The Agent's Surrender (8 page)

He knew her pretty well. She’d like to say it was because working in the same office, rubbing shoulders—wanted or not—would do that if paired with an observant person, but Holden knew her in a way she wanted to forget because it hurt to remember. Of course, she couldn’t let him know that. “Your point?” she shot back.

“My point is you know if you push past the obvious, you’ll see what I see. There’s more to this story than we’ve been told. And you want to get to the bottom of it.”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Do I have to spell it out?”

“No,” she allowed with a sigh, hating he had her figured out when he was constantly surprising her. “If it turns out you’re right, cracking open the true case will look good for my résumé and help give you closure about your brother. I get it!” Jane glared, hating he was right. “I said I’d give you the week. My word is good. But we better find more than just an envelope full of cash and some fake IDs as your proof Miko wasn’t a traitor.”

“A week is all I’m asking for.”

She was taking a big risk with Holden. It felt as if she were standing on the edge of a really big fall—and Holden was the one leading her straight to the cliff.

Chapter 7

H
olden stared at the IDs Miko had stashed in the pool table. London, Switzerland, Mexico—all three places were common refuges for people who wanted to disappear. He lined the IDs in a row on the counter, letting his brain work through the tangle of questions. Next his focus moved to the cash. Twenty thousand was a lot of money, but it wasn’t enough to live off of for long, which meant Miko likely had money stashed elsewhere. How to find the money was the question. He couldn’t go through his usual channels; he had to go underground. He knew of a guy—through his friend Nathan Isaacs—but it wasn’t a strong connection. And frankly, the guy had nearly got killed the last time he had helped out on a high-stakes mission. The memory of that mission was enough to make Holden shake his head with a dark chuckle. Most people would freak out if they knew the kind of games the government played with everyday lives. Just ask Jake Isaacs, Nathan’s younger brother, who was still recovering from a dose of MCX-209, an experimental drug that’d temporarily wiped out his memories. The drug should’ve been destroyed and all of the research on it thrown into an incinerator, but everything pertaining to MCX-209 was under the lock and key of the Defense Intelligence Agency—including the doctor who’d created the drug, Dr. Kat Odgers. But as much as Holden didn’t want to involve another civilian, he didn’t see another choice. He called up his friend Nathan and hoped for the best.

“Hey, Holden, everything okay?” Nathan said as soon as he answered. In spite of the three-hour time difference, Nathan didn’t sound sleepy. Insomnia was something most vets came home with, and Nathan was no different. Miko and Nathan had been tight, serving in the same unit and later working for I.D. as snipers. They’d shared a bond, similar to what Holden and Miko had shared, and Holden trusted Nathan. “I heard about the decision to strip Miko of his honors. That’s rough, man. Just know that Miko was not the sum of his medals but the integrity of his heart. Keep that close and it doesn’t matter what the Powers That Be take from him.”

Holden closed his eyes, riding out the sting. “Thanks, man. But that’s not why I’m calling.”

“No? What’s up?”

“I have a real small window to prove that Miko didn’t do the things he’s been accused of.”

“Really? How did you manage that?”

“Luck and being as stubborn as a mule. But listen, this is what I need your help with—do you still have contact information for that computer guy? You know the one that made the virus that disabled the Zephyr system at the compound?”

“James Cotton? Yeah, I have his digits. But Jaci will have a fit if she finds out we’re dragging her friend back into danger. She stresses over all this ‘spy stuff,’ as she calls it.”

Jaci and Nathan had certainly been through the ringer together during the I.D. investigation. Aside from Nathan almost dying, a thug had broken Jaci’s finger in order to prove a point to Nathan. At the time, Jaci had been lucky only her finger had been broken—it could’ve been so much worse.

“I don’t blame her. People die and sometimes there’s no answers when they get involved with fringe government. All I can do is make my case. The guy will either say yes or he’ll say no, right?”

“True enough. Chances are James will say yes because he lives for a challenge, and for all his smarts doesn’t seem to have the good sense God gave a goose. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure what there is to tell, but I found three IDs and passports in a hidden location and I need to know if Miko was stashing money in other countries. The only way to find that out is to go through backdoor channels. I’m assuming your guy can do that, right?”

“James can do things that are so highly illegal I don’t even know how he’s still walking the streets.”

Holden laughed. “Excellent. That’s just the kind of guy I need.”

“In all seriousness, do you really think you have some solid evidence that could save Miko’s reputation?”

Holden heard the hope in Nathan’s voice and he understood that yearning because he felt it, too. “I sure as hell hope so. It’s weak, but it’s all I have to go on. I just have this feeling that if I chase it down, I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not just yet. I don’t want to drag you into this. You’ve been through enough.”

“It’s all in the past. Nothing but good things to look forward to now. You know, you might give Jake and his girl a call. They are up in Washington, too, doing that top-secret defense intelligence stuff. They might be able to open some doors for you that otherwise might stay closed. That is, if things with James don’t work out.”

“I appreciate it, man. How’s Jake feeling?”

“He’s not one hundred percent, but he’s doing damn good considering what he went through. He still has gaps in his memory. He’s getting better, though. He might even recover fully. Unfortunately, only time will tell.”

“That drug was scary shit. I wish they would’ve just dropped all the research into the ocean. Or down a deep, dark hole. That kind of stuff shouldn’t be in anyone’s hands. Not even our government’s.”

“Amen, brother.”

Holden thanked Nathan and ended the call. A few moments later, his phone chirped with the contact information he needed. He logged the name into his phone and then called Cotton, aka Ghost.

* * *

“Yeah?” James answered. “Who’s this?”

“Hey, James, not sure if you remember me, but my name’s Holden Archangelo—”

“Yeah, I remember you. Your brother, Miko, used to run with Nathan Isaacs.”

“You have a good memory.”

“Comes with being a genius. I’m assuming this isn’t a call to go get drinks or something. What do you need hacked?”

He appreciated the man’s straightforward attack. Holden wasn’t interested in chitchat either, so he got right to the point. “I need you to trace some money. My brother may have stashed cash in three different countries and I need to know why and how much.”

“You’re government grade, so why don’t you do it yourself?” he asked, then added, “Unless you can’t because you’re doing this on the down low.”

“Bingo. Think you can handle this?”

“Oh, I have no doubt I can handle it. The real question is, should I? The last time I had a play date with you cats, I nearly got my balls shot off and frankly, I’m fairly attached to that part of my anatomy.”

“Fair enough. I can’t guarantee your safety, and there’s a chance my brother was hiding from seriously bad people. However, something tells me you can’t help but hunger for a challenge.”

“Nice pitch. So what I’m hearing is danger, high level of threat and virtually zero benefit for me aside from the street cred in my personal circles. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting old, but that’s not enough.”

“You drive a hard bargain.”

“Or maybe I just wised up.”

“What’s it going to take, then?”

“Well, my car got blown up the last go around and I’m still taking the bus.”

“You want me to buy you a car?” Holden asked, incredulous at the guy’s nerve.

“Seems only fair.”

“The Isaacs brothers ought to be the ones buying you a car. That was their op that got your ride blown to bits.”

“Yeah, well, Jaci is my best friend and that just seems wrong to demand that from her and her husband, and Jake, well, he’s not quite right in the head, so how nice would it look if I was shaking down a guy with special needs?”

“Jake is hardly special needs. The guy could take you out with his bare hands and a piece of twine.”

“MacGyver style, I get it. Still, doesn’t seem right. Besides, they don’t need my help—you do. And to be honest, I don’t even know you, so why should I risk my neck for a stranger?”

Valid points. “All right. How about twenty grand? That ought to be enough scratch to buy you a car.”

“Twenty Gs? Yeah, that’ll work,” he said, whistling. “I accept your offer. Wire the cash and then I’ll contact you.”

“Look at you, all eager and shit. No,” he said, countering firmly. “Here’s how it’s going down. I will wire half of the cash now and half on delivery of the information. Got it?”

“I respect that. You have a deal.”

Holden gave a minute shake of his head, silently laughing at the guy’s tough-guy routine when he knew for a fact James Cotton was no marine. But hey, Holden respected his grab for some personal gain. People had to eat. “Expect the wire by the end of the day. And then I expect results within forty-eight hours. Got it?”

“Forty-eight hours? I’m not a magician.”

“Well, if you want to be paid, you ought to start learning some new tricks.”

“You government types are all the same—expecting the delivery of the moon and then demanding it within an impossible time frame.”

“Hey, forty-eight was generous. My original offer was going to be twenty-four.” At that he clicked off, smirking. From what he knew of James, the guy had an ego. With any luck, he’d beat that deadline with time to spare just so he could gloat. And that was fine by Holden. He wanted—no, he
needed—
answers now.

* * *

Jane sipped her wine and settled into the bathtub, giving in to a rare luxury. She never indulged in such a girlie thing, but her muscles ached and her brain was cluttered, and she was just ready to chill out for once.

Steam heated the room into a humid sauna. She didn’t mind. She liked the heat. Living in Washington, she suffered through the horrid winters just so she could get to the humid summers. Maybe someday she’d move to Florida. No, scratch that—she didn’t like alligators. Maybe Georgia or some other place in the South. She liked to fantasize about leaving D.C., but in truth, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. Her home was here, where she was firmly rooted. Her father and brothers would have a fit if she tried to move. She was the one who took care of the mundane details of their father’s life, and neither of her brothers were going to take on that job. Nope. As her father liked to drill into his kids, everyone had a detail, a task, and only weaklings and pathetic losers shirked their responsibilities onto others. Like her mother.

Jane took a bigger sip of the wine, bordering on a gulp, and tried not to think of her mother, but sometimes, in spite of her best efforts, a memory or two squeaked by her defenses.

It’d been a sunny day in August when The Major had sat all three of his children on the sofa, requiring their undivided attention as he shared the intel of their mother abandoning them.

“It has come to my attention that your mother has gone AWOL from this family unit,” he’d said gruffly, clasping both hands behind his back and pacing a short line before them. “This is both an unexpected and disappointing turn of events, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Faced with two stoic brothers who’d turned to stone the moment their father had shared the news, she’d had little choice but to keep a stiff upper lip, also. The Major didn’t tolerate crybabies. Each of the Fallon children was expected to pick up the slack their defecting mother had created, and it didn’t matter they were young and confused as to why their mother would suddenly abandon them. It was soldier on or get left behind.

Jane had taken on the house details—including cooking, shopping and paying the bills. Walker and Ian were in charge of everything related to the outside and repair work. They were a well-oiled machine.

Without a shred of emotion allowed.

Their mother had made contact once, but Jane had been too desperate for her father’s love to accept her mom’s attempt at reaching out. She winced at the memory....

“Janie,” her mother had said. “I’m settled now. I know the boys would probably rather stay with their father but...perhaps you’d like to come and stay with me?”

“And why would I want to do that?” Jane had asked in a voice colder than any twelve-year-old should be able to muster. “You abandoned us all a year ago and now you want to act like you’re a mother? Too little, too late.”

“Janie!” her mother had admonished her in an anguished tone. “Why are you so cold to me? Let me explain...there are some things that a child simply can’t understand.”

“I understand that you left. What else is there?”

Her mother had skipped answering the question and tried a different tactic, almost desperately. “Sweetie...you’re reaching an age when a girl needs her mother. Surely, you realize your father is ill equipped to handle the needs of a young girl.”

She had realized that. The mere mention of bra shopping had been excruciating for them both. In the end, The Major had simply thrown a wad of cash in her direction and with reddened cheeks had instructed her to purchase whatever was necessary. Of course, Jane hadn’t had a clue and ended up with a bra two sizes too small. It’d felt like wearing a corset. But she wasn’t about to concede any weakness to the enemy, her mother. “Not necessary,” she’d said. “I can care for myself.”

“I could go to court and compel you to come stay with me,” she’d said. “But I won’t do that. If you don’t want to be with me, I won’t force you.”