from their deadline, and there was no guarantee Fredericks and Samson were still alive.
Bear and Sadie had been filled in on the details while they loaded up a couple vans and headed out. Between the information they had recovered from the flash drive and further interrogation of the Irish gang, Winters had tracked down the tunnel everyone had tried
to claim as their own. It was an abandoned underground track from several decades ago. The rock wasn’t stable enough to host constant train travel, so the project had been written off as a total loss.
But it hadn’t even been closed off to the public. If you had a flashlight and some time on your hands, you could get to the area without much trouble. It was out of the way enough to remain fairly untouched but close enough to other major connections to be the perfect crossroads to stash drugs.
Or plant a bomb.
By the time the van rolled to a stop, the team of about twelve men and women were ready to move on command. Sadie and Bear had assured Winters they wouldn’t have any problem falling in line, and when Agent Gerald Davis, a graying man with a beard and piercing blue eyes, gave them a command, the two Americans did as they were told.
Working with a team you’re familiar with is paramount when you’re trying to be safe and decisive. Bear and Sadie were at a disadvantage here, so they brought up the rear, making sure they didn’t step on any toes along the way. The rest of the agents were courteous but business-like. This was personal for everyone. London was their city, and even though Fredericks and Samson weren’t their men, this was a brotherhood. Everyone had skin in the game.
But Bear did wonder how much the agents knew about their current situation. He was sure Davis was filled in on every detail, but what about the others? Were they aware that Fredericks was dirty? Did that make them less inclined to put in their all? They were professionals, but they were also human. Could he fault them for holding a grudge?
When the team unloaded from the two vans, the agents formed two separate lines, with Sadie at the end of one and Bear at the end of the other. Davis made sure they were all set before he offered them a quick and efficient pep talk.
“We don’t know what we’re getting into here,” he said, making sure he locked eyes with each and every one of them. “The stakes are about as high as they come. Intel told us this was the door to knock on, but we don’t know if anyone is home. Normally we’d sit on that until we were sure, but with a countdown clock, that’s not in the stars for us.”