Page 67 of Trust No One

She swung her gaze back to Mel and Dev. “Since Gideon has your phone numbers I won’t ask you for them. The fewer people who have them, the fewer leaks are possible. I’ll call Gideon if I need to follow up with you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Mel said. Leaning closer, she said, “One last question. Who at the CIA do you trust completely? We need to know who to approach there to deal with Kingsley and the CIA agents Gideon found on the dark web.”

Chapter 23

Diana Redfield bounced a pen on the table and held Mel’s gaze. Mel didn’t look away. Neither did the Director. Finally, Diana said, “I trust the CIA Director completely. The details are classified, but there was an incident at the Agency a couple of months ago. A honey trap involving someone close to Bradford. Several documents were stolen. Bradford could have swept it under the rug and reassigned the person, but he didn’t do that. The agent was arrested and charged.

“If the Director was dirty he wouldn’t have hesitated to clear his friend. It wouldn’t even have been difficult. But he did the right thing. So I believe you can trust him.”

Mel drew in a deep breath. “Thank you, ma’am. And thanks for your candor. When we speak to the CIA Director, we’ll simply tell him that you assured us we could trust him.”

Diana’s gaze held Mel’s for a long moment. “Thank you,” she finally said. “I appreciate that. Bradford and I need to work together closely, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate that I didn’t reveal any secrets.”

“We can assure him of that, because youdidn’treveal any secrets, ma’am,” Mel said. “And we appreciate your confidence in the CIA Director. It’s hard to ferret out agents who’ve turned if you don’t trust the person at the top of the organization.”

Diana’s lips thinned. “Exactly.” She pressed her palms to the table and stood up.

Realizing that they were being dismissed, Mel stood up as well. Dev and Gideon did the same. “We all appreciate your time, ma’am,” Mel said. “And we’re grateful that you’re setting our friends up in a safe house. Simon took a lot of risks to help us, and we don’t want him or his wife to suffer for that.”

Diana Redfield nodded. She scribbled a number on a piece of paper and pushed it across the table to Mel, along with her business card. “Have your friends call me at the number on the card tomorrow morning before they leave the hospital. I’ll have two agents I fully trust meet them at the hospital door and escort them to the safe house, then stay to guard them.”

“Thanks again, ma’am,” Mel said.

“The paper has the direct number for the CIA director. Give him a call before you go to see him. He’ll need to cut through red tape for you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

The director smiled. “Call me Diana. We’re on the same team.”

Mel nodded. “Will do, Diana.”

She and Dev and Gideon walked out the door, and Dev grabbed her hand as they walked toward the elevator. Mel raised her eyebrows, and Dev shrugged. “Get used to it,” he said. “I’m sticking to you like flypaper until Kingsley is locked up.”

His palm was warm against hers. His calluses brushed against her fingers, the rough skin making her shiver. She should pull her hand away from his. Keep some distance between them. But she was so damn glad he had her back on this operation. Dev had his faults, but she knew she could trust him with her life.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She wished they’d been in sync in other, more personal ways. But she’d accepted that they weren’t and never would be and would take what he had to offer while they were here in Washington.

Once they were in the car again, they headed for the outskirts of the capital until they found another chain hotel that was a little more upscale than the basic ones. They checked in, got three rooms, then hurried upstairs.

* * *

Dev looked at the vanilla room and suspected the other two would be the same. He’d asked that two of the rooms have a connecting door, and he and Mel took those rooms. Gideon had given him a long look, and Dev shrugged. “Easier to go through the door than out into the hall when we need to talk. We want to keep a low profile.”

Gideon’s lips twitched, then he nodded. “Got it, Dev.”

When Mel’s back was turned, Dev gave Gideon his middle finger. Gideon laughed, then said, “Meet in your room in fifteen minutes?”

“Sounds good,” Dev said.

He watched Mel disappear into the room next to his, then opened his own door. A basic room. No frills. No luxuries. Perfect.

Ten minutes later, all three of them were in Dev’s room. He and Mel sat on the couch in the small living area, and Gideon dragged over the desk chair.

Leaning forward, Dev said, “Now that we have Caroline and Simon squared away, we can concentrate on Kingsley. I just called Caroline and told her that the FBI was setting them up in a safe house. I gave her the number and told her to call Diana Redfield. They’ll be safe, and we won’t have to worry about them.”

“Thanks for doing that, Dev,” Mel said. “That was the first thing on my agenda.” She leaned forward, focusing on him. “We need to decide when to call the CIA Director. Any thoughts?”

She looked at him, then Gideon.

---