Page 9 of Smoke and Shadows

“That was fast.”

“I didn’t have to dig very deep.” She paused. “All of them looked Caucasian, but one of them is actually half-Korean.”

Viktor stiffened.

“He’s not very high up in the chain-of-command, but he belongs to the National Korean Unification Front.”

“What the hell does the NKUF want with the AGS database?”

“That’s a good question. I have no answers yet. But someone may.”

“Jiro Matsuda,” Viktor said in resignation. “He’s left that life, Marissa. We got him out and gave him a new identity.”

“I thought I’d throw that out there.” Marissa shrugged. “I know how much you hate going back on your promises and messing up the life of a retired asset.”

“He gave up so much to give us that intel.” Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose.

“And he saved lives.”

“We failed to protect his wife and daughter. I’d hate for him to put his new wife in jeopardy.”

Marissa weighed her next words carefully. Viktor’s eyes narrowed at her. There was no hiding anything from him. At all.

“What aren’t you telling me, Marissa?”

“Viktor—”

“Let me guess,” Viktor bit out. “If I refuse to help you, the CIA will pick up Jiro Matsuda anyway.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“One of our agents was assassinated last week.” Marissa told him the agent’s name, watching Viktor’s face grow passive. She hated it when he did that, putting on a mask to hide his real emotions. “It was made to look like an accident. Gas explosion at his home.”

“He was on that Syrian mission eight years ago,” Viktor said reflectively.

Marissa nodded, unable to speak, because it was that Syrian assignment that broke them up.

“I’m not getting a good feeling about this,” Viktor muttered. “If the Syrians and the North Koreans are in bed together on this, we have a big fucking problem.”

“If they are, they’re very careful because the NSA couldn’t pick up a damn thing,” Marissa said, letting her frustration show. “We’re dependent on our human intel for information.”

“Well, the NSA needs to keep their contractors on a damned leash.” Viktor referred to the recent scandal of the NSA whistle-blower. “Our agencies have embraced the world of advanced technology, but our enemies have decided to throw back to the old cloak and dagger ways.”

“CIA is still pretty cloak and dagger.” Marissa noted with amusement the scowl breaking across Viktor’s cold facade. “We value our HUMINT. They’re still considered one of our most valued assets and the CIA has a good network in place.”

“So, you’re saying I need to play nice with you guys?” Viktor said. The air in the car changed drastically, supercharging with a raw sexual awareness that pinged crazily between them. Marissa stared straight into his eyes; the light blue had turned to ink in the darkness, but she could sense desire in them.

Viktor leaned in, his hand snaking out to grab the back of her neck, drawing her face close to his. “I don’t mind playing nice with you.”

“Viktor, don’t—”

“Don’t what, Marissa?” Viktor said softly against her lips. “I’m tired of playing this cat and mouse game with you. We want each other. We always did. You’re too stubborn to act on it because you’re scared.”

“I don’t want to do this again, Viktor—”

“Too bad. Because I do.”

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