Fated Identity (Red Star #6) (5 page)

“You deserve more than what I’ve been giving you. On that we can both agree.”

Grady lifted one corner of his mouth as if to convey his understanding, but did he? Brienne couldn’t draw air until he finally turned on the heel of his dress shoe and quietly closed the door behind him. She continued to stare at the barrier, knowing there was much more than a wooden portal between them. Madison’s essence lingered like another woman’s perfume, but it wasn’t Grady’s wife who was the issue…it was his inability to let her go from his everyday existence.

Brienne wiped away a tear that had escaped and then did her best to compose herself. She’d always had the ability to mentally compartmentalize her life and she did so now out of necessity. She’d like to be alive come tomorrow morning to be able to face the same obstacles she was now. She wasn’t sure that didn’t make her an emotional masochist, but that was the only way she could view things at the moment.

“Get yourself together,” Brienne whispered to ground herself, sometimes wishing Grady wasn’t ten years her senior. Their age difference had never really played a part in their relationship, but his life experience far surpassed hers and she’d come to realize maybe that was part of the problem. He’d already experienced his proverbial love while she’d found hers too late. “Focus, Brienne. Stay alive to deal with this tomorrow.”

Survival had become day-to-day at this point. Brienne understood how this situation worked, seeing as she’d been a liaison to several missions with the same types of dangers they faced now. She identified what needed to be done and walked across the cold floor to where she’d set the SAT phone on top of her jacket. Grady had taken possession of them from the last person they’d had contact with, along with a go-bag filled with a change of clothing for each of them, weapons, plenty of ammunition, and a few additional items that might come in handy.

Brienne took a minute to rehearse what she would say over the line, hoping her contact comprehended the severity of what had taken place. She dialed the number that would connect her to another time zone in another country, another source, and the woman who might very well have information that could keep them both alive. It took over a minute for the connection to finally establish a link.

“Raheela,” Brienne started out, ensuring the tone in her voice conveyed conviction as she continued to nurture the personal connection she’d established with the Pakistani woman long ago, “there’s been a slight problem. Have you spoken with anyone else besides me in the last few months?”

Brienne listened carefully to Raheela, her broken English not too hard to understand if the time was taken to string the words together. It had taken a couple of years to form this give-and-take relationship. Raheela had become a very reliable source for the CIA, handing over information in exchange for cash payments in rupees. Whatever the woman was doing with the currency was of unimportance. That didn’t mean the CIA wasn’t aware of Raheela using the payments as a means to conceal the movements of women wanting to escape the tyranny of their families or their husbands.

“…you are in danger. The man was asking…”

Raheela’s broken words finally strung together at the end, giving off a dire warning that came a little too late. Brienne had learned a lot from this brief exchange, but not the name of the insider who’d leaked her identity. The more she thought about it, the more she realized there hadn’t been a cyber attack on the Agency’s network to uncover her identity. Someone had personally given up her name and it was only a matter of time before her source was eliminated as part of a mass campaign to eradicate her influence in the AOR.

“Raheela, I want you to cease contact with everyone,” Brienne stressed her order, ignoring the sound of Grady reentering the room. “You won’t hear from us again until it’s safe.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Grady asked in a somewhat harsh tone, conveying his displeasure at the way she was managing the conversation.

Brienne turned her back to Grady to finish what she’d started. Another group of agents was already well-positioned within Pakistan and was currently using Raheela, along with several others, as their information source. Brienne didn’t have the authority to terminate such a viable informant, but she would deal with the fallout at a later time. Raheela’s life was in jeopardy and it was still Brienne’s duty to ensure this woman’s safety.

“I’m not sure who to trust on my side, Raheela, so you’ll have to do this on your own,” Brienne revealed, knowing that warning alone would be enough to make Raheela cautious. “I’d suggest implementing precisely what you’ve been setting up for other women. Good luck.”

The line disconnected and Brienne didn’t have to wait long for the censure.

“You don’t have the authority to—”

“I have every right to warn my source that she has a chance of being compromised in the same manner I was,” Brienne stated, spinning on her bare feet to face Grady and wanting answers. “What was Telfer’s explanation to our assertion that ISI was involved with this morning’s events?”

“Telfer wants you in protective custody, as well as a rundown on all your most recent dealings in Pakistan.” Grady wasn’t one to show his frustration, but he ran his fingers through his military cut and then rested his palm on the back of his head. The peppered grey on his sideburns only made him appear more distinguished, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t of some influence as well. “He’s under the assumption—”

“That I somehow foolishly let my source know my real identity,” Brienne finished, already seeing how this was going to play out. Only no one was aware that she was holding an ace. “I’m good at my job, Grady. Telfer knows better than that. Just as he knows there wasn’t a cyber attack on a secure network. As a matter of fact, my source had nothing to do with the leak, of that I’m certain. We were right all along with thinking there was a turncoat within the Agency, especially since those operatives had my exact location…which was with you.”

“I’ve already reached out to some people who can help with that, but it still doesn’t explain why ISI—”

“My source
is
the wife of an ISI Major. It’s the perfect framework to ensure my termination. I basically handed them both me and my contact over on a silver platter with all of the trimmings.” Brienne tossed her SAT phone back on the couch, wishing she could collapse into the cushion and hide away from the world in the same manner. She couldn’t and now Grady’s life was on the line as well. “You see, I’m the only one who is still actively engaged in trying to locate the remains of the former Red Starr HRT unit, which means someone within my own department is actively trying to prevent me from discovering exactly what happened to Brendan O’Neill on that ill-fated mission. Red must have discovered our turncoat and was eliminated to secure their identity.”

‡

G
rady had already
walked the property’s perimeter, surveying the area for likely avenues of approach for threats along with making liaison with the special security firm he’d called in for extra protection. There was no immediate danger and he hadn’t spotted any overtly obvious team members who should have moved into the area a few hours ago, but then again he hadn’t expected to see any amateur bullshit.

Gavin Crest ran a tight unit over at Crest Security Agency, hiring only the best of the best from former military operators to men and women who had sharpened their skills in other paramilitary black ops teams serving the intelligence agencies. His old friend would see to it that Grady and Brienne could actually sleep tonight without fear of waking up with a gun in their face.

“I don’t like delaying the inevitable,” Brienne said tersely, taking the spatula and turning over the omelets in the large frying pan. She had already showered and changed into the pair of jeans and white T-shirt that had been in the bag Connor Ortega had given Grady. He’d been the first of CSA’s agents to land on the ground, supplying Grady with what he would need over the course of the next few days. “We know it’s someone on the inside. We should head back to D.C. and—”

“We’re not going anywhere while your name is on the ISI’s hit list. Apparently, they have moved a group of their own operators into Washington to finish the job.” Grady understood the need to feel like he was contributing, but he’d learned a long time ago that some things were better handled when delegated to those who were more practiced at that particular skillset. Brienne needed to step back while those with that demonstrated capability got the job done. “We’re staying put until we have enough information to confirm the identity of the leak, as well as possibly fix your long-term predicament.”

Grady didn’t blink when Brienne shot him a disbelieving look at the last part of his declaration. She reached across the stove and turned the dial with a little more force than necessary. She was sure there was some way to find a resolution to her career-ending problem. Her future ability to work at the Company after a fuckup of this magnitude was going to be difficult to overcome, but she didn’t like going outside of her comfort zone by allowing someone else to do her own work.

Grady reached into the cupboard for what he was searching for, noticing Brienne’s hair was still slightly damp from her shower. Her blonde hair had always curled into loose waves if she didn’t immediately blow the strands dry. He personally liked it this way, loving the natural beauty as well as the silky texture when he ran his fingers through the tresses. She wouldn’t appreciate the gesture now, so he refrained from reaching out to her.

“What if we—”

“Arguing won’t change the fact that we have a few days to ourselves. Besides, we have things to discuss that affect our future.” Grady finally set two glasses of ice on the small table overlooking the ocean. They’d closed the colorless blinds, but they could still hear the distant thunder of the waves crashing against the sandbar to only then dissolve as the tide pulled the water back into its endless void. His soul could relate to the infinite abyss, but maybe it was time to replenish it. “Unless, of course, it’s too late.”

Grady continued setting the table, not willing to let this slide when they didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. The light noises Brienne had been making in the kitchen had gone relatively silent, but she’d yet to confirm his last statement. At least she’d acted as if she was willing to work with him.

“Let’s eat before—”

“We lose our appetite?” Brienne said wryly, slipping one of the omelets onto the plate Grady had set down on his side before she did the same to hers. This place wasn’t the most well-stocked safe house, but the kitchen had enough ingredients to keep them from starving. “That’s already been accomplished.”

“Eat anyway,” Grady instructed firmly, taking the frying pan and spatula from her hands. He motioned for her to take a seat while he placed the items in the sink and retrieved the pitcher of sweet tea from the refrigerator. He then joined her at the table, filling both of their glasses. “The first rule in a situation like this is to eat when you can and sleep if time allows. Walk me through the scenario of what you think happened.”

Brienne’s shoulders gave way a bit, telling him that she thought he’d want to talk about them over their meal. He did, but it wasn’t the type of conversation one could have while eating. They had too much at stake to discuss it as if they were talking about the weather and he would wait until they were more comfortable, thus giving her more time to acclimate to the fact that they needed to discuss Madison. He wasn’t sure he was ready. She was a part of him that was no longer here. That part of him was gone forever. That was a very hard concept to put into words.

“The Pakistani source I acquired was when I was a subordinate. The chief liaison officer was training me in the art of pulling together informants in specific demographics the Agency had been targeting. I managed to excel in that area and we were able to gather rather detailed information regarding the ISI from an insider.” Brienne picked up her fork, but had yet to take a bite of the omelet she’d made. Grady looked pointedly at her food, not wanting her to get so caught up in her theories that she didn’t eat. They paused long enough to make a dent in their meal before she continued, finally making the connections he’d only speculated on. “I had given this woman’s contact information to the chief of mission. I haven’t been inside Pakistan in a couple of years, my current assignments being elsewhere in the latest Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It was only recently that my informant reached out to me through one of the cultural attaché connections at the embassy. We were reconnected and then told about the possibility of locating the remains of the former Red Starr HRT’s unit.”

“Who was privy to your most recent conversation?” Grady asked, taking a sip of the sweet tea. He studied Brienne over the rim of his glass, her blue eyes darkening in determination to discover who had betrayed her so recklessly. Who was willing to throw his or her life down the drain by committing treason by betraying a fellow American Intelligence Agent? “Telfer, obviously. Anyone else?”