Chapter Ten

Not a day had gone by since that cold November night when Luke Sevick had taken flight in a boat with Parker Reeves that he didn’t think about the Russian spy and wonder if he’d survived the jump from the Osprey. Jump conditions had been less than ideal. The aircraft had been low, and Parker had been rushed. No time even to inspect or secure the chute.

It had bothered him that, in all likelihood, he’d never know if Parker survived, not unless the Russian’s body turned up on the Canadian coastline.

Every day that no body was found was another day he breathed a small sigh of relief, even though it didn’t mean anything, really. Parker’s body was just as likely to have been washed out to sea. But still. Luke couldn’t help but root for the guy.

Yesterday, at last, his question had been answered in the form of a card. Parker was alive, and he’d reached out to Luke.

He’d spent the night trying to figure out why, then early this afternoon, he’d heard the news from Palau. He’d bet everything he had that Parker Reeves and Jack Keaton were the same man.

Parker was wanted in the US for espionage. Luke had had no choice but to tell Curt Dominick and the other investigators the truth of what happened on the Interceptor, and the Justice Department had quietly issued a warrant they knew they were unlikely to ever serve.

Undine was the only person who knew Luke had let Parker go. Now, thanks to Parker’s note, he faced a difficult choice. Rat out the man who’d helped save everything Luke held dear? Or quietly catch a flight to Palau and track down the spy himself?

As appealing as a trip to Palau was—given that the scuba diving was among the best in the world, he and Undine had discussed it as a potential honeymoon destination—their wedding wasn’t until August, and the sudden trip could raise questions.

He and Undine had been living in a damn fishbowl for most of the winter. There’d been no hiding what had happened in November, and to his horror, he’d been made the face of the news story. It was only in the last two months that life had begun to settle down—after they’d moved yet again and this time managed to keep their home address secret. But had things settled enough for him to go after Parker anonymously?

News reports from Palau were scant on details. Palau was hardly on the international radar, and there hadn’t even been guns involved. So far, reports indicated the only people hurt were the terrorists—who’d suffered broken bones thanks to Jack Keaton. Only Palauan government officials had been identified as guests at the event.

It was unclear if any terrorists had escaped arrest or not.

Unable to concentrate, Luke left work early. At home, he could make discreet phone calls to find out more about the guest list. He frowned as he passed the gym on the drive home. He and Undine had made plans to meet there in an hour. Maybe they’d have time for a run later in the evening.

Undine yanked the door open before he had a chance to pull out his key. “Oh, thank God you’re home. I’ve been trying to reach you. I was just about to call the gym to ask if you were there.” She flung herself at him, and his arms closed around her. He would never get enough of this, the moment of holding her at the end of the day. Even when she was upset as she was today—or maybe especially when she was upset—it was a gift to have this woman in his arms, to be able to comfort her.

Last November, he’d been within ten minutes of not having this life.

He tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “What happened?”

“I just got a call from Mara. Ivy MacLeod was at the party in Palau that was attacked by terrorists.”

The name was vaguely familiar. “Ivy. The new hire at NHHC? The woman who replaced you?”

“She’s a new hire, yes, but she didn’t replace me. She’s not an underwater archaeologist. She’s the GIS person. The mapping and remote sensing expert. Patrick Hill’s ex-wife.”

Patrick Hill. The traitor who was about to go on trial for espionage and arms dealing. He frowned. “Is she okay?”

“I’m not sure. Mara and Curt want to talk to us both. Something strange is going on, and I’m worried about Ivy.”

“You’re sure Ivy doesn’t have ties to Hill’s terrorist group?” What did this mean for Parker? Could Luke have been wrong about him?

“I’m sure. Mara’s sure. Curt’s sure. She went through massive vetting considering who she’d been married to and the technical work she does. Ivy’s crazy smart. I hear her mapping drone dabbles in artificial intelligence.”

Well, that could explain Parker’s involvement. What spy organization wouldn’t want an AI drone in their arsenal?

Damn. He’d hoped the card meant Parker wasn’t in the trade anymore. Letting him go might have been a massive mistake.

He kicked off his shoes and peeled off his jacket, then crossed the living room to the couch. He wanted to call Curt, but first he needed to get up to speed on the situation. “How well do you know Ivy MacLeod?”

Undine canted her head to the side, thinking. Finally, she said, “I met her at least a half-dozen times when the Underwater Archaeology Branch was doing that joint project with MacLeod-Hill. She’s Alec Ravissant’s cousin, which is why Hill did so much campaigning for Alec. Apparently her marriage fell apart during the election, but she didn’t tell Alec at the time because it was messy and Alec had bigger issues on his plate. I was diving in the Great Lakes that summer, so I missed most of the drama.

“Trina told me a while ago that Cressida and Ivy have grown close. They both started working at NHHC around the same time and have a shared dislike of Ivy’s ex. According to everyone, Ivy fits right in at the office. She works hard and knows GIS better than anyone. She’s got a freaky awesome brain. She does trigonometry for fun.” Worry clouded Undine’s green-brown eyes. “She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Possibly even the smartest.”

Luke rubbed a hand over his jaw. Parker had mailed the card before the party. Had he known the attack was coming? Had he suspected Ivy was in danger?

“Time to call Curt,” he said and reached for a phone. He set the volume to speaker before he dialed. The attorney general answered right away and didn’t waste time with pleasantries before turning on the speaker on his end as well, including Mara in the conversation.

“Before we get started, I’ve emailed you a photo,” Curt said. “I need you to take a look.”

Luke pulled his laptop from his satchel and opened the top, positioning it so Undine could see the screen. It took a moment for his email to load. He knew in his gut what he would see when he clicked on the attachment from Curt, but still, his breath left him in a rush. “Parker Reeves, you sonofabitch.”

“That’s him in the photo?” Curt asked.

“Yes. I take it the woman is Ivy.” She looked vaguely familiar, and he realized he’d seen her photo in various news stories about Hill. It was widely reported Ivy would testify against her ex in his upcoming trial. He frowned. “Could this be about the trial? Is Hill trying to keep her off the stand?”

“Unlikely,” Curt said. “The prosecution doesn’t need Ivy’s testimony to convict. She’ll be testifying on lesser charges, not treason or espionage.”

Relief rippled through him. The idea that Parker had sunk to kidnapping women to keep terrorists from conviction was…beyond distasteful. In his gut he believed Parker was one of the good guys, or he wouldn’t have handed him that parachute.

“What’s going on with Ivy MacLeod?” he asked.

“We aren’t certain yet,” Mara answered. “But there’s a chance Parker has her because he wants her mapping equipment, which is biometrically coded to her, not to mention that no one else would begin to know how to use it.”

“What would Parker want with it?” The technology was hardly useful as a spy tool if Ivy had to be part of the package.

Curt cleared his throat. “I finally received an honest briefing from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon. You both were cleared to receive this level of information last fall, so I’m not violating the law in bringing you into the loop, and right now, Luke, you’re my best source for insight into Reeves—or Keaton—we honestly have no clue what his real name is.” He paused. “Is your phone secure?”

“Yes.” Luke had hired Lee Scott to secure all their phones when he found himself at the center of a media circus last fall. He had no idea if anyone had tried to hack his phone, but he wasn’t about to take that chance, especially given the number of calls like this one that had gone back and forth as the feds investigated everything that had led up to that cold November night.

“Good. You aren’t to repeat this to anyone or to discuss it in any public place where you might be overheard.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Agreed,” Undine said.

“According to intelligence sources, five months ago, a prototype Air/Underwater Unmanned Vehicle—AUUV—a drone that can seamlessly transform from flight to swim, which was in beta testing by Russian engineers was quote, lost, unquote, during a field test.”

Luke let out a snort of disbelief. “Right.”

“Exactly. Someone took it and headed for Hong Kong. The guy who’d nabbed the device was tracked. He disabled the tracking chip and continued south. GRU knows this because they managed to re-enable the tracker, and it pinged near Palau before tracking was destroyed. GRU—or someone—caught up with the man who stole the drone. He was tortured, but all he would say was he’d hidden it in the Rock Islands. One of the GRU guys was overzealous in his methods, and the guy slipped into a coma and died before he divulged the coordinates.

“Russians attempted a search, but given the Compact between Palau and the US…it got sticky. They disappeared, but periodically, Palauan patrol boats have caught unregistered boats in the islands. They only have eighteen marine officers to patrol over two hundred thousand square miles, and suddenly they’re seeing a rise in piracy and other nasty business. The Palauan government has been keeping it quiet because the Rock Islands are their primary tourist destination, and they’ve no idea why there’s been a sudden crime surge. No clue that there’s something important hidden in their territory. No one even knows if it’s on land or in the sea. Rumor has it the AUUV can last in salt water for up to six months.”

“Which means they’re running out of time to find it,” Luke said.

“Yes.”

“And you think Parker is looking for the AUUV,” Undine added.

“Yes.”

Mara let out a curse. “That’s why the Pentagon finally funded the survey? Why they pressured Ivy to finish CAM early? The Defense Intelligence Agency learned about the stolen technology and saw an opportunity.” She made a sound that was something like a low growl. “Those assholes sent Ivy there alone and didn’t even bother to warn her about what she was walking into?”

There was a short pause before Curt said, “That appears to be the case. It seems they felt that Ivy’s cover story of mapping Peleliu was foolproof—especially because it was the truth. She herself didn’t know. And the US military could get full Palauan government approval for the project, because the Republic of Palau has been asking for the survey for a long time.”

“Jesus. They could at least have sent her in with a team,” Undine said.

“I was told they figured that would only draw attention,” Curt said. “She was to work with locals—a local pilot for the aerial survey, and charter a boat and scuba partner for the underwater spot-checking of her mapping data.”

“Parker Reeves was more than qualified to be her boat captain and scuba partner,” Luke said.

“Yes,” Curt said. “We figure that might’ve been his original plan. Jack Keaton has a charter service. How long did you know Reeves?”

They’d covered this last fall, but reiterating the past could always spark a new, relevant, memory. “About a year. I’m based in Port Angeles but spend a fair amount of time in Neah Bay with a few of my ongoing research projects. Parker volunteered to help with a project early on; that’s when we first met.”

“You said in November you got the impression he wanted to leave the spy trade.”

“He said he wouldn’t go back to Russia right before he jumped from the Osprey. I had no reason to think he was lying.”

“Do you think he returned to GRU?”

Luke had always hoped Parker had made his escape. But he told Curt, “Maybe. I really don’t know.”

“Is it possible he’s working for Russia now?”

“Yes.”

“Wait,” Undine said. “If Parker is working for Russia, and he abducted Ivy to force her to use her technology to work for Russia, isn’t that…an act of war?”

Her question was met with silence. Finally, Curt said, “It’s on the continuum. We need to determine exactly who Reeves is working for. For now, the State Department is monitoring the situation. We’re doing everything we can to keep this from escalating.”

“And to protect Ivy,” Mara added.

“Yes. And protect Ivy.” Curt paused. “The GRU fed Reeves information about the sub last fall.” It was a statement—Luke and Curt had gone over all this in great detail months before—but he had a feeling he knew where Curt was going with this line of thought. Mara and Undine weren’t going to like it.

“Yes. He knew almost as much about the sub and what she carried as Yuri did.” Yuri was the man who’d set events in motion last fall that could have resulted in massive destruction in the Pacific Northwest—if not for Parker’s assistance that cold night in the Osprey.

“So if he’s working for Russia right now, he probably has a strong lead on where the missing drone is. Perhaps better than anyone else on the hunt.”

Mara gasped. “Curt Dominick, you can’t be thinking of using Ivy to—”

The sound cut off. Probably a mute button had been hit. The woman had just last-named her husband. That didn’t bode well.

Curt came back on the line. “Luke, I need your honest gut evaluation. Is Ivy MacLeod in danger from the man you knew as Parker Reeves?”

Undine grabbed Luke’s hand. He knew the answer she wanted him to give: the one that would get Ivy away from Parker. Away from Palau.

But that answer would be a lie.

He sighed and released Undine’s hand, fully expecting she’d last-name him before this conversation ended. “I gave Parker a chance to take me out on the Osprey,” he admitted.

Undine gasped.

He met her gaze. “I was never in real danger. I know not to take off a harness on the open ramp of a tilt-rotor aircraft. If he’d tried to push me, he’d have been the one to take flight. But the important thing is, Parker thought he had an opportunity to get rid of me while the airmen were busy hauling in the boat. At that point, I was the only person who knew he was working for the GRU. In his mind, one shove and he would’ve been able to return to Neah Bay, and no one would have known. But instead, he pulled me into the Osprey.”

“You let him go, didn’t you?” Curt asked. “You tested him, and he passed. So you let him go.”

Luke decided to exercise his right to remain silent. The man was the US attorney general, after all, and Luke was fairly certain handing Parker that parachute had broken several laws. He’d chosen not to read up on which ones, but he’d bet aiding and abetting were among the key verbs.

“Thank you for the information. It’s been invaluable,” Curt said.

“You’re welcome, sir.”

The line clicked dead. Undine stood, crossed her arms, and glared at him. “He’s going to order Ivy to work with Parker.”

He stood and wrapped his arms around her. “With good reason. If Ivy helps him find the AUUV, and a team of SEALs manages to rescue her, her technology, and the AUUV, we’d dodge escalation with Russia over the fact that their spy abducted her. This could easily turn into Cold War brinksmanship all over again.”

“And Ivy’s at the center of it.”

She was stiff against him, so he ran his hand up her back. “I had to tell the truth.” She relaxed into him by slow degrees. “Ivy’s in danger, from the men who attacked the party, and others searching for the AUUV. There’s no one better to have by her side. Did you read the news reports of what he did to the party crashers?”

“I hope you’re right,” she said as she pressed her face into his chest. “Because it sounds like Curt is planning to gamble with Ivy’s life.”