Saturday. London, England.

Tanya paced the room. No matter how much Isaac reassured her that they were safe, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was breathing down her neck. If not Orlando, then someone taking orders from him.

Orlando had hired a team to kidnap her because he wanted to stop her. He’d put out a bounty on her head to kill her or keep her trapped until he could do the job himself. She wasn’t safe, not really, and Isaac was playing with her life if he thought they were.

How did she begin to explain the twisted psyche of a man like Orlando to someone as normal as Isaac?

The bedroom door opened and Isaac stepped in, balancing a tray with two plates on its silver surface.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Should we check and see if it’s poisoned?” She was only half joking.

“Head of security is monitoring everything for us at the moment, so I think we’re fine.”

His smile was too bright. She narrowed her gaze and studied him.

He’d left half an hour ago to see about lunch. Why had it taken him that long to call in the food? Why had he waited on it?

“What happened?” she asked.

He sighed and his shoulders drooped.

“Isaac?”

He scrubbed a hand across his jaw, his gaze on the carpet.

She gently shut the door, her stomach all knotted up.

Had they found out something about her? Quade? Orlando? The weapon? What?

“None of that,” Isaac said, answering the question she hadn’t realized she’d asked out loud. “Sit, please?”

Tanya crossed to the bed and perched on the edge, clasping her hands in her lap.

“Our contact was able to locate Rob,” Isaac said.

“Is he okay?” Her worst fear was that Orlando got to Quade, then Rob.

“He’s fine.”

“I...don’t understand.” She didn’t want to.

Isaac leaned against the dresser across from her, his expression grim.

“Rob is on holiday with his wife and her family. They left early this afternoon, two tickets to Bath. He’s fine. Which leads me to believe one of two things.” Isaac stared at her. “You are lying and Rob isn’t your point of contact.  Or someone got to Rob and he isn’t on your side anymore.”

“I’m not lying.” Tanya pushed to her feet. How could he say that?

“I don’t think you are. Stuff isn’t adding up. How did Orlando find out about Quade?”

“I don’t know. Orlando just got up in the middle of dinner and started one of his... He rambles. It’s kind of strange. Like he’s talking to someone who isn’t there. You can’t ask him about it or he goes into a rage. Then he turned around and shot Quade at the dinner table.”

“Did you have any kind of regular communication with Rob?”

“Quade did. Once a week, he and Rob had a phone call.” Tanya swallowed. “Quade was getting nervous, fidgeting with his napkin, because dinner was running long. It was his night to call Rob.”

“If Rob didn’t hear from Quade, what was the process?”

“He’d wait and try again.”

“How many calls has Rob missed from Quade?”

“Two,” Tanya whispered.

“What if Orlando got to Rob? What if Rob’s the one who set Quade and you up? But then why would Orlando not kill you outright?”

Oh no...

“Because Rob never knew it was me, remember?”

“Shit. Right. You said that.” Isaac blinked at her, his thoughts whirling. “So, Rob knew there was a second person in Orlando’s organization, but not who?”

“Yes.”

“Someone in this joint task force expected Orlando might figure out he had a mole and take care of the problem.”

“Oh, shit.” She paced the room, too worked up to even pretend to eat.

“This does support the theory that Orlando is a traitor,” Isaac said.

“Is that still really up for debate? Brett told me as much.”

“And you chose to talk to Agent Jones alone, so I can’t take your word on it. Even without his input, we’re all convinced Orlando is a problem, but evidence...”

“He put a bounty on me. How is that not evidence?”

“We don’t technically know that it was him. What we have is circumstantial.”

“Who are we convincing here?”

“Tanya. We’re in this together. Okay?” Isaac grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes. “The best thing to do is to convince someone we can trust at the CIA, NSA or FBI, someone who can act on this information. Like I said before, we aren’t mercenaries. We fit an empty space where people can’t be helped, but we also can’t ignore what the right thing to do is.”

“What the hell are we doing here then? Why aren’t I...I don’t know. Going to someone who will do something?” Maybe even turn herself in. That could yield results faster.

The suite phone began to ring, not just in their room but in others as well. She ignored the clamoring noise and focused on her thoughts.

Where would she go? Who was likely to be able to vet her fastest?

Isaac stood up and stopped in her path, grasping her by the shoulders.

“These things take time.”

“We don’t have time. Don’t you get that? If Rob sold us out, if he’s on Orlando’s side, then the last two years have been wasted.” Everything she’d worked for, all the security they’d established, ruined.

The bedroom door opened and Felix stared at them, his eyes wide.

What now?

“Guys, you need to come out here.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

Tanya glanced at Isaac.

“Come on.” He placed a hand at her lower back and propelled her forward.

She followed, dreading yet more bad news.

Why had she thought she could do this? Why had anyone thought she was up to it?

Kyle glanced at them, his face twisted into a disgruntled grimace.

“We’re all here now, go ahead.” Kyle leaned over the room phone, the speaker button flashing.

“Good. My name is Reuben and I am with The Patrol. Tanya, I trust you are there?” The man on the other end of the phone paused.

Kyle shook his head.

“Sorry, she’s not with us anymore,” he said.

“You’re lying. That’s not a very good way to develop a relationship. We would like to continue our partnership with Ms. Graham, as we’d agreed with her before your interference. Send her out, and we will be out of your hair.”

“No one is going anywhere,” Kyle replied.

“On that front, you are correct. We have the hotel surrounded. Any attempt to leave will be stopped. Don’t make us come in there.”

Kyle glanced up and around the room.

“If you could get to us, you wouldn’t have called.” Isaac took a step closer to the receiver. “That means you’re stuck outside, wondering who is really in here, how many of us there are, if your target is even here. You’ve got nothing.”

Kyle gestured at the windows.

Felix leapt up, vaulted the sofa and pulled the thicker curtains across the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Are you willing to bet her life on that? We know where you are. Do you know where we are?”

The line went dead.

“Shit. Okay.” Kyle cut the call off. “Adam, get with the head of security again. We probably need to report this to the police, get a uniform presence outside to scare them off.”

Tanya sat on the sofa.

The Patrol were just the first.

Orlando had plenty of enemies here. It was why she’d picked it as the least hospitable location. But it also made her a shiny target.

“Sit.” Isaac nudged Tanya into the closest chair. She leaned forward, cradling her head in her hands.

Shane muttered something and pushed up from the table, pacing away from them. Everyone else remained where they were. The only sound in the suite was Adam’s succinct conversation on the phone.

“New game plan.” Isaac straightened, keeping one hand on her shoulder. “We hold down the fort until Abigail and Luke get here. Those guys can’t come busting into this hotel without some serious manpower, and anything they might hope to get from Tanya won’t equal the costs. An attack like that brings too much attention from the authorities. That’s why they want to bargain.”

“You’re right.” Kyle nodded. “Abigail and Luke will give us a leg up on them. When they get here we can plan an exit strategy. Until then, keep the windows covered and out of sight. With any luck, the local cops will scare these guys away and we won’t have to worry about them.”

Tanya wasn’t so certain. She bit her lip to keep from saying as much. If The Patrol was there, who else was coming? Others would see the reward. People that didn’t already know her worth. They could be heading into a gauntlet of enemies the moment they left the building.

She could always go on her own.

Isaac glanced at her, their gazes snagging.

Was this worth risking his life?

She smiled and straightened, doing her best to hold it all in, just as she had every day she’d lived under Orlando’s roof.

This job had appealed to her because she wanted to make the world safer. Eliminating Orlando as a threat saved many lives. Was the prospect of finishing that op worth losing these people? She could lose them and not stop Orlando. Could she live with herself if that was what happened?

Sunday. London, England.

Isaac kept his eyes glued on the front doors of the hotel lobby. He could just make out the car posted outside from this spot.

The guys inside had the dome light on and were eating a late-night meal, which made it ridiculously easy to confirm that their plan was working.

“How’s the front?” Kyle asked through the headset.

“Clear,” he replied.

They went through their other points of entry, ringing off a confirmation that none of The Patrol had any clue their team was about to make a move.

“We’re coming in,” a woman’s voice said.

“Copy that, I see you,” Felix responded.

“How you liking this new gig, Felix?” a second, male voice said.

“It’s been an interesting transition,” Felix replied.

Nice and diplomatic.

Isaac couldn’t fault Felix for fitting into his new gig well, or the circumstances that created the vacancy. The way Isaac saw it, Shane had let himself get distracted. It was a common thing these days, since he and his girlfriend shacked up together, but no one had asked Isaac’s opinion on the matter.

“They’re watching you. Just keep it easy, no rush,” Felix said.

Isaac held his breath for a moment.

Anything could go wrong in an instant and they could lose more people.

“We’re in,” the man said.

“Good,” Kyle said. “Everyone upstairs. I know it’s early, but we’ve got multiple problems to handle.”

Isaac turned and ambled for the elevator. Felix was already there. The other three were stationed up higher where they had a bird’s eye view of the street.

“I would have thought you’d be halfway upstairs by now.” Felix’s voice was no longer in stereo, which meant he must have killed his mic.

Isaac tapped his comm. and frowned at Felix.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Isaac jabbed the button for the elevator again.

“Nothing, really.” Felix shrugged and stepped into the elevator as the doors slid open.

Isaac glanced over his shoulder. The night desk was noticeably absent, leaving just the two of them in the lobby. A person had to be buzzed in or use a key card to enter the hotel at this hour, and after that another set of security measures kept a random person from coming up the elevator or stairs on a whim. In about five minutes, the regular security staff would again take up post in the lobby.

Isaac walked into the elevator, Felix’s last words still nagging at him. What was he getting at?

“You want to say something? Then you need to speak up.” Isaac turned toward the pretty boy and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’ve been glued to our asset’s hip since we picked her up is all.” Felix turned his head, not meeting Isaac’s eye.

“You mean I’ve been doing my job?”

“Kyle might have tasked you with keeping an eye on her, but did he mean while she was showering, sleeping, whatevering?”

“You got a problem with it?”

“We seem to be split fifty-fifty on whether or not she can be trusted.”

“All the more reason for one of us to be on her at all times.”

“If that’s what you want to tell yourself to help you sleep at night, fine. Just seems risky to me.”

Isaac balled his hands into fists.

He and Felix were of a similar height and build. Isaac was pretty sure he could land a solid knockout punch on the guy before Felix bounced back. A conflict between the two of them would put them a man down, and they needed all hands on deck at the moment.

The elevator dinged on their floor and Isaac stepped out first.

Two figures loitered in the hallway, suitcases in hand.

“Do I even want to know how you made it up here without a key?”

“Nope,” the woman replied. She smiled, the expression still a little foreign on her face.

“Nice to see you, Luke.” Isaac slapped the black man’s hand and swiped his keycard with the other. “Welcome to our tower.”

He pushed the door open and held it for the couple. Tanya hovered in what passed as their kitchen, no doubt making coffee. One of the security team had come through for Isaac and brought him a nice, fresh bag of strong grounds he thought she might like. In stressful times like these it was the little things that helped them all cope.

“Abigail, Luke, thanks for coming so fast.” Kyle closed in, shaking hands and slapping shoulders.

“I’d say it’s nice to see you, but not under these circumstances.” Abigail turned and her gaze locked on Tanya.

To Tanya’s credit, she didn’t miss a beat. Her hands were steady pouring the coffee, and she didn’t bat an eyelash. She’d certainly pulled herself together a great deal since they’d scooped her up out of that garden.

“You must be Tanya.” Abigail crossed the floor to the end of the kitchen island.

“I am. Coffee?” Tanya offered the first cup to the other woman.

Abigail took it and inhaled deeply.

“Is that cardamom?” she asked.

“It is. I added it.”

“Nice touch.”

Abigail smiled and Tanya seemed to relax a little.

Isaac could only stare, keenly aware he’d just missed something very important.

“Great, everyone’s here. Can we circle up?” Luke said from the dining area.

Abigail turned and joined her husband at the head of the table, his laptop already out.

Isaac closed the distance between him and Tanya under the guise of helping himself to the coffee.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“You think the same Mossad agents who trained me trained her. If that’s true, it’s a man who always drank strong Israeli coffee.”

“I see.”

Isaac’s family weren’t religious, but they did have deep Jewish roots. He was very familiar with Israeli coffee and the spicy flavor. It hadn’t occurred to him that something so simple might be a clue to her true identity.

Things were so much simpler when all he had to do was save the girl.

“You want to lead this or should I?” Luke placed his hand on Abigail’s back.

“I think I can cover things a bit faster.” Abigail turned her gaze on Tanya. “Usually we would have this conversation without you and then bring you in, but we’ve got such a short amount of time to work with that it’ll be easier to do this all at once.”

Isaac edged closer to Tanya so their shoulder’s bumped. He couldn’t shake the nagging sensation that this was all bad news and she’d need a shoulder before they were done.

Tanya gripped the coffee cup and stared at the projector screen. There was a miniature version of herself doing laps in her mind, screaming for help. She inhaled a deep breath and put that part of herself aside. Compartmentalize. She’d allowed herself to fall apart, and Isaac had caught her, but that chapter was done. From here on out she had to be part of the solution.

“I’ve been on the phone for hours working every contact I still have to confirm or deny Tanya’s story.” Abigail braced her hands on the table and looked around at the men. “What I’ve dug up leads me to believe that she’s telling us the truth. Can I confirm that? Not yet, but in two hours I have a meet with a contact who likely holds the key to every shred of information we need.”

Tanya’s knees went a little weak.

She’d played the role of criminal and accomplice for so long that she’d felt like she’d never get to be herself again. This woman, Abigail, if she could give Tanya her life back, she’d owe her a debt that could never be repaid. And that didn’t begin to touch on the goal of stopping Orlando.

“Let’s start with what we know.” Abigail straightened and gestured at the laptop.

Luke clicked around a moment before the image of a man and woman filled the wall.

“This is Robert Ellis, the man Tanya says is her handler. He has been involved on numerous joint ops. His wife hasn’t been to work in almost two weeks. Her employer thinks she’s sick and in the hospital, but there’s no record of her being admitted. Robert just left Epping with tickets booked to Bath, but they were not used. If I were to guess, someone got to Tanya and her partner through Rob, using his wife. Now, where is Robert now? What is he up to? How is he involved?”

“Orlando has a...disturbing tendency to use people his targets love as leverage,” Tanya said. She’d had to be a party to several abductions during her tenure with Orlando. It was a disgusting parallel with her early years with her father.

“It fits his profile.” Luke grimaced.

“Quade Wilson. I was able to confirm he is a CIA asset, more of a contractor than an employee. It was hard to track him down, but someone who knows someone worked with him once. His body was found stuck in a canal. He’d been sitting in a morgue as a John Doe until yesterday, when he was identified. Tanya, how did he die?” Abigail focused the whole room on her.

Tanya swallowed.

The gunshot. She could still hear it ringing in her ear. Feel the splatter of blood on her skin.

“Single shot to the face,” she managed to get out without trembling.

“That information hasn’t yet been released,” Abigail said. She pulled a notebook from her bag and flipped it open. “My Mossad contacts would not confirm Tanya’s identity over the phone, but I was able to get them to admit that they were involved with training a highly-unusual operative. For how long, Tanya?”

“According to the calendar, it was six months.”

“How long did it feel like it took?”

“A lifetime.” Tanya shuddered.

“Where were you?”

“Some underground, prison-like facility.” She shrugged. “They brought me in wearing a blindfold and noise canceling headphones with a bag over my head. We were in a helicopter for part of it. No disguising that.”

“Fuck.” Luke glanced away, his lips pressed together tightly.

Abigail placed a hand on his arm, a touch that seemed to calm the man.

“My professional opinion?” She glanced at Kyle then the others. “Tanya is what she says she is. No one would outright say that Orlando has turned on his allies, but anytime his name was mentioned, people had questions, and a lot of them. Carefully worded ones, with a lot of emotion behind them. Big picture? People are scared.”

“What’s our next move then?” Isaac asked

“We get out of here,” Abigail said without hesitation. “This location, while secure, makes us a target. Besides, when I meet with my contact, we will hopefully be put in touch with the right people. From there, we go into a defensive strategy.”

“How do we know this person will be able to help?”

“If they can’t, then I don’t know who can,” Abigail replied.

Luke brushed up against Abigail, a casual contact that spoke of familiarity and tenderness.

“Our job now is to get Tanya verified and back to the US, where the authorities can use what she knows to make a plan to counter whatever Orlando is working toward,” he said.

“Actually, we’ve got a problem there, too.” Isaac’s mouth curled into a grimace.

“Something happen while we were in the air?” Abigail asked.

“I contacted someone I knew from the CIA.” Tanya straightened her spine and steeled herself against censure. “He was a friend. Someone who coached me through the application process. When I got my offer we stopped speaking, but he knows who I am.”

“Can this agent verify you officially?” Abigail glanced at Luke, then back to Tanya.

“No.” Tanya swallowed. “He told me to steer clear of the CIA, specifically the D.C. offices. Orlando has someone there and they know it.”

“That doesn’t change what our goal is.” Luke glanced around the room. “Now, for the rest of you, the nature of this job is now more important and more dangerous. It is outside the bounds of what we normally do, and if anyone wants to hop a plane home, this is your chance.”

“How certain are you she is who she says she is?” Felix asked.

Abigail turned, spearing Tanya with her gaze.

“She fits a type. You can’t make up a history like hers, and with gaping blank spots, it’s easy to fill those in with what you need. She’s easy to vet. Look at any newspaper from the year her father was busted, and chances are, you’ll find at least one picture of her. If I were sculpting someone’s real life into a cover story, I’d pick her.”

“Felix, no one will make you stay,” Luke reiterated.

“Nah, I’m staying, I just want to be sure, you know? This is...it’s deep shit. We’ll do better as a team, anyway.”

“Agreed,” Luke said.

“I think we’re all on board if you guys are, right?” Felix glanced over his shoulder at the others. “We can move on.”

“Actually, let’s take five, start gathering some gear to go, and reconvene. This way when we make a decision we’re ready to go, how’s that?” Kyle suggested.

“Fine by me,” Luke said.

The guys split, each headed in a different direction. Kyle closed in on the newly arrived couple, putting their heads together. They were talking about Tanya. She knew it.

The skin between her shoulder blades prickled, and her stomach tightened. Other people were deciding her fate, and she had no say in the matter. She’d joined the CIA so she’d never again have to let someone else drive her life, and now here she was. Being taken for a ride.

A warm hand closed around hers, tugging her into the kitchen.

Isaac pulled her to the very corner of the galley style space and put himself between her and the others. He cupped her face, lifting her chin and stared into her eyes. She was so damn grateful to him. Whenever she wobbled, he was there. Whenever she needed support, there he was. Isaac was her personal security blanket.

“How you doing in there?” he asked.

“I’m equal parts relieved and scared.”

“You’re doing great, cupcake.”

“Thanks.” She tried to smile but it felt forced. “I want my life back. This, being undercover? It was never my plan. I wanted to help people, put the bad guys behind bars, but this? I’m not built for it, Isaac. I can’t be this person anymore.”

“Come here.”

Isaac folded his arms around her, giving her a warm squeeze. She wished this moment could go on forever, so she could lose herself in the feel of his arms around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, taking that support.

If they could get her reinstated with the CIA, she could turn the rest of it over to people who knew what they were doing. She was out of her depth, and if it weren’t for Isaac and the others she’d have been dead by now. No doubt about that.