Chapter Sixteen
THEY SAT ON a private jet that smelled of leather and money. Audrey couldn’t help but admire the gleaming interior and the crew who wore blue shirts and crisp black pants as they busied themselves for takeoff.
Once they were in the air, Alex Parker waved away the stewardess who joined the pilots in the cockpit, and then made everyone coffee. He pulled a keychain from his pocket and tossed it on the table. A little red light lit up on it. “Now we can talk without being electronically monitored.”
“It doesn’t affect the plane’s computers?” she asked.
“I guess we’ll find out.” Parker quirked a brow.
Audrey’s mouth dropped open.
“He’s messing with you.” Killion shot the guy a look. “Or he better be.”
Parker took three mugs to the cockpit and then again closed the door on the crew. When he came back he filled three more mugs. “I am messing with you. The signal blocker has a clearly defined radius of three feet, so huddle up.”
Audrey leaned in. “Why won’t whoever was checking us out in the CIA connect us with you and this jet?” She’d had her ear pressed to the bathroom door and had heard every word. “I’m assuming they could link you to the island in some way?”
Parker put a hot drink on the table in front of her along with a small carton of milk. “If they had the right resources theoretically they could. If it was me, I could and would. Which is why Frazer used one of his contacts to lend us one of their jets, and I sent the company jet to Alaska on another project.”
He poured milk into his coffee and sipped. “So our being on this airplane could be tracked, but it’s a long shot and I don’t think it will be. Short of an invisibility cloak this was the best way I could figure to get you back onto US soil without leaving a trail.”
“What about when we land?” asked Killion. He’d become distant since leaving the hotel. His comment about the honeymoon had taken her by surprise, but it almost seemed to bookend what had happened between them. Now he was back to cold and clinical. Clearly only the mission mattered.
Parker dug into a bag on the seat and tossed them both passports.
Killion looked at his and then picked up Audrey’s and passed it to her. “Not bad.”
She looked at her unsmiling photograph and new name. It was of her, but it wasn’t a photograph she’d ever had taken.
“Computer generated,” said Parker. “Feebs have their own people.”
“Traceable?”
Parker shook his head. “These guys don’t even exist in the system.”
Killion grunted. “Good.”
“I don’t think I can do this,” she realized suddenly. “I’m a terrible liar.”
Parker held her gaze. “All you need to do is look the border control guard in the eye and remember your new name and what you were doing in Jamaica. We used the newlywed theme. Allows for a little name confusion and it means Killion can keep his arm around you the entire time—sometimes we all need that extra bit of support.”
There were lots of secrets in Parker’s eyes, but there was kindness too.
Killion was focused on the details. “What about biometrics?”
“I took care of it.”
Killion looked disgusted. “You better be the only one able to access those databases.”
“One of my firm’s contracts is Homeland Security and Border Protection. I’ve set this up as a demonstration as to how current loopholes in the system could be exploited by the right hacker.” He crossed his legs at the ankles and clasped his hands together. “They didn’t believe I could do it so I’m proving them wrong. It’s one of the things they pay me to do.”
“So they’re effectively paying you to smuggle a wanted fugitive back into the country?” Audrey was both impressed and horrified.
“We discussed the options. With a potential CIA breach we had to run this far below the radar until we know for certain exactly what we are dealing with.”
“Do you have a chief suspect yet?” she asked, crossing her arms as both men looked at her with decidedly guarded expressions.
“Gabriel Brightman,” Parker revealed, shooting a glance at Killion.
“Rebecca’s father?” She sucked in a breath. “No. You were wrong about me, you must be wrong about him, too.”
Both men’s expressions turned implacable, but they didn’t know Gabriel. “He wouldn’t do that to me. He’s supported my studies, he even created a scholarship program in Rebecca’s name and made sure I was the first recipient.”
“He fits the profile,” Parker said. “Powerful businessman who has been affected by personal tragedy and whom the justice system failed. Someone in his company is in regular contact with Mano de Dios.”
She processed this. “But why would he want me dead?”
“You lived while his daughter died.” Killion didn’t cushion the blow. “He might have presented a loving and sympathetic front, but inside it’s possible he hated and resented you for being the one to survive while the child he loved died.”
Audrey shivered and Killion dug into his duffel and pulled out a hoodie for her. Their fingers brushed as she took it and their eyes connected. He blanked his features before he looked away.
God.
“How do we figure out who in the CIA might be dirty?” asked Killion. “To connect the Brits to Audrey means they figured out I was the one who stole Gómez’s plane.” Audrey could see Killion’s brain working and it was fascinating. “They either checked hotel security cameras and got a picture of me checking in or got hold of my driver’s license from the car rental company, and ran it through the database.”
“No one ran your photo through any database,” Parker told him.
There were a few seconds of tense silence, although she didn’t know what that meant.
“So someone recognized a photo of me. Someone I know personally or that I’ve worked with in the intelligence community.”
“You have any enemies?” asked Parker.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Parker shrugged. “So it could be anyone, but we have to assume the worst and that someone within Langley is feeding information to the bad guys.”
Killion looked thoughtful for a moment. “Or some analyst is fulfilling requests from an Intelligence Officer they trust in the field.”
Audrey had a thought. “You said you thought it was me because they used batrachotoxin, correct?”
Killion tilted his head as he looked at her. He was so familiar and handsome she felt a quiver around the region of her heart.
“Well?” she prompted.
“It wasn’t just because they used batrachotoxin. It was batrachotoxin with DNA traceable to frogs you worked on in your lab.” His lips pulled back. “University security is lousy by the way.”
“You broke into my lab at the university?” Her lips parted in surprise.
Killion gave her a thin smile that was scary rather than reassuring. “And your office. Gabriel Brightman is a regular visitor to the campus.”
“He gives a lot of money to the college.” She felt numb and huddled into his hoodie and wished she could get the other Killion back. He kept pushing her away, probably so when he left she’d be happy to get rid of him. What he didn’t seem to understand was, she’d known from the start he’d never stay.
“Your computer could do with a better firewall,” added Parker.
“Great.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You two have no appreciation for the law.”
The two men looked at one another.
Killion leaned forward. “We couldn’t get a warrant because we can’t admit a crime has been committed. We’re working on time sensitive information with the sort of stakes that start wars. In this instance I’ll do whatever it takes to get the information I need.”
“Does that include sleeping with your prime suspect?” she asked silkily.
Parker winced.
Killion narrowed his eyes. “Probably, darlin’, but by the time you and I got together it was painfully obvious you were nothing more than an ordinary frog biologist.”
Hurt froze her in place. She hadn’t expected his casual dismissal to sting so much.
Killion ran his hands through his hair and closed his eyes. “Okay, back up. That didn’t come out the way I meant it.”
“We were all convinced you were involved, Dr. Lockhart.” Parker cut into the conversation that had gone from big picture to personal in a blinding flash. “It wasn’t just the poison.”
Her heart felt like it was stuck a few beats back. She inhaled and tried to listen to what Parker was telling her.
“The murder took place while you were in Kentucky and not long afterward, we found a large amount of cash transferred to an account registered to your name in the Caymans.”
Her hands clenched into fists. “I don’t have a Cayman Island bank account.”
“According to the bank you have half-a-million dollars,” Killion corrected.
“What?” Audrey couldn’t believe it. No wonder Killion had thought she was guilty. But there was a flaw in their thinking. “You said I was in the right place at the right time, but they couldn’t have known I’d be back in Kentucky for Christmas. I only went home because of a family emergency.”
Killion’s sharp blue gaze softened, and he moved close enough their knees bumped. “Audrey.” He reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers.
Oh, my God.
“You mean someone made Sienna overdose?” Her voice broke as something snapped inside. She wanted to throw up. All the time she’d spent blaming Sienna for her weakness and the whole thing was Audrey’s fault. “Someone almost killed my sister just so I’d come back to Louisville?” She stood and paced to the cockpit door and back. “Who hates me this much?”
Killion rose and drew her against him. At first she fought him because she was still so angry at him for the cold indifference he’d exuded. Then she gave in and wrapped her arms tight around his waist, wishing she could keep this version of the man—the good one she bet very few people knew existed.
“How do we get information on Brightman?” Killion asked over her head.
She couldn’t believe it was Gabriel. He’d always been kind to her. Generous even. Wanting to know how she was and what she was doing. Keeping a benevolent eye on her achievements—or so she’d thought. She couldn’t believe that under that altruism ran a vein of hatred so deep he wanted her dead. But who else did she know who had the power to set up this kind of operation that included paying off an assassin, a CIA analyst, not to mention placing half a million dollars in a bank in the Caymans?
No one. Except maybe the cartel and she’d never done anything to them until Hector Sanchez had shown up.
Killion sat and drew her onto his lap.
Parker massaged his temples. “Brightman has top of the line security—both physical and cyber. We can break into his system or his house, but he’ll know within seconds. His IAS is top of the line. Intruder Alert System,” he explained at her confused look. “I can’t find a direct link to Mano de Dios, but someone at his company HQ is in regular contact with someone down in Colombia according to cell tower information.”
She shuddered as she remembered the moment when Hector had slipped that blade into her side. Pain and hellfire, fear and confusion. Not only that. The terrible feeling of impotence, of not being valid or necessary. Of her life being worthless.
Killion’s hand ran up and down her spine, trying to soothe her. “I can get in, but it’ll take a few days to set up. Get me the floor plans and—”
“I’ll do it,” Audrey said suddenly.
“No,” said Killion.
She pulled out of his arms. This was something she could do. This was where she could contribute not only to her own survival, but to helping these men catch a dangerous killer.
“You don’t understand. He’s always pretended to be like a father to me. He’ll let me in. He’ll help me even if behind my back he’s plotting to kill me. I know he will.”
“Over my dead body,” said Killion. “Tell her, Alex.”
“There would be dangers to going in alone,” Parker agreed, “but it isn’t a bad idea.”
“What the fuck?” Killion swung to face Parker.
“If Audrey is willing to risk being alone with Gabriel Brightman for a couple of hours—”
“It’s too dangerous,” Killion cut in.
“It might allow us to get inside the family home and search for proof as to his involvement without him knowing about it.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Killion repeated again, louder, in case she and Parker had gone deaf.
“I want to do it. I’m telling you, there’s no way he’ll confront me directly.”
Killion’s expression got downright mean. “What if he calls the cops? What then?”
“You wait outside in the getaway car and we escape into the sunset?” she suggested, only half joking.
“You’re wanted for murder, Audrey,” he said harshly. “This isn’t a laughing matter.”
She seethed although she knew he was being a bastard because he was worried about her. “Someone stole my life, Patrick. I’m not going to sit around staring at some lonely farmhouse walls, wasting my time and other peoples’ when we could get a head start on this by me being proactive.”
“And what’s your cover story, Madam fucking genius?” Killion’s eyes flashed bright angry blue. “You just happened to get out of Colombia and back into the US without anyone seeing you?”
“I crept onboard a cargo ship and stowed away. Really, how is that any more fantastic than what actually happened?” The realization he had so little faith in her abilities hit her hard. Her mouth went dry. She was done with being the victim who did what everyone else told her to do. She wasn’t a dummy. She stood and headed for a room at the rear of the plane. “I’m doing this. Unless you intend to tie me up, you better get used to the idea.”
* * *
“I CAN TIE her up, right?” Killion said to Parker as Audrey stormed out of the cabin. “Lock her in a padded cell somewhere so she doesn’t get to endanger herself?” He raised his voice so she could hear him.
Parker drank his coffee as Audrey closed the door with a definitive snick. “Gabriel Brightman has been extremely careful to avoid direct confrontation during this little enterprise. He’s not going to start now.”
“If it was your woman you wouldn’t let her do this.” Killion didn’t even question the fact he’d just claimed Audrey as his. During this op, she was his.
“Mallory would have my ass if I tried to stop her from doing anything just because she’s a woman, mine or otherwise.” The slight twist of Parker’s lips suggested he’d tried on more than one occasion. “But I get why you’re pissed. You care about her.”
Killion dropped to the seat and planted his forehead in his palm. “Of course I care about her. I got her into this mess. It’s my fault Brightman sent the cartel after her. I promised I’d get her life back for her. Shit.”
“You promised you’d get her life back? What are you gonna do? Blow up Gómez’s compound and dismantle the entire Mano de Dios drug operation south of the Equator?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of destroying the evil mastermind, putting the real assassin out of business and just hoping the cartel faded away.” Killion rolled his eyes at himself. “If Brightman was part of this Gateway thing why did he want Burger dead?”
Parker shrugged. “Maybe he wasn’t part of it. Maybe Burger tried to recruit him but the guy said no. Maybe Brightman was involved and discovered Burger’s involvement with last year’s attack on the shopping mall in Minnesota and thought Burger had gone too far? Or maybe Burger found out about Brightman’s connection to the drug cartel and threatened to bring him down?”
“Long on theories, short on fact?”
“Absolutely.” Parker nodded. “But one thing I do know, using a professional assassin to kill Burger and at the same time framing Audrey took some serious planning. Mix in El cartel de Mano de Dios and we are dealing with some very dangerous individuals, with serious high stakes.” He grew thoughtful. “But not people who want to go down in flames for first degree murder. Not people who want to draw attention to themselves in any way.”
“That is not making me feel better about Audrey getting anywhere near Brightman.”
“She won’t be alone for long.”
“She almost died, Parker. When I first met her I thought she was the assassin and I didn’t give a shit about her. But I was wrong.” He shuddered at his callousness. “I drove her through the jungle and flew her across the entire continent of South America while she lay bleeding in the back of the aircraft from a serious stab wound. After that little adventure I refused to take her to the hospital and she almost died of fever. Then I take her somewhere I promise is safe and we almost get butchered by a bunch of crazy Honduran fishermen.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “The thought of putting her in danger again…”
“She wants this over with.”
“And I want her to survive long enough to slap my face when she finds out I’m the guy who threatened her that night,” Killion bit out.
“We’ll keep her safe.” Parker didn’t react to his temper.
Killion narrowed his eyes. “Let’s keep her safe in an S-A-F-E house.” He spelled out the word for emphasis.
Parker watched him with eyes that looked like they’d seen everything. “Dr. Lockhart isn’t going to sit idly by while we spend weeks looking for ways to get into Brightman’s mansion. Not to mention Gabriel Brightman might not be involved in this any more than Audrey was, in which case we could waste days investigating him while the real players escape unnoticed.”
Killion swore and eyed the other man sharply. “Would you let Mallory do it?”
Parker grinned and tipped his face to the ceiling. “Not even for a moment.”
Killion drank his coffee and wished it were something stronger. Wished he could drown in a bottle. “There you go then.”
“We also need to figure out a way to draw out the source inside the CIA.”
Killion’s lips twisted. “I’m thinking it’s someone who knows me personally. Someone I’ve worked with.”
“You have any enemies at Langley?” Parker asked.
“Who doesn’t?” Killion countered.
Parker didn’t rise to the bait. “Anyone who hates you enough to sell you out to a Colombian drug lord?”
He pressed his lips together. “There was one woman, but she left the agency years ago.” He rubbed his fingers over his jaw. “June Vanek. She went through the Farm same time as me. She was pissed to be stuck in Islamabad, but military support was limited in the early days and many of the tribal leaders wouldn’t deal with a woman. She persuaded the brass to bomb a village near the Pak border.”
Parker nodded. The guy had received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in Afghanistan and not long after that had started working covertly for the CIA. Parker understood the nuances and politics of war.
“I’d told her the informant was full of shit. I’d told HQ we were getting somewhere with local people, but rather than listening to the man on the ground they trusted an unreliable source and an inexperienced field officer.” His mouth went dry. Kids had been among the victims killed. “Needless to say, she seriously fucked up our efforts to gain support in the region.” He gave Parker a tight smile. “I reamed her out in public, then laid it all out in dispatches. I was surprised they didn’t fire my ass for that one.”
“She resent you for it?”
“Hated my fucking guts, but she wasn’t the only one.” Killion’s methods were a little unorthodox and he bent noses out of shape.
Parker frowned. “Make a list of the people who dislike you most, or the ones you think could be bought. I’ll investigate them all.”
Killion didn’t want to wait that long. “I could make a mistake that lets someone know where I am. Nothing too obvious. I’m not an idiot, no point pretending to be.” His gave his trademark cocky grin but wasn’t sure who he was trying to sell it to. Parker wasn’t buying, and Audrey wasn’t here. What the hell was she doing back there?
“You have anyone you trust at the CIA?”
“A lot of the best people retired in the last two years.” Burned out after fourteen years of grueling stress and unrelenting tension. “There’s Crista Zanelli. She’s an analyst. We had a thing years ago but we’re good friends. She said my boss has been asking questions about where I am. I could call him.” He should call him.
Parker nodded carefully. “Or we could organize a call from some payphone to your boss or Crista and see who runs a search on the number. If no one takes that bait we’ll make the next move a little more obvious, like an email asking for a meet.”
“Might work.” He climbed to his feet and went to the door of the room Audrey had entered earlier. What the hell was she doing in there? He opened it carefully and saw she was curled up on the bed, fast asleep.
Something wrapped around his heart and squeezed tight. He wanted to climb in beside her, but that part of their relationship was over. Emotion crowded through him. The thought of never touching her again made his fingers clench in reaction. Loneliness at the realization he’d already lost her was like a physical ache. But the idea of her being hurt was worse.
It was over. His only job now was to get her through this alive.