Technical Risk

by Sidney Bristol

  He picked up her hand, kissed her fingers then said, “You don’t have to say anything.”

  “I should.”

  “You asked me a question. I gave you an honest reply. That’s it.”

  “You just told me you loved me.” Her insides quivered. Now she’d said it out loud, too.

  That had really happened.

  He continued to gently stroke her shoulder, back and side in long sweeps. “So?”

  “That’s... That’s kind of a big deal.” She pushed up, propping herself on her elbow.

  He folded his arm behind his head and watched her. “You keep reminding me that you’re entitled to your feelings. These are mine.”

  “O-okay.”

  He’d just said it.

  So normal like.

  No big deal, just laying it on her.

  She was still shocked, but under that and the budding hope was a fresh sensation. Excitement.

  He loved her.

  “You don’t think it’s too soon? Too fast?” she asked.

  Miles considered her question for a moment. His gaze slid away from her and he seemed thoughtful. “No. When it’s right, it’s right.”

  “Oh.”

  What if he was wrong?

  That idea made her wobble.

  Miles in love with her was glorious. But it could also be a bad case of lust.

  How did she feel?

  Beyond her fear and anxiety about today, she cared about him. Her feelings were intense, big, they threatened to swallow her up. It was hard to put a label on that and feel confident that she knew what she was talking about. But she liked him. All of him. And she liked who they were together.

  If she was going to take a chance and love anyone, shouldn’t it be the man who believed in her more than she believed in herself?

  She sighed and flattened her hand over his sternum, keeping the touch light. “I feel too much.”

  “Babe, you don’t have to say anything.”

  “Sh.” She glared at him.

  He smiled and the arm under her drifted lower, cupping her bottom.

  “I’ve liked you for so long that it’s hard to really say what I feel. Today just seemed to make it all so intense. I like you, and...” He’d said it. So could she. “I might love you. It’s just a lot and—I don’t know. I care about you. A lot.”

  “Hey?” He tightened the arm around her enough to jostle her. “No pressure to figure it all out right now.”

  “What if we both have a case of lust?” she asked.

  Miles chuckled. He seemed rather amused with her now. “I’ve been in lust before. This is more than that. And even if it is, so what? Love starts somewhere.”

  “You’re so casual about this. How?”

  “You... It’s you. This is...” He opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Comfortable is the wrong word. This, with you, it’s right. I can be...comfortable.”

  She considered the words and the look on his face.

  Rightness.

  Comfort.

  It sounded like home.

  Diha nodded slowly. “Okay, I can see that, I guess. But how do we work on that when we aren’t going to always be around each other?”

  “There are these things called phones and computers. Also planes.”

  She laughed and balled her hand into a fist, but didn’t so much as touch him. “Shut up. We really suck at this whole waiting to talk about it thing.”

  “Then let’s talk.” He took her fist and wiggled his fingers into the tight ball until he could twine his fingers with hers.

  Here she’d wanted to catch his eye, and it was he who’d found his way into her heart.

  “I propose that we don’t go a month without seeing each other. We compare holidays, make the most of them for maximum time off work and tradeoff who goes where.”

  It sounded like a solid plan. Only...

  “How long would that last?” she asked.

  “Until it isn’t enough, and then we make a new plan.”

  She swallowed.

  He’d already implied his plan. What he was willing to do.

  Gosh, how was she going to have this conversation with her parents?

  “What do you say?” he asked.

  “I think that’s a great plan,” she said slowly.

  Though it sparked a hundred other questions, including just where the heck he’d stay when he came to visit. Not to mention what she was going to tell her parents. But she’d figure it out.

  Miles and this future were worth taking the chance. He was worth risking her heart.

  She could say that now. A year ago she wouldn’t have been in such a place.

  He stroked her cheek. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “I don’t know. Can you?”

  “Cheeky little thing.” He tweaked her nose and chuckled. “What changed?”

  “I’m sorry?” She blinked at him.

  “The first time we met, you were silent. You just sort of...”

  “Faded into the wall?” One side of her mouth curled up. Back then, that had been her goal. “I told you working at the CIA was a disappointment. It was slowly sucking all the life out of me. I did everything right. I dressed like them. I was on time. I said yes to everything, and I was never good enough. But then Zora gave me a chance. I’d done some work for her, impressed her, and when she started the task force, she wanted me. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Along the way, I started to believe in myself, too. If it weren’t for her, I think I’d have quit by now and let my mother fix me up with someone.”

  Miles sighed. “I guess I owe her a thank you then.”

  “Don’t be too hard on her?” Diha squeezed his hand in hers and willed him to understand Zora better. “She’s a good person. She believes in what we’re doing.”

  “I don’t doubt that. Confidence does look good on you, though?”

  It would be easier to resist him if comments like that didn’t make her smile or her insides turn molten.

  “You don’t think my fashion sense is silly?” she asked.

  “No,” he said without hesitation.

  “I used to wear pantsuits all the time, you know?”

  “I remember you wearing a drab number. Is that more Zora?”

  “Priya.” Diha chuckled and felt herself settling into whatever it was she shared with Miles. “Slacks and blazers were always so uncomfortable and I was always worried about buttons popping off.”

  He grinned and hooked a finger in the neckline of the shirt she wore. “Oh, the horror.”

  Diha could still remember the day she’d walked into the house, looked at Priya and told her to take her shopping. It was the day she’d settled into working for Zora and knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

  That was the first day she’d really been herself in years, and she never wanted to change.

  SUNDAY. LONDON, UNITED Kingdom.

  The sound of the city woke Ramon by small degrees. The tiny room was poorly insulated and the walls paper thin. He might as well have slept outside. But there was some sense of security behind having a door with a lock on it.

  Not that it would protect him if he failed this job.

  He’d had Valentino, the real Valentino, right in front of him.

  And he’d been right.

  The hacker was a woman. Not a man.

  At least he was fairly certain that was who he’d chased yesterday.

  How had she slipped away? Where had she gone?

  In the rush to flee, he’d abandoned all leads, and would now have to start over. But that was okay. He knew if he just bided his time, he would be led to her.

  SUNDAY. LONDON, UNITED Kingdom.

  Valentino stared at the image.

  Finding the woman gave her no joy. She wished it had been a man who found her. Not this woman.

  “Still looking at her?” Viggo sat down on the bed behind her, the springs creaking under his weight.

  “I know what I have to do, but I don’t
want to.”

  “Why? What’s so special about her?”

  “She’s...” Valentino shrugged. “She’s what I could have been.”

  Neither of them said anything. They rarely mentioned their lives before foster care. That life before hadn’t been pleasant. Valentino’s family had been a nightmare. But if they hadn’t been chasing their next fix, maybe she could have wonderful parents that cooked her dinner. Maybe her sister would still be alive. Maybe a lot of things.

  Valentino sighed and turned toward Viggo.

  “The man was easy. He would have shot you. But... She seems like a good person, and she’s obviously got some skill.”

  Viggo leveled a stare at her. “Since when does being a good person matter?”

  She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

  In the scheme of things, good and bad didn’t matter. Survival did.

  “You’re hesitating because you like her. You still want to recruit her.” Viggo crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not smart.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Valentino huffed and turned back to face the computer.

  Okay, maybe Viggo did know, but she wasn’t going to tell him he was right.

  A lot of cops had tried to hunt them down, but only this woman had gotten close. Didn’t that deserve some kind of prize?

  MONDAY. THAMES HOUSE. London, United Kingdom.

  Miles found it difficult to settle into the work routine after a mostly lazy Sunday spent in bed with Diha watching bad movies. The case load was urgent. They had made a little headway on Sunday with some of Diha’s techno magic, but by and large they were once more grasping at strings. But they’d still needed the breather. For their own well-being.

  Valentino had somehow rushed by a half dozen cops and still escaped into thin air.

  The man was a ghost.

  Except Miles had made the man bleed.

  Valentino was out there.

  Diha would find him.

  Miles took the stairs down to the basement suite. Most of his people had moved their things down so they could work more efficiently, but Miles still had to make his reports in person. Only, he’d waited for twenty minutes in an empty office.

  Strange.

  He hit the basement level and strolled down to the now familiar doors.

  Two people had already asked him why he was smiling. One had taken it to mean they’d captured Valentino. Miles had to control himself better for the sake of maintaining a professional face.

  He took a deep breath and wiped his face of emotion.

  That done, he opened the door and stepped inside.

  His small team sat at the long table down the middle of the room, bent over laptops.

  The American team was divided with the men in a back room. Miles glimpsed one man rolling across the floor, hands up, attempting to block another from tossing something into...the garbage?

  He shook his head and turned left, pushing the door to Diha’s domain open.

  Diha, Zora and Cat stood together staring at a tablet.

  In unison, all three women glanced up at him with large eyes.

  “Did I interrupt something?” he asked.

  “Shut the door,” Diha snapped.

  He did as she said and slid his hands into his pockets.

  Zora glanced at Diha, then Cat.

  “What did I miss?” He glanced from Diha to Zora.

  Diha avoided his gaze and kept looking at her boss.

  Zora drew in a deep breath. He could practically see her settling the mantle of being in charge on her shoulders.

  She held out the tablet. “We just received a memo that you are no longer working with this joint task force. You’re no longer with MI5.”

  “What?” He snatched at the device and scanned the email. “Due to disciplinary—bullshit.”

  “It’s Valentino,” Diha said. “I saved a lot of material, just in case, and what’s in the system now doesn’t match up to what I downloaded.”

  This couldn’t be happening.

  “Then, tell them,” Miles said.

  Zora held up her hands. “We just got this, Miles.”

  He’d always followed the rules. He did the job as he should, not how people wanted him to. Sometimes that meant he wasn’t the most liked guy in the office, but he went to sleep at night proud of what he’d done.

  And now some criminal wanted to tarnish his record?

  Miles would own up to things he’d done, like releasing the immigrant woman when others wanted to keep her. That was a choice, a call he’d made, and it had been the right one.

  His phone rang.

  He pulled it out and his stomach dropped when he saw the name Bennett.

  The Deputy Director General was calling him directly.

  He closed his eyes and steadied himself before answering, “Yes, ma’am?”

  “My office,” she said.

  The line went dead.

  “I’m going with you.” Diha scooped up her laptop.

  “No,” Miles and Zora said in unison.

  Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “But...”

  “No,” Miles said again. “You need to figure out how Valentino did this and catch him. Let me deal with Bennett.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Zora said.

  “That’s not necessary.”

  She gave him the cool look he’d come to recognize as her, I’ll do what I want, look.

  No one gave Zora Clark orders, least of all him. He was stuck with her.

  “I’m sending you everything,” Diha said.

  “Let’s go.” Miles turned on his heel.

  He heard Zora’s heels on the tile behind him, but he didn’t wait on her.

  When had this happened? Was this why his meeting this morning had been a no-show?

  He’d been supposed to give the report about the operation on Saturday. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant one, but he’d known what to say. Now, he hadn’t the faintest idea.

  Miles jabbed the button for the elevator and waited.

  Zora fell in beside him, not saying a word.

  The silence stretched on.

  He should say something. Tell her this was unnecessary or that it might be best if she distanced herself from him. He wasn’t sure what the best thing was.

  Before he could come to a decision, the doors opened and they stepped in. He pushed the button and leaned back against the side.

  Still, Zora didn’t speak.

  He found it odd that she’d requested him and yet their working relationship was, at best, frosty.

  Why was she going to bat for him?

  The elevator stopped in the lobby.

  A familiar face blinked back at Miles before the man sidestepped, muttering about getting the next elevator.

  Miles stared at the floor.

  How many knew? What had been passed around while he was cocooned with Diha yesterday?

  “We aren’t going to let this happen,” Zora said the moment before the doors slid open on their destination.

  Miles nodded and stepped forward.

  They entered the Deputy Director General’s office and were ushered straight in to see Bennett sitting at her large, wooden desk. Her gaze went from him to Zora and back.

  “Sit,” Bennett ordered.

  Miles dropped into one of the chairs in front of her.

  Bennett slid a folder across to him. “You’ve made a very powerful enemy.”

  He took the folder and flipped it open, glancing at a few statements with bits redacted, like names. Save for him.

  “Someone worked hard on this for the last twelve hours.” Bennett leaned back in her chair and regarded him then Zora with cool curiosity. “I take it you’re getting close?”

  He shut the folder. Complaints about him. He didn’t need to see the names to know who’d made the original reports. “We’ve come close twice now, but close isn’t caught.”

  “Okay, so why are you here?” Bennett focused on Zora.


  Zora tapped the tablet, then turned it toward the other woman. “My team took precautions. Given that Mr. Green was under review when this started, we downloaded the reports.”

  Bennett bent and yanked another folder out of her desk drawer, then slapped it on top of the other one. “I know what happened.”

  Miles blinked, surprised.

  “As part of Mr. Green’s review, certain reports were printed off. Based on these alone?” She fanned the pages. “I know you kicked the hornet’s nest and I know we have someone here working against you. I want to know how close you are to catching Valentino so I know when I can set the dogs loose on the bastard who did this.”

  Bennett sat back, arms crossed over her chest. “You’re an infuriatingly good man, Mr. Green. It’s made enemies, but I have to respect someone who has always been above board. But, we are at a crossroads now. If I ignore this, what will Valentino do next? Who will he go after? If I take you off the case, am I hurting our chances?”

  “Who filed the complaint against Miles?” Zora asked.

  Nothing about Bennett changed, and yet he could almost hear the sneer in her voice. “It was anonymous. Whoever it was, they’re either a coward or...”

  Miles shifted.

  They still didn’t know how Valentino was granted access to the police’s systems. Clearly that access extended beyond just the police. This complaint proved that.

  Was it possible that person worked in this office?

  “I think we’re close,” Zora said. “Valentino wouldn’t make a move like this if he wasn’t. It exposes him. He has to know we were working to close him out of the system. Using the same trick twice is less effective. He’s stalling us.”

  Bennett nodded. “Alright. Mr. Green?”

  “I’m letting this disciplinary ruling stand. For now. But only until we catch this man. Then we’re going to have a long talk about where you’re headed.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, though his heart just wasn’t in it.

  “Director, if I may?” Zora leaned on the arm of her seat. “Miles has been invaluable to us—”

  “He can stay, but he can’t work in the building and no one not on the team can know. I hope you can trust your people.”

  Miles sat back. The Director believed in him, but everything else was stacked against him.

  He should have seen this coming. This was exactly why Diha was so mad at him. He’d run out into the open, facing down their target, and in the end he’d become a target himself.