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Alina switched on the light in the kitchen and dropped her jacket on one of the bar stools. Damon followed her, his eyes going to the gun in her back.
“Coffee?” Alina asked, heading for the espresso maker.
“Please.” Damon perched on one of the stools. He glanced at the clock. “We made good time,” he remarked. Alina nodded.
“We did,” she agreed. It was a little past one in the morning.
Damon watched as she pulled out two mugs and filled the hopper of the machine with espresso beans. A feeling of contentment washed over him, taking Damon by surprise. He suddenly realized that he was exactly where he wanted to be, for perhaps the first time in years. There was a feeling of closeness in the room, and it felt good. It felt as close to home as anything he had felt in a long, long time. Alina pushed a button and the grinder came alive, breaking the silence and jarring Damon out of his thoughts.
“What's the story with Angela?” he asked, shifting on his stool.
Alina glanced over her shoulder.
“Angela?” she repeated. Damon grinned.
“Yes. Why is she the only one who never had to carry a gun at work?” he asked.
Alina grinned.
“Angela has always just been Angela. She's a pure Jersey Girl, through and through,” she told him. Alina pulled the mug out from under the spout and handed it to Damon. She picked up the other mug and turned back to the coffee maker. “She may speak flippantly about her job, but she is an assistant Vice President with the bank and worked hard to get there. Angela is our corporate vine. She won't stop until she reaches the top of the wall.”
“She works in the anti-money laundering department?” Damon asked. “That's a little ironic.”
“Quite,” she agreed. “I'm sure Stephanie's already pulled all the information she could out of her.”
“I don't see how she fits in with the two of you.” Damon sipped his coffee. “You and Stephanie are similar.”
“There's more to her than you think.” Alina removed her mug and sipped it. “Mmmm.”
Damon grinned. He had felt the same way when he had taken his first sip of coffee. They were silent for a moment, each enjoying their espresso. Finally, Alina moved toward the island.
“Well, are you ready?” she asked.
Damon nodded and watched as she reached up and pulled down a stainless steel pot and placed it on the island. He let out an appreciative whistle as the island moved silently to the side.
“Well done,” he murmured, following her down the stairs with his mug in hand. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Alina pressed a button and the opening above them closed.
Damon slowly looked around, taking in the flat screen monitors and servers that lined the room. The steady hum from the machines was occasionally interrupted when a fan kicked on to cool one of the servers, and the room smelled like wiring and plastic. Monitors flicked through streaming images ranging from pictures, to satellite images, to real-time streaming video of the house and the grounds. In between the monitors were white boards of varying sizes, some holding newspaper clippings, others with photos, and others with notes jotted down.
“Welcome to my command center,” Alina said, moving into the room.
It really was a command center, and he had completely failed to find it on the night he had come to investigate. He knew it had to be somewhere, and here it was.
“Impressive.” Damon honed in on the monitor that was scanning through thousands of pictures. “Who are you looking for?”
Alina followed his look and smiled.
“One of Johann's associates,” she answered. She sat in front of a laptop and motioned for him to look at the bigger plasma at the end of the room. “You wanted to know where I was on Johann.”
Alina opened a file on the laptop and a picture appeared on the plasma screen. A tall man with dark skin was walking through gates in an airport. He had a carry-on bag over his shoulder and his head was down. Dressed in gray linen pants and a navy loose-fitting shirt, he looked like just another tired traveler.
“Johann?”
Damon moved closed to the plasma screen. He had never seen a picture of the infamous terrorist. Only a handful of people in the world knew what he even looked like. And Viper had managed to get him on camera.
“This was him entering the country at Philadelphia International,” Alina said. “He came in about six weeks ago.”
“How did you get this?” Damon looked at her.
“I hacked into the airport surveillance server,” she answered. “It helped that I knew who I was looking for.”
“He came in alone?” Damon asked, turning his attention back to the picture on the screen. He could only see part of his face.
“Yes.”
Alina clicked on another file and another picture joined the first one. This one was taken outside the airport as Johann was getting into a cab. He was looking toward the camera and Damon got his first good look at him. His face was lean and dark, and his eyes were very deep set. His hair was short and there was no trace of shadow on his face. He was clean-shaven and westernized.
“He arrived alone and didn't meet anyone at the airport. He left the country again a week later,” Alina said, clicking again. Another picture popped up. This time he was dressed in jeans and a black windbreaker. He had a laptop bag over his shoulder. “Here he is heading into Canada. Toronto was the most likely destination.” Another picture joined the other three. “Three days later, he came back into the country.”
“All on the same visa?” Damon asked.
“No.” Alina swung around and sipped her coffee, staring at the picture broodingly. “Philadelphia was on the visa that alerted DC, but he went in and out of Canada on a US passport. He wasn't particularly concerned with getting into the States undetected, but he sure didn't want to be caught going in and out of Canada. And he succeeded. No one knows that he ever left the country.”
“Except you,” Damon pointed out.
Alina smiled.
“Well, that's my job,” she pointed out. “In any case, he went to Canada twice in a week and a half, and then he stopped traveling.”
“How do you know?” Damon perched on the edge of the counter next to her chair.
“I'm watching all the most likely entry points,” Alina told him. “I'm also scanning the government databases and surveillance satellites, as well as watching train stations, bus stations, local airports, etc. He hasn't left the country. In fact, I don't think he's left the tri-state area.”
“He did everything he needed to do within two weeks of getting here.” Damon sipped his coffee. “You think he brought an associate back from Canada?” He asked, his eyes going back to the database scanning faces.
“I think he brought someone back.” Alina finished her coffee and set the mug down. “Here's what I learned two years ago.” She sat back in her chair and looked up him. “Johann built his business on a very limited number of associates, and all those associates are loyal. His security personnel is made up of family. His couriers are extended family. This is not a man who works with other groups and he is extremely cautious.”
“But he works with Mossavid, no?” Damon asked.
Alina shook her head.
“He is Mossavid,” she replied. “Which is something no one in DC wants to accept. They think Mossavid is this big terrorist organization out of Syria with ties to Al Queda and agents all over Europe. In reality, it is a small cell of specialized terrorists, and it's led by him.” Alina nodded to the plasma screen. “When I was hired to take him out two years ago, I was told that he was one of the leading terrorists in the organization. When I tracked him, I found out that he was the leading terrorist, but of a small cell made up entirely with family.”
“He doesn't work for anyone,” Damon stated. He was staring at the plasma. “So he has complete autonomy.”
“Exactly.” Alina turned to the laptop again and pulled up another file. She didn't put it on the plasma, but motioned for Damon to look at it on the laptop screen. “This is an excerpt of a memo sent from the White House, guaranteeing funding.” Damon bent over her shoulder to read the document on the screen. “Washington guarantees funding for the war on terror and, specifically, on Mossavid.”
“Well, that explains why they want to keep the impression that Mossavid is a larger organization than it is,” Damon murmured. Alina nodded, trying to ignore the closeness of his cheek to hers. She could smell his aftershave and feel the heat from his body, and a rush of answering warmth went through her. Her pulse quickened. “It also makes more sense now why they want to make sure that there are no mistakes this time. That's a lot of funding...and no results yet,” Damon added.
Alina nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet. Damon turned his head to look at her, his eyes inches from hers. Alina felt another shock of awareness shoot through her as she met his dark blue eyes and her chest tightened. They stared at each other for a second, then his eyes dropped to her lips. Tension sprang up between them, sudden and powerful, and Alina caught her breath as it felt like her blood was hammering in her head. When Damon lifted his eyes again to hers, they had grown darker. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, and then Alina managed to clear her throat.
Damon straightened up slowly with a slight smile and Alina let out a long breath. He grinned, his eyes still dark. He moved back to his perch on the counter and watched as Alina turned her attention back to the laptop hastily. The sudden, almost blinding, surge of desire hadn't taken him much by surprise. He had always felt something for Alina, starting way back when they had first met in boot camp, but he had a suspicion that she had just been caught completely off-guard. Damon took a few deep, silent breaths. He had to wait for her to work out this new wrinkle in her own time. He just hoped she worked it out fast.
“What doesn't make sense to me is why he would be killing off his network,” Alina finally spoke, going back to Johann. Her voice sounded normal and her hands were almost steady when she swung around to look at Damon again. Her eyes met his again, but this time she was back to business. “It's not like him. It takes time to build a network. He had to have started this one months before he even got here, which is why I am pretty sure he had an associate over here already. He has traditionally left his networks in place.”
“Maybe he doesn't anticipate needing them again,” Damon suggested, looking back to the pictures of Johann. Alina followed his gaze.
“You think it could be a suicide mission?” she asked. Damon shrugged. Alina was thoughtful for a moment, but then she shook her head. “Mossavid has never shown a propensity for suicide bombings before,” she finally decided. “But something must have him spooked. The only reason I can think for him getting rid of them so systematically is that he thinks they are a threat with information.”
“And we don't know where he is now.” Damon looked back at Alina. “Any ideas?”
“I know he's in the tri-state area,” she answered. “The last location I have for him is in Center City, five days ago. I have nothing since.”
“If he's getting ready to do whatever it is that he's planning...” Damon left the sentence hanging.
They both knew the end. If Johann was preparing for the attack on Three Mile Island and the preparations were in the final stage, he wouldn't surface again until he launched the attack. Alina looked back to the monitor that was scanning faces. She had to find the associate. That was her best path to Johann.
“I'll find him before then,” Alina said softly.
Damon looked down at her. She didn't look determined. She just looked confident. He had no doubt that she would find Johann.
The question was whether or not he could protect her while she did.
Alina came awake slowly, the fluttering of wings pulling her from the depths of unconsciousness. Sunlight was pouring through the skylight in her bedroom when she opened her eyes, and shiny black eyes watched her from the perch high in the corner of the bedroom. Raven shifted his weight and bobbed his head in greeting as Alina smiled. She stretched slowly, yawning widely, and wiggled her toes under the warm and fluffy down comforter. The position of the sun told her that it was later in the day than she normally woke, and she hovered in that pleasant state between dreaming and full wakefulness. It had been after three when Damon had left and she came up to bed. It had been another hour before she finally fell asleep. She had tossed and turned, remembering the sudden and powerful desire that she had felt in the command center. Alina reflected ruefully now, in the bright light of day, that it was a good thing that Hawk had left when he had. If he had been within a mile of her last night when she had been tossing and turning, she would have ripped his clothes off quite happily.
And that was a problem.
Alina threw off the covers and got out of bed impatiently. Raven watched as she stalked into the adjoining master bathroom to have a shower. He seemed totally unimpressed with her display of irritation as he stretched his wings out before hunkering down for his morning nap.
Alina got into the shower and stood under a hot stream of water, letting the water ease the tension in her shoulders. She stared at the slate colored tiles of the wall and sighed. Who was she trying to fool? She had always had a soft spot for Damon. When they had been in training together, she had feelings for him. The few times that she had run into him over the years, she had always still felt a little electricity. Alina could always count on him to make her laugh when she needed to laugh, be serious when levity was out of place, and he always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. He understood her. He always had. How many people could truly understand her?
Alina brushed the water out of her eyes and reached for her shampoo. She hunted down bad people and killed them. Plain and simple. This was not something an average man could know or relate to. Not only could Damon do both, but he understood the unique challenges that she faced with her own conscience and her own morality. He faced them too.
Alina had known coming back to Jersey was going to be complicated. Who would have thought it would be this ridiculous though? In addition to her ex and assorted friends from her past, she now had the added complication of an increasing attraction for the associate who had been sent by their respective bosses, essentially to babysit her. Alina's lips twitched. She could certainly appreciate the irony of the situation. If everything was happening on time and according to plan, Viper might even find it all amusing. But she had yet to locate Johann and the clock was ticking. There really wasn't time for these kinds of distractions.
Not that she had much of a choice, Alina reflected as she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around her head and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Life was certainly not predictable. She had learned a long time ago that even the best plans went hinky sometimes. Her eyes dropped to the jagged scar that ran at an angle from her right hip bone toward her belly button. It had been made by a knife three years ago when an unforeseen complication caused her to get a little closer than she would have liked to the security of one of her marks. Alina touched the scar absently. It was a constant reminder that not everything went according to plan.
She lifted her eyes back to her face and stared at herself thoughtfully. If everything did go according to plan all the time, life would certainly have the potential to be very boring. Granted, when it came to her job and Johann, she wished everything would just fall into place. But Alina was honest with herself and admitted that the challenge of the hunt was what made her work interesting. She sighed and shook her head.
She was thinking too much and working too little. She had to focus on what needed to get done, and let everything else take care of itself. The sooner she got the job done, the better for everyone involved. Especially herself.
Angela got out of her car and looked around. She had stopped the car at the front door of Alina's house. She didn't want to just go waltzing up to the back door, even though at one point in time that would have been expected. She took in the large and flat front lawn and the surrounding trees. It had taken over forty-five minutes to get out here in traffic, and that was just too long. And the house was too far out in the woods. Didn't Alina get scared out here all on her own? Angela shook her head and turned to look at the house.
The house seemed nice enough. It was a sprawling two story structure with lots of potential...if it were closer to civilization. Angela wrinkled her nose and swatted away a bug that flitted near her face. She let out a gasp and jumped back when she saw that it was a huge bumblebee. The bee buzzed forward, sensing movement, and Angela ran around to the other side of her car, flailing her arms as she ran, trying to get away from the buzzing monster. The bee gave up and buzzed toward the daffodils that were growing a few feet away and Angela let out a long and relieved sigh. One of the many reasons she didn't do nature...bugs! She looked around a little self-consciously and then straightened her hair and went to the front door, ringing the bell defiantly.
Alina had already come up from the command center, where she had seen Angela on the security monitor. She had burst out laughing as Angela ran away from the bee, swinging her arms at her sides like a mad woman. Poor Angie. She was probably wearing some expensive perfume that smelled like flowers. The kitchen island was sliding back over the stairwell when the doorbell rang. Alina went to answer, wiping the laughter off her face as she opened the door.
“Angie!” she exclaimed, stepping back so Angela could step into the hall. “What a surprise!”
“I hope I'm not bothering you,” Angela said, looking around curiously while Alina closed the door behind her. “I had a doctor’s appointment, so I took the day from work. I thought I'd drive out here and see where you set up camp. You do realize you are miles away from civilization, right?”
“Hardly miles,” Alina retorted with a laugh. “Come back to the kitchen. I was just about to make some tea.”
“It took me over forty-five minutes to get out here!” Angela protested, following her down the hall and into the kitchen.
Alina thought about her South American mountain retreat that was a full day away from civilization and smiled slightly. She wondered briefly what Angela would say to that.
“I like it out here,” she said instead as they walked into the kitchen.
Alina closed the lid to a laptop sitting on the counter as she passed it, hiding the security camera footage. Angela placed her designer bag on the counter and wandered into the sitting area curiously.
“This is a nice room,” she said, looking around. “It will be nice to have fires in the fireplace in the winter.”
Alina glanced over her shoulder. She paused, her eyes resting on the fireplace thoughtfully. She had a sudden mental image of snow falling silently outside and a fire raging in the hearth with Damon in the recliner next to it. Alina allowed her mind to explore the image briefly. She supposed she would be on the couch reading. The resulting feeling of longing that suddenly washed over her at the thought made Alina frown.
“Hey!” Angela snapped her out of her reverie, exclaiming from the sliding doors. “There is the biggest black bird I have ever seen hanging out on your deck!”
Alina blinked and went back to making the tea.
“Raven actually isn't that big compared to other birds of prey,” she remarked, clearing her throat slightly. “As hawks go, he's actually one of the smaller ones.”
“You named it?”
Angela couldn't drag her eyes away from the hawk. He was perched on the top of the banister that surrounded the deck. He had been staring into the trees, but almost as if he sensed Angela's gaze, he turned his head and stared back at her with his black hawk eyes. Angela had the absurd feeling that he was evaluating her.
“Of course. He's my pet.” Alina switched on the electric kettle and joined Angela at the door. “He came with me.” The trace of fondness in her voice wasn't hard to miss. Angela looked at her.
“Then why isn't he in a cage?” she asked logically. Alina shook her head.
“He would die in a cage. He's a wild bird,” she answered.
The thought flitted through Angela's mind that they were not just speaking about the bird anymore.
“You always did have a way with animals,” she said, looking back at the hawk. “Is he dangerous?”
“Only if someone tries to attack me.”
Alina turned to go back into the kitchen.
“Do you feed him?” Angela seemed fascinated by the thought of a wild hawk as a pet. “Where does he sleep?”
“He hunts for himself and he usually naps on the deck or on the perch in my bedroom,” Alina answered readily. “I altered the skylight so that he can get in and out. It didn't take him long at all to figure it out,” she added with a laugh.
Angela finally moved away from the door and seated herself at the bar counter.
“Doesn't the rain come in?” she asked. Alina shook her head.
“Not yet.” She set a steaming china mug down in front of Angela. “But there hasn't been a real storm since I've been here, so we'll see what happens then.”
Alina got her own cup of tea and seated herself next to Angela.
“Mmmm.” Angela sipped the tea appreciatively. “This is good.”
“It is.”
Alina sipped the tea and welcomed the break from work. She had spent the whole morning tracing the known movements of Johann and reconstructing the most likely actions in between, based on what she knew of him and how he worked. It was a tedious and stressful exercise.
“So what kind of consulting does an ex-military intelligence person do in the civilian world?” Angela asked, her eyes resting on the closed laptop. Alina's lips twitched.
“Security,” she answered vaguely.
Angela raised an eyebrow.
“For private companies?” she prompted. Alina was silent. “Fine. Don't tell me. I don't need to know.” Angela huffed. Alina laughed.
“No, you don't,” she agreed.
“Does Stephanie know?” Angela asked after a moment.
Alina glanced at Angela.
“Not really,” she answered. “Although, I think she's made some guesses.”
Alina sipped her tea again, waiting for Angela to get to what was bothering her. Clearly something was. The usually chatty woman was suddenly being very quiet.
“Are you working with the FBI?” Angela finally asked.
Alina laughed.
“Hardly,” she replied. “What makes you think that?”
“I don't know,” Angela shrugged. “You just seem to be paying a lot of attention to whatever this case is that Stephanie's working on. And then this Damon guy appears, and you guys clearly know each other.” Alina looked at Angela, surprised. Angela saw the look and laughed. “Oh please, Lina,” she exclaimed. “Stephanie may be too preoccupied to notice, but I certainly wasn't. And, shockingly, I think John figured out that something was up as well. He was watching both of you very closely last night.”
“I noticed,” Alina agreed. She had noticed John's interest, but totally missed Angela's.
“Well, I'm not an idiot,” Angela announced. “And it certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you and Damon are somehow connected to Stephanie's case. So is that why you came back when you did? Are you working with Homeland Security? And does Stephanie know?”
Alina was quiet for a moment, drinking her tea. She hadn't anticipated Angela as a complication, which was a miscalculation on her part. She knew that Angie was a quick study and she should have been prepared for this.
“No,” Alina finally spoke. “I'm not working with DHS and no, Stephanie's case is not why I came back when I did.”
“How do you know this Damon character?” Angela asked.
“We met in the service,” Alina answered. “We were in boot camp together.”
“Was he military intelligence too?” Angela asked.
Alina sighed and set her cup down.
“No. He was a Navy SEAL,” she answered. “However, I don't believe he thinks that his former occupation is relevant to his current one, so I don't see why anyone should know.”
“Just like you don't see why anyone should know that you guys know each other?” Angela shot back. Alina looked at her sharply and Angela winked. “Hey, I don't judge. If I knew someone that gorgeous, I wouldn't want to share him either,” she said with a grin.
Alina forced a laugh.
“I had no idea he was Stephanie's mystery man until they walked through the door at the restaurant,” she lied blithely. “That's all there is to it.”
“Sure.” Angela finished her tea and stood up. “Well, if you need any help with whatever you guys are working on, just let me know.” She picked up her bag. “I feel kind of left out.”
“For heaven's sake, don't.” Alina stood up and pasted a carefree grin that she was far from feeling on her face. “It may all seem like a great big mystery, but there's really nothing to it at all. I'm doing security consulting now and Damon is working for Homeland Security. That's it.”
“Well, you have to admit that the whole thing looks a little shady.” Angela headed for the front door. “And I think you will find that John thinks so too.”
“John is welcome to think whatever he would like to think.” Alina allowed a note of impatience to creep into her voice.
“Oh and he will!” Angela said, opening the front door. “But don't underestimate him, Lina. As much as I hate to admit it, he's turned into one hell of an investigator.” Angela warned as she stepped outside. “Thanks for the tea!”
“Anytime. You know that.”
Alina stood in the doorway and watched Angela get into her car. She waved and watched the car disappear toward the road. Once the car was out of sight, the smile left her face and she closed the door thoughtfully.
Angela hadn't bought a word of what she had said. That much was obvious in her parting warning about John. Alina walked back to the kitchen slowly. Was Angela going to be a problem? She was smart, but Alina didn't think that she would do anything rash. Perhaps she did just feel left out as she had said. If that was the case, then maybe just thinking that she knew a secret would be enough to keep her happy.
Alina picked up the empty mugs and carried them over to the dishwasher. As much as she wanted to believe that, she knew that it was highly unlikely that Angela wasn't going to try to do some poking around herself. She had worked out that something “shady” was going on, and Alina knew Angela. She would poke around until she figured out exactly what that something shady was. This was going to cause another complication that Alina just could not afford.
“For the love of God, what next?” Alina muttered to herself, turning to go back downstairs into her command center.
Angela drove away from Alina's house irritated. While she hadn't exactly expected her to spill the whole story, she really hadn't expected Alina to flat out lie. But that was exactly what she had done. Angela may not know how to run an investigation or hunt criminals down, or know the first thing about handling a gun or about military intelligence (whatever that was), but one thing she did know was people. And she had known from watching Alina and Damon last night that, not only did they know each other well, there was no surprise on either side at seeing each other at the restaurant. She watched them through the whole dinner. Alina appeared very uncomfortable a number of times when some part of her past came up and, conversely, Damon had been unduly interested. Although they knew each other, Damon clearly knew absolutely nothing about her past. Angela thought that was interesting. She had also found it interesting that Damon seemed to be watching John just as much as John had been watching him. In fact, Angela had found the whole dinner fascinating. It was like watching an elaborate charade being played out over steak and wine.
However, this morning she woke up curious. She had driven all the way out to the sticks for answers, and was coming away empty. Angela winced as she bounced over a rough mound in the gravel driveway leading back to the road. Alina clearly didn't want her to know what was going on. Angela didn't think that it was necessarily that Alina didn't trust her. She thought it was more of a case of need to know, and Alina had decided that she didn't need to know. Angela slowed down as the main road came into sight ahead.
Well, Angela wanted to know. She had always hated the rare occasions when they were younger and Stephanie and Alina kept secrets from her. They usually involved some sort of birthday surprise, and Angela had always quietly gone about uncovering the surprise before the event. Angela loathed surprises, and she hated not knowing what was going on even more.
“I'll just have to find out myself.” Angela decided out loud, stopping at the tarmac of the main road.
She checked to make sure that no cars were coming before pulling out onto the road. She would just have to follow both Stephanie and Alina until she figured out what they were up to.
Angela turned on the radio, happier now that she resolved on a plan of action. And if she could figure out where he was staying, she just might follow up on the mysterious and gorgeous Damon character as well! If they didn't want to tell her what was going on, Angela would just find out for herself!
Angela pressed the gas down and sped down the road. She never noticed the tall shadow that had moved quickly into the trees at the edge of road as she pulled out. And she missed the flash of sunlight glinting off the lenses of a pair of binoculars, watching her speed down the road.
A few minutes after she had gone, a lone figure dressed in olive hunting fatigues moved across the road and disappeared into the trees opposite. A minute later, an engine came to life and a black Bronco pulled out onto the road, heading in the opposite direction.