God, he hated being so far away from her, hated feeling this helpless.
His mom and dad and his brothers and sister all called and sent flowers, but he told them not to bother flying to Colorado. He couldn’t have visitors, apart from law enforcement or investigators. He apologized for the hell he’d put them through—the media scrutiny, the doubt, the fear.
“Don’t you apologize to us,” his father said. “Wrong was done to you, and we were proud to bear the burden of it with you.”
“We never once believed what the papers said about you,” his mother said. “We knew you would never hurt that poor girl.”
“I still might go to prison. I did some things to defend myself that crossed the line, things the Agency wishes I hadn’t done.”
“Whatever you did, you had a good reason,” his father said.
Nick had no idea what he’d done to deserve the kind of faith his family had shown in him. He broke down, cried actual damned tears, telling them about Holly and what she’d done for him. “I love her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
They didn’t know what to say about that. Holly wasn’t Georgian Orthodox or even Russian Orthodox like Dani had been. She wasn’t religious at all. They didn’t know her or her family. She certainly wasn’t the devout virgin and future stay-at-home mother they’d expected each of their sons to marry.
“Do you think she feels the same way about you?” his father asked after a moment of silence.
“Yeah, she does. She took a bullet for me and almost died. The last thing she said before she lost consciousness was ‘I love you.’”
“I will light a candle for her and pray for her,” his mother said—a big concession on her part. “Any woman who would give her life for you—this woman I want to meet.”
McBride, Corbray, and Tower came to visit him a couple of times, bringing newspapers and giving him updates. He’d been relieved to hear that Lee was recovering and that Bauer was now in custody. But he was stunned by the news that the bastard had burned him and Holly, revealing their jobs and identities to reporters. Bauer’s career was over, and he’d apparently wanted to drag the two of them down with him. This had put all of Nick’s assets in Eastern Europe in mortal danger, and he knew the Agency must be scrambling to provide them with new cover or safe travel to the US.
On the morning of the fifth day, he learned from a nurse that he was being discharged. His broken ribs still hurt like hell, but his spleen and liver were healing, and his doctor was certain he was beyond risk of internal bleeding or a rupture.
Nick was wondering what he was going to wear—he’d arrived wearing a pair of bloody jeans and nothing else—when someone he’d never met entered his room.
“I’m Jared Rensler. I’ve been retained to serve as your attorney.”
“Retained by whom?”
“Someone who cares about your case.” Rensler, a short man with birdlike features and a hairline that was in full retreat, was carrying a garment bag and a small suitcase with him. “I’ve brought clothes and personal care items. You’ll need to shave. You’re scheduled for an arraignment in Washington this afternoon.”
That was news to Nick.
“This afternoon?” He shook his head. “I’ve got somewhere else I have to go before I leave Colorado.”
He had to see Holly, had to see for himself that she was all right, had to tell her how much she meant to him. She’d taken a bullet for him. He ought to be at her side.
“I’m afraid that’s impossible. We leave for the airport in an hour. We have a chartered flight ready to take us to Washington.”
“Call someone. Change it. If it’s a chartered flight, let’s get a delay.” Who the fuck did this guy think he was, anyway?
“You don’t understand, Mr. Andris. You don’t have the freedom to make that choice. You’re under arrest for the murder of Sachino Dudaev and several other felonies. I fully expect most of the charges to be dropped given recent revelations, but you can’t afford to be insubordinate or to contaminate Ms. Bradshaw’s potential testimony by having contact with her prior to the conclusion of your case.”
And Nick realized the fight wasn’t over yet.
* * *
One week to the day after she was admitted, Holly was breathing on her own again. She was moved out of ICU to a private room where she was able to receive more visitors, two Agency paramilitary operators guarding her door twenty-four-seven. She was still extremely weak—walking up and down the hallway left her out of breath—but she was in less pain and able to stay awake for longer periods.
The world seemed to have changed during the time she’d been in the ICU. Bauer was locked up. She’d been outed as a CIA agent, her face in all the papers and on television, her career surely over. Nick was in custody in a federal facility in Washington, DC, awaiting a motions hearing to have all charges against him dropped.
As grateful as she was that she and Nick were both alive and whole, the fear of what might happen to Nick and concern about her own future with the Agency were clouds on her horizon. There wasn’t much she could do lying in a hospital bed. She was accustomed to being able to take charge and act.
Not being able to talk with Nick made it all so much more difficult. She missed him so badly it hurt. She wasn’t used to that—needing to be with a man to feel like everything was right with her world.
When it came down to it, being in love kind of sucked.
Her mother and father continued to visit, though they came separately now, staying for about an hour a day. Her time with them left her on edge. Both of them pressed her for details about her work and Nick—and accused her of betraying them by keeping the truth from them. She always felt relieved when they left.
Two days after she got out of ICU, her girlfriends held a little party to raise her spirits, bringing flowers, balloons, and, of course, cupcakes. Holly was able to eat only a few bites of her cupcake, but it was wonderful to spend time with all of them.
She told them the whole story, from the moment Nick had abducted her until she’d been shot. She even told them about her father and how he’d treated her. Like true friends, they listened, laughing when she laughed, tearing up when her eyes filled with tears, getting angry when she felt anger.
When she’d finished, she felt free—and extremely drained.
“When Zach told us that you were a CIA officer, I was floored,” said Natalie, wiping frosting off her fingers with a napkin. “But then I thought about it, about all those super-wealthy and powerful men you’ve gone out with, and it made sense.”
“That Saudi Prince,” said Sophie.
Holly smiled.
“And the South African banker,” Tessa added.
Laura’s eyes narrowed. “That Dutch woman you said was a friend.”
Kat blinked. “You dated women?”
“When the job called for it.” She didn’t bother to explain it had only happened once. The stunned looks on their faces were too amusing.
They went on, speculating about the men she’d gone out with, trying to decide which ones had been part of an Agency assignment.
“You know, I’m not sure we should be discussing this,” Holly said, her expression serious. “That’s all classified top secret.”
Silence.
They looked guiltily at one another and then at her.
“I guess we didn’t think about that,” Laura said at last.
Holly couldn’t help but laugh, which hurt. “Ow! I’m just kidding. I’m kidding.”
They laughed, but she could tell she’d made them nervous.
She hadn’t meant to do that.
“There was a moment at the start of all of this when I worried that you would all hate me if you found out about my night job. But then I told myself that you would forgive me.”
“Oh, Holly, there was never anything to forgive.” Kara stood, walked over to Holly, and gave her a gentle hug. “This was like finding out that my best friend is actually Xena: Warrior Pr
incess.”
Holly smiled, found herself blinking back tears. “You’re my friends, the best friends I’ve ever had. I love you all so much.”
They talked about little things after that—the latest gossip from the newsroom, the unrelenting heat, the colors Natalie wanted for her baby’s bedroom.
But soon Holly was asleep again.
Her friends quietly cleaned up the mess, then tiptoed out the door.
* * *
Holly awoke that afternoon to find her CO sitting beside her. She sat up, startled. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Relax, Holly. It’s okay. And please just call me Brian.” Brian Graeber was dressed impeccably in a deep blue suit with a white shirt and blue tie. With dark hair and a Boromir beard, she’d always thought him a handsome man. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been.”
Holly knew he would never have risked being seen with her under normal circumstances, but then, her situation was anything but normal. She knew why he’d come. “I’m out, aren’t I?”
“If by that you mean you can’t continue working in your current position, you’re correct. I’m afraid Bauer brought that to an end. We’re doing what we can to minimize the damage, trying to keep it out of the foreign press, but it wouldn’t be safe for you to continue in your role as an NCO, and it wouldn’t be effective for the Agency.”
Holly had expected to feel crushed by this, but she didn’t. Another door had opened in her life, one that mattered even more to her. “I guess it couldn’t last forever.”
“Indeed not.” Brian smiled. “It might interest you to know you successfully held the position longer than anyone else in Agency history. It’s going to be impossible to fill your shoes.”
Holly smiled at his humor—and the compliment. “Thanks.”
“Your actions during this crisis have won you respect all the way to the top of the flag pole. I expect you’ll be receiving some kind of commendation.” He watched her. “That surprises you?”
“I’m not sure I did anything special, sir.”
“You stood up to interrogation, escaped, won the trust of the man who’d abducted you, and worked with him to resolve the biggest crisis the Agency has faced in a couple of decades. As a result of your skill, you and Andris were able to obtain the evidence the Agency needed to complete our investigation of the disaster in Batumi. If that weren’t enough, you rescued Andris from torture, despite having minimal training for that kind of action. What you did was absolutely reckless, but also incredibly brave. We couldn’t have asked anyone to show more courage.”
“I’m sure most officers would have done the same thing.”
“Are you?” He raised an eyebrow, smiled. “I’m not.”
She asked him the one question that truly mattered to her. “What’s going to happen to Nick?”
“He’s got a motions hearing in ten days. In light of the evidence the two of you uncovered, I expect the court will throw out most of the charges against him. We were able to trace the account in the Caymans and confirm that it was set up by Kramer.”
Relief, sweet and warm, washed through her. “Can you help him—pull strings or influence people from the inside? None of this was his fault.”
“We know the two of you are involved.”
Of course they did. It wouldn’t be the CIA if they didn’t. Then again, the two of them hadn’t exactly made it a secret.
“I love him.”
Her CO frowned, something like disappointment in his eyes. “Danger has a way of creating bonds between people who ordinarily would never get together. We see it fairly frequently. The passion usually fades right along with the adrenaline.”
A tiny spark of fear flared to life inside her.
Would time and distance make Nick’s feelings for her change? When all of this was over and he was free again, would he no longer want her in his life?
“My feelings won’t change.” Annoyance made her words sharp.
How could he be so dismissive of her relationship with Nick?
What if he’s right?
“Time will tell.” He gave her what felt like a patronizing smile. “In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that the Agency is offering you your choice of position, either in cryptography or intelligence analysis. You’d have to relocate to the Langley area, but the Agency would cover your moving expenses, help you find a new home, and arrange to sell your old one. You’d see a marked increase in salary—we’re talking low six figures. If you came in as an analyst, you and I would be working together.”
Holly’s stomach sank. Cryptography was boring. Working as an analyst might be fun. But living near Langley would mean pulling up the roots she’d managed to put down, leaving Denver, leaving her home, leaving her friends.
“You’re going to love Virginia in springtime,” he was saying.
She held up her hand to stop him, not wanting to think about it. “I need to think about it. I have a job here, a job I love, friends I love.”
“You’ve got people at Langley who care about you, too.” He smiled, his gaze soft.
He thought he was in love with her.
The realization hit her squarely between the eyes.
Why had she never noticed it before?
She fought to cover her surprise. “I suppose that’s true. I need some time. I need to see how Nick’s case ends and find out what he wants to do.”
There was that disappointment again—or was it hurt?
Brian stood. “I should let you rest. I’m flying back this evening. I just wanted to deliver the news in person. I hope you’ll join me at Langley. It’s been a pleasure and an honor working with you, Holly. I hope this isn’t the end.”
He took her hand, bent down, kissed it.
“Thank you for all you’ve done for me. Working for you has been a great adventure. You kept me safe and got me out of more than one bad situation.”
“We make a great team.” He handed her his card, giving her something she’d never had—his direct phone number. “Think about it.”
“Thank you, Brian. I will.”
She watched him leave, feeling strangely sad.
* * *
The door to Nick’s cell opened with an electric buzz.
“Get off your ass, Andris. Your attorney’s here.”
Nick stood, wondering what Rensler had to tell him today. He held out his wrists and waited while the guards shackled him hand and foot, then stepped out of his cell and followed the guards down the hallway toward the meeting rooms, his chains clinking.
It was nice to get out of that damned cell. They’d put him in twenty-three-hour lockdown, both to protect him from potential harm at the hands of other detainees and because he was considered extremely dangerous. He was allowed out of his cell for only an hour of exercise and a shower—or for meetings with his attorney or investigators.
Rensler smiled when he saw Nick. Hopefully that meant he had good news. Nick needed to get out of this place and back to Colorado.
Holly needed him—and he needed her.
Nick walked into the little meeting room and sat.
“We’ve got a date for the motions hearing, and I’m hopeful it will go our way. Investigators confirmed that Kramer opened the account in the Caymans. The money was still there, so the Agency was able to confiscate the funds.” Rensler drew some documents out of his briefcase and showed them to Nick.
One was the original document opening the account. There were a couple of deposit and withdrawal slips. One of them was an image taken from security footage that showed Kramer at the bank counter.
That son of a bitch.
“If that weren’t enough, the recording you and Ms. Bradshaw made of Kramer during your interrogation, together with the documents you found on Dudaev’s hard drive, prove conclusively that Bauer and Kramer were behind not only the unfortunate chain of events in Batumi, but also the deaths of several paramilitary operators here in the US and the unauthorized killing of Mr.
Dudaev.”
“That’s good news.” Nick had been confident they wouldn’t stick him with those charges. “What about the cloned hard drive?”
“I believe we’ve got a convincing argument there. The files did not technically belong to the Agency when you cloned the drive, and you did so only because you believed correctly that your supervisor was dirty.” Rensler was getting revved up, practicing what he would say in court. “Your actions helped solve the case. If you hadn’t cloned the hard drive, Bauer would have destroyed that data, and we would never have found out about the account in the Caymans or the photos that Kramer sent to Dudaev.”
“Will that be enough for them to drop the charge altogether?”
Rensler looked uncertain. “If they do charge you, those mitigating circumstances will enable us to plead guilty to a lesser charge and avoid a lengthy prison sentence.”
“What are you thinking—ten years, five years?”
Rensler shrugged. “Maybe two to five.”
Nick’s stomach sank. Two to five years before he could be with Holly again. It sounded like an eternity.
Would she wait for him?
“I went back through old deposition records. I was able to demonstrate that Kramer was on duty at the time the photos were taken, as were Daly and McGowen.”
“He must have killed them so they couldn’t speak up.”
“That’s what investigators believe. There’s talk at the Agency of using the confiscated funds to set up scholarships for the children of the slain officers.”
There was no way to give the kids what they’d lost, but that was something.
“Can’t we get the hearing bumped up?” Ten days felt like ten years in this place.
“I’m sorry. The judge is on vacation until then.” Rensler packed the documents back in his briefcase and closed it.
“Have you heard anything about Ms. Bradshaw?”
Rensler shook his head, glanced at his smartphone. “It doesn’t look like we’ll require her testimony, so I haven’t been in touch with her.”