Неизвестный - 06. Honor Under Siege

“Are you sure?”

Diane put her arms around Valerie’s shoulders and kissed her, a soft lingering kiss. “Never, ever more certain.”

“Scotch?” Cam closed the kitchen door after Valerie. “There’s a good bottle in the cupboard over there.”

“Now that I could use. Join me?”

Cam nodded. She watched Valerie take glasses down from the cupboard, add ice cubes, and pour the smoky liquor. She’d seen her do exactly the same thing dozens of times before, but more than just the circumstances had changed. Valerie looked different, too. It wasn’t simply that her clothes were far more casual than anything Cam had seen her wear even when she wasn’t working, or that her silky, platinum hair was far shorter than she had ever worn it. It would take more than jeans and a short haircut to hide Valerie’s cool elegance. She wasn’t just thinner, she was leaner and tauter, and she moved with a sense of suppressed anger and almost lethal purpose that Cam associated with caged animals. Valerie might not be caged, but she was being hunted.

“Just to be clear, I don’t intend to turn you over to anyone,” Cam said.

Valerie held out the Scotch. “You don’t know what I have to say, yet.”

“Who’s after you?”

“Several different parties.” Valerie sat down across the wide oak table from Cam and contemplated her Scotch. “The Company, for certain. My handler has been leaving messages at drop points for me to come in.”

“Henry?”

Valerie smiled bitterly. “Well, that’s what I’ve always called him.”

“You don’t trust him now?”

Valerie turned the heavy crystal glass slowly between her hands. Her fingers, much like the rest of her body, were long and thin, but not delicate. “It’s unusual for him to insist on a face-to-face. In fact, in all the years I’ve worked with him we’ve only met a handful of times. Now he’s making urgent requests for a rendezvous.”

“A trap?”

“That’s what it feels like,” Valerie said with a shrug. “But a trap set by whom? Matheson because he’s working with Henry? Or the Company, because they want me in for a debriefing? Because they think I tipped off Matheson.”

“They want you for some reason.”

“Yes, and if the Company’s involved, I know what will happen if I go in. Believe me, I don’t have any desire to disappear, even temporarily.”

Cam saw no reason to protest what they both knew was possible. Agents suspected of turning were forcibly detained, debriefed, and sometimes, expunged. “Henry could want you to come in for protection from Matheson.”

“I’d like to think that.” Valerie took a slow swallow of Scotch and shook her head. “But I’d be foolish to assume that just because we’ve had a professional association for twenty years that we’re friends. If he’s Matheson’s connection, I’m a liability now.”

“That’s why you’re better off here.” Cam finished her drink. “We had an incident in Boston the other night. An armed assailant penetrated our perimeter and got off a couple of shots before we contained him.”

“Who was the target?”

“We don’t know. Emory Constantine, a high profile and not so popular stem cell researcher, was with us. It might have been her. It might have Blair. It might even have been Diane.”

“Diane?” Valerie’s face became expressionless, as cool as carved marble. “What would be the point? If someone took her out, they’d have nothing to hold over my head.”

“No one? Family? Old lovers?”

An old sorrow seemed to claim Valerie for a split second, softening her features. “You of all people should know that other than you, there’s no one. Only Diane. You had someone guarding her?”

“Savard. We were lucky, there.” Cam grimaced. “It’s possible Matheson plans to clean house and take us all down.”

“Then we need to get to him first.”

“We might not be able to unless we force Henry to roll over. Do you have any idea how we can find him?”

Valerie shook her head. “I never once met him in an office. He could be stationed in California for all I know. God, Cameron, the man has run my life since I was a teenager and I don’t even know his full name.” She laughed harshly, her eyes bleak. “What kind of fool does that make me?”

“We both know that’s not what it’s about.” Cam extended her hand across the table and Valerie clasped her fingers fleetingly. “You’ve done a job most of us couldn’t do far longer than anyone should have to. That doesn’t make you a fool in my book, it makes you a hero.”

“Thank you,” Valerie whispered.

“I take it you’ve tried to locate him some other way than through a meet?”

“I was hoping to discover his identity and I’ve called in every marker I have. Or thought I had.” Valerie’s disillusionment shone through beneath the composed façade she wore so effortlessly. “I’ve tried every source I know, but in the last few weeks, those have mysteriously dried up. Contact numbers are no longer in service, bank accounts are suddenly closed, drop boxes have new locks.”

“You’re being cut off.”

Valerie nodded. “It could still just be to force me to make contact, or it could be the first step in removing me.”

“I don’t suppose you have a photograph?”

“No, and it’s not like the Company keeps a roster of employees that I could go through.”

Cam laughed. “Now, that would defeat the purpose of being a spy, wouldn’t it?”

“A spy,” Valerie said wryly. “Operative sounds so much better.”

“Let’s assume Matheson and Henry are working together—it’s the most probable scenario. So, if we find one, we find the other.”

“Any progress on your end?”

Cam scowled. “We’re accumulating a file on Matheson’s associates as far back as twenty-five years. It’s slow going, but I’ll want you to look through everything Felicia and Savard have put together so far. Unfortunately, some of the photographs are going to be of boys or much younger men than they’re likely to be now.”

“Perhaps Felicia can use age simulator software to project present appearances for any possibles.”

“We might be able to do something even better,” Cam said slowly as she stood. “It’s almost midnight. I’d like you to brief with us in the morning. 0600 in the guest house.”

“Are you sure? Savard and Felicia might not be quite as trusting as you are,” Valerie pointed out.

“I disagree, but either way, it’s not their choice.”

Valerie rose. “You’re taking a chance, Cameron, and I know that. I want you to know I appreciate—”

“Don’t insult me, Valerie.” Cam lightly touched her fingertips to Valerie’s cheek. “Get some sleep.” Then she dropped her hand and walked away.

Valerie waited until she heard Cam’s footsteps disappear before following down the hallway and up the stairs. As she passed the room that she knew was Blair’s, she recognized Blair’s sensuous alto and then Cam’s slightly deeper tones. The sound of Cam’s voice in a phone message had once stirred her heart and her blood. Now, it filled her with a sense of comfort and safety. Wondering if that was fair, but being glad for it nonetheless, she continued to the last door on the right and knocked quietly before letting herself in.

The room was lit by a bedside lamp. Diane was in bed, a sheet pulled to her waist. Her breasts formed soft curves beneath a pale peach camisole. Valerie sat on the side of the bed and took her hand. “There’s part of me that thinks I shouldn’t be here.”

“What does the other part think?”

“That it’s the only place in the world I want to be.”

Diane drew back the covers. “That’s the part I’d listen to, if I were you.”