Page 46 of Quiet Protector
“If I do, he’ll bleed out.” I raise my eyes, drinking in black polished shoes, fitted trousers, a CIA emblazoned vest, and a pair of dark, stormy eyes. “Is that what you want,AgentRussell?” As my eyes narrow into tiny slits, I correct, “Or should I call you Officer Russell since CIA personnel aren’t referred to as agents?”
18
Brandon
“Is he going to survive?”
Phillipa’s teeth crunch at the curtness of my tone, but she dips her chin, nonetheless.
“When can I see him?” When her eyes lift to the right, I snarl, “It’s the least you can do. I brought you here.Me.I did all the leg work, so you can sure as fuck be guaranteed I won’t sit back and watch you take credit for all the workIdid.” I bang my chest during my last ‘I.’
Phillipa waits for the two dozen women and children found in the attic of the farmhouse to be guided past us before replying, “I have no intention of taking credit for your work, BJ.” Her hair ruffles from my furious growl. She has no right to call me a nickname after she played me. “I wanted to tell you who I was. I sought permission. My supervisors wouldn’t allow it.”
“So you lied by making out you’re one of the good ones.” I freeze as well as Phillipa does, shocked by something I hadn’t considered before. “How long have you been with the CIA?” When she pulls an I’m-not-going-to-break-cover face, I ask again, louder this time, “How long?”
After floating her eyes across the group of men and women watching us, the same men and women she deceived as well as me, she returns them to my face and whispers, “Thirteen years.”
I take a step back, shocked.She did just say thirteen years, didn’t she?
“How old are you?” That shouldn’t be the focal point of my interrogation, but I’m too stunned to use the logical side of my brain.
“I’m thirty-five. I was recruited in my final year of college.” Her voice softens when she adds, “Just like Liam.”
“Did he recruit you?”
As regret fills her eyes, she shakes her head. “But he’s the reason I went undercover in the Bureau. Conspiracy theorists for years have alleged CIA involvement with cartels. Liam’s placement made them worse.” An admired sparkle brightens her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean he shied away from proving them wrong.”
It’s the fight of my life not to smile at her comment. The less likely someone was to believe him, the harder Liam worked to convert them to his way of thinking. The only person he couldn’t persuade was my father.
“What Liam didn’t know was that in the process of his investigation, he’d stumble onto some half-truths.” She laughs when she spots the shocked expression on my face. “It’s not exactly how you’re picturing it, but there’s always a handful of rotten apples in every barrel.”
Everything she’s saying is true, but I’m having a hard time processing it all. If killing an ant can cause a tornado, imagine what happens when the Acting Director of the Bureau discovers his daughter conducted a covert operation under his watch. The aftershocks will be felt for years to come, if not decades.
The only good thing that has come of her disclosure is the realization her hacking skills aren’t better than mine. I couldn’t for the life of me work out how she had photos of Melody before her family’s home invasion. Excluding the pictures in the Greggs family ranch, I couldn’t find any information on the Greggs before they moved to Saugerties. Only now am I realizing I didn’t have access to the correct channels. That wasn’t the case for Phillipa. The CIA is more upfront with their own.
Although I have a thousand questions in my head, one sounds louder than the rest. “Did Castro kill my brother?”
Phillipa scoops my hand into hers before raising her eyes to mine. “I don’t know, but I promise I’ll find out for you.”
I shouldn’t believe the honesty in her eyes. I should call her a liar before demanding access to Castro so I can pry the truth from him myself, but for some reason, I believe her.
Seeing the silent thanks in my eyes, Phillipa releases my hand before heading toward the armored SUV waiting for her next to our makeshift command center.
“One last thing,” I ask before she slips into the front passenger seat of the car Harvey is commanding.
I was suspicious about how close they were for two strangers, but with my mind focused on more pressing matters, I played it off as two similar personalities having an instant kinship. It’s a mistake I won’t make again anytime soon. The CIA and the Bureau have worked together previously, but this is the first time a majority of the agents assigned to the joint operation have been left in the dark. I don’t like it, and in all honesty, it’s frustrating me more than Phillipa’s deceit.
When Phillipa drops her chin, approving my request, I ask, “Why is the CIA interested in this case? Don’t you usually handle overseas incidents?”
“Castro isn’t a US citizen.” She pauses for a second before adding, “We were also hoping he’d lead us to Kirill.” Her straight-up honesty shocks me, but not as much as what she says next, “I believe we can still nab him without Castro’s assistance. With your and Grayson’s help, of course.” When I don’t voice a protest to her suggestion that we work together to bring down Kirill, she shyly waves before sliding into her awaiting chariot. “Enjoy your party, BJ. Perhaps if you’ve forgiven me by then, you’ll save me a dance.”
Party? What party?
Like he has a direct link to my psyche, Grayson arrives out of nowhere. “The shindig we’re set to rock in around thirty or so minutes.”
When he fans open five embossed gold tickets for the fundraising gala my mother chairs, I scoff. “Why would we still attend the gala? We got our man. The threat has been neutralized.”
I choke on my spit when Grayson mutters, “For one, your girl will be there—” He doesn’t get the chance to voice more points.
