Page 109 of Secret Weapon

33

EMMY

So, Blok Novak was meeting with a Texan oil baron.What did that mean?How did it fit with our case?Didit fit with our case?Mack and her team were busy digging through his life, but I still posed the question to James when we caught up ten minutes later.He was in the Situation Room at the White House while I was on a secure line in a soundproof room on the ground floor of Skywater House, a room I’d carefully swept for bugs before we started the conversation.Just in case.One never could be too careful.

“Joseph Deaver?”I couldn’t see James’s face, but I didn’t miss the scowl in his voice.“He’s a pain in everyone’s ass.”

“In what way?”

“Climate 2050 is a cornerstone of my agenda, and Deaver and his buddies in the fossil fuel industry are trying to derail it at every turn.You say a Russian attaché is meeting with him?”

Every country in the world had agreed to sign the Climate 2050 treaty, a global attempt to reverse climate change by the midpoint of the century.Plans included cutting emissions, reducing the use of plastics, giving tax breaks for green energy, and setting ambitious recycling targets.James was one of the leading proponents, and he was determined for the US to not just comply with the targets but to smash them.I’d never understood why saving the planet was such a contentious issue—it was the only home we had, after all.But too many people valued profits over leaving the world habitable for the next generation.

“Yup.Novak and Deaver are around about the fifteenth hole at the Northlake Club.”

“Shit.And I’m certain Markovich is feeling the pressure from the fossil fuel lobbyists too.It took a lot for him to get on board with the plan, and Anton Stepanov receives a significant amount of funding from the oil and gas industry.”

“How close do you want us to get?Deaver invited two of our team members to join him for drinks at the nineteenth hole.Well, he actually invited one of our team members, but her fake husband can tag along.”

“Who did he invite?Dan?She used to play golf, didn’t she?”

“For about three weeks when she was screwing around with some guy who said he was a golf pro, but then it turned out he just worked in the club shop, so she quit.No, Darya is playing golf.”

“Darya?Do I know her?”

“Nope.She’s sort of new, sort of old.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ana’s worked with her before.”

The meaning of that took about three seconds to filter in.James knew a reasonable amount of Ana’s history, not all the details, but he was aware of her Base 13 escapades.And now he groaned.

“Tell me she isn’t one of Zacharov’s minions.”

“Former minions.And I could tell you that, but I’d be lying.”

“For heaven’s sake, Emmy…”

“If you want me to dig you out of this hole, then you’ll have to trust my judgment, okay?And you never answered my question about Deaver.”

Was a sigh better or worse than a groan?

“I’ll have to consult with a few people.”

“You’ve got roughly twenty minutes to do that.”

Which gave me enough time to visit the dining room.Not because I was hungry, although Vancehadloaded the table with snacks, but to see what progress had been made in the last half hour.Ana was on the phone while Black, Hallie, and Vance sat in front of their laptops.If Vance typed any more furiously, he’d break a finger.

“Is there news?”

Black glanced up for a fraction of a second.“Maybe.”

“Maybe?That’s all I get?”

“Loslov’s daughter studied in the UK.At Oriel College, Oxford,” Ana announced.“She’s a paediatrician in Moscow now.”

“Darn it, I thought…” Hallie shook her head.“Never mind.”

---