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“What, exactly, did we just accomplish?”
Damon asked as he handed Alina a glass of red wine and sat beside her on the sofa. He sipped his beer and looked at her.
“Aside from lowering the number of available players in the field?” she asked, sipping the wine. “We sent a message.”
Damon grunted and rotated his left arm, loosening his shoulder.
“Hell of a message. Not that I'm opposed to a show of strength at this point, but to what purpose?”
Alina was quiet for a moment, then she sighed, leaning her head back.
“When Stephanie was here a few nights ago, I cloned her phone. I was able to use the Bluetooth to get into it while we were talking. But it was no good being able to monitor what she does when the trackers are in play if I'd already taken them out of the equation. I needed a situation where everything was in play, but I was in control.”
“So this was a test to see who she's communicating with?”
She nodded.
“The message went from her phone to a server,” Alina said tiredly. “There are security firewalls in place that I can't crack from the app. I'll work on it with my servers tomorrow, when I can use my software.”
Damon frowned.
“Do you really think it’ll be that easy?” he asked. “That you'll be able to tag him from a server IP?”
“No, but it's all I have. I was hoping it would go to a phone, which would be marginally easier, but he's too smart for that.”
Damon took a drink and stared across the living room at the empty hearth, the frown still on his face.
“What about John's hard-drive?” he asked after a moment. “Any luck with that?”
“I found it.”
He looked at her, surprised. “Where?”
“Kyle opened a safe deposit box at the same bank John used,” Alina said, sipping her wine. “He used Jordan Murphy's credentials to open it. I found it yesterday.”
Damon's gaze was steady and hooded.
“And the attachments?”
“They're all there, along with what research John was able to compile over the past year.” She turned her head and her eyes met his. “He’d managed to piece together quite a bit. He knew just about everything we know now, with the exception of a few things here and there. No doubt he would have gotten there sooner rather than later.”
Damon exhaled and leaned his head back. He stretched his long legs out and rested his feet on the coffee table, crossing his ankles comfortably.
“And the attachments? What are they?”
“For starters, one of them was a photo of a pickup truck Dave claimed was used to move stolen crates. He got a good shot of two of the men. You’ll never guess who one was.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
“Who?”
“Al-Jibad.”
His jaw tightened. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. It’s no coincidence that he was involved then and you were sent to kill him all these years later.” He was silent a moment, absorbing that. “What else did Dave send?”
Alina was quiet for a moment and he glanced at her, his eyes narrowing.
“Viper?”
“Mainly maps and coordinates,” she finally answered reluctantly. “He laid out the terrain and where the enemy was positioned in relation to their troop movements.”
Damon's eyebrow rose into his forehead.
“He sent troop movements?” he repeated, shocked. “That would have been a court-martial if he was caught!”
She nodded, her face impassive.
“Dave was a steadfast, loyal Marine,” she said slowly, her voice low. “You didn't know him. Don't let what he did affect your judgment on his character.”
Damon sighed.
“I wasn't making any judgments,” he said. “Charlie already had his claws into him. Dave was just doing his job.”
Alina sipped her wine, her eyes on the coffee table thoughtfully.
“I don't know how much he told Charlie.” Her voice was quiet and even. “The file on the Organization's server didn't have much regarding Iraq. There was certainly nothing about the missing crates. I wish I knew why he sent everything to John and not Charlie.”
“We don't know for sure that he didn't. He may have sent the information to both of them. He was spooked and didn't know who he could trust. He may have been hedging all his bets. Charlie may not have added it to the file because it was inconclusive.”
Alina thought for a moment.
“That's true. If Dave thought he was being lied to by the people he trusted with his life, he would have tried to set up contingency plans.”
Damon looked at her, his lips tightening slightly.
“Being lied to does mess with your head in ways nothing else will,” he said, his voice deceptively calm.
Alina glanced at him sharply, not missing the edge in his voice. She encountered cold blue eyes and raised an eyebrow.
“Are we still talking about Dave?” she asked.
Damon's face was impassive.
“I don't know. Are we?”
Alina's brows drew together in a frown for a second before smoothing as Viper's mask slid seamlessly into place.
“What else would we be talking about?”
Damon shrugged.
“How about why you lied to me about Al-Jibad?” he suggested. “We'll start there.”
Awareness came to Stephanie slowly, drawing her from sleep and back into some semblance of consciousness. Her head was lying on something firm, and a heavy weight was resting on her chest. Those were the first things to make an impression, followed immediately by the realization that something very cold was pressed against her temple. As soon as she made that determination, her head began throbbing with a thousand jackhammers, all pounding behind her eyes. She moaned in reaction to the pain. The weight on her chest shifted and something wet shoved itself against her neck before a massive tongue slid over her cheek.
“Argh!”
Stephanie's eyes flew open, and she found herself staring up a big, brown snout. Seeing her eyes open, Buddy huffed and got her face again with his tongue.
“Ugh! Buddy!” Stephanie gasped, lifting her hand to wipe the wetness off her cheek.
A low chuckle sounded above her and the firm pillow beneath her head shifted.
“Welcome back.”
Stephanie looked up to see Blake's warm brown eyes looking down at her. She was on the couch, she realized with a start, with her head in his lap. He was holding something cold against her temple, and she frowned.
“Where did you come from? What happened?”
She struggled to sit up, and Blake moved the cold object, allowing her to push herself up with her arms.
“Careful,” he warned. “Don't sit up too fast. You took a pretty hard hit to the head.”
Stephanie paused mid-rise and gasped as memory came flooding back.
“Someone was here!” she exclaimed. She finished pushing herself up and leaned back against the couch as dizziness washed over her. “They were behind the door! At least, I think they were. I never saw them. I didn't even get the light on.”
“You didn't see anything?” Blake asked, handing her a dish towel filled with what she assumed were ice cubes. “Nothing at all?”
She shook her head and took the ice compress. Raising her left hand, she gingerly touched the source of all the pain.
“No. I came in and was reaching for the light when I felt someone behind me. That's all I remember.” She transferred the ice pack to her left hand and set it against the swelling welt near her temple. “When did you get here?”
“It must have been right after it happened,” he replied, standing up and stepping past her legs, heading toward the kitchen. “You were on the floor and whoever did it was on their way out the back door. I'm getting you some soda pop. You can use the caffeine.”
“I could use a drink,” Stephanie muttered as he disappeared into the kitchen. She dropped her eyes to Buddy, sitting on the floor beside the couch, staring up at her with big, worried eyes. “It's ok, Buddy. I'll live.”
She reached out to pet the top of his big head, and he nuzzled her palm with his nose. Stephanie smiled, then looked around her living room with a frown. Nothing was out of place. What the hell? Resting her head against the cushions, she stared up at the ceiling, trying to think past the shock and pain. Someone had broken into her apartment, but hadn’t touched anything? That didn't make any sense at all.
“Buddy went nuts outside when we got here,” Blake said, coming back into the living room with a can of Pepsi from the fridge. He opened it and handed it to her before stepping over Buddy and sitting next to her again. “He chased someone out the back door, but they got the door closed and got away before he could get them. By the time I made sure you were ok and followed, they were long gone.”
“I don't understand. It doesn't look like they touched anything. What were they doing here?” Stephanie sipped the cold soda. “Do you think they were trying to steal something and I interrupted them?”
Blake looked at her, his face grim.
“I think they were waiting for you,” he said bluntly. “I walked through the apartment while you were still out. I don't think they took anything. Even your laptop is on the table where you left it.”
Stephanie scowled in confusion.
“What the hell would anyone want with me?” she demanded. “That's crazy!”
“Do you have a better explanation?” he asked.
She was silent for a long moment, thinking over everything that had happened in the past couple weeks.
“No,” she admitted. “I don't get it though. Do you think the Casa Reinos Cartel found out I'm working with you? Maybe they're behind it?”
Blake shook his head slowly.
“If they were, you'd be dead,” he said bluntly. “No, I think someone wants something from you, and Buddy stopped them from getting it by scaring them away.”
Stephanie looked at the pit bull. He was stretched out on the floor, his head resting on his front paws. At the sound of his name, he lifted his head and looked up at his master, his tail thumping against the carpet.
“Thank God for you two,” she said fervently. “If you hadn't come back up tonight...”
Blake's lips tightened.
“And now we're not leaving anytime soon. You're stuck with us until we figure this out.”
Stephanie looked from Buddy to him and nodded.
“I'll be happy to have you,” she agreed. “God, my head hurts.”
That made him chuckle, and he got up.
“Do you have any Advil?” he asked. “I'll get it.”
“In the bathroom cabinet.”
He nodded and went around the coffee table to the short hallway leading back to the bedrooms and bathroom. Buddy got up to follow him, and Stephanie watched them disappear down the hall. She glanced over to the dining room table and her laptop, still charging where she left it earlier, and frowned.
What the hell was going on? Why was someone in her apartment and, more to the point, what the hell did they think she had?
Alina stared at Damon for a beat, then stood up and took the empty beer bottle from his hand. She turned to carry it into the kitchen with her wine glass.
“Oh no,” he said, getting up swiftly and following. “You're not dodging this like you dodge everything else.”
“What are you talking about? I don't dodge anything.” She set the bottle and glass in the sink and turned to get a bottle of water out of the fridge.
He scoffed.
“If anything gets too close to hitting any form of emotion, you evade and deflect,” he said roundly. “It's Viper's SOP.”
“I just don't see the point in having long discussions over things that can't be resolved with words. It's a waste of time.”
“Not this time.” Hawk crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, his face a chiseled mask. “Start talking. Why did you tell me you killed Al-Jibad and got chased out of Syria?”
Alina closed the fridge and looked across the room. The look on his face was intimidating. Anger blazed in his arctic blue eyes and her lips tightened. He knew. She didn't know how he knew, but Hawk had obviously discovered the truth.
“I did kill Al-Jibad,” she said, opening the bottle of water and taking a long drink, “and I was chased out of Damascus.”
“You killed him a week before you said you did,” he shot back, “and were chased out of Syria a week later.”
She met his gaze calmly. “How did you find out?”
Hawk stared at her for a long moment, then dropped his arms and went over to get a water for himself from the fridge.
“I found a report written by someone who has a mole inside Mossad. It was timestamped.”
Viper nodded, turning to go back into the living room.
“There's always something,” she said almost to herself. “Let me guess. The Russians have spies in the West Bank.”
Despite himself, Hawk grinned as he followed her. Viper was quick. She always had been.
“Why the production?” he asked, watching as she moved to the recliner and sat down.
She was putting distance between them. He went back to the couch, letting her have her way.
“It was necessary,” she said, her voice even. “No one could know, not even you.”
Alina looked up to find him watching her with an inscrutable look on his face. His eyes were hooded, and he looked every bit as dangerous as she knew he could be. Oh, he was furious, but he was willing to listen. She frowned, honest enough to admit to herself that she wasn't sure she would be if the roles were reversed.
“In February, Charlie met me in Rome,” she said slowly. “I didn't even know he was in Europe. I got back to my flat and there he was, sitting in my living room.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow. “He didn't contact you first?”
She shook her head and sipped her water.
“He already knew we had a leak in Washington. He’d stopped using the normal comm channels and, as far I know, no one knew he was in Rome. He was completely off grid.”
“That’s when he told you about the leak?”
She nodded.
“Al-Jibad needed to be eliminated, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, as it were. I would eliminate the target, and then use myself as bait. The problem was that my window for hitting Al-Jibad was too small. He would only be in his private compound in the mountains with minimal security for two days.”
“Why minimal security?” Hawk interrupted. “What was he doing?”
Her lips twisted.
“Al-Jibad had a thing for teenage girls; Western girls in particular. A few times a year, he went to his compound with only a handful of his men. Most of his followers believed him a devout, strict, religious man. Only a few knew the truth, and he kept it that way.”
“What about the girls? Didn't they talk?”
“They never lived. Once he was finished with them, he let his men have them. None survived. He got them from auction, so no one came looking for them.”
“Lovely.” Damon swallowed some water. “I'm glad Charlie sent you. I'm sure you didn't make it pleasant for them.”
A cold smile passed over Viper's lips.
“No. I didn't. But I needed time, and I didn't have it. I have a few contacts in Mossad and they got me into Syria without a trail. I went to the compound, eliminated the target, and left the same night. Mossad got me out again the same way. Obviously, that's when your Russian friend saw or heard something.”
“I wouldn't exactly call them friends,” Hawk murmured, suddenly amused. “The spy in the West Bank has a contact inside Mossad. He didn’t need to see anything. He heard it straight from the source.”
Viper frowned.
“How the hell did they manage that?” she wondered, momentarily distracted. “Mossad will want to know about that.”
Hawk shrugged. “Knowing Mossad, they probably already know. They're most likely using them.”
Viper pursed her lips.
“That's true,” she agreed thoughtfully. “That sounds like them.”
“So, you killed Al-Jibad and left. Then what?”
“Then I 'leaked' information about myself,” she told him bluntly. “By the time I re-entered Damascus a week later, they were looking for me.”
“You planned it all?” Hawk stared at her incredulously. “You leaked your own identity and location? Are you out of your mind?!”
“We had to know where the leak in Washington was,” said Viper, meeting his gaze calmly. “Charlie knew it was in one of the agencies, and he suspected our own, but we had to be sure. I only leaked information to sources within the Organization.”
“Oh my God,” he breathed, running a hand through his hair. “You signed your own death warrant.”
“No. That was done by the leak,” she said, her voice like cold steel. “All I did was put it on my terms.”
Hawk studied her for a long, silent moment.
“Why couldn't I know?” he finally asked.
“I had to convince them that they were one step ahead. That meant convincing everyone, even you.”
He got up impatiently, setting his water bottle on the coffee table, and stalked to the fireplace.
“Who's idea was that?” he demanded. “Charlie's?”
“Mine. I was exposing my neck to a guillotine. I needed to be damn sure nothing went wrong.”
Damon turned and looked down at her.
“Tell me it wasn't because you didn't trust me,” he said harshly.
“I trusted you. I didn't trust the people around us. I still don't.”
He nodded and turned to pace around the living room, moving with a steady, dangerous stride.
“So we know it's someone in the Organization,” he said. “Any other agency involved? Whoever it is could very well be spreading the information.”
Alina shrugged.
“Charlie's still trying to figure that out,” she said. “That part was, and still is, all true. We don't know how far it goes; whether or not it's contained to our house.”
They were both silent as he paced for a few minutes, his lips pressed together in a grim line. Alina watched him, wondering what was going on in his head. The anger seemed to have abated, but she got the distinct impression that it hadn't gone very far. Her suspicions were confirmed when he stopped in front of her chair and looked down at her.
“If you ever lie to me again, we're going to have big issues. Do you understand?”
Alina nodded slowly.
“If we can't trust each other, we have nothing. The job, the targets, the leak, all of it is nothing if we don't have each other,” he continued brutally. “And I'll tell you this: they know that. The only thing stronger than you or me is us together.”
Alina gazed up at him, her heart beating a little faster.
“You've said this before,” she said, her voice a bare whisper.
“Because it's true, and the bastard behind this knows it.” Hawk reached down and pulled her up to stand in front of him. He reached under the neckline of her t-shirt and lifted out the chain that hung around her neck. “We've always been stronger together. That scares the hell out of them, and it should. This bullet is proof of it.”
Alina looked down at the mangled mess of a flattened bullet resting in his palm. It was the remains of the kill shot meant for her that had passed through Hawk instead before lodging in her abdomen.
“Do you remember what I said?” he asked, his voice softening.
She slowly raised her eyes to his.
“That it was a promise,” she replied softly. “That you would always put my life before yours.”
“Well, how the hell am I supposed to do that when you're leaking your own identity to our enemy?” he asked, his voice just as soft. He released the bullet and it settled against her shirt between her breasts. “All we have is each other. No more lies. No more half-truths. No more secrets. If we're going to survive this, we have to be one threat, not two assets. We have to work together one hundred percent, and trust each other more than we've ever trusted anyone before. Can you do that?”
Alina lost herself in the deep blue of his eyes and felt something inside her give away. Her throat tightened as her gut clenched, then she exhaled.
“I can if you can,” she whispered.
The smile that lit his eyes and curved his lips went straight through her, and Alina felt it clear down to her toes. Damon cupped her face in his hands and lowered his lips to hers, kissing her tenderly.
“I promise,” he said, lifting his head. “We're going to be unstoppable.”
Viper smiled slowly.
“They'll never know what hit them.”