Tess Gerritsen: Double Impact

“What reasons?” Michal moved closer so that he could see every nuance of his friend’s expression when he spoke.

“Two and one half years ago Amira Peres was abducted from her university dormitory in the United States,” Ron explained. “She was a second-year medical student whose mother had recently passed away. She had reportedly suffered from bouts of depression for quite some time. Apparently her mother was the only family she had. Her grandfather, a former ambassador to Israel, had died ten years prior, as had her grandmother.”

“What about her father?” Michal wanted to know. “Where was he during this time?”

Ron scanned the area before continuing. He was more than merely concerned about being seen in the usual sense. Michal had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to be passing along this information at all.

“Amira’s mother and father separated when she was only five years old. She had not seen him since that time. He had, apparently, been cruel to her mother and she had chosen to avoid him at all costs.”

Michal ached for Ami and all she had lost. She must have felt so alone. “Is that why she chose to have him murdered?” He could understand how that kind of loss, combined with the depression, might have driven her to act in such an extreme manner.

Ron considered his words for a moment before continuing. “This next part,” he said grimly, “could get us both killed.”

Michal’s instincts moved to a higher state of readiness.

“The CIA and our own people had decided that Peres must be stopped. He continued to secretly support anti-American groups, undermining the sometimes tenuous but forever necessary Israeli-American relationship. He had to be stopped. But, understandably, someone else had to take the blame.”

Michal had known that part. “What is new about that?”

“We couldn’t do it, of course, not officially,” Ron explained, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

Michal shrugged. “That is why the order came to me.”

“But first, you needed someone who could get you close enough to him.”

A frown worked its way across Michal’s brow. No, that wasn’t right. He had met Ami first…then…

“The CIA sent her to me,” he guessed, the full impact slamming into him at once.

Ron nodded, his face grim. “They abducted Amira Peres and brainwashed her into thinking she was this nonexistent Jamie Dalton. Then, after they’d messed up her head completely, they trained her as a field operative. When she came to you, she truly believed she was Jamie Dalton portraying Amira Peres.”

So, their former relationship hadn’t been real. That realization shook Michal when he’d felt certain nothing else could. It had all been lies…the betrayal had been deliberate from the beginning.

“Michal,” Ron placated, “she did not know what she was doing. They set her up just as they set you up.”

“And did you know?” Michal roared, every muscle primed and ready to hit someone…to do some kind of damage to relieve the raging emotions erupting inside him.

“No.” Ron looked straight at him. “You can’t believe I had anything to do with this.”

Michal looked away, though he felt certain that his friend spoke the truth. Ron might omit as required, but he would never lie to him.

“There is more,” Ron said.

His fury momentarily on hold, Michal turned back to hear the rest, though he could not see how it was possible to top what he’d already learned.

“When the hit went down, Ami was captured. A CIA agent named Jack Tanner risked his life, as well as his career, to rescue her before she could be executed for the murder of her father. He had her memory erased using some experimental technology and left her in the care of the psychiatrist who worked from time to time for the Company.”

That news quelled Michal’s fury and at the same time sent jealousy coursing through his veins. “Who is this Jack Tanner?”

“The CIA operative your man discovered hanging around recently.”

It wasn’t necessary for Ron to explain what that meant. The possibility that the CIA was once again using Ami was too great to ignore. Every instinct told him that she was innocent, that she didn’t know she was being used. But he couldn’t be absolutely certain.

“She has asked for nothing nor has she attempted to persuade me to track down anyone.” Michal shook his head, it didn’t fit together properly. “If what you’re suggesting is the case,” he offered, certain it couldn’t be, “who is the target?”

Ron looked directly at him. “The target is you.”

AMI STOOD BENEATH the hot spray of water and tried to wash away the tension…tried to erase the images that, once unleashed in her head, would not go away.

Yael Peres had been her father.

She swallowed tightly and squeezed her eyes shut to block the picture of him staring up at her…asking why?

It couldn’t be right. There had to be a mistake. How could he be her father and she not know it until after she’d had him killed?

She leaned her forehead against the cool tile and allowed the hot water to sluice over her back. She tried sorting the myriad emotions whirling inside her, but gave up when she couldn’t determine where regret ended and bitterness began. She didn’t understand the feelings. Couldn’t remember why she would experience them. Had she hated her father that much? Did it have anything to do with her mother? A mother she couldn’t remember any more than she could her father.

Forcing the troubling thoughts away, Ami summoned the sweet memories of the last night she’d spent with Nicholas. Their bath together. Rocking him to sleep, softly singing his favorite lullaby.

The hurt started way down deep, climbing up from her belly, twisting inside her chest until it lunged into her throat, forcing a sob from her.

Somehow, for reasons she couldn’t remember, she had choreographed the murder of her father and the simultaneous betrayal of her lover, the father of her child.

Michal was a fool for trusting her.

She straightened, her eyes going wide with a new terror. All this time she’d worried about her son and the kind of life he would be exposed to were Michal to learn of his existence.

What about her?

Could she really be certain that Nicholas was any safer with her? What day-what hour-would her murky past come back to haunt her again? Who was to say that she hadn’t committed crimes much worse than even this? That she had been at work, away from her son, when the last run-in with her past took place was no guarantee she would be the next time.

How would she ever walk down a street with him at her side, or get into a car and start the engine with him tucked into his car seat without worrying that some past sin of hers might catch up to them both?

Fury tightened her jaw. There was only one way she would ever know the whole truth. She had to force Jack Tanner to tell her everything.

She had to know or her son would never be safe.

After her shower Ami dried her hair and slipped on a pair of jeans and a ribbed-knit blouse. There were thin, elongated bruises on her throat, but she didn’t care. She was thankful to be alive. Extremely thankful considering what she now suspected. She needed to talk to Michal. She saw no reason not to admit what she had remembered regarding Yael Peres. Maybe he could shed some light on the fragments of recall.

When she walked into the great room, she pulled up short at the sight of his men gathered around him. Michal stopped speaking and looked directly at her.

“I’m…sorry.” She glanced around the room, unable to ignore the unexpectedly thick tension. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Now is fine,” Michal said, stopping her before she turned away. He said to his men, “We will resume this briefing after lunch.”