Page 38 of Truth or Lie

“I can at least still use a telephone, so I’ve reached out to some old contacts in Interpol,” Beckett went on. “No real shock, but the guy isn’t cooperating. Still, we know his identity from fingerprint records, and it makes me wonder what would happen if we started following the money trail.”

“He was paid?” I asked.

“He was,” Beckett said. “And not in cash, which would have been the smart thing to do. There are bank records. No doubt they’ll be opaque as hell—shrouded in shell corporations and money laundering schemes. It’s something, though.”

“A lead is a lead,” I agreed. “If we could somehow tie the terrorists directly to Sloane’s operation—”

“That would be a very neat resolution,” Nikolayev agreed. “But also extremely sloppy on his part.”

“Plus, it’s every bit as likely that the trail will lead back to someone in the Euro-Soviet branch rather than Sloane’s branch,” Beckett said. “If so, that would complicate matters more than it would simplify them. We need Kostya’s wing of the organization to lead world governments toward a more liberal policy outlook.”

“It’s still better to know than not to know,” I said.

Alex nodded. “I agree.”

“I’ll lay odds that Sloane’s got a BLF connection,” Leo said with conviction. “That doesn’t necessarily mean he was in on the Minsk attack—but the fact remains that the Committee tipped off the Montreal police and let them know I was an unregistered omega. The only people who knew about me at the time were the BLF scientists who escaped in Romania. And—as much as I hate to say it—we may have chased Sloane further into the BLF’s arms by hijacking the Euro-Soviet branch of the Committee.”

“That’s true enough,” Kam agreed. “The BLF seems to be based in Eastern Europe. Sloane may see them as the only viable allies he has left on this side of the Atlantic.”

“Succinctly put,” said Nikolayev, with impressive gravity for someone soothing a fussing infant at the same time. “Our goal, for now, is to draw the Fairbanks administration into negotiations. Just as Sloane may be seeking new allies inside the Euro-Soviet Confederacy, we will need allies in the UFNA. Going forward, most of our messaging should be targeted toward that end.”

“We’ll tweak the talking points for the next few videos,” Leo said. “For now, though, it’s getting late.”

“And it sounds like someone’s hungry,” Kam added, as Anika’s fussy cries grew in both insistence and volume.

“She’s always hungry,” Beckett said wryly. “You’re right, though. We’ll leave you to your evening. Thanks for the adult conversation, even if itwasinterspersed with cooing and baby talk.”

I smiled. “Anytime, Boss. We’re just happy to see you up and about.”

SEVENTEEN

Kameron

THINGS WERE GOING toowell. I paced back and forth in the nest, hopelessly restless even though I wasn’t the one going into heat. The dormant mate-bond was stirring into life at the back of my mind as Leo’s pheromones thickened. Alex and the others would be here soon, ready to finally complete the circle of our pack of misfits.

Hell, Secretary Fouchet had even contacted us a few days ago to say that he was in talks regarding the summit with a member of Fairbanks’ Cabinet. Seriously—thingsneverwent this smoothly.

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