Tia tried closing her eyes, but with her head pulled back, all she managed to do was look right into Valerie’s unflinching gaze. Tears filled Tia’s eyes and began spilling down her cheeks.
“Next thing to happen is your eyeball pops out, hanging on your cheek like a grape. Then I’ll slice through the connective tissue and feed it to you,” Val said.
“His name is Ilion!” Tia screamed through her tears. “Just stop, okay! Just stop!”
Valerie stood up.
“Ilion. Tell us all about him. Start with how you met.”
“I should’ve listened to you, all of you,” Tia said, blinking rapidly and rubbing her face. “I should’ve especially listened to you, Peter. You tried to tell me when we were back in the garage.” She paused to wipe away another tear. “You’re much better at this torture thing than I am, or even than Mr. Furukawa claims to be.”
“Ilion?” I asked. “How’d you meet?”
She looked at the three of us like she was seeing us for the first time.
“Where is Mr. Furukawa? Did you kill him, too?”
“No,” Leecy answered. “He ran away before we got the chance.”
“Peter called it,” Tia said. “Everything he said was true. Ilion is the guy that had the device planted, and the man I met with yesterday. He’s rich and…” She paused, looking sideways and blushing, “well, he’s just too good to be true. But that doesn’t mean we can’t all go work for him, now. It’s not too late. I mean, that is, if you can get past the part where I tried to kill you.”
“Yeah,” Leecy said, leaning against the small desk, “that might be a tough ask. What else can you tell us? Where’d you meet him? Here in Cologne somewhere?”
“No, he flew me to Geneva. We met in his hotel suite and then he flew me back early this morning. His plane is waiting to bring me to him tonight.”
*
“Zach,” Wakefield said. “Looks like Granger was right. What’d you get on those tail numbers I asked you to run down for me?”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Five of them were registered to Cologne businesses.”
“And the sixth one.”
“That one’s ownership is buried under a list of subsidiaries a mile long.”
“I need to know who owns that one particularly.”
“I’m on it. But right now,” pointing at his computer screen, “we’ve got movement again in front of the CCP building.”
“Is that Ryan?” Wakefield asked.
“It appears so. Looks like he’s abandoned his position.”
“Ryan?” Wakefield asked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just moving in for a closer look.”
“Hold position.”
“All do respect, but I’m doing my job,” he said as Wakefield watched him on the laptop screen check the trunk of the sedan parked in the street. “Computers. Looks like she’s planning on taking the MI5 components with her.”
“Okay,” Wakefield said. “Just return to your previous position and hold.”
“Wait, I think the guy’s coming back,” Ryan said.
Wakefield watched as Ryan hid behind the sedan and the man opened the rear passenger door placing a square object on the rear seat before walking toward the building. Then, she saw Ryan pursuing the man and said, “Stop what you’re doing, and return to your position and hold.”
Ryan was last seen entering the building before the door closed without responding.
“Move out,” Wakefield said. “Hodges stay in the van with the prisoner. Zach, Leeds follow me and I want the computer nerds bringing up the rear.”
*
“Geneva?” I asked. “Why Geneva?”
“Look, I don’t know. All I know is that’s where he was and so that’s where I went.” She held her wounded hand up. “This thing is killing me. Can I have something for the pain?”
“Yeah,” I heard the voice behind me and in my ear simultaneously. Turning toward the sound, I saw Ryan walking into the room aiming a Taser at Tia. “You can have something for the pain,” he said, and fired.
“What the hell, Ryan?” Wakefield said, rushing into the room behind him. “How many times did I tell you to hold? What’ve you done?”
“I’ve just prevented Tia and her man from escaping with the highly valuable computer components we wanted to secure. You can thank me later.”
“That’s not the only thing we were after, Ryan,” Wakefield said.
“All’s not lost,” Agent Leeds said. “You three still have time if you want to try and salvage something out of this mess.”
“There’s not enough time in the world to fix this,” Wakefield said. She walked toward Zach, saying. “Come with me. There’s something I need you to do for me.” She stopped “I’ll be downstairs in the lobby,” she said to us. “If you come up with a brilliant idea, let me know.”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Ryan said, “but I didn’t want the guy driving away, that’s all.”
“If that was all,” Leecy said, “then why come up here and tase Tia?”
“‘Cause I thought the guy came up here. Did you see him?”
“No. Seems to me you lost the guy you claimed to be such a threat.”
“Trust me; he’s in the building. We’ll find him. But the real reason I came up here was to protect the target from you three. I know you don’t carry Tasers, and I didn’t want you to injure her with one of your fancy interrogation techniques.”
“But weren’t you listening?” Leecy asked, pointing at her ear. “We weren’t torturing her.”
“My cell phone was fading in and out,” he said, shaking his head. “The last thing I heard was her screaming, so I made a judgment call.”
“Yeah,” Leecy said, walking away from him, “you love making those, don’t you.”
“Listen, kid,” Ryan said, “don’t talk to me…”
“Enough!” Agent Leeds bellowed, silencing Ryan. “I’ve heard enough bickering. This is my operation now, and you’ll conduct yourselves with a modicum of respect for each other and the task at hand. Now, Interpol has charged me with finding out where this computer hacking buck stops. If this ends with Tia, then so be it, but from what I’ve heard, she’s found a partner. What’s his name? Ilion? Is that right?”
“Yes,” I said.
Leeds unbuttoned his suit coat and walked toward the tased body of Tia Reins. “Ryan, you search the building for the missing man.”
“There’s a hidden exit downstairs,” I offered. “I’ll show you where it is.”
“Fine. Go ahead, you two. And while they sort that out,” Leeds continued, “we need to figure out a way to turn this cock-up in our favor. Any ideas?”
“Yes,” Val said. “I’ve got one.’’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ARREST
WAKING UP ON THE black leather couch in the downstairs mangers office, Tia saw the three of us staring back at her. She tried pushing her hair out of her face, only to realize her hands were cuffed behind her back.
“What happened? How’d I get down here?”
“They made us carry you down,” I answered, sitting on the desktop. My hands were cuffed in front of me where Tia could see them.
“They?” she asked, leaning forward on the couch, trying to find a more comfortable position. “‘They’ who?”
“Interpol,” Leecy answered, seated on Tia’s right.
“What?” Tia asked, looking at Leecy and seeing that she, too, was cuffed.
“You heard her,” Valerie answered, causing Tia to look to her left. She saw Val’s hands cuffed in front of her, but also tethered to shackles on her ankles.
“What did you do to deserve that?”
“I shot one of the Interpol agents.”
“Are you crazy?”
“No, I don’t think I’m crazy. I just didn’t want to be arrested.”
“Now what?”
“Don’t know exactly,” I said. “They dumped us in here and locked the door, but I think the
y’re confiscating your equipment.”
Smiling and laughing, she shook her head. “Perfect, that’s just perfect,” she said.
“I know, right?” Leecy asked. “And we were getting somewhere, too.”
“What do you mean?” Tia asked.
“Nothing, really. I mean it doesn’t matter now.”
“Well don’t go silent on us,” Tia said. “Might as well share since we’re not going anywhere.”
“No, I mean it finally felt like we were actually beginning to trust one another.”
“Even for you?” she said, looking at me. “After all the… well, you know.”
“Not really. Not yet, but I did think you were finally being honest. I have to admit, I was warming to the idea of working with this Ilion.”
“Yeah?” she asked. “Too bad that ship has sailed. Or rather, that plane has flown.”
“Looks that way,” Val said.
“Hey, like you said,” I began, “we’re not going anywhere, ever. So, why not tell us what we just missed out on?”
“You know what,” Tia said, “seeing as my life, our lives, are now over, I guess it doesn’t matter if I tell you guys the truth. You see, I wasn’t being honest upstairs. I was holding back. I know exactly who Ilion is and what he’s doing.”
“Tell us,” Leecy said.
“Why? So you can make yourself a sweetheart deal and not me? No way.”
“Fair enough,” I said, “‘cause that’s the only reason I want to know. But can’t you tell us most of what you know, saving the juiciest bits for yourself? Maybe that way we can all cut deals.”
“I see,” she said. “Everyone has a piece of the pie, kind of thing.”
“Won’t work,” Val said.
“Why not?” Tia asked.
“I heard the Interpol agents talking. They’re only interested in you, Tia. They’re turning the three of us over to the locals after they take you away, which I’m guessing is going to happen anytime now. No one will be offering the three of us any deal. It won’t matter what we know or what they think we know. Interpol is only after you.”
“What’re they going to do with me?”
“Can’t answer that. Never had any dealings with Interpol. So tell us, what did Ilion want from you?”
“Well, it’s like this. He wanted me to come to work for him and bring my hacking algorithm, and the MI5 components I purchased a year ago. But I would have to leave my security team at home.”
“Interesting,” Leecy said. “And what is it you were going to be doing for Ilion?”
“That’s immaterial.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t told you who Ilion is.”
“Well? Go ahead. Who is he?”
“Ilion Volodarsky is the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
“No way,” Leecy said. “You and a guy like that? I don’t believe it.”
“Why would I lie?”
“I’m not calling you a liar; it’s just hard to believe, is all.”
“If I’m lying, I’ll remove my own eyeball, okay?”
“Don’t do that,” Leecy said. “I believe you.”
“Yeah,” I said, “if you say you’re partners with a high-ranking member of the Russian government and flew on his private jet, then you did.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t patronize me. You know what? I can prove it.” She stood and walked toward me. “Reach inside my left front pants pocket. There’s a card in there that will prove to you I’m not lying.”
Reaching inside her pocket, I found the card. Reading it, I said, “This proves nothing.” I dropped the card on the table. “It’s a phone number and an address, nothing more.”
“Yes, yes, I know that,” Tia said, pacing in the small room. “If you hadn’t destroyed my iPad, I could show you the picture I found of Ilion and Vladimir Putin posing in front of the plane I flew to Geneva. And the… never mind,” she said, retaking her seat. “I know it’s true. I’m done talking.”
*
“Ryan,” Wakefield said, walking away from the group clustered around Zach’s laptop, listening and watching the scene unfold with Tia, “you come with me.”
“Where’re we going?” Ryan asked.
They exited the building, turning right on the sidewalk and walking toward the first of the two vans parked on the corner. “Hold here. I’ll be right back,” Wakefield said over her shoulder, and walked toward the second van. She gestured for Hodges to roll down the window and said, “Secure the prisoner and the vehicle. I want you to join Ryan and me inside the other van.”
“Roger that, boss,” Hodges said.
Opening the sliding door of the first van, Wakefield said, “Climb in Ryan, and have a seat. We need to talk.”
“Sure thing. What do you want to talk about?”
She closed the door behind her and reached around the front passenger seat to pick up her laptop before sitting down on the opposite end of the bench seat from Ryan.
“Correction. I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen,” she answered.
“That sounds serious.”
“And that’s the last thing I want to hear come out of your mouth until I ask you for a response,” Wakefield said. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“The information the Grangers are trying to elicit from the target would already be in Agent Leeds’ hands if not for one thing. Do you know what that one thing is?”
“No.”
“It’s you,” she said. The front passenger door opened and Hodges climbed in and sat down.
“Prisoner safe and secure?” she asked Hodges.
“Safe and secure.”
“Good. Thank you,” she said, then turned her attention back to Ryan. “You mucked it all up by disobeying a direct order, and tonight was far from your first time displaying such behavior.”
“But as I explained…”
“No talking, Agent Ryan. Agent Hodges, if Agent Ryan speaks again, I want you to assist me in binding and gagging him.”
“My pleasure.”
“Ryan,” Wakefield said, opening her laptop and making a few keystrokes, “I’ve compiled a detailed list, enumerating each and every one of your acts of insubordination, and was prepared to email that document to my boss at Langley along with my recommendation for your immediate termination.”
“May I speak?” Ryan asked.
“No, you may not. As I just said, I was prepared to do just that, but now I’m forced to do something that, in all my years of service, I have never done before. Agent James Ryan Taw, you are under arrest.”
“On what charge? I demand to know what I’m being charged with!”
“Fair enough,” Wakefield said. “Did you access my computer earlier this evening?”
“No, I did not.”
“You didn’t return to the hotel suite after I left you and access my computer? Before you answer, I feel I must remind you there are witnesses.”
“First of all, yes, I did return to the suite, and I did access your computer because I thought I could help search for the Grangers. And if by witnesses you mean Hodges and Zach, what did they see? I’ll tell you what they saw. Zach saw me sit down across from him and open your laptop, but he didn’t see me type anything, and I can prove it. I never entered anything into his complicated search engine; just check the file logs. And Hodges never saw me type anything on the computer either. By the time he arrived, I was standing to leave the room.”
“Hodges and Zach weren’t the only witnesses,” Wakefield said, spinning the laptop around so he could see the screen.
“What’s that?” Ryan asked.
“That’s a video of you accessing my computer.”
Staring at the screen in disbelief, he asked, “But how is that possible?”
“It’s a little security device Zach installed on my laptop last year after the incident in Malaysia. Remember when I walked in on you using my computer??
??
“Yes,” he said, looking up at Wakefield. “But I was just…”
“Enough with the excuses, Ryan,” Wakefield said, cutting him off. “The security program requires anyone using my laptop to enter a four-digit code or be filmed by the camera embedded in the laptop. Simple, clean, efficient. And one other thing I forgot to mention: the program Zach created also records every keystroke made by the person illegally using my government-issued computer.”
“But…”
“No, no buts. No excuses. No double-talking your way clear of this. You’re under arrest. Hodges, place soon-to-be former Agent Ryan in cuffs, remove him from this vehicle, and place him in the van with the other prisoner. I want you to stand guard until we are ready to transport them back to Langley with Tia Reins.”
“Roger that.”
*
“Whatever,” I said to Tia. “Talk, don’t talk, I don’t care anymore. It’s all a load of shit. Every word you utter is false. You’ve concocted some fantasy world. That’s what you’ve done.”
“That’s what it’s starting to sound like to me, too,” Val agreed.
“Don’t listen to them, Tia,” Leecy said. “I believe you. Even if Ilion does sound too good to be true, I believe you.”
“Thanks for that,” Tia said. “But it doesn’t really matter. We’re at the end of it.”
“Maybe that’s why I want to believe you. We’ve reached the end, and I want something to take with me, wherever they send me, that I can hold on to.”
“God, is that what I’ve done to myself?” Tia said, looking at Leecy. “Am I so pathetic and desperate that I’ve made this whole thing up in my head?”
“No. Well, maybe some parts, but so what? Forget about what he thinks,” Leecy said, jerking her head in my direction, “and tell me what you and Ilion were going to do if you had joined him.”
“You won’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
Leaning back against the couch and closing her eyes, she said, “He wanted to put me in charge of Putin’s army of hackers.”
“Get out. For real?”
“Yes, he told me he wanted me to use my algorithm to focus on the Fortune 100 companies in the US like Google and Apple.”