Page 37 of Covert Past

“Something happen?” Boone set the tray down and went over to look.

“We have the first look at what’s on the drive, and it isn’t good.” Declan pointed to the screen, which showed what appeared to be surveillance photos taken at night.

Boone didn’t recognize the man, but he was leaning against a car smiling at a woman.

“That’s Gideon.” Ellie pointed to the man on the screen.

Boone shot her a look. “Really? He looks different. Who’s the woman?”

Ellie shook her head. “I have no idea. It’s not Gideon’s wife, Seraphina.”

“Maybe he’s being blackmailed,” Boone concluded with a frown. “But if so, then the information we have here is only a copy. Someone would have the original in a safe place.”

Ellie told him maybe. “Gideon was once one of the best agents Mossad ever had. What if he figured out the identity of the person blackmailing him and destroyed the information?”

“Then how did it get on a drive in your ring?” Boone faced her and could see she was trying to work it out and couldn’t.

“I don’t know.”

“What about Daniel?” He hadn’t wanted to bring her dead fiancé into the conversation, but it was suspicious that blackmail information would be found in the engagement ringDaniel gave her.

Her eyes sparked anger. “He wasn’t involved. Daniel wouldn’t blackmail Gideon. They were close.”

“Unless he didn’t have a choice,” Eli said quietly. “It’s possible he was a pawn in whatever game is playing out.”

Ellie wasn’t ready to believe it yet. “Then why kill him?”

“He could have tipped Gideon off.” Boone watched as more information appeared on the screen. “Who is that?”

Declan blew the next photo up. “That’s the current prime minister.” The man appeared to be meeting with someone covertly.

“Do you recognize that person?”

Ellie leaned forward. “I don’t.”

“What is going on here?” Boone couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

“While the program continues decoding, I’m running facial recognition on the woman and this new person.” Declan copied the female’s photo and then popped it into the facial recognition program. It didn’t take long to get a hit and Declan sat back in his chair. “Whoa. She’s a spy . . . or at least she was a spy. Meet Neesa Aberman.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before,” Ellie said with her eyes glued to the screen. “Neesa’s a legend. She and Gideon were partners back in the day. After he became director, she kind of did her own thing. But she supposedly died while on a mission in Iran almost twenty years ago.”

Chapter Fourteen

“Iguess it’s possible this was taken before she would have died, but I don’t think so.” Declan blew up the photo. “See the car she and Gideon are standing near? That’s at least a 2016 Mercedes.” He tapped the screen. “She was still alive after her supposed death. What was Gideon hiding?”

“I wish I knew.” Ellie was as baffled as the rest of them.

“Let’s see who the other man is.” Declan captured the mystery man’s image and ran it through the facial recognition program. The identity was shocking. “That’s a high-up official in Syrian Intelligence. What’s the connection?”

Boone rubbed the back of his neck. “We have a former Mossad agent who is supposed to be dead but is alive meeting with the director of Mossad.” He stopped. “What if it isn’t something nefarious, but Gideon ordered her to go deep undercover for a purpose?”

“The only question is why?” Ellie said with a sigh. “And how is it connected to the Syrian Intelligence agent? Let’s hope there are more answers in the file.”

“I’m going to check in with the office,” Boone told them after taking a slug of coffee. Once it connected, he put it on speaker.

The static on the line made it difficult to hear JT.

“JT, can you hear me?” Boone said over the noise.

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