Page 105 of Poison Evidence

She smiled. “He’s still pissed about being caught in a honey trap. He didn’t know I was either Russian or a spy until he was in too deep. He’s a good father but a lousy American—more concerned with covering his ass than the secrets he’s helped me pass on to Cuba, China, and Russia.”

“Cuba and China?” Dimitri asked.

“Oh yes. You see, the real money—the real power—is in the information exchange. Cuba is a great dealer in secrets, and China has deep pockets. Plus, why would I want to give everything to Russia when our motherland has been so very awful to me?” Her jaw hardened. “You see, dear brother, when you had me booted out of the embed program, you took everything from me. I was nobody in that foster home, and the food was shit. My foster father was even worse than the caretakers at the orphanage. Worse than Boris. You have no idea what you put me through.”

Her son stirred, and she returned to the singsong voice, an eerie shift in the jungle, as his allies who had guns trained on Rudy remained hidden in the vegetation. “But you were the golden boy, the one the GRU was eager to appease, so I was the outcast while you completed your training. Once a month, you’d swoop in like a gift from the heavens, your mere presence a blessing on my blighted existence.”

“You could havetoldme.”

“Idid! I said I wanted back in the program, but you wouldn’t listen. Because you were amanand so certain you knew what was best for me.”

“I was protecting you. Like I promised Mom. If you’d told me—”

“I’d have been sent to a new home. Or worse, back to the orphanage. They would have done whatyouwanted. Not what I wanted.” Her eyes flattened. “So I figured out how to deal with my foster father on my own. Just like I figured out how to deal withyou.”

She stroked her son’s hair. “You know, you neveraskedme if I wanted out of the program. You just assumed you knew what was best for me. For all of your Americanisms, you were yet another pigheaded, sexist Russian man.” She glanced at her husband again. “But then, sexism isn’t confined to Russia. Dear Rudy couldn’t fathom a women being as cunning as I was. His myopia was my opening. And I took it.”

“How long, Sophia? Howlonghave you been dictating my assignments?”

She sighed. “Your regular assignments came from the GRU. I controlled the Hammer.”

He could have accepted almost any other statement, but he physically recoiled at that. “I…Ibecamethe Hammer because of you. Because Boris raped you and made me listen to your screams.”

“Boris didn’t touch me. At least not then. Faking that rape was my idea.”

The day he’d listened to Sophia’s screams, he’d crossed a threshold into a dark place that both haunted him and fueled the rage he needed to perform his duty. He’d given up a piece of his humanity in exchange for the hope—the belief—that he was doing the right thing to protect her.

She patted his cheek. “That day was my vengeance. For all the times you didn’t hear me scream.”

The embodiment of his nightmares stood before him, and he couldn’t raise a hand to strike the demon down. She was the baby sister he loved, holding the nephew he treasured. No wonder she’d walked into the jungle unarmed and confident. She knew she had nothing to fear from Dimitri, no matter what she’d done.

“What do you want us to do?” Luke asked in his ear.

Dimitri stared at the remote in his hand. He could blow up the AUUV. But what would it gain him?

“What happens now?” he asked Sophia. Jesus, he’d lined up allies who would now be asked to protect a woman who might well be responsible for the biggest national security leaks of the last five years.

If she had sold DIA intel to Cuba, there was a good chance they’d sold it to Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Iran. Special forces operators had likely died because the enemy had advance notice of operations.

He couldn’t ask Luke or Ian to protect her, not when men they’d fought beside might’ve died thanks to her.

But Yulian—Julian—was a different matter. The child deserved everyone’s protection. And it was Dimitri’s fault the boy was even here.

“Give me the AUUV,” Sophia said. “You and your team walk out of the woods. You sail off with Ivy and live happily ever after.”

His eyes narrowed.Ivy. She would be in danger now that Sophia couldn’t be used against him. “How the fuck is that supposed to happen with GRU still jerking my chain?”

Sophia smiled. “Simple. They don’t know you’re alive. I told them months ago that you hadn’t reported in, no matter how much I baited you on the dark web. You’ve been declared dead. There was quite the ceremony honoring your sacrifice.”

“But what about you, Rudy, and Julian? You can’t go back to DC after what you’ve done.”

She shrugged. “I knew that was out the moment Rudy fucked up and suspicion turned to him. All you had to do was see a photo of his wife and my cover was blown. So I’m going to use the AUUV to cut a deal with Cuba. We’ll be comfortable there.”

“I’m not going to fucking Cuba,” Rudy said.

“Don’t be an ass, Rudy. Of course you will. Do you really think the DIA is going to overlook everything you’ve done?” She shifted Julian’s sleeping weight to her other arm. “Right now, I bet Boyd is trying to decide if he should shoot you.”

The crack of a bullet punctuated her sentence, and Rudy dropped to the ground. His forehead bloomed red.

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