Bourne and Shadow hiked up the arena promenade to where Callie Faith waited for them, surrounded by armed men, her wrists locked in handcuffs. She’d tried to run as the Treadstone assault began, but she hadn’t gotten far.
“Callie,” Shadow said to her, deliberately avoiding the title Congresswoman, as if she were sure that position wouldn’t apply for much longer. “I don’t need to tell you this, but you’re in a lot of trouble. You’ve been a bad girl ever since the start of your political career, but now it’s all about to come crashing down.”
Callie’s eyes went from Shadow to Bourne and then to the Treadstone agents guarding her. She tried to stay cool, but fear oozed from her body like perfume. “I haven’t done anything wrong. Certainly nothing illegal.”
“You’re here in the middle of the night trying to purchase a hacked database for purposes of extortion,” Shadow told her. “With money you don’t have, using an armed ex–intelligence agent as your intermediary.”
“Fooling a thief with fake money and a fake cover story isn’t a crime,” Callie replied. “I was simply planning to retrieve the database in order to hand it over to the appropriate authorities.”
Shadow smiled. “Of course you were. You’re such a selfless patriot. But I wonder what story Johanna will tell when I offer to spare her life in exchange for ratting you out. Will she back you up? Or will she admit what we both know? You were going to walk away with the laptop, and the person who stole it would wind up dead.”
Callie frowned. She knew she was done. The game was over; she’d lost.
Bourne noticed that Callie didn’t ask about Johanna. Her agent and ally had been taken away to rot in a hole somewhere, and this woman didn’t care. That was what spies were to the powerful, just tools to be used and discarded. He hated this woman, and right now, he hated Shadow, too. Thanks to her intervention, his own plan to rescue Tati had blown up around him. He felt caught in a hallway with multiple doors, and no matter which door he chose to open, someone he cared about died.
“Johanna is hardly credible,” Callie said, grasping for any kind of leverage. “You can’t believe anything she says. You know that better than anyone.”
“True, but I don’t need her to take you down. I already have all the dirt I need on you. How long do you think it took me to figure out the significance of ninety-six thousand dollars? Not long at all, Callie. You launched your first campaign on the back of an illegal bribe from casino bosses. It’s been downhill from there.”
“You hacked my phone,” Callie said, shaking her head.
Shadow shrugged. “Naturally I hacked your phone. I bugged your office. Your car. Your home. I’ve been watching your whole life in high definition for months. You’re a fool to underestimate me, Callie.”
“So what now? You arrest me? Let’s see how that goes. You just admitted to illegal searches against a U.S. congresswoman. The Justice Department will never let that fly. You’re the one who will wind up in jail, not me.”
“Jail? Don’t you understand what’s happening here, Callie? We’re way beyond the courts. Hell, if I wanted, I could make sure you’re never seen again. Unless you tell me everything, you’ll just disappear. A few days of headlines about the strange case of the missing congresswoman, and then everyone will simply forget about you.”
Bourne caught Shadow’s eye as she made that threat. Her stare was cool, and he knew this wasn’t a bluff. Callie knew it, too.
“Fucking deep state,” she muttered. “This—this right here—is why I’ve been trying so hard to take you all down. You think you’re above everyone else. You report to no one. There’s no accountability. Sooner or later, it’s going to turn against you. Count on it.”
“Maybe so,” Shadow agreed. “We’re all expendable in the long run. But I won’t be taken down today, Callie. And not by you.”
“You won’t take me out,” she snapped back. “You won’t take that risk.”
“I’ll do what I have to do. But even if I choose not to eliminate you, all I have to do is let the rumors fly around Washington. The knives will be out in no time, Callie. That’s how it works. You know that. Do you think Wilson Scott wouldn’t love to know whose fingerprints were on the gun that shot him in the back? Do you think you’ll keep your seat on the committee when everybody knows what you’ve done? Even if they don’t pull a George Santos on you and kick your ass back to Las Vegas, you’ll find yourself sitting all alone in the back of the chamber with zero power. I don’t think you’ll like that very much.”
Callie did a slow burn, like a caged tiger pacing with nowhere to go. “What do you want, Shadow?”
“Isn’t that obvious? I want the Files.”
“Well, I almost had them tonight, and you fucked up the operation. Now they’re going out to the highest bidder. It won’t be me, and it won’t be you. God knows who’s going to end up with them.”
“Then you better help us get there first,” Shadow said.
“How do you expect me to do that? This was my one shot, and it blew up in my face because of you. Don’t you get it? The Files are in the wind. I don’t have a fucking clue who has them.”
Bourne stepped closer to Callie, almost in her face. “Stop with the bullshit, Congresswoman. You manipulated Johanna and lied to her, and now you’re lying again. You’ve been in the middle of this from the beginning. The Files were being used to help you gain power. That wasn’t the Chinese. That was Vix. She took the Files, and then she reached out to you. Tell us why. Tell us what happened between the two of you. Because somewhere in there is a clue I can use to find her.”
He expected the name Vix to land on Callie Faith like a sucker punch, pushing the air out of her lungs. Instead, confusion filled her blue eyes like a haze, and her forehead wrinkled as her mind worked furiously. When the fog finally cleared, her mouth bent into a cruel smile. She was arrogant again. Confident.
Her losing hand had somehow turned around, and he didn’t know why.
“I want a lawyer,” she said. “Now.”
Shadow shook her head. “You still don’t get it, Callie. There are no lawyers or judges in any of this. This is between you and me.”
“Wrong. I want an immunity deal, and you’re going to get it for me. All of it off the books, sealed, confidential. Nothing comes out about what I’ve done, and I keep my seat. My lawyer will negotiate with the Justice Department overnight. When it’s signed and delivered, I’ll talk. Until then, I’m not saying a word.”
“How do I know that anything you say is worth that?” Shadow asked.
“Because you people obviously don’t have a fucking clue what’s really going on,” Callie replied. “Without me, you’re lost.”
Bourne’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“You think Vix has the files? You’re wrong.”
“We’re not wrong,” Bourne insisted. “I got that info out of a Chinese contact who’s running one of the compromised apps. He told me all about Vix. She’s the one who hijacked the Files.”
Callie smiled. “Yes, she did. I know that. Vix had the Files. But she doesn’t have them anymore.”
“Who does?”
“I have no idea. But if I tell you everything about our relationship, then maybe you can figure it out for yourself. Get me a deal. I’ll talk. Without that, you’ll be spinning your wheels until the Files are long gone.”
Bourne shook his head. “How can you be so sure Vix doesn’t have the Files?”
“It’s simple,” Callie replied. “Vix is dead.”