Pursuit, p.9
Pursuit, page 9
Caden hopped out of the vehicle and disappeared into the station.
“Why those numbers?” Tyler asked.
Rowen looked out the window. “Are we sharing now?”
“Just curiosity.”
Rowen stayed silent. Tyler wasn’t going to cut her any slack, but getting information out of her was proving to be a trying process.
“Look in my file.”
“If we’re going to work together, you’re going to need to start answering questions with a little more detail.” Tyler picked up her phone from the middle console and checked the screen. Still no news from Brooke. No news about Rowen, no news about how she was feeling. Tyler put the phone back down and tried to fight off the worrisome feeling in her belly that thrummed with concern for Brooke.
“Wife checking on you?”
“Are we sharing now?”
Rowen smiled. “Touché.”
Two could play this game, but the smile might be something of an opening. Tyler decided to take the topic off Rowen’s private life and focus on another topic she might be willing to talk about. “Why is France interested in Lark?”
The answer was an obvious one, but Tyler wanted to see if Rowen would tell the truth. More so, she wanted to begin to learn what Rowen looked like when she was telling the truth, so she’d have a baseline to work with.
“Right now, Lark is the most interesting man in the entire world. He managed to not only deceive one aspect of your government, but several. That ability is a dangerous one. The National Front has a growing stronghold in the French government, and we’re interested in any and all like-minded people. Lark is one of those people. We have reason to believe he’s working with our own neo-Nazi party in France, and we want to know how far his reach goes.”
“Why didn’t your government just contact us? We could have worked together from the start.”
Rowen let out a small laugh. “Would you have accepted help from us if it was offered?”
“That wouldn’t have been my call to make. I follow orders.”
Rowen made eye contact now. “You wouldn’t have.”
“You don’t know that.”
Rowen sighed loudly. “I do know that. America doesn’t like to admit needing help from anyone. You only accept it in the direst of circumstances, and even then, it is begrudging.”
“You seem to be speaking from personal experience.”
“No. I’ve simply picked up a newspaper or two in my life.”
Tyler would have given almost anything to have the gift of mind reading in this moment. Rowen’s expression was calm, giving nothing away, but she was clearly deep in thought. “It seems our objectives are in line then. We all want to apprehend Lark.” It was only partially true. She still had no idea what Rowen was after, but she did know she wasn’t getting the full story.
Rowen ran her knuckles across her chin. “So it seems.”
Caden opened the car door and hopped inside. She tossed the two bags into the backseat. “I thought for sure you would have a big ass gun in there.”
“I do.” Rowen pulled the bags up on her lap and started to unzip one.
“Bullshit.”
Rowen tilted the bag forward so Caden could see. She pulled aside the clothes, revealing a hidden pocket at the bottom. She unzipped it and showed it to them.
“Jesus. That must be in like six pieces.”
“Nine. And I can assemble it in under fifteen seconds.”
“I’d ask you to prove it, but I believe you for some reason.” She hit Tyler in the shoulder. “She might even give you a run for your money.”
Tyler glared at Caden for the punch, then retrained her eyes on Rowen through the rearview mirror. “Maybe.” She paused. “Look, Knight, I need a straight-up answer from you, no more dancing around the subject. If we’re supposed to trust you, I need you to be honest. Why did you let us capture you? Why did you want to come in?”
Rowen stared back at her in the mirror, but the look in her eyes was unreadable. Then, her eyes changed, seemingly resigned to answering the question. “I’ve been with Lark’s men for quite some time, but they have no idea I’m French Intelligence. The only way I could come in and get your help was to be captured. Being captured keeps my cover in check with them while still having access to all of you and what you know.”
Tyler was annoyed, but a part of her believed what she was saying. “Why didn’t you just say that?”
“I needed to know I could trust you. I don’t know how far Lark’s reach goes, but it’s further than any of us can imagine.”
“Okay, but you still have been intentionally obtuse.”
“Yes.”
Tyler was trying to push the annoyance down since she was making headway. “Why?”
“Because if I reveal everything, I have no bargaining position. I came in outnumbered, unsure of your credibility, and I don’t enjoy giving up the upper hand.”
“So, it’s a mind game?”
“Call it whatever you want. I’m being honest with you now.”
“Are you?”
“I guess you’ll just have to roll the dice and trust me.”
“We’ll see.”
Tyler didn’t like games. Under other circumstances, she would have refused to work with Knight. But they needed her, and Rowen was right. She was going to have to roll the dice.
*
“Easy now.”
Brooke and Jennifer had been pounding away at the computer system for almost six hours. They had found a series of conspicuous firewalls, and now they were in the process of poking at them, trying to find their weak spots. Jennifer was convinced this was the mainframe they had been trying to isolate.
“There has to be a back door,” Brooke said.
“There always is.”
A moment later, Brooke said, “I think I may have found it.”
Jennifer slid her chair over to Brooke’s station. She watched her hammer away on the keyboard. The code was impressive, almost beautiful. She didn’t want to jinx it, so she let her work without interruption.
Rezentes stood behind them. His labored breathing was starting to shred Jennifer’s limited tolerance for him. “It’s about time you two made some progress.”
Neither acknowledged him. Jennifer pointed to the screen instead. The exhilaration of closing in on their goal was sending pinpricks of excitement throughout her body. This was one of the reasons she went into this line of work, the chase. She’d had her choice of professions when she completed college, but the CIA had appealed to not only her sense of patriotism but the ability to make a difference, and they were on the verge of making a massive one with this mission.
“There it is. Good job,” she said to Brooke.
“I’m going to slip the rootkit in and get out before we’re detected. These firewalls are everywhere.”
Jennifer couldn’t move or speak. This was a delicate process, and any misstep in a key stroke could alert the custodians of the program to their presence, something they couldn’t afford. A few moments later, Brooke made a few loud keystrokes and then fell back into her seat, her arms falling over the sides of the chair. “That was intense.”
Jennifer patted her back. “That was awesome. If it worked, we should have viable intel within the next day or so.”
Rezentes pulled out his phone. “I need to let the director know.”
“I thought we were supposed to keep this quiet from as many people as possible. We aren’t even sure if it worked yet.” Rezentes made a grunting noise. He would have made a fabulous gorilla. If he smelled better. Jennifer glanced at Brooke, who rolled her eyes.
“Analyst Glass, you worry about your job, and I’ll worry about mine.” His voice faded as he left the room, already talking to someone on the phone.
Brooke squeezed Jennifer’s hand. “I’m going to call Monroe, Styles, and Knight. We need to start putting together our next move. We don’t know how long we can monitor the messages without being detected. I’ve never seen a system with so much security. There’s not even a way to tell how many sweeps or custodial components are present.”
Jennifer didn’t say anything. Brooke was right, their time was limited, but the thought of seeing Caden and Rowen was about as appealing as gouging out her own eye.
Brooke wasn’t stupid and didn’t let Jennifer’s silence slide this time. “What is your deal anyway? I know you and Caden annoy each other, but it seems to have gotten worse.”
Jennifer wanted to tell her. There was no reason she shouldn’t tell her. Brooke was her friend, and she did want to talk to someone about what she was feeling, as foreign as that particular desire was. Don’t be a coward. “Did I ever tell you about the night I slept with Caden?” She stared up at the ceiling because she didn’t want to see Brooke’s reaction.
“You mean, you fell asleep at Caden’s one night for some reason, and she happened to be next to you. Right?”
Jennifer continued to stare at the speckled ceiling tiles, pointlessly hoping they would open up and swallow her whole. “No. I mean I had sex with Caden.”
The machines around them hummed and clicked, filling the silence. Then Brooke said, “Tell me everything.”
Jennifer did as she was asked. She went through the whole night over again. To Brooke’s credit, she only stopped her to ask reasonable questions. She never asked anything about her sexuality or probed her on why Caden was the only woman she had ever heard about her being with.
“That explains so much.”
“Does it? Because I feel like the only thing it has left me with is a million more questions and feeling like I’m always a little out of place. I have all of these thoughts and emotions that bounce around inside me, and I’m scared the only one who can settle them is Caden, who isn’t an option.”
“Well, why didn’t you give her a chance?”
Jennifer ticked the reasons off on her fingers. “Because she’s a child in about a million different ways. Because she’s incapable of true intimacy, and because there’s always a line of about ten women who want to pull her into bed. I don’t need that kind of drama.”
“So, you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared. I calculated the risks versus reward and decided that this was the only perceivable outcome. When you get involved with someone like Caden, there’s only one way something like that ends.”
“That’s ridiculous. You have no idea how it would’ve turned out.”
Jennifer laughed, though it was half-hearted. “Brooke, I love you, but not everyone is you and Tyler. Some things are never meant to be, no matter how appealing they are in a passing moment.”
“But—”
“But what? She’s arrogant, selfish, and a total player.”
“But—”
“I mean, she has her good points too. She’s a good listener, she’s funny, and she’s not painful to look at.”
“And…”
Jennifer pushed Brooke’s chair away from her own. “And I like her.” Jennifer had never admitted out loud that she had feelings for Caden, worried that saying them would give them life, give them control over her. Jennifer believed in science, in rational, measurable outcomes. Having feelings for Caden didn’t line up in any of those scenarios. Falling for Caden was like signing a death decree for her heart. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. Dramatic yes, but inaccurate? Caden was only interested in her because she couldn’t have her, she liked the chase, and Jennifer didn’t want to be prey. Women who look like Caden Styles don’t end up with girls that look like me.
She glanced over at Brooke, who was talking on the phone. She had one arm crossed across her chest, exposing her toned biceps. People like Caden fall for people like Brooke. Jennifer pushed at the soft tissue that hung at her triceps. Ugh! She knew that if she gave herself over to what she was thinking, what she was feeling, all that would remain after being ravished by the storm that was Caden Styles would be a million fragments of what used to be her heart. Caden had the potential to obliterate her and she knew it. She’d known it the first time she kissed her, and there was no mistaking the damage Caden would inevitably unleash on her heart.
*
Caden was listening. She should have been listening, anyway. Anyone looking at her would assume she was engulfed in what Brooke was saying at the front of the room. She heard words like “rootkit” and “administrative access.” But what she was focused on was the way Jennifer was looking at her. Her eyes shimmered with anger and annoyance, and it looked like those emotions were directed right at her. The worst part was she had no idea what she did wrong. She never really did when it came to Jennifer. She seemed to be in a constant state of annoyance with her. Except for the night she was in my bed.
“Let me put it another way. A rootkit is a shield of sorts. Its job is to hide the fact that we have placed a virus in their system. The virus won’t shut down their system, nor will it incapacitate it. This virus is letting us watch the messages that are being sent back and forth. Rootkits aren’t foolproof, though. If the custodians of the program are paying close attention, which we assume they are, they’ll find it sooner or later. We’re just hoping for later. In the meantime, we need to take advantage of whatever information we can gain from the information that will flow through the rootkit.”
Rowen stretched, her tight T-shirt pulling taut over her flat stomach. She looked almost bored. “I can make contact with the organization again, so when it gets reported through the messaging system, we will be able to see how it works and who is receiving the messages.”
Brooke leaned over, putting both hands on the desk. “That’s exactly what we had in mind.”
“It could be dangerous. If you’re made, we won’t be able to get to you before they kill you for being a snitch.” Tyler usually worked in worst-case scenarios when it came to missions, which was helpful.
Jennifer shrugged. “Well, none of us can go with her to meet the contact. Lark knows who each of us are, so we have to assume they’re all aware. We could always send in someone else from your team.”
Rowen leaned her head against her fist, her elbow leaning on the desk. “Bringing anyone else to a meet-up would be more dangerous. It wouldn’t be like me to suddenly have a sidekick, and no one else knows the group well enough to infiltrate now.”
Caden watched all of the interactions. Tensions were running high, but for a good reason. They were making progress, and this was the closest they’d ever been to not only apprehending Lark, but getting crucial evidence to use against him at trial. “Rowen knows what she’s doing. I say we let her go back undercover.” If Rowen was able to execute their plan, it would prove she could be trusted, which would help to ease everyone’s mind. She didn’t necessarily like the idea of Rowen being in harm’s way, but this was how missions worked. And if Rowen was working for Lark, if she had turned, they still had a shit ton more information than they had when she first arrived.
Rowen smiled at her. It was an appreciative smile, a silent thank-you of sorts. “I think it’s our best shot.”
The door beeped, and Deputy Director Martin appeared, with Rezentes trailing behind. He looked around and took a seat at the table, Rezentes mirroring his movements. “I heard we’ve made some progress. I’m caught up thus far. Please, continue.”
Brooke motioned to Rowen. “You’ve spent the most time inside the organization. What are your thoughts?”
Rowen pushed her cell phone forward on the table. She had already explained to Caden and Tyler that this was her way of communication with Lark’s group. Lark’s crew had placed a tracking device inside it to be able to keep tabs on her, but she’d discovered the device and rewired it, so it would transmit her location wherever she told it to. “All I have to do is call in.”
“And say what, exactly?” Rezentes’s tone was accusatory. Apparently, he hadn’t liked her turning down his company in favor of Tyler’s and Caden’s after all.
“I’ll tell them that I want to come back. Tell them that I was able to get some information out of one of the agents, and that I’m still stringing her along. Tell them I’m playing both sides, for their benefit.” Rowen looked at Caden and winked.
Caden unintentionally looked at Jennifer. Jennifer, with her aloof attitude and dismissive gaze. Jennifer, who she couldn’t seem to get out of her mind since the night they had shared. Jennifer, who wanted nothing to do with her.
“Perfect.” Deputy Director Martin slapped the desk. “We might be able to get our agent on the inside.”
“Will they believe you?” Jennifer asked.
Rowen smiled at Caden. “Oh, they’ll believe me. If I choose the right agent to play the part of the one I’ve been able to turn.”
“You going to buy me dinner first?” Caden made the offhand comment to make light of the situation, but the look on Jennifer’s face indicated that not everyone thought it was funny. She looked hurt. Caden wished she could take it back.
Rowen smiled. “Sure.”
Martin started toward the door. “Special Agent Monroe, Special Agent Styles, I would like you both in my office tomorrow morning at zero nine hundred hours. I’d like to go over the details of the next stage of the operation, once you have them ironed out. And in case I’m not clear, I want them ironed out by tomorrow morning at zero nine hundred. I want to know exactly what we’ve been able to find out from the rootkit and the progress Knight has made with her old handler from Lark’s organization. We need to know if they will bring her back into the fold, if they still trust her. If they do still trust her and are willing to work with her, we’ll go from there.”
Rezentes didn’t bother to hide his contempt. “Fill me in too.” He followed Martin from the room.
Tyler leaned forward on the table. She was looking at the screens filled with various codes, maps, documents, and pictures. Caden knew she wasn’t looking at them for information, but she was thinking. “You should say that you turned me.” She didn’t look up when she said it, clearly working out the details in her head.
“You?” Rowen walked over to the computer screens. “I don’t like the idea of having to bring anyone else in on this. Having too many people in the mix is when mistakes happen. But if you’re going to insist, it needs to be Caden. Not you.”
