Aim and Fire (14 page)

one that could get you killed. I mean—and this is not meant to be an insult—you’re an analyst, not a field agent.”

“I know that. They said they wanted a fresh viewpoint, which is what I bring to the situation, I guess. But keep in mind this is just one trip, Paul.”

“Sure, for now. But what happens when they ask you next time? I appreciate that you try to make time for Jennifer and me, but we’ve had to reschedule or cancel things so many times in the past year alone. And what happens if the DHS assigns you to a fusion center across the country? I love you, but I’m not sure I could uproot Jennifer at this point in her life and start over again.”

“You know I’ve been angling for a spot at the Virginia center once it’s online. That’s why this is important—I have to look to the future, as well. I’m not just doing it for me, but, I hope, for all three of us.”

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Paul stopped to stand in front of her. “What if I said I didn’t want you going?”

She stared up at him, her brow furrowing. She knew Paul cared deeply about her, but sometimes that came out in what she saw as ridiculously protective actions or thoughts. “I’d say this isn’t your decision to make.”

“I figured you’d say that. You know, I was first attracted to you partly because you’re so damn hot, but also because of your huge independent streak. However, at times like this it can certainly be a pain in the ass.”

She smiled sweetly. “Just like your overprotective nature can be, too.”

“Well, I don’t think I’m wrong to be concerned. I know you can take care of yourself, but this is a completely un-familiar area you’d be heading into.”

“No, it’s not, Paul. It’s intelligence gathering and analysis, which is what I’ve been trained to do in my job. Only the geography changes—that’s all.”

“And the people you have to work with, and the job itself once you get there and any number of other things, any of which can bite you in the ass. I’ve been to places where there was no support staff on the government side or among our own people, mainly because they were cooling their heels in jail. And I certainly don’t like what I’m hearing about the Border Patrol lately—seems a lot of them don’t like the head guy very much, and there’s rumblings of an internal revolt coming.”

“None of that impacts how I do my job or how this agent I’d be paired with should do his,” Tracy said.

“It shouldn’t, but it does.”

“So you’d rather have me stay here and keep my head down until a
safe
position comes along?”

“I thought we had discussed both of our career tracks Aim and Fire

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trying to mesh as closely as possible so we could both stay in the D.C. area.”

“This would help me do that.”

Paul stalked across the room. “Dammit, it would put you at risk! This isn’t crunching numbers on a computer screen about something that happened a thousand miles away. If they want you there, then it’s something local, and if it involves the border, then it’s most likely something dangerous that they don’t want leaking to the press.” He took a deep breath, obviously trying to rein himself in.

“When you said where the job was, the first thing I thought of was you lying dead in the desert somewhere, and I don’t want that to happen.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Paul, now you’re being melodra-matic.” Her words trailed off as a thought came to her.

“Jesus, you don’t think I can do this, do you?”

“That’s not it at all—”

“No, that
is
it. You think I should stay in my safe little cubicle and crunch data and not stick my head out at all, don’t you?”

“Being concerned about you and thinking you can’t do something are two very different things, Tracy.”

“If you’re trying to seriously talk me out of this, you’re doing a piss-poor job,” she shouted.

“It’s hard to do that when you’ve practically made up your mind already. Jesus, why discuss it with me in the first place if you’re just going to go off and do it anyway!” He crossed to the window and stared out at the drops gathering on the glass. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, the silver-white light revealing the emotions on his face—

anger, concern and fear all warring with one another. At that moment, Tracy felt closer to him than ever before.

She got up and walked behind him, slipping her arms 128

around his waist. “Paul, nothing’s going to happen to me.

Most likely they’ll set me up in an office to crunch data on a computer, but I doubt I’ll ever be in any physical danger.”

Even as she spoke, she realized the ludicrousness of what she was telling him—after all, if that was the case, she could have conferenced in from D.C.

He stiffened at her words, but turned and enfolded her in his arms. “Come on, Tracy, I’m your fiancé, not an idiot.”

“Then I’d appreciate you treating me as such, and not like a child. I’m telling you not to worry, I can take care of myself.”

Paul sighed. “Just like talking to a brick wall. You’re going to do whatever you damn well choose, aren’t you?”

“If by that you mean I’m going to make the decision I feel is best, then yes.”

“Of course, it’s not like I’d be able to change your mind, but I do wish you wouldn’t take this.”

“Duly noted, and I haven’t decided one way or the other yet. I’m surprised you’ve thrown in the towel so early.”

He leaned back and looked at her. “You’ve got that scrunched little line at the bridge of your nose, which means you’ve already dug in your heels. I recognized that by our second argument.”

“I’ll have to work on that. I don’t want to give you any more tells. Look, would you mind if I borrowed your car?

I’m going to head home tonight—get some time to think on the way.”

“You know you can stay here. I could run you back in the morning.”

“No, staying here will just give me more reasons not to go.”

“So much for my cunning plan,” Paul said.

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“Yeah, and don’t think I hadn’t noticed. Look, if I decide to go, I’ll stop by and say goodbye, and if I stay, then our own trip is still on, so don’t let Jennifer know about this just yet, okay?”

He held up his keys. “All right, all right. You’d better go before I try something really silly, like keeping you here against your will until the feebs find someone else.”

Tracy snatched them out of his hand. “In that case, I’m gone.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, holding on to the moment for as long as she could. “I’ll call you regardless.”

He hugged her again, holding her to him before letting go. “You’d better get a move on if you plan on getting any rest tonight.”

“It’s a foregone conclusion I’m not going to get much anyway.” She walked to the door, opening it and letting the crisp night air in, redolent with the fresh smell of the rain.

“I’d certainly miss this down south.”

“Hopefully that’s not all you’d miss. Tracy, just—give me a call later, will you?”

“I will.” Tracy walked to the car and got in, adjusting the seat to fit her smaller frame, and pulled out of the driveway. She navigated the maze of suburban streets around his condo, breathing in Paul’s unmistakable scent in the car. Only when she reached the highway did she allow herself to think about their conversation.

She hadn’t been lying to Paul. The decision still wasn’t clear in her mind. The practical choice would be to take the assignment, but practical didn’t count for much when staring into the eyes of a little girl and telling her you were going away for a while. Indeed, a part of her couldn’t believe that she was this wrapped up in making the call, and all because of a little girl. All her life Tracy had prided 130

herself on being able to make rational decisions, unclouded by emotion, unlike so many other women. Yet from the first time she had looked into Jennifer’s big blue eyes, she had been lost. And even stranger—she actually enjoyed the feeling of being depended on, of having someone in her life who needed her. Not like Paul—their relationship was different. Jennifer was a force unto herself, one that could divert Tracy from the goals she had set for herself, and the direction her career was heading.

And ultimately, that is what it is all about, she thought as she reached into her jacket pocket for the sleek black cell phone the FBI agent had given her. Flipping it open, she listened as the phone automatically dialed a contact number. Oddly, the small screen remained black, the phone not showing the number it was calling.

The phone rang once before it was picked up. “Special Agent Cassell.”

“Stephanie, this is Tracy Wentworth.”

“Yes, hello, Tracy, how are you?”

“Fine, thank you. I’ve thought over your offer and decided to accept. When do I leave?”

“Very good. We have tickets held for you on a morning flight.”

“That will be fine. Thanks very much for the opportunity—I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Same here. You’ll be taking a company laptop down with you, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll send your itinerary, as well as that file over to your address at DHS—a little light reading on the way down. The phone will connect you directly to me anytime you need to make contact. I suggest daily reports unless something breaks earlier. Good luck, Tracy.”

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“Thank you.” She closed the cell phone and tossed it on the seat next to her, then stared straight ahead, putting off the conversation with Paul until she got home. Might as well let him hope for a little while longer.

Kate switched over from Stephanie Cassell’s cell line to the next incoming call, from her agent in Pakistan. “Alpha, this is Primary, go.”

Robert Lashti’s voice sounded winded, as if he had been running. “I’ve been made, Primary. After initiating contact using the disposable asset, she lured the subject back to the room. However, she was caught administering the drug, and gave me up under duress. Subject terminated asset after getting my description, then swept the room and located our surveillance equipment. I’ve left the hotel, but the town isn’t that big, and they’re looking for me.”

“All right, Alpha, time to pull out. Can you make it to your vehicle?” As she spoke, Kate pulled up a window on the touch-sensitive screen that allowed her to juggle multiple projects, conferences and data streams at once.

She contacted the Room 59 hacker on duty and requested a satellite map of the town of Panamik, as well as the quickest route north to China.

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“Negative, subject’s men are watching it. They’re good, too—I almost walked right into them,” Lashti said. “Probably ex-military, more Spetsnaz if we’re really unlucky.”

Swearing under her breath, Kate opened a new window to Pai Kun in Beijing to apprise him of the situation. She never liked bringing in more Room 59 operatives to assist with an extraction, but since their Asian director was only half a continent instead of half a world away, he needed to know what was happening to carry the ball when she handed it off.

“I’m attempting to procure another vehicle. However, everything around me seems to be limited to tractors and oxen—hardly suitable for the trip.”

“How did subject and his men arrive?” Kate asked.

“I had thought by SUV, but I am currently unable to locate it.”

“Okay, just keep your head down for a moment.” Kate brought up the overhead view of Panamik, finding it to be indeed a one-ox town, although the largest in the area.

There was a main road that bisected the sparse business section, and off to the northwest was a military base, which was of no help to her operative at all. He needed reliable wheels, and fast.

Kate opened a voice channel to her hacker. “Can you run a thermal scan on the buildings around that hotel? I’m looking for a still-warm engine,” she said.

“I’m on it,” came the reply.

“Damn, where’d they come from!” she heard a muffled shout in her headset, followed by the thuds of several running feet.

“Alpha, what’s happening?”

“They spotted me…kids ratted me out…gonna try to…

lose them—”

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“Hold on, I’m going to visual.” Kate popped open a third window, this one showing her the view through Lashti’s glasses camera, the rough walls of the buildings on either side of him bouncing up and down as he pounded down the dirt road, trying to outdistance his pursuers.

A soft chime announced that Pai Kun was online, as well. As usual, he wasted no time on inconsequential matters. “Alpha will have to get himself out of town at the very least before we can extract him. I can do a lot, but I don’t have anyone that close at the moment, and the region is volatile enough without anyone thinking the Chinese may be involved in covert activity there.”

“That would be the last thing we need,” Kate replied, then switched to the hacker. “Got anything yet?”

The words “It’s coming up now” appeared on her screen. The regular street map disappeared, and an eerie blue-and-black thermal view of the dark town appeared instead. Kate saw a tiny red-orange figure running down a narrow alley. He was chased by two others across a street and into another alley. She quickly scanned the buildings around the hotel, looking for the telltale heat bloom of an idling car.
There!

“Alpha, turn left at the next intersection, and head back toward the hotel. Their SUV is in a building approximately twenty-five yards south of it. I’ll guide you to it.”

Kate drew on the monitor, tracing the route her operative would have to take. As she plotted the route, the computer used the satellite imagery to give her the precise distances of each leg, as well as visual points to lead him through it. “Move forward ten yards, then turn left again.

Circle around the hut you’re near…cross the road ahead of you…they’re about thirty yards back. Checking cross alleys, looks like you’ve lost them for now.”

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Lashti had stopped in the deep shadow of an overhang-ing hut roof. “Dawn’s going to be breaking soon, and there won’t be any place to hide. Primary, if I don’t make it out of here, you need to know that all of the data I’ve collected indicated that our subject thought he was selling a live device. He had no idea it was a fake.”