Saturday. London, United Kingdom.

Isaac remained standing, one hand braced on the table. No one spoke. They all listened to Tanya’s soft footsteps fade down the hall and the snick of her door closing. The others all blew out a breath.

He held up his finger and took two steps back.

He trusted Tanya, but she’d already listened into their conversations about her because they didn’t think to be careful enough.

The hall was clear. No Tanya.

He wasn’t sure if he was glad or worried. She seemed to have pulled herself back together. It would be nice to take credit for that, but in truth she was the one doing the heavy lifting. One amazing woman in over her head.

“We need to turn this over to someone,” Shane said.

“Who?” Felix asked.

“The...NSA? CIA?” Shane glanced around and shrugged. “I don’t know, but you tell me that there’s some sort of threat, a weapon, on the move—that’s not what we do.”

“What are we looking at, Isaac?” Kyle planted his hands on his hips, a grimace on his face.

“Highly-volatile chemical weapon in the hands of Orlando, or one of his customers. Tanya told you almost everything she told me.”

“Okay, what didn’t she share?”

“She’s got a tracking device on the weapon, so we at least know it’s on the move.”

“If it’s that dangerous, someone will know about it.” Felix leaned forward. “We can’t just let this go.”

“We need to tell someone.” Shane shook his head.

“Procedure dictates we go up the chain of command, tell Zain and Crawford. Let them decide what we’re doing. Abigail is on her way here, and we’ll hopefully know more within the hour, so until then, we need to prepare.” Kyle turned to Shane. “Get the head of security up here and let’s coordinate with them. We can’t be their first high-risk guests or they wouldn’t have the team they do. Also, see about getting meals prearranged, okay?”

“On it,” Shane said.

“Isaac, I want you on Tanya at all times. Don’t let her piss alone.” Kyle nodded at him.

“Wait—is that a good idea?” Felix didn’t look at Isaac.

“Why isn’t it?” he asked.

“Felix has a point.” Shane slid his gaze toward Isaac. “You did sleep with her, and you clearly have a bias.”

“She trusts me,” Isaac said.

“That’s why Isaac is going to stay on her. Besides, this isn’t new territory for you.” Kyle didn’t so much as bat an eyelash. “Sort out how we want to report the threat. We do need to tell someone, even if it’s not going to do any good.”

“Will do.”

Isaac gritted his teeth.

He had a reputation. So, what? Kyle had point blank told him to get as close as possible to her. Had Isaac planned on getting into Tanya’s bed? No, but that didn’t reduce their time together to another notch on the bedpost either. She was struggling, and he’d merely been there to catch and comfort her. Maybe he did feel stronger about her than other women, but that was because deep down, he understood her sacrifice.

Kyle went down the line, handing out the assignments for the next few hours and dismissing everyone to their post. They could only worry about so many things right now, everything else would have to wait.

Isaac turned on his heel and stalked down the hall.

Why couldn’t they see that Tanya was different?

“Yo, Isaac?” Kyle called out.

“What?”

“Called your mom yet?”

“Fuck you.” Isaac flipped Kyle off.

Deep down, Isaac believed Tanya. Maybe that meant she was taking him for a ride, or maybe he’d earned her trust to the point of total honesty, he couldn’t tell. But there was no second guessing his commitment if they were going to see this through, and as far as he was concerned the threat to human life was too great to spend unnecessary time arguing about it.

He pushed Tanya’s door open and stepped into the room. She’d pulled the blackout curtains aside. The thin, gauzy material let in plenty of natural—if dreary—light.

“Hey.” Isaac closed the door behind him.

She didn’t acknowledge his presence. Remote in hand, she sat cross-legged on the big bed and flipped the channels.

“What’s going on with your mom?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing.” He circled to the other side and sat with his back against the headboard.

“Then why does Kyle keep asking you about her?”

“Because... I guess she called the office or something.”

Tanya turned her head and stared at him, her gaze shrouded and thoughtful.

Shit. She’d laid herself out there for all the world to see, and he couldn’t even tell her this.

“Mom... It’s complicated.”

Tanya arched a brow.

Right.

Because she didn’t get complicated.

Isaac hated talking about this shit.

“My brother’s widow—well, Ruth was only ever his fiancée, technically, but that doesn’t matter to us—she’s dating someone Mom set her up with. They want me to like the guy.” Isaac grimaced.

“You said he died years ago, right?”

“It’s been a couple years.”

“Is there something wrong with her new boyfriend?”

“He’s not my brother.”

Tanya stared at him, her dark eyes missing nothing. He could see why they’d picked her for this job. Behind the pretty face was a mind smarter and a heart stronger than many men.

“It sounds stupid when I say it like that.” He sighed.

“I can’t pretend to understand family dynamics like that. My specialty in school was dealing with trauma, helping people cope. I struggled whenever we did a section on family dynamics.”

He could understand how her peculiar set of life experiences would equip her to help others handle the nightmares of life. He would have never guessed at what she’d been through at a glance. That kind of strength had to be cultivated.

“Why the CIA?” he asked.

“I wanted to do more with my life. I wanted to stop the bad guys like my dad.”

“You ever see him?”

“I thought about it once, but what’s the point?” She shrugged. “He probably couldn’t pick me out of a lineup of his children. Why do I want to give someone like that a minute of my time? I was a commodity to him. A resource. If he gave me to someone, he got something else in return.”

“Sorry, that was an insensitive question.”

“Not really. A lot of people in my situation would want to face the source of their trauma. I just didn’t see the point. He’s never been apologetic about what he did. He fully believes in his religion and that he had the right to his wives and children. We were property. You can’t reason with a person like that.”

“I’d want to see him just so I could punch him. Just once, you know?” Isaac pantomimed throwing a right hook.

Tanya chuckled.

“Probably couldn’t. All that glass, right?” he asked.

“Probably right.” She smiled for the first time. “Not that you asked my opinion, but you should give this new man in your friend’s life a chance.”

“I don’t want to.” He leaned his head back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling. Usually he didn’t talk about himself to assets. Everything about this situation was turned on its head. “It’s like everyone else is done grieving him.”

“Ruth, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Ruth probably feels as lost and strange about moving on as you feel watching her do it.”

“Funny way of showing it.”

“We all handle big life things differently. I bottle them up, for example. It’s the most British thing my father gave me, the whole keep calm, carry on, don’t deal with it mentality. Not the healthiest coping mechanism.”

“That’s not how the saying goes.”

“I know.”

“You seem to be doing all right from where I’m sitting.”

“Thanks to you. I was a wreck when you guys pulled me out of that safe house.” She smiled once more, briefly. “What happens next?”

He considered playing the question off, but she was too smart to be dissuaded from getting an answer.

“We’ve got someone calling up Interpol, someone who has ties to who might have trained you, we’ve got feelers out to find out about this weapon, and Kyle is making the call up the chain of command to see what our boss wants us to do.” He wished he could be the one making that call, but it was Kyle’s prerogative.

“There’s a hit out on my life,” she said.

“Only one.”

“One isn’t enough?”

“Nah. If you’ve got three or four, that’s when you might want to think about being worried.”

“Then why would Orlando put the bounty out there?” Tanya frowned at the bedspread. “He put this address, so he wanted to be very specific.”

“Could be he really wants you dead.”

“Maybe, but he’s usually more...purposeful, with things like this.”

“Okay, so what does he get out of this?” Isaac did not like this train of thought.

“His enemies will know me, now they’ll know where I’m at. He’s painted a target on my back.” She sat there with her mouth open a moment. “He just ensured I can’t go anywhere without someone recognizing or watching me. If someone else wanted the weapon, they could think I know where it is and how to get it.”

“We’ll handle this.” He reached over and took her hand.

“I don’t know if I’m cut out for this, Isaac. I really don’t.”

“Never make a decision about your future when you’re in the worst of it. Come here.”

Tanya curled up against his side, her head on his shoulder. If she was telling him the truth, she’d lived through two years of covert work. She was one tough cookie, and he wasn’t going to abandon her. If the boss said to come home, Isaac would just put in a PTO request and turn his phone off. Deep down, he believed her, and he wasn’t about to leave her to fend for herself, not with people gunning for her. The sooner they verified her story and got someone at any intelligence agency to acknowledge her, the sooner someone could handle the threat of the chemical weapon. The red tape might kill them, if they didn’t get something done soon.

“Thank you,” Tanya said.

“Just doing what needs done,” he drawled.

“Is this part of the Aegis Group service?”

“We excel in unique solutions to unique problems.”

“I’m scared, Isaac. I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen, and I can’t stop it, no matter what I do.”

“You’ve got me, cupcake. We aren’t going to leave you high and dry.”

“I don’t understand why you’d stick your neck out for me. What if—”

“Stop making up problems. We have enough.”

If he had to strike out solo with her, that was when he’d get nervous. He had a tidy sum socked back, but it would only go so far in providing the kind of protection Tanya needed. Hopefully it didn’t come to that, but if it did, he’d have her back.

Tanya squeezed him and buried her face against his shoulder. He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. Everything about her was different. Even him.

Saturday. Epping, United Kingdom.

Robert had become something of an expert on Tanya Graham since learning she was his other undercover agent. From her unusual birth, to the tumultuous circumstances of her rescue and upbringing. He could understand why she’d been selected. The facts about her were easy to nail down. There was ample proof she was who she said she was, and enough of a history to make it believable she’d lean toward illegal trades. There were a number of charges against her as an adult for trafficking and abducting people, which were likely mostly lies, now that he knew what she was. Anything she’d have done as a child was under duress.

If he were looking at a lineup of Orlando’s people, she was the last one he’d have picked as his spy.

He leaned back and stared at the stacks of reports on his desk.

What the hell was he doing?

Orlando had him by the balls. If Robert did anything to hinder the man’s plans, Donna could die.

He should kick back with a drink and wait for the world to burn down around him, but he couldn’t. He’d been at this job for too long to simply not fight back.

There was nothing for him here. No reason to stay, except if Orlando wanted to check up on him.

Yeah, right. The man had all but dismissed Robert.

He got up and went to the hall closet, where he kept a bag ready. The story for Donna’s work would continue to hold water for some time. Everyone wished her well but didn’t want to overburden her. That meant there was time for Robert to figure out a way to turn this situation around, but he couldn’t do it from Epping.

Orlando thought he was clever, and maybe he once had been. Grief and his plot for revenge had ruined his edge. He was distracted, overcome with his plans for getting back at his allies, and that was where Robert could do something. He’d need to make Orlando believe he was staying put and following orders though. That could be done easily enough. Route his cell phone through a variety of security channels to disguise his location. Time zones would be what might trip him up, so a schedule was in order.

The first target was America. Always had been. It was where Orlando’s sister died, and it was where he’d want to strike. Both the FBI and CIA had people on the take for Orlando, but there were still good people he could work with. He had to get across the ocean first, and quietly. Or else it was Donna who would pay the price.

Saturday. Tegel, Germany.

“Make sure everyone is properly covered.” Orlando surveyed the crew responsible for moving the merchandise. This morning had been a disaster. “We don’t want another accident, understand?”

At least there wouldn’t be much of a body to dispose of. The gas, in concentrated form, was more than lethal.

“Carry on.”

He took a step back and watched the six-man team load into the van.

The problem with experimental weapons was that they didn’t always behave as they should. He’d built the holding facility to specifications and the men monitoring it had done everything according to the instructions Orlando had stolen. The problem must be with the chemical makeup of the weapon. It wasn’t quite stable. As long as it was contained in the same crates he’d stolen them in, they shouldn’t leak gas. But with one corner cracked...

The plan had to be altered.

Money wasn’t as important as seeing this through.

He hadn’t undertaken an expensive heist just for the money. His margin of profit was narrow, no matter what happened. This was about revenge, plain and simple.

Either he could offer to assist and call it the white glove service, or he could give up all pretense and do what he wanted.

Orlando’s phone vibrated in his hand.

He glanced at the name.

Robert.

Again.

“What is it?”

“I want to talk to my wife,” Robert said.

“She’s indisposed right now.”

“I want to see her.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“I’ve done everything you asked, now let me talk to my wife!”

The man’s broken voice sparked a memory.

Orlando had been so certain that everything would work out. His allies would pull Elda out of this dangerous situation and they’d be sipping wine together at her apartment the next day.

“Do you hear me?” Robert shouted.

Her death, losing her in what must have been a horrible, terrifying way, it’d crushed him. Orlando had wrecked the room, flinging books off shelves, breaking the delicate glass sculptures. His sister was the only family that mattered, and she’d been stolen from him. And his allies, the people who’d called him a friend, they could have stopped it. But they hadn’t.

Robert would have been an ally then. Someone who benefitted from Orlando’s knowledge.

“I can hear you. A deaf person could hear you. No, you will not get to see or speak with your wife until I’m ready for you to. You will keep doing as I say, or I will start to cut off her fingers. Every time you call me, every time you bother me, it’ll be her paying for it. You never told be about Tanya, and I never took my due from that omission. I could now, if you like?”

“No.”

“Are we clear, then?”

“How do I know she’s still alive?” Robert sobbed, the sounds muted but there.

“You don’t.”

Orlando hung up the phone and peered across the distance to where the truck hauling the merchandise sat in a pull out awaiting its new team.

“It’s going to work out, Elda. I swear it is.” One way or another, he’d see it through.

Tanya was a threat to him. That was the thing he couldn’t control. He’d allowed her to become an extension of himself. There were too many times he’d trusted her enough to allow her to remain close to him.

She knew too much.

The hit might not be enough. The Aegis team he’d hoped would bring her to him was highly skilled and now rogue. They would be a major roadblock to anyone wanting to get at Tanya.

Orlando hit the speed dial on his phone and pressed it to his ear.

“Yes, sir?” Edwin said.

“How are you making out with the project?” he asked.

“We’ve filled in some holes, pulled some strings. It’s not a complete picture, but we’ve begun to identify where reality ends and the cover story begins.”

“What do you have? Tell me.”

“She graduated with her undergrad like she said. Looking at her transcript, she also took a number of criminal justice courses. Up until her graduation, as far as we can tell, it’s all her. The difference is after school. A source can place her at the CIA at least once, on camera. She never attended the Academy, but she was trained, we know that much. We’ve put her photograph out with several contacts to try to figure out who she works for, who trained her.”

“It won’t be the Americans or the British, we’d have found out about her before now. It has to be an organization we don’t have an inside source with.”

“I was going to suggest Israel.”

“Mossad would make a thorn in my side.” Orlando rolled that idea around. Of all his allies, his Israel contacts had been the most distant and least likely to trust him. When it came to intel, they were the best in the world. “In order of priority, Mossad, South Korea, America and the UK. Got it? Someone will want to bring Tanya in, and when they do, I want them killed. Understand?”

This wasn’t just about plugging the leak, he was sending a message.