“And did you? I notice she’s extremely good at picking a lock.”
“It was one of the many directions I pointed her in. That’s all I ever had to do. Did you know she has a photographic memory? Show her the way and she’d take off and run with it. Failure was never an option. She learned some rough lessons on the street, and she never forgot them.” He chuckled. “She regarded your alarms as a challenge. I believe she had a bit of a crush on you after she started delving into your work. She said you were fantastic. She couldn’t wait for the XV-17 to come out.”
“Wonderful,” he said sarcastically. “But I didn’t call you to delve into her talent at safe breaking. I was more interested in asking you if I could trust her word.” He paused. “And what do you know about Jorge Masenak.”
“You can trust her word if she gives it. Otherwise you have to realize that she’s into survival.” He was silent a moment. “Jorge Masenak? I’m not going to talk about him. I thought that might be why you were calling me. She came to me first and asked me to help her and I turned her down. I told you, I’m neither warm nor sentimental, and I’m also into survival. But I won’t try to turn you against going after him. She believes in what she’s doing. For some reason, those kids he’s holding matter to her. Maybe she identifies with them.” He paused. “No, there’s no way she could identify with those little princesses in that school. I don’t know what’s driving her. All I know is that she wants it so bad, she might be able to pull it off.”
“She says she has excellent sources in the Szarnar Jungle and southern Maldara—better than mine. Is it true?”
“It could be. I’m always surprised how many contacts she’s developed over the years. Alisa knows the value of working every angle, and she’s taught herself how to use people to do it.”
“Or were you the one who taught her?”
“Maybe. Do I detect a hint of protectiveness in your tone? Be careful, that’s how it started with me.” Then he said softly, “Our relationship has always been complicated. Let’s just say that once we got together, we taught each other a good many things and, bad or good, neither of us regretted learning them.” He added, “And I should remind you that it was Alisa who came to me and stood outside that hotel in Caracas until she wore me down. Determination like that is mind-boggling. You should really consider if she’s been using me all these years.”
“I believe you could take care of yourself,” Korgan said dryly.
“Oh, I can. I just didn’t want you to underestimate her. That would be an insult to all her hard work and my invaluable guidance. Is there anything else you wish to know?”
“We’ve discussed her skills in safecracking. What other talents does she possess that could be of use to me?”
“Oh, now this is beginning to read like an employee application. It depends on what you need her to be for the job. She’ll do what she has to do to get the mission accomplished. If you want to know what formal training she’s acquired since I took her under my wing?” He paused, thinking. “Data science, cryptology, cyber analysis and hacking, tracking, technology, weapons application, EMT training, and she’s fluent in nine languages. But those are only the formal training skills the CIA knows about. I taught her much more that she adapted on her own.”
“Then why the hell did you turn her down when she asked for help?”
“I told you, it was too dangerous. She’s a superb agent, but it could have turned out to be a suicide mission. I wasn’t about to risk my neck,” he said curtly. “If she’d been able to find a way to get the Company to go after Masenak, I might have agreed. But I always told her she couldn’t count on me unless she could prove a project would be a success. She shouldn’t have even asked me.” He added, “It’s interesting she moved on to you. What are you going to get out of this?”
“I don’t think I’ll answer that question. And if I decide to go forward with the project, I’ll ask your old friend Alisa not to confide in you, either. We have a different work philosophy. If I commit to a project, I don’t demand absolute proof that it will succeed, only that every single effort will be made. That allows for a change of course that might lead to a different but equally successful outcome. Thank you for answering my questions, Zabron. It’s been illuminating.”
“I agree.” Zabron chuckled. “But remember when I said I knew the moment when Alisa had me? For me it was the time when she actually started to speak to me, and I could gauge what she could become. But I think you’ve already gone past that point. Good luck, Korgan. I hope you get what you want from her.” He cut the connection.
“What do you think?” Vogel asked Korgan from across the room. “No one could say that he wasn’t brutally frank about her.”
“He also said that she probably has the sources she promised. It could cut down the time I have to wait to go after Masenak. That’s important. The longer he’s in that damn jungle, the more likely I might lose him.” He added, “And he said she’d keep her word.”
“If you could get her to swear to do it.”
“People swear and make promises to me all the time to get what they want,” he said wearily. “I’d just have to make sure she’ll be forced to do it.”
Vogel was studying him. “He annoyed the hell out of you, didn’t he?”
“Perhaps.”
“Yet you’re already talking as if it’s a done deal,” he said sourly. “Don’t tell me. You have a hunch.”
“It’s not a done deal. I’ll talk to her and see what she can offer me to get those students away from that bastard.” He looked down at the photo of Alisa Flynn on the dossier on the desk in front of him. Truly exceptional, he thought absently. Dark hair, high cheekbones, arched brows, and those slightly slanted green eyes. It was those wide, intense, almost fierce eyes staring at him that had caught his attention from the minute he had caught sight of her across the study tonight.
Wariness and ferocity.
And after he’d listened to Zabron’s description of the child Alisa, he could imagine she had not changed all that much.
Fierce as a tiger.
Vogel got to his feet. “I’m going to bed. I think Zabron was right. I think she’s got to you. Tell me in the morning if I’m wrong.”
Korgan watched him leave the room before his gaze returned to the photo. Decision time. If Vogel was correct, then it had better be for a damn good reason. It wouldn’t be because the woman had intrigued him or that he had a hunch that she could work out for them.
He opened the dossier and started to study everything it could tell him about Alisa Flynn.
* * *
9:05 A.M.
Alisa could see Korgan sitting in the study at his desk drinking a cup of coffee as she paused near the bottom of the staircase. She braced herself and then went down the last three steps. “Have you been there all night?” she asked as she entered the study. “Even Zabron doesn’t know enough stories about me to keep you that entertained.”
“Actually, my conversation with Zabron was relatively short. I told you I would never trust a single source. But I did find him interesting, as I did all the other information I found about you.” He smiled. “But you flatter yourself if you believe I’d sit here all night poring over your résumé.”