Page 27 of Trust No One

Dev tilted his head. “His buddy Larrimore was selling out American troops to the Russians. So yeah, I’d be shocked if Kingsley wasn’t working with them, too.”

Mel stood by the window, hidden beside the curtain, staring down at the parking lot. Not one car had driven in or out of the lot since they’d walked into the hotel.

Finally she turned and threw herself onto the bed. “You still have that CIA app to look up license plates?”

Dev’s mouth curled into a grin that made her stomach flutter. “’Course I do. Don’t you?”

“Yeah, I still use it once in a while. Let’s look up that silver sedan’s license plate.”

She’d written it in a small notebook that she opened up and set on the bed. Then she pulled out her phone, opened the app and typed in the plate.

A few seconds later, a name came back that she didn’t recognize. The address was in a Virginia suburb of DC.

She looked up at Dev, her head tilted. “You know a Steve Williams?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Never heard that name associated with the CIA.”

“Me, either,” Mel said. She sighed. “So I guess we’re spending some quality time with a computer tomorrow. Should we use our own, or use computers at a library?”

“I vote for our own – you’ve got those killer databases on yours. The search will go faster with that. And if we use our own, no one’s going to be able to boot up the computer after we leave and see what we were looking at.

“But we can’t use them here. Especially if we’re digging into all your deep-dive databases. Too easy to track our location if anyone sees us tip-toeing through CIA classified documents.”

Mel sighed. “Yeah. You’re right. So where do you want to go?”

“No reason it can’t be the library,” Dev said. “It’s probably a huge building. We can find a hidden spot to connect with their WiFi. Do our work quickly. Then leave as soon as possible.”

Chapter 10

As they ate forgettable Grubhub meals in her room, Mel swallowed and glanced at Dev. “You were in a better position to see the guy who was watching us at the mall. Do you think it was Kingsley?”

Dev raised his head, lust darkening his eyes for a moment as he studied her. Then he blinked and his expression shuttered. He gave a short nod. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was him, even though it’s been more than three years since I last saw him, and he was trying to disguise himself. He had cotton in his cheeks. A beard. He’d dyed his gray hair dark brown. But his body shape and size were the same as Kingsley’s. And I watched him when he walked away. The guy moved exactly like Kingsley. I’m ninety-five percent certain it was him.”

Mel sighed. She’d suspected it was Kingsley but had been hoping she was wrong. “So we’re on his radar. But he couldn’t see our faces. Right?”

“No,” Dev said with a confident shake of his head. “I made sure of that.” He frowned. “And you did a good job covering your hair, so he probably didn’t see that, either.”

“Damn it all to hell. You think he saw some of the red?” Her vanity had kept her from dying her hair. Now she hoped she wouldn’t pay for that with her life. Or Dev’s.

“Don’t think so,” Dev said. “You covered it up as soon as you realized someone was following us. He wasn’t close enough at that point. So you’re probably good.”

“Probably isn’t good enough,” she said between clenched teeth.

“In this case, I think it is,” Dev said. “He’d have to have pretty sharp eyes to see your hair color from three or four cars back. And he’d only have a few seconds to notice before you covered it up.”

She flopped against the headboard of her bed. “Even if he caught a glimpse of red, that doesn’t mean he thought it was me. I haven’t worked for the CIA in three years. Why would he remember me?”

Dev rolled his eyes. “Because you’re very memorable. You’re super competent. You were great at your job. Everyone at the embassy respected you, and that had to chap Kingsley’s ass. And you’re also gorgeous. With all that curly red hair? You’re a hard person to forget, Mel.”

Dev certainly hadn’t had any trouble forgetting her.

Taking a deep breath, Mel shoved the thought away. Bitterness wasn’t going to help them take Kingsley down. “If he suspected it was me, he’d have looked me up. Found out about Blackhawk Security and called them. Asked for me.” She smiled. “I already told Bree if anyone called for me, tell them I was on another line and get a name and number, then call me immediately. Same if someone called, asking for you. Since she hasn’t called, I assume whoever was following us didn’t call the compound. Yet.”

“We’ll see if he does,” Dev said.

“Yeah,” she said, tossing the rest of her meal into the bag it had come in. “If he does call the compound, we’ll have to be really, really careful. Maybe re-think our strategy.”

“Maybe,” Dev said. “We might have to turn our information over to the CIA’s Inspector General.”

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