Chapter 17

THE DOOR OPENED before Matt could ring the bell. Finger to her lips, Janna beckoned them inside. Using a remote, she clicked the door locks. They stood in a small foyer that opened into a combo living and kitchen area.

Hands on her slim hips, she wagged her head, setting her light brown ponytail dancing. She favored jeans and geek t-shirts. Today’s black top bore white letters reading DATA IS THE NEW BACON. “What took you so long? You’ve been standing out there in the cold for forty-five minutes. You must be frozen!” Her gaze fell on Nadia, and her brow knit in apparent confusion.

He couldn’t help laughing. “What was I thinking, Q? I should know you’d have surveillance.” Hell, Janna probably even knew why they were here.

She threw up her hands. “I hate when Simon Byrne calls me that. Don’t you start!”

She was staring at Nadia again. Crap, he’d been yakking and hadn’t made introductions. “Janna Raymond, meet Nadia Parker. I guess you already know we’ve gone AWOL.”

Nadia’s hand was trembling but she shook when the other woman offered. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She probably feared Harris was lurking in a closet.

“I do know, sort of, at least what has leaked into my lab over coffee and what I saw on the news. Ditching the eye patch and covering the scars must’ve helped you hide out. Come on in and get comfortable. Then we’ll talk.”

Janna took their jackets and ushered them into a large living room separated from the kitchen by an eating bar. Simple furniture in neutral colors sat on a dark green carpet. On the walls over full bookshelves, paintings of European mountain villages hung beside geometric prints. Maybe Janna’s warm welcome and the pleasant space would calm Nadia’s fears.

She got them settled on the sofa and turned up the gas fireplace. After bringing drinks — pinot noir for Nadia and her and a bottle of microbrew for him — she sat across from them on a matching chair.

“Sorry I was staring,” she said, smiling at Nadia, “but you look so much like that poor injured Princess Sarika, for a minute I thought you were her. I saw online that she’s been released from the hospital.”

“I guess there’s some resemblance,” Matt said. Maybe it was the hair, pulled back like Sarika’s. Or maybe it was that they were both blonde, about the same height and build. Not enough so he’d ever confuse the two women. Nadia was outgoing and animated while Sarika was cool and reserved.

“We saw that news too. I’m relieved she’s improved that much.” Nadia took a sip of her wine and set the goblet on the side table. She wound her fingers together in her lap. One foot tapped on the carpet. “We’re friends. The resemblance is less obvious unless we’re side by side.” Her hand flew to her throat as she blinked hard, clearly still fretting about Princess Sarika’s safety.

Janna exchanged a glance with Matt, and he nodded his encouragement. She set down her wine goblet. “So what can I do for you two?”

Matt had one backup plan if Janna said no. Byrne, DARK’s resident rebel, might help them, but that would mean another delay, another night on the run, more stress for Nadia. And more time for Cardona to plot another attempt on the princess’s life.

He explained their situation, why he’d cut himself off from DARK and was protecting Nadia. Especially why she feared the agency. “Before I go further, I need your promise you won’t turn us in and won’t tell Gabe any of this.” He held his breath while she stared at him, the wheels turning behind her sharp gray eyes.

“I know how he is on a case, especially on your father’s, Nadia,” Janna said finally. “I won’t say anything to him. As far as I’m concerned, neither of you was ever here. So?”

Nadia’s hands relaxed, and he pressed his knee against hers. He laid out his explanation, and then said, “Whether or not you can find what I need, we’ll have to go in soon. Staying on the run with no resources is getting us nowhere.”

Janna led them down a short hall to an office, where computers, monitors and other humming equipment occupied a desktop on the long back wall. A few passwords and clicked keys took her into DARK’s case file on the Modena rebel group. “I hope Simon’s gone home by now because I’m using his login. Here’s what they have on Dominic Traynor and George Ingel.” She pulled over another desk chair for Matt and turned the monitor his way.

He scrolled through the files while Nadia stood to one side chewing her lower lip. “Ingel’s angling to run for parliament against the current prime minister. Speculation is he wants to be the next prime. That makes Traynor no friend of his. Nothing in Traynor’s file indicates disloyalty to the royal family or the government. Dammit, this gives us zip.” He turned the monitor back to Janna. She was lucky he didn’t fucking toss it out the window. He got up to pace the room.

She didn’t comment on his temper. “Who’s the other person?”

He drew a calming breath. “The leader of the Modena rebels, Sandor Cardona. Reports said he came into the States from Canada and is now in the District. I’d like you to find proof.”

“Let’s see if I can find him nearby.”

Nadia stopped his pacing with a hand on his shoulder. “Didn’t you say DARK had video surveillance of the embassy? Would Cardona be bold enough to go there, maybe to scope it out?”

“Bold enough, arrogant enough. Yeah, it’s possible.” He cupped her chin, brushed a kiss on her lips, and she smiled against them. He’d needed that connection with her, her scent, the feel of her. The revelation was a jolt from a live wire, that this one woman caused such need in him. Or was it the intense emotion of their situation? Beat the hell out of him.

“Worth a try.” He held Nadia against his side and was gratified when she eased even closer. “A team set up surveillance cameras on the day I started my gig. That was Monday. Four damn days ago. It’s a busy street.”

“Let’s see.” Janna clicked away for a few minutes. The monitor showed stills of people on the street in front of and near the building.

Matt plopped into the chair again and scrolled through the images. Behind him Nadia’s shoes were scuffing on the carpet. Now she was the one pacing. The images were clear, but it was hard to see faces. Men, women, delivery people, bicyclists, an occasional skateboarder. He skipped the men whose heads were bent over their phones. “The images are clear, but there are so many people.”

“If I have a description, I can narrow the possibilities.” Janna looked up, a questioning expression on her face.

“Average height. Lean build. Narrow face. His passport photo shows him with a thin mustache and a lot of dark hair. But he could be disguised.” Fuck.

“Passport? Hold on.” Shortly, a second monitor displayed Cardona’s passport photo. “That him?”

Nadia bent to the image, peered at it a long moment. She sucked in a breath. “I’ve seen this man.”

Matt shot to his feet and grabbed her hand. “Cardona? Where?”

“Remember when we were in the mall pub, I had a déjà vu about a couple at the bar?”

Yeah, he sort of did. His pulse kicked up. “Sure.”

“It was a vague memory, an impression of another couple at a bar near the embassy. Not the one we ran to, but in the opposite direction. Last week, Friday, I think. Yes, the day after I set up shop at the embassy. At the time I thought it was a date or something benign, but now…”

“Now what? Who did you see?”

“I was there with Sari’s admin Pascale. I saw this man there, Cardona. He had the bushy brown hair but no mustache. I’m sure it was him. That narrow face and long nose. I thought at the time how much he looked like a wolf. That’s why I remembered him.”

Janna played with the image and shortly Cardona reappeared without the facial hair. “Like this?”

Matt angled his head to see the new Cardona better. A wolf, maybe. More like a jackal.

“That’s him. Definitely,” Nadia said. “He was leaning back against the bar, facing me. My fingers itched for a camera because the two of them were perfectly framed. That bar is only a couple blocks from the embassy.” Her eyes rounded. “He could’ve been plotting the bombing then.”

So the rebel leader was in town and close. She thought it was a date, so not Ingel or Traynor. “Did you know the other person? A woman?”

“That’s why I noticed him. He was having drinks with George Ingel’s admin.”

Matt dropped onto his chair, hard. “Alina Greco?” His mind raced. DARK’s intel indicated the mole was one of the diplomats or an emissary. He never suspected a secretary. Especially not the Barbie wannabe. Cardona’s lover? Co-conspirator? What was her motive? For now that didn’t matter.

“Alina could’ve been the one to set off the bomb.” Nadia’s eyes were bleak. “If I’d known… if I’d suspected….” She shook her head and her mouth twisted into a grimace.

He tucked away the puzzle. He’d work on it later. He stood and embraced her, drew a finger down her cheek. “She was on her phone when she left the inner office. I think it’s a safe bet she triggered the bomb. Nadia, you’re not clairvoyant. You recognized Cardona now and linked him to Alina.”

“So this is helpful?” Janna’s gaze bounced between them.

He erupted in a bitter laugh. “Helpful? No shit. This is monumental. This is what I was at the embassy to find — the traitor, the mole working with the rebels. Thank you isn’t enough, but you have to know that you were a key step in finding her.”

“You’re welcome, but is it enough? Is there more you need?” she said.

Finally he could take action. But going in meant risk to Nadia, something he swore to avoid. He pushed to his feet, suddenly energized with an idea. “I doubt you can help. I have to call my contact with this info, but it means we’ll be picked up and separated for debriefing. Nadia may be accused.” He couldn’t say to Harris’s girlfriend that it meant she’d face that bastard again. He pulled Nadia to him.

She trembled in the curve of his arm. Unshed tears glittered in her eyes, but her chin came up. “I can take it. This is crucial. These rebels murdered three people. They have to be stopped before they try again to kill Sari.”

Janna looked thoughtful. She glanced at a gadget on the desk. “What if your call to DARK couldn’t be traced to your location?”

“I take it you have some electronic voodoo to offer, but I don’t want to compromise your follow-the-rules rep.”

“Consider it part of my beta testing. The technology’s something I’ve been working on for a while, a ping bouncer. Not a sexy tech name, but I’m working on that. If I enter your phone number into it, your call will appear to come from three or more cell towers away.”

His nerves jangled with the possibilities. He could call in safety. Identifying Alina as the traitor would prove Nadia was innocent. He had more proof, but the thought of using it twisted a dagger inside his chest. It would mean the end of his relationship with her. He cleared his throat. “Does the agency know about this device?”

“My boss will when I’m finished tinkering.” Janna grinned. “I expect a big bonus.”

“Not a problem. Are you sure it’ll work?”

Her calm expression gave no indication of misgivings about her invention. “If it doesn’t, we’ll both be compromised. Are you game?”