Andrew Britton - The Assassin

The Iranian managed to look confused. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“I know who you are, Hakim. I know what you’ve been telling the Bureau, and I know you’re full of shit. The Iranians were never part of this. Individual people, maybe, but not the regime in Tehran.”

Rudaki shook his head slowly. “Everything I’ve said is the truth.”

“No, it isn’t,” Kealey snarled. “The Bureau may have bought it, but I don’t.” He looked at Crane. “What’s he been telling you now? That Ahmadinejad is targeting the UN?”

Crane looked startled. “As a matter of fact, yes. But security is so tight that-”

“Save it, Samantha. Don’t try to play dumb. I know you have a part in this.”

She stood up, her fists balled by her side. “What are you talking about?” she shouted.

“ Sit down! ”

“No!” She planted her feet and glared at him. “You’d better explain yourself right now, Ryan, or-”

“The raid in Alexandria,” Kealey said, cutting her off. He stared at her intently. “You were so fucking quick to go in, weren’t you? Why? Was it just to shut Mason up?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“What happened after that? Hold on,” he said sarcastically. “Let me guess. You found out that we had Mason’s laptop, and you knew you had to get it back, because it had Thomas Ruhmann’s name on it. But that didn’t happen in time, did it? We got the name before you could act, so instead, you told Vanderveen where to find us.”

She didn’t rise to the bait, so Kealey raised his voice, trying to get through to her. “He nearly killed me and Naomi Kharmai in Berlin, Crane. It had to be you… Aside from you and Ford, no one else knew we were going to Germany.”

“I don’t know what you’re-”

“Stop.” She fell silent, and he shook his head in disgust. “The only question is, what are you getting out of it?” He looked at her hard, trying to see what was behind those angry brown eyes. “It’s money, isn’t it? How much did it take to buy you off, Sam?”

Rudaki was starting to look nervous, Kealey noticed, which wouldn’t mean much by itself, but combined with Crane’s expression, it was cause for concern. She looked furious, but also genuinely confused, and while he knew it could be an act, he had seen people try to act their way out of bad situations before. This looked real, and for the first time since he’d learned that Crane was running Rudaki, he felt a tremor of doubt.

“Vanderveen? Will Vanderveen?” She gave an incredulous laugh. “You think I’ve been passing him information?”

“I know you have,” he said through gritted teeth. His finger was tightening on the trigger, the muzzle level with Crane’s heart. “You can’t lie your way out of this. It had to be you. Don’t you get it? Even if you discount the other shit as coincidence, no one else knew about Berlin. ”

Crane scoffed. “What, I’m supposed to take your word on that? If anyone’s been feeding Vanderveen information, it’s probably someone at Langley.”

That’s not possible,” Kealey said, but he hesitated. Even through the blustering and the sarcasm, her innocence shone through like a beacon he couldn’t ignore. “Crane, I’m only going to ask you this one time. Did you tell anyone what Ford told you? Anyone at all?”

She shrugged, as if the question was meaningless. “I told my partner, of course, but I tell him-”

“Who’s your partner?”

“Matt Foster,” she reminded him. “From the warehouse in Alexandria, remember? He’s the one who shot Mason.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“Everything,” Crane replied, finishing her earlier sentence. She was starting to sound annoyed, and Kealey realized that, gun or no gun, her cooperation was coming to an end.

“He was on administrative leave while they investigated the shooting,” Crane continued. “But after they cleared him, he decided to stay in Washington instead of coming back here.” Her mouth twitched, a light coming on in her eyes, and Kealey had a sudden insight. It was subtle, but the look on her face suggested that her relationship with Foster went beyond a mere partnership. “I had drinks with my aunt a few nights ago, and when I got back to the hotel, I told him everything.”

“What night did you see your aunt?”

“Tuesday. Tuesday night at the Monocle.”

The night before he and Naomi had flown to Berlin. Kealey shook his head, trying to think it through. “So what happened in Alexandria? You said you got an anonymous tip that Mason was there…?”

“That came through Matt,” Crane confirmed. “He took the call in New York, and I asked the ADIC to call Washington and get us in on the raid. After all, we had been looking for Mason for months, and the tip came through our FO. It was only fair that we should have a part in bringing him down.”

“Could Foster be sure of being there?”

“Of course,” Crane shot back. “He’s my partner, for one thing, and I have… advantages.” Kealey knew she was referring to her relationship with Rachel Ford. “Besides, Matt has connections as well. His father spent twenty years as an agent. He finished as the SAC in Houston, and he still has plenty of friends in the Bureau.”

He looked at Rudaki. “So you’ve been working with Foster.”

“No! I have no idea what you’re-”

“Matt had nothing to do with this!” Crane shouted, cutting off Rudaki’s denial. “And you can’t prove otherwise, so stop accusing him!”

“Save it,” Kealey snarled. He gestured to Rudaki. “What else has this guy been telling you? What’s supposed to happen today?”

She looked at her informant and took a deep breath, as if deciding how much to say. “He said the Iranian government was working with Ruhmann. They’re supposed to hit the UN this afternoon.”

“How?” Kealey addressed the question to Crane, even though Rudaki was right there. He still wasn’t sure of Crane’s role in all of this, but he definitely didn’t trust the Iranian to give up the truth, even at gunpoint.

“He didn’t say,” Crane said. “But it doesn’t matter. We’ve already locked down the whole area. It would have to be a bomb, but even if the Iranians have one, they won’t be able to get it within two blocks of the target. It would never work.”

“The Iranians are not behind this, Sam. It’s Will Vanderveen, and he does have a bomb. A very large one.” Kealey turned back to Rudaki and pointed the gun at his face. “And you know something about it, so start talking.”

“I have no idea what you’re-”

“I’ll ask you once more,” Kealey said, struggling to keep his voice calm. “And then I’m going to shoot you. Do you understand?”

Rudaki looked to Crane, who looked in turn to Kealey. She scowled and said, “You’d better be bluffing, Ryan. If you do this, I will personally make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison.”

“I have the gun, Samantha, and I’m still not convinced of your innocence. You might want to keep that in mind. The only reason I’m not putting these questions to you is because of your position.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t hurt you to get the truth,” he explained. “And I don’t want to, even though you probably deserve it. But I can hurt him, and that’s just what I plan to do unless he starts talking.”

“Bullshit,” she said simply. “You’re bluffing.”

“You can’t let this happen,” Rudaki said, looking at Crane. Some of his bluster was starting to fade. “You’re with the FBI, and this man is threatening me. Do something. ”

“Where’s the fucking bomb?” Kealey shouted.

Rudaki looked at the gun, then at Kealey’s face. “I don’t-”