Countermeasure (18 page)

By the wicked grin that spread across his face, she could tell that he was enjoying how flustered she had become. “In what way do you
need
my help?”

Cassandra sighed and decided to go for it. If he was to help her, he’d have to know all the facts about the case. She wasn’t about to lead him on. She started by giving him some background. “The Bristol case was my first case as a lead since joining my father’s company.” She paused, gathering her thoughts and looking for words that would make him understand how important this case was to her. “You heard what was said about me screwing up this case. I still believe I tightened all the hatches on the servers, even though
you
managed to sneak in.” She narrowed her eyes at him, “I still want to know how, by the way. We’ll deal with that later.” Without allowing him to comment, she continued on her roll. “Anyway, something feels off. I can’t put my finger on it, but I need to find out. Even though Bristol’s CSO requested my removal from the case, I can’t leave it open, especially considering that if I do it won’t look good on my resume: ‘Botched first major project after quitting the CIA.’”

She laughed at her own joke. The more she spoke the more comfortable she became, so lost in her own reasoning that she didn’t notice the stare he was giving her from the other side of the room. “I believe the call intercept you originally got was made by the lead replacement on the case, Jeff Dillon. He would love nothing more than to see me thrown under the bus. I can’t just sit and let them blame me for Allison’s betrayal. Nobody could have foreseen that.”

“What the fuck do you mean, you’re off the case?” She focused her attention on him, realizing that he was fuming. “What the hell were you doing drilling me? You didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Cassandra stiffened in response, but knew he had reason to be angry. She softened her tone to try and gain his understanding. “It’s imperative that I track down Allison and recover those files. I’m not a quitter, Bauer. I need to figure out what went south and fix it. I
have
to fix it. You are the only one I know who can help me get to the bottom of it.”

Trevor’s eyes narrowed and a sarcastic smile curved his lips. “You’re telling me that after you—without authority, I might add—raked me over the coals yesterday, let loose your boyfriend on me, caused me to fall behind in my work, and basically fucked up my whole day, you now want my help? You have got to be kidding me,” he chuckled. “Lady, you got balls.”

Cassandra jumped up and paced the room.
Shit, I’m losing him.
“You’re right, but you are not without blame, Bauer. I still don’t buy that you hacked the system solely to help your friend. I think you used government property and resources covertly to gather information for your personal advantage.”

With an exasperated look on his face, Trevor moved to stand, but Cassandra waved at him to sit back down. “Just hear me out, okay?”

He settled back and crossed his arms defensively. “I’m listening.”

Cassandra exhaled the breath she had been holding and continued. “The person who stole the copy of the formula, Allison Davis, has family—parents and a married sister. Co-workers said that she was basically a loner. I believe that at some point she’ll contact her family, if she hasn’t already. She’ll want to let them know she’s okay. Maybe explain why she disappeared. That’s where you come in.”

Trevor raised his brows and gave her a droll look. “What you’re saying is, you want
me
to set surveillance on her family, use government property and resources covertly to gather information for
you
, a civilian, for your personal advantage?”

A hot blush crept up her neck and Cassandra recognized the irony of the situation they were in. “Yes, I know I sound hypocritical. But as you can see, I’m desperate, or I wouldn’t have come to you. I could tap into my old CIA resources and get them to submit a request for a black op for this purpose, but whatever request is put through will eventually end up on one of your co-worker’s desks. I’d rather keep this restricted to as few people as possible. So, again, it comes back to you. Since you are already indirectly involved in the case, you’re the only person I know who can help me. If I can find out where Allison is, I can secure the copy before it goes to market.” Cassandra was apprehensive and worried he might still refuse her. She stood tall and confidently squared her shoulders. “Will you help?”

Trevor tried to put things into perspective. The tone of her voice didn’t match the shadow of uncertainty in her eyes. Her words, although strong and straight, hid a pleading tone that did not fit the person he was coming to know—she would never plead for anything. From the determined look on her face, he was fairly certain she didn’t even realize that she’d let some of her uncertainty bleed through.

He considered her request. It was a simple task, but it implied using some of the NSA’s resources to help her. He had to think hard about that. His decision could lead to professional ruin and possible prosecution. And, to top it off, he thought he might not be able to hide his covert op from George, who in turn would begin to ask questions—questions he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer.

Trevor played his own devil’s advocate and pondered on the positive aspects that could be taken into account. Cassandra had asked for his help to make things right, not for corrupt reasons or personal gain. The use of NSA’s resources wouldn’t cause harm to the country or to innocent people. He would covertly be doing what he did daily on an official basis. It would not impact the focus of his work.

As he analyzed her plight, he reached the conclusion that she was right. Cassandra was between a rock and a hard place, and he was the only one who could pull her out.

Now, more than ever, he knew that their paths crossing was no coincidence. More importantly, if he did agree to help her, he would be in contact with her for a little bit longer—time enough to explore the feelings she ignited in him. Fate was stirring the pot with the two of them in it.

Cassandra’s heart raced and her mouth grew dry. She’d laid more on the line in the last two days than in her entire life. Up to this point she’d always done things on her own, fought her own battles as she’d learned to do from her father’s strict upbringing. By rights, she should have just gotten on that plane and washed her hands of the whole thing, but she couldn’t.

Studying the man before her, she realized she didn’t understand why she instinctively trusted him. Even with the strange connection she couldn’t quite explain between them and the irritating vibe that he was keeping something from her, she knew deep inside he was someone she could trust.

People say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Looking into the window of his eyes, she could only find a deep sense of honor, respect, and integrity shining through. It was a huge risk, but she was willing to take it. If he agreed to help her, she would still keep her guard up, her eyes trained on his every move. She wouldn’t be making any more mistakes. “Will you help me?”

Trevor looked Cassandra in the eye. “What’s in it for me? What do I get in return? After all, technically you are asking me to put my career on the line.”

Cassandra’s face froze and all expression wiped from it as she sat back in the chair considering his charged questions. She hadn’t expected that he would want some kind of payment in return for his service—silly of her. Maybe she hadn’t quite figured him out as well as she had imagined. She hadn’t pegged him as the mercenary type.

She wouldn’t sell her integrity by joining forces with an unethical stranger, no matter how attractive, charming, and desirable he might be. If that was the case, she’d be better off throwing in the towel right there and then. Sighing, Cassandra stood. She headed for the door. Placing her sunglasses back on her face, she reached for the door handle. “I’m sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Bauer.”

When she tried to pull the door open, Trevor’s hand pressed against it, holding it closed. Turning around, Cassandra found herself trapped by his body. She sucked in a deep breath and his fresh clean scent flooded her senses and left warmth pooling low in her belly.

“I’m not done yet, Ms. James.” His breath caressed her lips and she, in turn, licked hers.

“I didn’t count on having to deal with an opportunistic request, Mr. Bauer. I have nothing to give you in exchange for your help. You might as well let me leave,” she retorted coldly.

“Let me be the judge of that. And, for the record, I wasn’t talking about money. Tell you what. I’ll think about it. I’ll get back to you with my answer within the next twenty-four hours.”

Cassandra was shaken by how the heat of his body affected her and it took a moment for her to process what he had just said. It meant that she might have been right about him after all. It didn’t change that she had a strange sense of anticipation at the thought of what he could possibly want as payment.
At least he said he’d think about it.
A stream of relief coursed through her.
“Thank you for even considering it. I know we got off to a rough start; I hope that doesn’t influence you to say no.”

Trevor’s blood pulsed with a need to press his body against hers. Although he couldn’t see her eyes through the stunners, he could see the pulse at the base of her throat beating a mile a minute. Good, he thought as he pushed away from the door, took a step back, and opened it for her. “I’ll try not to.”

“Here’s my card with my cell and home phone numbers, along with my email. I look forward to hearing from you.” Cassandra walked out.

Trevor took the card from her and quickly placed it in his pocket. There was no way in hell he was misplacing that little gift. Watching her walk away for the second time, he suddenly called out, “Wait!”

“What?” she called back.

“You never answered my question regarding which team you’re on.”

Her laughter was like music to his ears. “That’s the question of the day, Bauer. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself,” she said, climbing into the car.

 “Oh, I plan on it, Ms. James,” he said quietly to himself as he watched her drive away. “You can count on it.”

Carl Kenyon was a typical
“go-to guy” with a bad attitude. Clients liked him because he delivered results. He always did what it took to get the job done and had no qualms regarding the methods he had to use to do it—even it if got messy.

He paced his stuffy hotel room, trying to find the courage to make the call he had been dreading. He had messed up that job. Now it was time to own up to it. His boss wouldn’t be happy about it, that’s for sure.

Carl sat on the bed and picked up the cell phone with which he had been equipped. He dialed the pre-programmed number as instructed and waited for the call to be connected. The voice on the other side was curt. The man sounded as if he was irritated by the interruption.

Just the thought of Boss’s reaction to his news caused sweat to bead at his temple and roll down the side of his face. Carl rubbed his chin on his shoulder to catch the drops, took a deep breath, and cut to the chase. “Good morning, Boss.” Carl continued with a polite front in hopes of derailing Boss’s anger, “Sorry to call so abruptly and without notice. I needed to let you know the latest developments in the case.”

The voice at the other end peppered him with questions. “Still in Italy, sir,” he paused to wipe his brow and take a deep breath before adding, “Actually, that’s what I called about. I am having a bit of difficulty with Ms. Davis. It seems she’s changed her mind. She doesn’t want to cooperate anymore.”

The voice in his ear was outraged and demanded an explanation. Carl kept his own calm to avoid putting his neck further on the line and simply stated the facts. “That’s what she told me, Boss. No explanation. She said she had changed her mind. She didn’t even bring the hard drive to the meet.”

“She’s disappeared. I can’t find her. Been scouring Milan for the last two days,” Carl replied to his next question promptly; “I believe she is still in Italy, in hiding.”

The angry tone on the other end of the call scratched along his nerves. Carl wanted to yell back and rub Boss’s nose in the fact that the he had provided Carl with inaccurate information with regard to Allison Davis.

He was told the woman was as gullible as they come. He knew she was naïve. She had believed him when he had used his knowledge of her charitable work and beliefs of a better world to gain her cooperation. But he discovered that she also had brains. She had been instantly suspicious, questioning him when they met for the exchange. During the conversation, Carl had made comments that had woken Allison to the reality of the world—it was dog-eat-dog.

When Ms. Davis had set her foot down, refusing to hand over the files until he gave her more details regarding the identity of the buyer, he knew he was screwed. Before he could stop her, she had run, disappearing into the crowd. He had not been able to make contact with her since; she was not answering or returning his calls.

Carl was scrambling to find her trail, but, more and more, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. For the first time since he had started in this line of work, he was out of his element, with no resources at his disposal. Had they been in the States, she would have been in his hands before she could have blinked an eye.