Page 66 of Trust No One

A leprechaun of a man perched at a desk in front of another door, and he looked up when the door opened. “Wolf!” he said, standing up to shake Gideon’s hand. “What are you doing here? Looking to come back to work?”

“Nope,” Gideon said. “Sorry, Toby, but I’m happy where I am. But I would like to see Diana.” He gestured to her and Dev. “These are my bosses.” He introduced them, then added, “They have important information I think Diana will find interesting.”

“Have a seat. I’ll be right back,” Toby said.

He disappeared into the office behind him and emerged several minutes later. “She has time for you now.”

Dev elbowed Gideon. “You must have a lot of clout around here, to get in to see the Director this fast.”

Gideon shrugged. “She’s really good about talking to her agents. And her former agents, I guess. Let’s go.”

When they walked into the office, Diana Redfield unfolded her tall frame, stood and reached to shake Gideon’s hand. Light bounced off her streaky blond hair. “Welcome back, Wolf,” she said with a smile. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that you want your old job back?”

“Afraid not, Diana,” he said. He gestured to Mel and Dev, introducing them. “They run Blackhawk Security, where I work. You need to hear what they have to say.”

Diana Redfield studied Mel, then Dev, for a long moment. Finally she nodded. “Let’s have a seat,” she said, nodding at the conference table in the corner of the room.

“What can I do for you?” she asked after they were seated.

Mel took a deep breath and glanced at Dev. He gave her a tiny nod, so Mel began telling the Director about Kingsley and Larrimore and what she and Dev had been investigating. Finally Mel said, “Gideon took a deep dive into the dark web for us. We figured that’s where Kingsley went to communicate with the people he was working with.” She glanced over at Gideon and saw he was already taking some papers out of his briefcase. He set them on the table in front of Diana, then relaxed back into his chair.

“We have some information for you, and we’d like to trade it for a favor.”

Diana raised one eyebrow, and Mel shook her head. “Read the papers first.”

The Director picked up the two papers and began reading them. Her frown morphed into rage as she read the names and what they’d done.

Finally she looked at Gideon. “You know for a fact that all these agents are dirty? That they’re taking money, selling secrets, betraying other agents?”

“Yes and no, ma’am,” he said, tapping his bag. “I know they’re on the dark web, and they’rediscussingtaking money. I have the proof right here.”

She held out her hand. “I need to see that proof. Right now.”

Gideon dug several papers out of his bag and handed them to her. Rage hardened into disbelief as Diana read Gideon’s papers.

Finally she looked up. “How sure are you about this?”

Gideon shrugged. “I found it on the dark web. I know you have agents out there, and some of the FBI agents in those reports might be the decoys. You’d know which ones those are. But all of them were talking to Kingsley, and their conversations were horrifying.” Gideon’s lips compressed. “Give your decoys these names, and the name Cliff Kingsley, and they’ll find you the same information.”

Diana shifted her gaze to Mel’s and the pleasant, welcoming woman she’d met earlier was gone. In her place was a warrior. “What was the favor you wanted?” she asked.

Mel explained about Simon and Caroline, and how Simon had been targeted when he left their CIA-provided safe house that morning. She leaned toward Diana. “We’d like to request that Simon and Caroline Livingston be put into an FBI safehouse, with a couple of FBI agents to guard them. They have no idea who they can trust at the CIA.”

Diana’s gaze shifted to Gideon. “The CIA is implicated, beyond this one man?”

Mel shrugged. “No idea. But Gideon found some CIA agents on the dark web, talking to Kingsley. Maybe they’re decoys, too, but I don’t think we can assume that. We need to assume they’re dirty until proven otherwise.”

Diana sat back in her chair and let her gaze touch all three of them, one at a time. “If this is true,” she waved her hand toward the papers Gideon had given her, “then of course we’ll put the two CIA agents into one of our FBI safe houses.”

Mel leaned toward her. “As you know, Ma’am, before Gideon resigned, he was attacked by an FBI agent who was working with the Bratva. Based on what Gideon found on the dark web, we suspect there are several other FBI agents working with the Russian Mafia. I think your people can probably figure out who they are with the information Gideon collected.”

Diana’s gaze shot to Gideon. “Is that true, Wolf?”

Holding her gaze, Gideon said, “Afraid so, Diana. It’s not good. But I think you can clean up the mess.” He tapped the papers in front of her. “Start with these names, then have your hackers look on the dark web for more people talking to Cliff Kingsley. I’ve included his login and password in the paperwork.”

Diana held his gaze for a long moment, then shook her head. “I wish we could lure you back here, Gideon, but I’m pretty sure you’re not interested in the FBI anymore. But this is great work.” She tapped the papers on her desk. “Let me get a safe house set up for your friends.” Her gaze shifted between Mel and Dev. Settled on Gideon. “Do you still have the same phone number, Wolf?”

“I do, ma’am,” he said.

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