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Harry sipped his coffee as a bus lumbered by. He stood at the corner, waiting for the light to change. At mid-morning the rush hour was over, and the foot traffic was fairly light in the nation’s capital. The light changed and Harry stepped off the curb, starting across the side street towards a small park on the other side. A brisk spring wind whipped around his bald head, and Harry breathed deeply as he reached the other pavement and started towards the park entrance.
“You’re late.”
The voice spoke behind him and Harry grinned, turning his head to look at his old friend.
“I know. I got held up by a singularly obtuse barista,” he said. “He was simply unable to comprehend the words ‘large black coffee.’”
Charlie’s gray eyes crinkled at the edges as his face broke into a rare smile.
“He’ll be traumatized for the rest of the day,” he said, falling into step beside Harry. “Thank you for meeting me here. I’m on my way to the airport and don’t have much time. Our usual place was out of the question.”
Harry grunted and they stepped into the small, wooded area nestled in the bustling city.
“If you’re looking for an update on Kasim Jamal, I have to disappoint you,” he said as they walked along a nearly deserted running trail. “He’s proving to be surprisingly elusive. We lost him after he left the old factory in Maryland, and so far, he hasn’t resurfaced.”
Charlie looked at him sharply.
“That was two days ago!”
“I know.” Harry sipped his coffee. “I’ve got people working around the clock. We’ll find him.”
“And the other one?”
“They’ll be together. They have no reason to separate now. In fact, just the opposite after losing Asad and Nasser.”
Charlie was silent for a long moment.
“What about the other issue?” he finally asked. “Last week you were making progress on the questionable agents inside DHS. What’s new on that front?”
“It’s very slow,” Harry said glumly. “I think it goes much deeper than we originally thought. Regina Cummings and her crew were just the beginning. I’m working on it, but it’s taking time.”
“We don’t have time.” Charlie stopped walking and looked at Harry. “Information is leaking out and I need to know which agency is responsible.”
“Has something happened?” Harry asked, his brows snapping together.
“An operative in Brazil was killed last night,” Charlie said grimly. “They were waiting for him at his entry-point in the favelas.”
Harry scowled.
“Are you sure it wasn’t just a bad op?”
“Yes.”
Harry sighed heavily.
“Understood.”
Charlie nodded.
“I know you’ll do your best.”
“How’s Viper?” Harry asked as they resumed walking. “Has she shown any signs of strain since John Smithe’s death?”
Charlie smiled faintly.
“Just the opposite,” he murmured. “She’s more focused than ever.”
“And the funeral?”
“I understand it’s tomorrow. Once that’s over, I don’t think we need to worry anymore. If she has any...lapse, it will be there.”
“You know, she never ceases to amaze me,” Harry said thoughtfully. “I was sure there would be problems when he died. She’s so damned attached to those people. I thought I’d trained her better than that.”
“It is only because of your training she’s come this far. She has emotional attachments, but they haven’t weakened her. If anything, they’ve made her stronger, so I won’t complain.”
“Hm.” Harry sounded unconvinced, but let it drop. “I got a call from Agent Walker’s boss today. He needs her back. She’s on LOA now because I pressured it, but with John dead, I can’t justify continuing it. Not when her boss is getting antsy. You asked me to take her out of play, but I can’t keep her sidelined for much longer.”
“The circumstances remain, but I think Blake Hanover has been distracting her,” Charlie said slowly. “Go ahead and release her back to work. If she starts to dig into things above her pay grade, we’ll deal with it then.”
“It might not be a bad thing for her to get pulled into all this,” Harry said after a moment of thought. “Our initial concern was if something happened to those people, Viper would lose focus. John died, but you say she’s more focused than ever. Perhaps our concerns were premature.”
“Perhaps.”
Harry glanced at Charlie.
“The sooner I find Kasim, the less we have to worry,” he said. “Once we find him and who brought them into the country, we can work to eliminate the threat to Viper. Agent Walker will become a non-issue. Is Hawk still stateside?”
“No.”
“That could work to our favor. If he isn’t around to be threatened, Viper will be even more focused on her target.”
“Yes. So do me a favor? Find her target.”
Harry grinned.
“Knowing her, she’ll find him first.”
Stephanie watched as the bank manager left the small cubicle, leaving her alone with the safe deposit box sitting on the desk before her. She sighed and sat in the single chair, pulling the box towards her. Wayne was sitting in the bank lobby, waiting. The lawyer was true to his word. When they arrived half an hour before, the manager had the forms ready and waiting for them. All that was left now was to clean out the box, take the last of John’s earthly possessions, and distribute them accordingly.
She sighed again, loathe to open the box. Cleaning out his desk at work was an emotional process that Stephanie hated having to do, and now here was another necessary act of invading the privacy of her partner. Another opportunity for her to shed tears over the man who had been like a brother to her over the past couple years.
“Oh John, why did you have to die?” she muttered, staring at the steel box.
After taking a deep, calming breath, Stephanie reached out and lifted the top off the box. The first thing to greet her was a manila envelope. She lifted it out and opened it, glancing inside. Her eyebrows soared into her forehead. It was filled with cash. John had a rainy day fund. She set it aside and lifted out an old folder, worn along the edges. Flipping it open, she leafed through personal documents: birth certificate, baptismal certificate, old passports. She closed it and set it on top of the envelope, then grinned as she turned her attention back to the box. A Beretta lay next to a box of clips and ammo. John had a backup for his backups. She lifted them out and added them to the growing pile next to the steel box.
Next was an old spiral-bound notebook with a beer bottle shaped stain on the top corner and fading doodles of Anthrax and Metallica logos. She smiled faintly. A throwback to his heavy metal days. It was probably filled with names and numbers of old girlfriends. Stephanie added it to the pile without opening it. There would be time enough to examine it later.
“Well, that’s a surprise!” she murmured to herself, staring into the box.
Under the notebook was a slim, external hard-drive. She pulled it out and turned it over, looking at it. John had been nothing if not technologically declined. He never kept backups and couldn’t find his way out of the C: drive if his life depended on it. So what was he doing with an external drive? Did he even know how to use it? The power cord and USB cable were in the box and Stephanie pulled them out, setting them aside along with the drive. Strange.
At the bottom of the box was a white, legal-sized envelope. Stephanie pulled it out and frowned, feeling something bulky and hard inside. She opened it curiously and gasped. Tipping the envelope, she held out her hand and a ring rolled into her palm.
Stephanie stared at it. It was the engagement ring John gave Alina all those years ago. Why had he kept it? They all just assumed he’d sold it after she, quite literally, threw it at him. Despite needing cleaning, the half-carat diamond sparkled when she picked up the ring and tilted it to the light. The white gold band was twisted to look like a vine and Stephanie shook her head. She remembered how much Alina loved that ring, right up until she threw it at John’s bleeding head.
And he kept it all these years.
Stephanie dropped it back into the envelope as a crushing wave of sadness rolled over her. Now John was dead and the ring would end up being sold, another piece of him gone forever.
The box was empty and Stephanie stared at the small pile representing what was left of John Smithe. The tears came unexpectedly, hot and furious, pouring down her face as she stared at the few pieces of his life John deemed worthy of a safe deposit box. These were the things he wanted to make sure survived. These were what he wanted to keep safe, no matter what.
Stephanie raised shaking hands to try to brush away the tears, but the more she wiped them away, the faster they came. Her shoulders shook silently, and she finally dropped her face into her hands as the sobs overcame her. This was all that was left of her partner: an old engagement ring, a couple pieces of paper to say he existed, a gun, some cash, and an old notebook and hard drive. John had been so much more, but this was all that remained.
An entire lifetime in a little steel box in a bank vault.
Alina sipped her water and moved another file into her cleared folder. Leaning back in her chair, she stretched her arms over her head and rolled her head. She was about halfway through the files she had pulled from the Pentagon, and so far, she had nothing to show for it. If she didn’t find something soon, Hawk just might get his wish. Without information, Viper had no defense and truly was sitting in the kill box, waiting to die. It was only a matter of time before the shooter found her. If she couldn’t get a step ahead, she would have to return to Singapore and try again there. But this time, she’d be ready.
Sitting forward again, Alina clicked open the next file in line. She rubbed her eyes and started scanning through quickly. On the second page, she stiffened and her eyes narrowed. Not only did this one fit the profile she was searching for, but the career followed a path eerily similar to that of Hawk’s.
Viper pursed her lips and reached for her water, sipping it as she carefully read through the file. Reaching the end, she sat back, stunned. This had to be him. This had to be the soldier Charlie wanted her to find. Everything about him, from his enlistment up until his discharge, caught her attention. This was just the type of soldier to garner Charlie’s interest.
Alina stared at the photo on the screen, a 3x3 copy of a military photo. The face was different, but the eyes were the same as the mystery doctor she’d passed in the hallway of the hospital the day John died.
She studied him. Who was he? According to his Army file, he enlisted in Pawtucket, Rhode Island at the age of eighteen. By the time he was twenty-three, he was a Ranger deployed to Afghanistan, where he served with distinction. After two tours, he returned stateside and was honorably discharged. There his Army military record ended.
Viper slid her chair over to another PC. She opened a database and, on a hunch, typed in the name. A few minutes later, she was staring at the same photo from the military file. This time, there was a red stamp across it – DISCHARGED.
“I’ll be damned,” she breathed, staring at it.
The photo was attached to an admittance form. It was a form she remembered. She’d filled hers out sitting at a table across from the man who had finally talked her into applying for a special branch of the CIA she never knew existed. Viper leaned her head back, staring at the ceiling of her command center. He was more than just an ex-soldier.
He was one of them.
The silence in the long room was broken when her phone vibrated on the counter a few feet away. Alina reluctantly scooted her chair back over to her laptop and reached for her phone.
“Yes?”
“You sound very unhappy,” Damon informed her cheerfully. “Miss me already?”
“Not unhappy. Mad.”
A beat of silence greeted that statement and Viper could almost feel him stiffen over the phone.
“Things never end well when you get mad. Talk to me.”
“Remember the soldier Charlie wanted me to find in Singapore?”
“Yes.”
“I think I’ve found him.”
“I thought you’d already decided it was the guy from your brother’s company?”
“I kept looking. I still think he’s involved somehow, but I like to cover all my bases,” she replied. “I’m glad I did. This other one is ringing all kinds of bells and whistles. His last known address was in Singapore, as late as this past winter.”
“And this makes you mad why?”
“He’s one of us.”
The silence was longer this time and Viper leaned forward to pick up her water, draining the bottle.
“What do we know?” Hawk finally asked.
Viper smiled faintly. His tone may be even, but she knew better. She could almost see the icy glint in his blue eyes as he switched into work mode.
“Not much. I found it right before you called. He was an Army Ranger, honorably discharged.”
“What makes you think he’s one of us?”
“I pulled another file with his discharge photo. It was attached to the same application form we filled out when we applied for the Organization,” Viper told him grimly. “That’s as far as I’ve got.”
“I doubt Charlie will confirm. At least, I hope to God he doesn’t. I know I’d be pissed if he confirmed my status to another asset,” Hawk said.
“Actually, I wasn’t going to ask him.”
“That’s the only way to know he’s one of us. How else will you...oh no. You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Hawk whistled.
“Wow. You’ve got balls,” he told her. “Are you out of your mind?”
“You don’t know where I was the other night,” she replied dryly. “If you did, you’d know that ship already sailed.”
“You’re not instilling confidence in me, Viper,” he muttered. “Are you sure about this? He’ll flay you alive if he catches you. In fact, to be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
“Relax. It’s not like I’ll go rooting through all the files,” she said calmly. “I know which one I’m looking for. It will be quick. In and out.”
Hawk snorted.
“Charlie will have you tagged before you crack the first firewall. There is no ‘in and out’ with our system.”
“There’s always a way. You just have to find it.”
There was a long silence, then Hawk sighed heavily.
“Even if you do manage it, what are you hoping to find?” he asked. “We don’t necessarily need confirmation he’s an asset. You can just work on the assumption he is and plan accordingly.”
“Charlie wanted me to find him for a reason. I can’t find that reason with only half his story.”
“This is getting messier every day. I don’t like it. What the hell does one of our own have to do with the banks in Singapore? Why does Charlie think this involves us? And why now?”
“All good questions. Here’s one more. Why the hell doesn’t Charlie know where one of his assets is?”
They were both quiet for a moment, then she sighed and shook her head.
“None of this makes any sense,” she said tiredly. “I feel like I’m trying to solve a riddle with every other word redacted.”
“Agreed. It would help if Charlie had given you something more to go on in Singapore. Do you think this guy could be the one behind our shooter?”
“It would make sense. It’s a start, anyway. If nothing else, it will lead us in the right direction.”
Hawk sighed.
“I hate being stuck here. What can I do to help? Anything?”
“Actually, yes,” Viper said, opening a new email. “I’m sending you a name. Can you do some background for me?”
“Sure. What kind?”
“Whatever you can find,” she told him, typing an email and sending it. “While I’m hacking the Organization, you can work on the other one. See what you can dig up.”
“Will do.” Hawk paused, then, “I just got it. Jordan Murphy? This is the guy from Iraq?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see what I can find. At least it will keep me from watching the damn TV. I can feel my brain dying in here.”
Viper grinned.
“Be thankful you’re not dead,” she told him ruthlessly. “How are you feeling?”
“Stronger,” he said. “All that sleep did some good. I’m feeling more like myself.”
“Good. What does the doc say?”
“Not much. I think he’s surprised I’m still here, to be honest.”
“Well, get better so you can get out of there,” Viper said, glancing at her watch. “I have to go. Michael and Angela will be back soon and I have some things I have to do before they come back.”
“Angela? She’s there too?”
Viper sighed.
“Yes. I wasn’t going to let her anywhere near me, but Michael talked me into it. He thinks it’s safer for her here than anywhere else.”
“Oh, he does? Does he realize what kind of labyrinth you’ve got tangled in?” Hawk demanded. “Now you just have someone else to worry about!”
“He’s taking some of the flak for me. He’s with her now while she meets with the funeral director and the priest at the church. He’s doing his part. And she promised to stay put after the funeral and not contact the outside world. There’s really not much else I can do.”
“He’s tagging along while she goes to the funeral home and the church?” Hawk sounded amused. “That must be painful. When is the funeral?”
“Tomorrow. The viewing is tonight.”
“Are you ok?”
“I’m fine.”
“I doubt that,” he said. “If you need me, you know how to reach me.”
“I know,” she said. “Thank you.”
“I’ll get started on this Jordan Murphy guy,” Hawk said. “I’ll let you know what I find. Do you have a name on the other one? Or are you keeping it to yourself?”
“Why? So you can poke around in that too? I don’t think so.”
“Viper, you say that like you don’t trust me!”
“I don’t,” she retorted bluntly. “I want you to focus on getting better. Let me take care of the heavy lifting.”
Alina could almost feel his glare through the phone.
“I just want a name to put with the idea. Just the first name, if you insist. I can’t do much with a first name.”
She sighed.
“Kyle. His name is Kyle.”