Page 21 of Covert Past

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I knew something was wrong—I could just tell it from the way you acted—but I never imagined this.”

Ellie lowered her head. “I’m sorry that I’m going to have to leave you shorthanded.”

Hank was quick to tell her not to worry. “I have a friend who will give me a hand from time to time.”

“Thank you, Hank.” Ellie glanced Boone’s way. “For now, maybe I can help you out. Just for a little while.”

Boone didn’t like the idea of Ellie staying in the same place as the attack but he believed he’d have a fight on his hands if he tried to stop it. “Only until we finalize the safe house.”

Hank squeezed her hand. “Are you sure, Ellie? I don’t want to put you in further danger.”

“I’ll be fine. Boone will be here.” She squared her shoulders expecting him to argue.

Hank smiled. “Good, because I’ve enjoyed working with you.” Not one to show emotion, Hank busied herself behind the counter.

“You know this isn’t wise,” Boonewhispered.

“Maybe not, but I won’t leave her shorthanded with the storm coming. And I can’t run out on another person like I have in the past. I can’t.”

He blew out a sigh. “Alright, but, like I said, it’s only until we have a safe location to take you. Until then, keep the back door locked.”

“I’m way ahead of you, Boone.” Hank headed toward it.

Boone’s phone alerted to an incoming call. Tobias’s number popped on the screen. “I have to take this.”

He put space between himself and Ellie. He didn’t want her overhearing the conversation.

“Shalom, my friend,” Boone said in greeting.

“Shalom. Sorry about not being able to talk earlier. Too many ears. Your request was vague. Can you elaborate?”

Boone did his best to explain Ellie’s position without giving too much away.

“Ah, yes. That was before my time with Mossad, but I remember hearing about the case. A female agent who sold secrets to the Syrians. She’s on the wanted list.”

Tobias confirmed Ellie’s belief that Mossad was actively searching for her. Boone fought against being discouraged. Ellie mentioned the men from earlier spoke Arabic. His instincts insisted they were not Mossad agents.

“You’d better tell me why you wish to know about one of our rogue agents, my friend.”

Boone hesitated. “Can I trust this is just two friends talking?”

Tobias hesitated much longer than Boone hoped. “You can. I owe you. You saved my life.”

Boone looked Ellie’s way. “What if I can prove your traitor isn’t her?”

Tobias paused for a long moment. “There’s evidence that says differently.”

“I know it’s asking a lot, but can you tell me what happened?”

Tobias could get into real trouble by divulging Mossad intelligence to an outsider. “I can give you the short version. An agent by the name of Daniel Malin, AylaGalante’s partner, wasshot with her weapon. He died. Mossad did its best to cover up the assassination to protect itself, but I’ve seen the file. There was evidence that someone within Mossad was feeding secrets to Syrian Intelligence. Daniel, the lead agent, set up a trap claiming to be meeting with an agent who worked within Syrian Intelligence. It was him and Ayla. They were supposed to flush out the traitor . . . only turns out she was the traitor. She was the one who turned on Daniel and killed him.”

Nothing Tobias said made sense. Ellie claimed to love Daniel. She spoke about his murder. He told Tobias as much.

“How do you know she’s telling you the truth?”

Tobias was a good man. He’d proven himself to be trustworthy during the time they’d worked together. Was Boone making a huge mistake by trusting Ellie?

He didn’t think so. During some of the worst cases he’d worked undercover for the CIA, the one thing that kept him alive was trusting his gut. Now, it told him Ellie had been framed.

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