Page 131 of The Fallen One

Once she had on her sweatshirt, I rummaged through my memory, trying to remember what the hell I’d been planning to share with her in the first place. “Zoey,” I began, hating how much she now knew about our past, “already knew about the lab hit in Amsterdam. Even though she’s not MI6 anymore, they called her in for help. England was part of the joint project, and she was one of their best.”

“I planned to reach out and give you a heads-up. You beat me to it,” Zoey had said after I’d shared the shit news about a possible attack. “I knew about Amsterdam, not about a second lab being hit. Their secondary site here wasn’t compromised, but after the attack in Amsterdam, they’re on alert.”

“What’d she say? Does she know anything?”

“England’s second lab is secure. They weren’t attacked.”

“I suppose if the original bad guys who first hit the labs were only after the scientists to develop a weapon, they wouldn’t need to hit every country’s secondary sites.”

“It’s also possible only the U.S. had insiders, which is why they could only hit those two labs,” I reminded her.

“I’m guessing we’re definitely not ruling out American cities as targets despite the traitors probably coming from within. So, if our theory is right, and the first group wants to create a weapon, which will take a long time, they’re not an immediate threat.” She cringed as if hating her choice of words. “My friends, of course, are in danger.”

“The second group is the clear and present danger for our country,” I said in agreement.

“They’re why we need to quickly reconfigure the lasers to stop an attack, and we’re assuming it’s coming soonish considering the lengths they’re going to in order to get ahold of me.”

“Right,” was all I could manage, hating how much she was at the center of all of this.

“Then if the second group’s responsible for the hit against us in Poland, why not just blow up the place while I was in there? Why send all those men to die? Kill me, and they reduce the risk an attack can be prevented.”

My hand whipped to the back of my neck, the tension returning in the form of real pain. “They must know it’ll only be a matter of time before another country creates an EMP weapon, and once they use theirs, a counterattack will be launched.” It was the only logical thing that came to mind. “They must believe you’re the closest to making that happen. And having their hands on someone like you could be beneficial to other projects of theirs, too.” Not that I’ll let them, or anyone, get a hold of you. Once our two immediate threats were expunged, I’d make sure the world knew this woman was off-fucking-limits.

“A lot of people believe I can do this, so I guess I better believe in myself.”

I nearly took her in my arms at the sound of her small, fragile voice, but I refrained, infusing the support and confidence into my voice when I told her, “You’re damn right you should.”

“And we’re making progress, aren’t we? This is good.”

I nodded, but couldn’t stop working the knots forming at lightning speed at the base of my skull. “China,” I sputtered. “They’re the only ones anyone knows of who are close to having a weapon, or possibly already has one.” That reminded me of what else I’d yet to share about my call. “Zoey’s in Beijing. She has assets on the ground there, and she’s trying to determine if the Chinese government is behind any of this. If that’s the case, their government must be working with the American traitors. The British PM isn’t talking to President Bennett right now, but Zoey will provide me with intel so I can let POTUS know.”

“That’s something, I suppose. Thank God for your contacts.” Her gaze fell to the floor, and I sure as hell hoped she wasn’t thinking about my past.

She had nothing to be jealous about. Not even when it came to . . . I cleared my throat. Rebecca. Guilt was a fickle fucking thing, and it had its moments when it liked to beat the shit out of me. And now wasn’t the time for it.

“Guess it was smart to call her.”

“Yeah, that’s what Secretary Chandler said on our earlier call. Of course, he’d lectured me on doing it before thanking me.” Typical. “Hopefully Camila touches base by tomorrow. I left her a message using our emergency protocol.”

“Good . . . and wasn’t there one more thing you looked into before I distracted us with Newton’s first law of motion?”

Rebecca’s death, yeah, that news. I thought back to what the CIA director had told Secretary Chandler, that had then been relayed to me on that ass-chewing-appreciation call. “The CIA had nothing tying the Barclays’ plane crash to Rebecca’s death. At least, there’s no records with any law enforcement agency that’d investigated her death. Aside from Andrew, the only person your mother claims Rebecca shared the evidence with was Craig Paulsen.”

“I guess it helps we’ll get a chance to talk to him, then.” She narrowed her eyes, clearly waiting to find out whether or not I’d be able to resist murdering him if I found out he was connected to endangering Diana.

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I opted not to answer the question she hadn’t officially asked.

Her long lashes fluttered a few times as she waited for me to pick the conversation back up.

“Gray and Bravo Team are working together right now to locate the other hostages that were with you before you were split up.” Misdirection. My specialty. “If Pierce is walking around as a free man because he betrayed the project, they’ll also find him.”

With her free hand, she reached for my chain, taking the cross in her hand.

“And I hope William’s still alive, so I can—” I cut myself off two seconds too late. I’d so easily wound up in murderous territory again.

“I get the feeling I’m not going to like why.”

Probably not, but I was going to say it anyway. “William didn’t even try to protect you that night in the lab. And since he knows how your lips and body feel,” I explained, leaning in closer as she closed her hand around the cross like she might be able to save me from future sins with it, “I may just have to kill him, too.”

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