Page 84 of Protecting You

She started to state the obvious, that he wouldn’t believe her.

But she didn’t. Because this was what she’d always wanted, wasn’t it? To be in the middle of the action. To have information nobody else had. To affect changes, to save lives.

To deceive enemies in order to gather information about them. To bring them down.

She wasn’t trained. She wasn’t prepared. But shewaswilling. She’d always been willing, even if the CIA hadn’t wanted to take a chance on her.

“Okay. What’s our story?”

Something flashed in Callan’s eyes. Surprise and…respect?

Maybe he’d expected her to refuse or at least put up a fight.

“The thing is,” Callan said, “even if he doesn’t believe you, he’ll try to convince you he does. He needs you to believe he’s not a bad guy. You need him to believe you don’t know he’s a bad guy.”

“We’ll both be lying, and pretending the other doesn’t know we’re lying.”

“That’s one way it could go. But maybe he’ll believe you. He’ll want to believe you because he needs what you have. You’re his best bet for gaining access to SJSS’s systems. Because of that, he should be more inclined to take you at your word. It’s the easier path for him, and people—even evil, homicidal people—tend to prefer the easier path. Does that make sense?” At her nod, Callan said, “But you’re going to have to sell it.”

“Okay.” She pushed to her feet and paced from the window to the door. “We went out the window. Trustworthy people don’t climb out the window.” Her pitch rose at the end, betraying her fear.

A few feet from Callan, she turned to pace back to the window.

He caught her hand. “I know it feels that way.” He tugged her around to face him. “It’s okay, Paris. I’ll be right here.”

He was too close, his gaze too intense, as if everything they’d pretended for Ghazi’s sake was real.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he dropped her hand. “We’ll come up with a plan.”

Right.

She needed a way to deceive a homicidal terrorist.

She didnotneed to think about her one-sided attraction for Callan.

She took a few steps back. “What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“No matter how well you sell it, he’s going to be suspicious. But hopefully, not so suspicious that he gives up his plan.”

“Isn’t that what we want? For him to give up?”

Go away? Leave the country and never come back?

Seemed like a good strategy to her.

“Unfortunately,” Callan said, “we need to figure out what he’s up to—and what Lavrentiy has to do with it.”

The Russian whose name she’d found but hadn’t given to Ghazi.

“For that,” Callan said, “we need time. And we need you to get as much information as possible fromCharles”—he emphasized the name she’d need to remember to use—“without going near him again. You need to convince him you’re still on his side, and that you’ll do whatever he asks. You’ll tell him that you’ll do it, and then you’ll show him you’re not afraid of him by being where he expects you to be.”

Realization washed over her.

Callan didn’t say anything, just gave her time to absorb the truth.

That Ghazi knew exactly who she was. He knew who her parents were. He probably knew her sisters’ names and where they all lived.

Just like when she’d nearly burned the house down, her family was at risk, and just like that time, it was all her fault.

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