Page 143 of Crossfire

I let my words sink in.

“I was sent to end an innocent woman,” I disclosed.

Barry’s stare swept to Ivy, then back to me, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows. Until this moment, he didn’t know I was an assassin.

If he was shocked, he hid it well.

“She’s innocent. And if I can’t figure out who’s responsible for this, they could send agents to end other innocent people.”

Barry studied me for several seconds, then looked down at the ground, as if it would give us the answers we needed.

“I can have some of my guys take over my other case for a day or two,” Barry hedged.

The pile of bricks pressing down on my ribs lightened slightly.

“I’ll do some digging,” Barry continued. “But it won’t be easy, and there are no guarantees I’ll get any answers.”

“All I ask is that you try.”

Barry nodded slightly. “I’ll try.”

Thank God. If he found all this within hours, maybe we wouldn’t have to wait that long to get answers. He seemed to evaluate me—his focus darting to the hair I’d run my fingers through one too many times, the dark circles that were undoubtedly under my eyes. Surely, he could see the toll this was taking on me—the fear for Ivy’s life etched in every line of my face.

“If it gives you any comfort,” Barry started, “I suspect you have one thing going for you right now. At least in the short-term.”

Well, thank God we might have one thing going for us, because the rest of the damn universe seemed to be stacked against us.

“What’s that?” I challenged.

“The CIA assignedyouto end her.” Barry glanced at Ivy, then back to me. “So, whoever is behind this is under the impression that the situation is getting taken care of.”

Situation. Ivy’s life. What a shitty way to put it.

I clenched my fists at my sides. “That won’t last long.”

“No, it won’t.” Barry looked at the wooden floor again. “Do you trust your handler?”

“I don’t trust anyone right now.”

“Allow me to rephrase. Did you find anyone trustworthy in the CIA before this happened?”

Like a naive child, I had trusted everyone in the CIA. Goddammit, I would beat myself up for that later, but right now, I needed to focus.

“Seth. And Daniel.”

“Do you have any reason to suspect they would go along with a plan to end an innocent civilian?”

“No,” I said. “If they knew we were targeting an innocent civilian, they would push back.”

“Good.” Barry picked up one sheet and handed it to me. “Take this to them both. This lays out the proof the evidence was manufactured and that Ivy is innocent. Your handler needs to launch an internal investigation to find out who provided this evidence. Seth and Daniel will both be your witnesses that you presented it. Whoever received this evidence needs to reveal the source. I’ll try to do digging on my end with some old contacts I have, but that’s your best option with finding out whoever the hell did this.”

I took it from him. A simple 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper seemed inadequate when the black font on the page held the key to saving Ivy’s life.

61

IVY

“I’m scared,” I admitted.

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