Dark Deceptions (12 page)

“You couldn’t have known any of this would happen.”

“Yes. But I knew there was a risk.”

“Annie,” he said, turning her to face him, “thinking like that isn’t doing anyone any good.”

She looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes. “But it was my job to keep him safe.”

“Well, right now he’s counting on you to find him. So you’ve got to stay focused. Concentrate on us bringing him home. Okay?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, lifting her chin. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said. “If for no other reason than because you have to be. Adam is counting on you.”

He grimaced, flashing back to the days after she’d left. The weeks in the hospital, waiting for her to come back. To explain
why she’d walked out when he’d needed her most. She was his partner. He’d trusted her. But she’d betrayed him. At the time,
he’d thought he would never forgive her. But in this moment, watching her pain, he suddenly wasn’t as sure.

Maybe…

Anger surged, and he jerked away, ignoring the flash of hurt in her eyes. There was nothing to be gained in letting his imagination
run away with him. It was over. And he’d survived. Lesson learned.

It was better to stay detached. To keep his head clear.

“Here you go,” Jason was saying as he handed Annie the restored cell. “I’ve got it all together again. No one will be the
wiser.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said, her expression guarded.

“Believe me, we’re not going to do anything to jeopardize the mission,” Nash said.

“It isn’t the mission I’m worried about.”

Behind them, someone rapped on the door. Instantly all three of them swung to face it, guns drawn.

Annie held a finger to her lips, shaking her head for silence as she moved toward the door, Nash flanking her to the right,
Jason to the left. “Who is it?”

“Drake Flynn.” The voice was deep and resonant.

Annie turned to Nash, eyebrows raised in question.

“It’s okay. He’s with us,” Nash confirmed as he lowered his gun and opened the door. “So what have you got?”

“Everything’s sanitized. Hotel will never know anything happened,” Drake said, striding across the room as Jason and Annie
lowered their weapons. “You’re letting her carry?”

“Seemed prudent at the time.” Nash shrugged. “People do seem to be trying to kill her.”

Annie shot him a look and then turned her attention back to Drake. “I take it you looked for the guy.”

“Yeah. No sign of him. Nothing much on the roof either.”

“But everything’s all sorted?”

“Yeah,” Drake snarled with a frown. “Like I said, it’s sanitized. Look, it’s not like we don’t know what we’re doing. Although
you sure as hell didn’t make it an easy job with all the action on the balcony.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t have time to negotiate terms of attack.” She glared up at him, her shoulders rigid. “I was kind of busy
trying to stay alive.”

“Kinda mouthy for a suspected assassin,” Drake said with a nod. “Did she have this much attitude when she was with you?”

“More.” Nash laughed. “Much, much more.”

“Like hell,” she responded, swinging around to face him. “If anything I was the one who kept things grounded.”

“Right. Like now.” He glanced pointedly down at her clenched fists. “Completely calm and in control.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but then clearly thought better of the idea, turning to Drake instead. “We haven’t been formally
introduced.” She stuck out her hand. “Annie Gallagher. Although you already know that.”

“Drake Flynn,” he said, shaking her hand. “Nash’s right-hand man.”

“Tough gig.”

“Don’t I know it.” Drake shrugged and then sobered. “Looks like your missing man was into impersonations or the card wasn’t
his.”

“What do you mean?” Nash asked, dropping back into the chair in the corner. Jason had already settled in at the desk and his
computer. Annie’d moved across the room to lean against the window sill, leaving Drake to sit on the end of the bed.

“Seems that Leland Bruebaker died a year ago,” he said. “In Queens. Hit by a street sweeper while walking his dog.”

“So our guy wasn’t Bruebaker,” Jason sighed.

“Not unless he’s discovered the secret to everlasting life.”

“So what does that mean? Are we back to thinking the intruder was working for Rivon?” Annie asked.

“Not necessarily.” Drake shook his head. “It’s possible the card wasn’t our guy’s at all.”

“So you’re saying a dead guy leaves his gym card in my hotel room and some other yahoo just happens to be breaking in as well?”
Her voice cracked, her fear making her sound harsh.

“Well, when you put it like that.” Nash shrugged, purposely keeping his tone neutral.

“So what the hell was he doing there?” she asked.

“Waiting for you, if I had to call it.” Drake frowned.

“Or maybe he was just casing the joint,” Nash suggested.

“Why would he do that?” Annie shook her head. “I’ve been jumping through their hoops from the very beginning. There’s not
much use in checking me out.”

“So maybe we’re looking at a third player,” Nash mused. “Someone separate from Rivon and whoever’s pulling his strings.”

“I’m with Drake,” Jason said. “I’m betting the guy was after Annie. Any chance they know we’ve joined the mix?”

“Anything’s possible.” Drake shrugged.

“Well, pray that they don’t know,” Annie said, expression defiant. “Adam’s life depends on it. Anyway, Nash and I have been
over it. You guys took precautions. And I’m pretty damn certain I covered my tracks. I haven’t gone totally soft. And Rivon
seemed perfectly normal when he called. I can’t imagine he’d have agreed to a meeting if they had any doubts.”

“There’s truth in that,” Jason conceded. “Maybe it was Rivon’s guy and he was just supposed to rough you up. Convince you
that they were in control.”

“Doesn’t make sense,” Annie said. “As I said, I’ve been playing by their rules.”

“I still think we can’t discount the possibility of a third party,” Drake said. “We know Rivon’s not running the show. So
maybe someone is keeping tabs on the situation. Only Rivon wouldn’t know about it.”

“So basically, we don’t have any idea what the hell he was doing in my room,” Annie said.

“Do we have any leads on the man’s real identity?” Nash asked, still watching Annie. She was keeping tight rein on her emotions,
but he could see the tension in her face, the fear in her eyes.

“Not yet,” Drake said. “We managed to lift a couple of partials from the knife. Hannah’s running fingerprints now. If we get
lucky, he’ll turn up in one of our databases. But until then your guess is as good as mine.”

“Well, whoever the guy is,” Nash said, “if he’s involved in this, he’ll be reporting back. And that means there’s a risk that
he saw me and put two and two together.”

“I don’t know,” Annie said. “Everything happened really fast. And you were behind the curtain most of the time. I doubt he
got a good look at you.”

“At the very least, though,” Jason said, “he’ll know you’re not alone.”

“Shit.” Annie sank down on the bed.

“It could have been housekeeping, for all he knew,” Drake said, shaking his head. “Anyway, whether he saw Nash or not, our
hands are tied. Until Annie meets with Rivon, or until Hannah has a breakthrough, there’s nothing much we can do.”

“What about the photograph of Adam?” Annie asked. And Nash immediately flashed on the little boy in the picture. He had Annie’s
eyes. And he looked like a fighter. Just like his mom. “Did Hannah find anything that might help?”

“Nothing,” Drake said. “Except that it’s definitely residential. But that could be an apartment. A house. Hell, it could be
a decorated room in a warehouse. There’s just no way to know. Have you set a time for the meeting yet?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Rivon hasn’t called. But he said he had to talk to his bosses.”

“Any chance he’d have tried to call while the phone was down?” Nash asked.

“None,” Jason responded. “I rigged it so that if a call came through, Annie could answer through the computer.”

“Too damn high-tech for me.” Nash shrugged.

“Clearly some things never change,” Annie said with the arch of an eyebrow.

“Hey, it’s not like I can’t deal with it when I have to. I just prefer doing things the old-fashioned way.”

“Especially if it involves shooting someone,” Drake goaded.

“Too bad I didn’t have the chance.”

“Well, somebody did some damage. Tyler found blood on the roof.”

“That’d be me,” Annie said, looking pleased with herself, not that he blamed her. Given the chance he’d have blown the guy’s
head off—right after he forced the man to spill Adam’s location. “I got in a couple of good punches. Definitely enough to
draw blood.”

“We sent the sample to Lara to see if it was viable for DNA.”

“And?”

“Haven’t heard anything yet. But between the DNA and the fingerprints, we’ll figure out who this bastard is.”

“So where is Tyler?” Nash asked.

“Downstairs. Making certain we weren’t followed. She’ll come up after she’s sure it’s all clear.”

“You guys think of everything.” Annie tried to smile, but missed the mark, the skin around her eyes lined with worry.

“Once Rivon calls,” Jason said, “we’ll be ready. I’ve worked up the schematic you requested. For the sniper rifle.” He produced
a small folder and held it out for Annie. “I based it on the description you gave me on the phone.”

She pushed away from the window to take the file. Opening it, she studied it for a moment, and then smiled—the first real
one Nash had seen. “This is amazing work. Right down to the notations. Rivon will think I drew it myself.”

“That was the plan,” Nash said. “But it’s a hell of a lot more than just a drawing.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, frowning down at the schematic.

“It’s also a tracking device,” Jason said, unable to contain his excitement. “It’s actually embedded in the portfolio.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” she said, lifting the schematic to the light.

“That’s because I’m the first to develop it. In fact, this will be its first time in the field.”

“You’re putting my son’s life on the back of technology that hasn’t even been tested?” Her jaw tightened as she surveyed the
three of them.

“Oh, it has been tested,” Jason assured her. “Vigorously. Just not in an actual operation. But we’ve simulated them and believe
me when I say that the device is virtually undetectable.”

“And it’s got an impressive range,” Drake added. “More than ten miles.”

“You’ve worked with it, then.” Her frown deepened as she continued to examine the hand-drawn blueprint. “Nash?”

“I haven’t had the chance to test it.” He shook his head. “But Drake is our expert at extraction. So if he’s signed off on
it, I’m good to go.”

“Hey, I invented it,” Jason protested. “Which means I believe in it. Shouldn’t that count for something?”

“Of course.” Annie nodded. “It’s just that there’s so much riding on our being able to track Rivon. I mean, it makes sense
that he’ll take it to whoever he’s working for. But there’s nothing to assure that that will get us to Adam.”

“Well, we know he was there when you talked to Adam,” Drake said. “And Adam said the guy had been playing games with him.
So it’s reasonable to believe they’re together.”

“It’s our best shot,” Nash added.

“I promise, Annie,” Jason said. “The device works.”

“All right then. All I’ve got to do is get it to Rivon.”

The phone vibrated against the metal of the radiator cover. The sound stopped all conversation as everyone turned to stare
at the undulating cell.

Annie nodded for quiet and then answered the phone. “Gallagher.” Mouthing
Rivon
, she waved them to the far corner as she moved into the bathroom, well out of range of their voices.

“Jason?” Nash nodded toward Annie.

“I’m on it.” Jason hit a key and adjusted his earphone. “I’ve got her. It’s definitely Rivon.” He turned back to his computer,
focusing on the call.

“So do you really trust her?” Drake asked, keeping his voice just above a whisper, his gaze probing.

“There’s no easy answer to that question,” Nash said. “Eight years ago, I trusted her with my life. And then she betrayed
me in the worst possible way. Throwing everything I thought I knew about her in question.”

“I’m not asking about the past. I’m asking about now. She did, after all, try to take out Dominico.”

“Well, she had a pretty damn strong motivation. You know as well as I do that if someone you loved was in danger and the only
way to save them was to cross the line, you’d be over it so fast it’d make your head spin.”

“Maybe. But then again, maybe I wouldn’t get myself into that position in the first place. We carry a hell of a lot of baggage
in this business. Most of it armed and dangerous.”

“Sometimes there isn’t a choice. It’s not like Annie knowingly put her son in danger. How was she to know someone wanting
to use her past was waiting in the wings?”

“She wasn’t. But for my money, she should have known it was a possibility.”

“And what? Terminated her pregnancy? Abandoned her son? That seems a little harsh.”

“Nash, I’m not trying to debate the pros and cons of people like us having serious relationships. I’m just trying to figure
out if we can trust Annie.”

“Look, the truth of it is that I’m the last person to make that call. I’ve got too much history. But if I had a kid and someone
took him, I can tell you without doubt that I’d do anything to get him back. Which means that as long as we’re an asset, she
has no reason to do anything counter to our mission.”

“And if she finds out our primary mission isn’t to rescue Adam?”

“She already knows that. She may have been out of the game a long time, but believe me she’s more than aware of how it’s played.”

“If we’re lucky,” Drake said, shrugging, “maybe we’ll figure out a way to achieve both goals. Save the kid and take out his
kidnappers. I say we take things one step at a time. We get the schematic to Rivon, let him lead us to Adam, and then we’ll
use the information to figure out our next move.”