Page 29 of A Walking Shadow

She arched an eyebrow. “You want me to listen? I’m listening. Why don’t you start with which agency you work for?”

“We don’t work for the government,” Rose told her. “We work for The Lighthouse.”

Green took up the thread. “The Lighthouse is a global PIA, a private intelligence agency. Our mission aligns with those of the United States and its allies but we work independently. We became aware of the two of you because The Lighthouse was investigating a mole inside the FISA Court.”

“There really was a double agent?” Sasha asked.

Leo nodded. “The court administrator.”

“So that’s why you and Hank were fired.”

“Right.”

She turned back to Green. “I understand why you want to recruit my husband, and probably his colleague. But why me? I’m a litigator.”

Rose answered. “Two of our colleagues are talking to Hank Richardson as we speak—after another misunderstanding, er, mistake. But we’re interested in you because you’re trained as anattorney and you know how to handle yourself.” He pointed to his colleague’s busted nose as proof.

She smiled sheepishly, then shook her head. “I don’t understand what I can do for you, though.”

“We operate outside of the U.S. intelligence community, but we do operate within the law. We’d like to retain you to represent our organization as your sole client.”

“Wait, do you mean as in-house counsel?”

“No, you would continue to hold your title at McCandless, Volmer, & Andrews, but your partnership there would largely be a cover. You would work only on our matters to avoid any potential conflicts of interests.”

“And what would I tell my partners?”

“That we’re what we are—a private intelligence agency. We’ll also be your firm’s largest client by an exponential figure, so I doubt they’ll be too bothered by the arrangement.”

Leo watched her prepare to ask how they could know the details of her firm’s finances and then answer the question herself. She nodded. “And Connelly?”

“He and Mr. Richards would work directly for us as field agents after they, and you, receive training.”

“You wantmeto train as a field agent?”

The two men exchanged an amused look. Rose gestured for Leo to answer the question.

“They’re realists, Sasha. They’re aware of your background and your propensity for finding trouble. Rather than try to stop you from inserting yourself into dangerous situations, they’ll train you to handle them. They also said depending on the mission, we could work as partners in the field on occasion. What do you say we make it official?”

His wife of ten years looked at him for a long moment, then a slow grin spread across her face. “I say it’s going to be one doozy of a partners’ meeting at my firm this afternoon.”

14

Will’s definition of ‘light appetizers’ was perhaps more elaborate than hers, Sasha realized as she surveyed the array of olives, meats, cheeses, and breads displayed on the conference room table. A silver tray held three fluted glasses, a pitcher filled with a bright orange liquid, and a bottle of prosecco in a marble chiller.

“Wow,” she finally managed. “This is quite a spread.”

“We heard you had a good outcome in your case for Daniel,” Will explained. “I thought this partners’ meeting should be celebratory.”

Naya popped the cork on the sparkling wine. “Aperol spritz?”

“Why not.”

Sasha filled each of the glasses with Aperol, club soda, and ice from the pitcher and Naya topped them off with the prosecco.

“Cin cin,” Will toasted, raising his glass.

“Cin cin,” they echoed.

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