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“WHY DON’T YOU GET SOME rest?” Lukas asked Clark, clearly wanting to separate us.
I glanced at my girlfriend, not sure if I wanted to leave her alone. But she read the room and shrugged. “I’ll be fine,” she assured me, lying down on the cot, shoes and all.
I lowered myself to give her a kiss before getting up and following Lukas out the door. “What is it that you can’t talk to her about?” I demanded.
“I’ll show you,” Lukas promised.
“Are you going to get medical treatment?” I asked, sure that Clark would have my balls if I didn’t pressure Lukas to get his leg looked at.
“Later,” Lukas replied. “We have work to do first.”
I shook my head. It wasn’t unusual for spies to put off medical treatment. When the stakes were life and death, a little thing like an open wound didn’t seem so bad. You kept going until you fell down or passed out. Since Lukas had been dealing with the pain for several days, I figured he was okay and let it drop.
He took us back up on the elevator, past the offices and to the command center. We walked down the stairs to the bull pen, and I noticed Z had taken up residence at one of the computers. She was furiously typing, either putting in some kind of report or searching for information. Lukas didn’t pause to say hello, taking me through the room to a door on the opposite side.
When he opened the door, the people I saw nearly took my breath away. Though Lukas claimed the base was paid for by rich benefactors, I quickly realized that his reach was even more extensive. There, in the conference room, was the leader of MI6, George Oliver, and two high-ranking American officials I recognized from my years on the job.
“Theo.” My boss, George, extended his hand.
“Mr. Oliver,” I stammered, flabbergasted to find myself face to face with him.
Ever since Regg had shot me and kidnapped Clark, I’d been working off the radar. I’d heard rumors that I was being framed for the murder of several MI6 agents and that the British government wanted my head. I hadn’t resurfaced since then, assuming that I was unwelcome until I could clear my name. But Oliver’s presence here, in Dark Sparrow territory, proved otherwise. There was something else going on, and I had a long way to go to catch up.
“Good to see you,” Oliver said.
“Are you working with Dark Sparrow?” I demanded.
“Unofficially,” he replied.
“And my name?” I asked, struggling to comprehend why I found myself on the same side of the table as someone I’d been hiding from all this time.
“Cleared,” he answered. “Unofficially.”
“Of course,” I muttered, resigning myself to being blacklisted in public while being accepted behind closed doors. It was par for the course as far as international espionage was concerned.
“Listen,” Geoge continued, “I want to thank you for exposing Reginald Banks. He’s gone underground, and we are now able to investigate the extent of his reach.”
“And?” I prodded.
“And we owe it all to you,” George concluded, apparently deciding that a pat on the back made up for all the trouble I’d been through.
I had nearly been killed. Clark had nearly been killed. We’d spent a breathless few days wondering if we would ever see each other again, and it looked like the British government had been up to speed the whole time.
I wanted to be angry, but I knew that they were just doing their jobs. I’d signed on for a certain amount of “need to know” scenarios when I started, but this was pushing it. A dozen accusations thundered through my mind. They should have read Clark and me into their suspicions. They should have alerted us to the potential for violence from someone I thought I could trust. Instead, they’d left us hanging, only letting us know that they were looking at Regg for treason after the fact.
Lukas knew me well enough to pick up on the muffled anger that was radiating from my tight smile. He put a hand on my shoulder, letting me know that he wouldn’t treat me that way, no matter what my employer did. I appreciated the gesture and spared him a genuine smile before taking a seat.
“Gentlemen,” George began after everyone was seated.
There was a massive screen at the head of the room, controlled by a laptop. George hit a button, and Clark’s picture appeared, larger than life. I was shocked to find that she would be our first topic of conversation. That didn’t sit well, especially after George’s previous revelation.
“This is Clark Abrams, previously Clark Ashcroft,” George began.
A slideshow circled through a number of other agents, some of whom I recognized. Two of them were the MI6 agents that I had been tasked with rescuing from the clutches of Dark Sparrow. That was way back when we thought that Dark Sparrow was the enemy and had no inkling of the existence of New Dawn.
Those particular agents were the ones that Regg had killed and tried to pin on Clark and me. I saw the CIA agent that Clark had been looking for who’d wound up dead alongside them. I assumed that the other photos were likewise former agents who’d met with foul play while in the field.
George confirmed my suspicions as he gave a brief statement about each image. Name, nationality, and date of death were the only clues he provided, though I knew there was a common thread. It was just a matter of patience; I was sure he would get around to the point.
Finally, Lukas stood up, wincing slightly. “We just discovered that Ashcroft is still alive. All of these operatives were former trainees in his facility. They dispersed throughout the world to work for several different intelligence agencies. That was part of his plan: to embed his own operatives inside highly classified organizations worldwide.”
I held my tongue, finally treated to a global view of the problem. It irritated me that Lukas had been sitting on this information all along. Did he know that Ashcroft’s destructive habits reached so far? He must have. Yet I didn’t remember him connecting the dots quite so completely when Z, Clark, and I were alone with him.
“Each of these agents ended up dead. Those bodies we’ve been able to recover have one important thing in common. They all have a minor surgical wound on the right shoulder.” George resumed his position as leader of the meeting, nodding to Lukas with a perfunctory show of gratitude.
“They also shared handlers,” an American agent pointed out.
“That’s right,” George agreed. “These MI6 agents were all reporting to Reginald Banks, while the American operatives were reporting to Jasmine Perez.”
I flashed back to the first time I’d met Jasmine, on the pier in the Marshall Islands when Clark and I had arrived after days at sea. She’d tried to talk us into getting on a plane, but my grandmother had rescued us by providing important information about the security of the airport in question. My grandmother, a former MI6 agent, had taken us back to her remote island, where we’d spent several glorious days soaking up the sun and recuperating.
That was the first time I’d seen Jasmine, but it wasn’t the last. The last time I saw her was at the Ashcroft estate in upstate New York, where she’d betrayed Clark and tried to kill her. I didn’t have trouble believing that she was just as dirty as Regg. I’d had my suspicions from the beginning.
Rage shot through me at the loss of life displayed on the computer screen. So many people had fallen victim to both Regg and Jasmine, who should have been doing everything they could to protect their agents in the field. Instead, they were working at counter purposes. Jasmine was dead, and if I had my way, Regg would soon join her. The coordinates that Lukas had given me on the train burned a hole in my pocket. The sooner I could follow them to their source and eliminate the threat, the better.
“We know that Clark has something that Ashcroft needs,” Lukas continued, pulling me back to the briefing.
“What?” I demanded.
“We’re not sure.” George picked up the conversational thread. “We’re hoping she can tell us.”
“Didn’t you notice that Ashcroft was focused on Clark, rather than me or Z?” Lukas spoke directly to me, ignoring the other suits in the room.
“What was this?” George asked, his tone indicative of a general disapproval. I realized that he hadn’t been informed of the full extent of the fight with Ashcroft. If Lukas had shared any information with him on the multiple plane rides we took to arrive at Dark Sparrow headquarters, he’d obviously left some things out.
“Ashcroft showed up after the house burned down,” I elaborated, keeping my eyes trained on Lukas. “He specifically asked for Clark to get in the helicopter with him, not Lukas or Z.”
“That confirms our suspicions,” George said, nodding with approval.
“How?” I snapped.
I was lost, feeling like there were a number of factors at play. These mysterious shoulder injuries were one thing, but it seemed like Jasmine and Regg were the masterminds behind multiple deaths. What did Ashcroft have to do with it, and why was he so focused on Clark?
“We don’t know,” George answered, giving me the stink eye.
“I’ll talk to her,” I offered.
“No.” George denied me with a quick twist of his head. “She’ll be formally debriefed.”
“But I’ll talk to her first,” I insisted.
“Theo has a personal relationship with Clark,” Lukas added.
I didn’t know if he was trying to be helpful or not, but that defiantly wasn’t what the leadership in the room wanted to hear. I got a lot of nasty looks, and one man who seemed intrigued by the idea.
“That’s my business,” I growled. “But I’m going to speak to her first.”
“Okay,” George said with a sigh.
“Theo, can I talk to you?” Lukas asked, motioning toward the door.
I stood up, aware that my time in the spotlight was at an end. They’d told me everything they were going to share. Beyond that, Clark and I were on our own. I followed Lukas out into the command center, curious to hear what he had to say.
“I’d like you to go after Reginald Banks,” Lukas said, getting straight to the point.
“I would too,” I agreed.
“I mean now,” he qualified. “I have a team ready to go.”
“I don’t need a team,” I snapped.
“I’ll talk to Clark,” Lukas offered. “The other issue is more pressing.”
“It’s not more pressing,” I argued, astonishing myself by putting something ahead of my vendetta. Yes, I wanted to get revenge, but it was more important to safeguard Clark. I didn’t trust George or even Lukas to take her feelings into consideration.
If there was some reason that Ashcroft wanted her, and if she knew what that reason was, it could potentially compromise her in the eyes of the agency. I didn’t want to see her railroaded or pawned off on someone else’s watch. She was my responsibility, my friend, my lover. I needed to make sure I was up to speed on everything before I abandoned her in this place.
“Theo, please,” Lukas objected, blocking my path with his arm.
“Don’t make me fight you,” I swore. “Because we both know that you’re not up to it.”
Lukas rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to fight.”
“Then let me go,” I demanded.
“If she says anything—” Lukas called after me.
“I’ll let you know,” I promised.
