“Yes, I can’t make mistakes.”
“You’re very hard on yourself.” He added quietly, “No mistake. It wasn’t the dogs. There’s no way that you could have known about the new experimental drone I was testing by augmenting the house security yesterday. It’s the most sensitive one I’ve ever produced, and it reported a brief glimpse of you on the property. Vogel followed up. Satisfied?”
“No. A mistake is a mistake. But you’re right, I didn’t know about the new drone. It’s hard to keep up with everything you’re doing in those mega labs of yours.”
“That fills me with immense relief,” he said dryly. “I’m glad there’s something you don’t know about me.”
“I’m sure there’s much more. I didn’t have much time to research when I chose you as a target.” She turned back toward the stairs. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome. Though I can’t say I like you referring to me as a target.”
“I’d think you’d want me to call a spade a spade. It’s not as if I meant you harm. Good night, Korgan.” He didn’t answer, and when she looked back, she saw that he was already punching a number on his phone. She had another sudden thought. “Korgan.”
He looked up at her.
“If you really want to know who I am, you should phone Special Operative Daniel Zabron. No one knows me better than he does. Mention my name. Then I promise he’ll answer questions without you having to worry that it will be repeated to anyone else in the CIA. After your discussion with the director, it might be awkward for you to arouse additional curiosity.”
He nodded. “I appreciate your concern. However, I’m not certain I should trust information from someone who’s obviously your cohort. And you’re not the only one who has sources.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. I just wanted to save us both time.” She turned and started after Vogel.
“And our sources are very good,” Vogel murmured as he led her upstairs. “He’ll know everything there is to know about you by morning. Though he should have really let me check you out before he let you stay here.”
“I know that would have made you feel better,” she said quietly. “I realize how loyal you are to him. You’ve been with him for years, and it’s clear you also like him. But I’m no threat, Vogel. I admire loyalty, and there’s a chance I can use Korgan. I know how lucky I’d be if I could pull it off. It would be stupid of me to run the risk of ruining that opportunity.” She grimaced. “Though I’m sure you don’t believe a word I’m saying, and you’ll be on guard to make sure I don’t creep into his room and cut his throat.”
“Yes, I will,” he said coolly. “It’s not that Korgan isn’t aware how many nuts there are out there that would target him if they got a chance. But he’s been a risk taker since the moment I met him, when we both served in the army. The recruiters took one look at his IQ and wanted to put him in the computer division or OCS, but he decided he wanted to go for special services. I don’t know if it’s curiosity or that he’s such a genius he just gets bored.” He paused. “If you’re as well prepared as Korgan suggested, then you might have dug deep and found out that info about him. But don’t think you can use it just because Korgan sometimes appears so easygoing. He can be tough and cynical as hell. You’d regret crossing him.”
Vogel was piling on warnings she could have done without, she thought impatiently. But he was important to Korgan and so he was important to her. At least, respect the effort he was making. “I’d know that just by looking at him. And I was telling the truth about not doing research as deep as I should have done about him. But I assure you that I haven’t underestimated him…or you.”
“That’s good. He earned all those billions because he’s one of the smartest men on the planet. But it’s too much money for most people, and they can’t absorb it without resentment.” His glance meeting her own was icy cold. “So I make sure that resentment doesn’t get in his way. You said you want to use him? Everyone wants something from him, he’s used to it. But no one is going to hurt him to get it.”
“Warning taken and accepted,” she said. “I told him what I wanted, and I won’t ask anything else.”
He was silent for a moment. “No offense. I hope you’re telling the truth and you’re who you say you are. But you’re CIA and that means you’re trained to be lethal if it suits you. Korgan knows as well as I do that no matter what you claim to want from him, he’d always be a great bonus prize to use as ransom. I thought you should know that I won’t allow that to happen.” He stopped at the second door down the hall and threw it open. “Here it is. I guess it’s comfortable, but I don’t like palaces myself. Neither does Korgan. It was the only place in the area available on short notice where I could arrange the degree of security he needs.” He added sourly, “Not that it did much good stopping you until we brought in that drone.”
“It will be fine.” She glanced around the luxurious suite. “Good night, Vogel.”
“Good night.” He closed the door, and she heard the lock click. Clearly Vogel was following up on those warnings by trying to make sure that she couldn’t leave until Korgan permitted it.
Except that Alisa would have no more trouble with that lock than she’d had with the veranda doors. Less. She’d had to study the XV-10 alarms, but these bedroom locks were standard issue. Vogel probably guessed that and would make sure either he or another guard would be on hand to try to prevent an escape.
It didn’t matter, she thought impatiently. She had no intention of trying to escape tonight. She’d think about that tomorrow if she couldn’t get what she wanted from Gabe Korgan. And that result was still definitely questionable. He was just as much an enigma as she’d learned from her research on him. It wasn’t often she couldn’t read an adversary, but she hadn’t been able to pierce that cool mockery she’d encountered in Korgan. It had caught her a little off balance. She needed to think, to go over his expressions and what he had said tonight, so that she’d be ready when she had to face him again.
But first she had something else to do before she tried to prepare herself for the next bout with Korgan. She reached into her pocket for her phone. The next moment she was swiftly dialing the number.
Margaret Douglas answered on the first ring. “What the hell happened?” she asked tensely. “You should have called me almost an hour ago.”
“I was a little occupied. I was busted. I screwed up. Korgan was expecting me. I’m lucky to have been able to phone you at all. Since he didn’t take my phone, you can bet that it was deliberate and he’s having this call monitored. So change out your burner phone after you hang up, Margaret.”
“Screw the phone. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I told you that I wasn’t worried about Korgan doing me any physical damage. Not that he wouldn’t be capable of extreme punishment if he became angry, but it would involve completely destroying the rest of my life, not taking it.” She added bitterly, “It’s Masenak who’s into torture.”