Reid didn’t know what to say. Minutes ago he had been completely certain that he had figured out a horrid truth—and now, it seemed that the crisis was averted with just a brief exchange of words.
But Maria was not as convinced. “What if the Brotherhood planted something?” she demanded. “What if they don’t need to actually be there to initiate the attack?”
“Then we’ll know about it soon,” Cartwright assured them. “You two know better than most how effective Sergeant Flagg and his guys at H-6 are at obtaining information.”
Reid shook his head. It all seemed far too easy. Besides, he thought, if the Brotherhood was planning an attack here in the United States, why would they have been in Syria? It didn’t add up to him—but he couldn’t contend with Cartwright or he’d risk spilling what he knew.
“Look, what you’re bringing me here is extremely serious,” Cartwright continued. “I can hardly think of anything graver than this. In the wake of September eleventh, there were many precautions and stopgaps put into place to avoid that from happening again. And I promise that I will personally make sure that the FBI and NYPD are aware of a potential threat. Both will be present in full-force tomorrow, not to mention soldiers and officers from every branch of the military. Sharpshooters on the rooftops. Emergency personnel of every type. The Secret Service, for god’s sake. Things are different than they were back then. 9/11 happened because we were taken by surprise. We’re far better equipped now, and frankly, it would be suicide for anyone to try something tomorrow.”
Reid bit his lip. He certainly wanted to just tell Cartwright everything he knew and everything he suspected. If Cartwright wasn’t complicit, it would be very advantageous to have a higher-up in the agency as an ally. But if Cartwright’s reaction betrayed him—well, he and Maria might be forced to do something brash to keep their secrets.
Reid felt Maria’s hand on his shoulder again. “We understand,” she said. “And you’re right. As long as the city of New York and the right organizations are aware, then we’ll have felt we did our jobs.”
“Good,” Cartwright said. “In that case, I want to have a debrief tomorrow morning, at eight a.m. I want all of this on the record. If there’s anything found or an attempt made, you’ll be recognized for your intervention.” He stood from his chair. “So if that’s all…”
“That’s all,” Maria confirmed. “Thank you for seeing us.”
Reid rose, terribly confused. That couldn’t just be it. It felt wrong, and Maria must have felt it too. He couldn’t just walk away with a promise that others would handle it.
Talia Mendel’s words ran through his head, from their assault on the Brotherhood’s tugboat: Which is it, Agent Zero? You don’t like others doing your dirty work, or you enjoy being the hero?
I just hold myself responsible for my own wild conjectures, he had told her.
Despite his feelings, he nodded to Cartwright and followed Maria back down the stairs to the bamboo-floored foyer. He bid the deputy director a good evening as they headed back out to the street.
Dusk had fallen and the streetlights were flickering on as they reached the car. But Maria did not unlock it or get in.
“You don’t believe it either,” Reid said.
“Not for a second.” Maria shook her head, her gaze angry and hard. “I believe that it’s what he might have been told, but it’s not the truth.” She scoffed. “That meeting didn’t tell us anything about Cartwright.”
Reid felt the heat rise in his face as his own anger and frustration grew. Once again they had been derailed from a goal. Once again he felt lied to, betrayed by people he was supposed to be aligned with. “Fine,” he said. “Then let’s just find out, once and for all.” He turned and started back towards Cartwright’s home.
“Kent, wait!” Maria hurried after him and grabbed him by an elbow. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to kick in his door and demand the truth,” Reid said heatedly. “I’m going to force him to tell us what he knows.”
“You can’t—”
“I’m tired of this, Maria!” he nearly shouted. “I’m sick to death of lies and conspiracies. Of trying to guess who might know what and who might try to kill me next. I’m exhausted from worrying about my family, about anyone close to me. Now we’re talking about thousands of lives—possibly many more than that. All for what? So that a handful of people can be richer and stay in power?” He shook his head. “No. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”
“Hey,” she said gently. “Just get in the car.”
“I’m serious, Maria.” And he was; Reid felt fully prepared to storm Cartwright’s home, cameras and witnesses be damned.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Maria insisted. “Get in the car.” She tugged on his arm. “Now, Kent.”
“Fine,” he muttered as he relented. He got into the passenger side while Maria climbed behind the wheel. “What is it?”
She sighed. “I don’t believe for a second that it’s mere coincidence that the Russians happened to find the rest of the Brotherhood, nor how willing they were to hand them over.”
“And why do you believe that?” he demanded.
“Because some of my… sources indicate that Russia may have a hand in the conspiracy.”
Reid shook his head in dismay. He understood immediately what Maria was telling him; she had not severed ties with the Ukrainians as she had promised.
“I wanted to,” she said quickly. “I tried to cut myself off, but they have information that I need.”
“What sort of information?” Reid asked.
“I can’t tell you.” She averted his gaze, staring instead at the steering wheel.
“What did you tell them you would do in return for this information?”
“The same thing I would have done anyway,” Maria said candidly. “Stay close to you, so that we can figure this thing out together—”
“And then report back to them with everything we’ve found together?”
“No,” she said firmly. “I was only doing it to get intel, and then I was going to walk away—”
“Do you really think they’re going to give you what you want if it means they’ll lose you as an asset?” he asked, his voice sounding harsher than he intended.
Maria closed her eyes. “No. I suppose they wouldn’t.”
As irritated as he was, it was hardly the time to argue. “Alright, so tell me about Russia,” he prompted instead. “How are they involved in this?”
“I don’t know much,” she admitted. “The Ukrainians believe that Russia’s intent is to seize oil-producing assets in the Black Sea, and possibly more. The people I’ve been working with think they might even invade. The collusion with the US would mean that we don’t intervene. It can’t be happenstance that Russia has been slowly increasing their presence in the Middle East these last two years.” She glanced up at him.
Reid had to agree; collusion or not, just the simple fact that the alleged Brotherhood members had been captured at the same time that he and Maria worked out the potential plot was extremely suspect.
“There might be a way for us to confirm it,” he said. “Let’s head back to the house. You got a burner?”
“In the glove box.” Maria started the car as Reid pulled out his own cell phone, and then popped open the glove compartment and dug out the burner phone.
He glanced up briefly as they eased down the street past Cartwright’s house and he could have sworn he saw a silhouette in the window. But it could have just been his imagination.
Reid punched a number from his own phone into the burner and made a call. It rang three times before Strickland answered.
“Hello?” he said warily.
“Todd, it’s Kent,” Reid said urgently. “I need a favor.”
“I’m listening.”
“Do you think you could get in contact with your pal Sergeant Flagg at H-6?” he asked. “It would have to be discreet—non-CIA channels only. A personal cell, or a secure frequency, something like that?”
“Hmm.” Strickland thought for a moment. “We have a few Special Forces friends in common. I’d have to make a few calls to some old buddies, but I think I could do it. And what would you like me to say to Sergeant Flagg?”
“There are five new detainees on their way to H-6, if they’re not there already. Supposedly they’re the last five members of the Brotherhood.”
“They were captured?” Strickland said in surprise.
Interesting, Reid thought, how none of the agents on the op were informed of that.
“I’m not so sure,” he told Strickland. “I need to know who they are and what, if anything, they’ve said so far. And I need to know five minutes ago.”
“On it,” Strickland confirmed and hung up.
Reid turned to Maria as she drove them back towards Alexandria. “What do you think the odds are that Flagg will be honest?”
“To a fellow soldier? Probably pretty good,” Maria noted. “We just have to hope that—”
Reid’s personal cell phone rang in his hand. It couldn’t have been Strickland calling back, not that quickly. He glanced at the screen and furrowed his brow. “It’s an international number. Should I answer?”
Maria frowned, but nodded. As Reid’s thumb maneuvered over the green button, the ringing stopped.
“That’s strange,” he said quietly. Who would be calling me from…? He reached into his pocket for the white business card there, pulled it out, and compared the number to the one displayed on his call log. Aha. He dialed Talia Mendel’s number from the burner.
“Agent Zero?” she asked.
“Hello, Talia.”
Maria glanced over at him sharply. He almost smirked at the small hint of jealousy, and put the call on speaker for her benefit.
“You’ve no doubt heard the news,” Talia said over the phone.
“Just now,” Reid confirmed, certain she was talking about the capture of the Brotherhood members.
“I don’t believe it either,” she said shortly.
Reid exchanged a glance with Maria. “What makes you say that?”
“There is a second ship missing from the port at Haifa,” said Agent Mendel. “A fishing vessel, part of a tour operator’s fleet. It wasn’t previously on my radar because it had been chartered earlier that day, before the attempted bombing. But it never returned.”
“Was it equipped with GPS?” Reid asked.
“It was. But it has been disabled.”
Reid hesitated, determining how much he should tell Talia over the phone. “Agent Johansson and I have reason to believe that the Brotherhood is planning an attack on New York City,” he told her. “Tomorrow, during a parade. And… they are likely armed with weapons just as advanced as the submarine drone.”
“I am getting on a plane,” Talia said immediately.
Reid blinked in surprise. “What?”
“Apprehending the remainder of the Brotherhood is my current directive,” she said. “So I will be where they will be.”
“Wait,” Reid said quickly. The last thing he needed was the Israelis attempting to contact his superiors in the CIA. “Our agency… they don’t exactly agree with us. We’re keeping this discreet.”
“Not a problem,” said Talia. “I am Mossad. I don’t need clearance to do my job. No one will know that I don’t tell. Keep this phone active; I will contact you when I arrive.” She promptly hung up.
“I am Mossad,” Maria mocked in a mutter. “Someone thinks highly of themselves.”
“She’s an ally,” Reid countered. “And we could use some friends right now.”
The burner rang, showing an unknown number. He answered.
“It’s me,” said Strickland. He did not sound pleased. “Just talked to Flagg. The good news is, the detainees did arrive—five Middle Eastern men with no identification or associative marks. The bad news is they’re not saying much. Ever.”
“Because they’re dead,” Reid forecasted sourly.
“They were DOA at H-6. Supposedly they had concealed cyanide capsules in their molars,” Strickland told him. “Kent, just what the hell is going on?”
“I’ll tell you, but not over the phone,” Reid said. “Go to my house. The girls will let you in. Tell Maya to contact Watson and get him there too. Johansson and I will be there soon.”
“Got it. See you then.” Strickland hung up.
“That clinches it,” Maria said solemnly. “You’re right. Something’s going off, and a lot of people are trying to make it look like it’s not.” She glanced over at him. “Why’d you call on Watson?”
“Because we need a team if we’re going to New York,” he told her simply. There were no two ways about it; if they wanted this stopped, he would have to be there personally. But he couldn’t handle it alone, and they would need more than just allies. “Do you have a secure line to reach Bixby?”
“I could get it,” she replied. “Why?”
“Because we’re going to need equipment,” Reid said. “Off the books.”
“You want to steal a bunch of stuff from the CIA?” Maria smirked. “Now that’s the Kent Steele I know.”