Page 147 of Protecting You

“Sputnik.” The reminder of the codename was a subtle chastisement. “I heard the SVR suspects him. There was a botched mission in Germany he was involved in. I was out of the loop, so I don’t know what happened, but I guess his higher-ups suspected he’d tipped somebody off.”

“Munich? Last fall?”

Eyes narrowed, Gavin nodded. “Sounds right.”

“A cache of weapons had been hidden in Bavaria.” Weapons of mass destruction. Biological, he’d heard. “Your friend Sputnik had nothing to do with the mission falling apart. Your nephew, Bryan, and his fiancée, Sophie, thwarted it. Well, and Michael and his team.”

“What are you saying? How did that?—?”

“Doesn’t matter. Michael filled me in. They confirmed that the Russian who’d been sent to buy the weapons was your former asset.”

Apparently, Michael had had the one man they’d taken into custody questioned. Mahmoud had confirmed that Lavrentiy—Sputnik—had been the buyer.

Maybe Sputnik had never planned to pass the WMDs along to Putin’s government. Callan hoped that was the case. Either way, he’d never had the chance. Michael’s team had secured the weapons and whisked them out of Germany.

“Why didn’t I know about that?” Gavin asked. “Why wouldn’t Michael fill me in himself? I can’t believe my nephews were involved. Is that who attacked Roger’s house last winter? Why didn’t they tell me? Michael knows I could’ve helped.”

Callan shrugged.

“Tell me, son.”

Son? Nice touch.

“Some at the Agency question your loyalty.”

“Why? Because I left?” For the first time, Callan heard anger—or maybe betrayal in Gavin’s voice. “Because I’d had it with being away from my family, with lying to people all the time? Because I’d put in my time and wanted out?”

“I think it’s more about the wealth you’ve amassed in such a short period of time.”

“I’m good at what I do.” When Callan didn’t react, he added, “I’m loyal to my country.”

“Okay.”

He squinted. “You’re not sure.”

“I’m telling you what I was told. I was directed not to share any of this with you. I’m putting my career on the line with this conversation.”

Gavin rubbed his lips together, looking out the window.

Callan followed his gaze.

Alyssa and her sisters were on the jetty now. Alyssa was crouched beside Peri, who pointed at something in the water.

Brooklynn was snapping pictures. It seemed she always had that camera in her hand. Based on the photos displayed in her apartment, she was very talented.

“They’re safe.” Was Gavin trying to reassure Callan, or himself?

“Why would Ghazi want Sputnik’s name?” Callan asked. “And what does it have to do with the bombing that killed his girlfriend?”

Gavin leaned forward and tented his fingers again. “Sputnik gave us—gaveme—faulty information. I should’ve known…” He looked down, shaking his head. “He was the first person I’d ever turned. I didn’t have the experience yet to pick up the signs. Everything he’d told me before that had been spot-on, so I took his intel at face value. We’d heard there were Iraqi troops hiding in Kirkuk, and he confirmed with coordinates. We targeted the buildings. We were wrong. They were filled with…” He fell silent, then heaved a sigh. “This is why I got out. Because there’s only so much you can take knowing what your mistakes cost people. Nearly a hundred students, dead, because I’d trusted him.”

Gavin gazed out the window again. “I almost killed him. I wanted to, but…” Finally meeting Callan’s eyes, he shrugged. “It’s the job. He was trying to prove his loyalty to his higher-ups. If he’d passed on the Iraqi’s actual troop locations, he’d have been discovered. Over the years, he’s saved ten times the number of lives lost that day. He justified it—they hadn’t been American lives, after all.” Gavin scoffed. “As if that would help me sleep at night.”

“I’m sorry that happened.”

Gavin bristled. “I don’t need your sympathy. I’m just telling you what happened.”

“Are you still in contact with him?”

---