“I’ll help, do whatever you need me to tomorrow, okay?” he whispered.
“You don’t even know what I’m doing.”
“I know.” He closed his eyes. “I know you can’t tell me—or you won’t—and that’s fine. I trust you to know what you’re doing. I just—no one has your back. I don’t trust this Isaac guy. I don’t like sending you off alone.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t trust Isaac either. Actually, I’ve screwed him over pretty big.” She wrinkled her nose. Back to the point. She focused on his eyes. He needed to know one thing before anything else. “I trust you, Elias. Maybe more than anyone else. You’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t know I needed you.”
“I just did my job.”
“Bullshit.” She chuckled and pushed at his shoulder. “That’s so much bullshit and you know it.”
His lips compressed into a tight line. “You were always going off on your own, overextending. I just watched your back.”
“That pissed me off in the beginning.”
“Yeah, you didn’t like me much, did you?”
“Oh, no. I did. Maybe like the first two times you hauled my ass back I was angry, but it was always more about taking my embarrassment out on you. After that, I wanted to fuck you so badly.”
She didn’t know if it was her word choice or the admission that made him start. His eyes went wider and for a moment he stared at her. She simply smiled at him, enjoying the shock value of it all.
“I had a strong rule then. Don’t fuck where you work,” she said.
He shook his head and shoved the pillow under his neck a bit more so she could see both eyes clearly now. “How can you lay all this on me then say, there’s a good chance I’ll die tomorrow? That’s not fair.”
Jo bit her lip.
She could trust him.
“I thought this would be an easy job,” she said in a soft voice.
He stilled, watching her intently while the weight of his arm lying over her waist kept her grounded.
She lifted her head a bit to better look him in the eye. “I’m not telling you any of this, okay?”
“Understood.”
“I’m working undercover for the FBI. I’m supposed to do short stints. We thought that was what this would be back in February. Get in, document what we need and get out. But, it’s not that simple.”
She couldn’t stay lying down for this.
Restless, Jo sat up against the headboard and tucked the sheet under her arms. She hadn’t bothered with clothes, but she needed that flimsy protection right now. Elias mirrored her pose, sitting close enough his shoulder bumped hers.
“His name is Giovanni Smirnov. His parents were the daughter of an Italian mafia boss and the son of a Russian oligarch. It was an arranged wedding. The parents split ages ago, but still maintain their own network. They have a working relationship, which was always the real goal. Giovanni handles the American side of things. But he’s been next to impossible to pin down. We haven’t gotten anything to stick, and the parents never come here.”
“What’s this Giovanni doing now?” Elias asked.
“The hope was, with an in we could get someone on the inside to finally get Giovanni giving orders. But the man never says, you go do that. He stream of conscious talks, and people just decide to do things based on what he says. It’s the most ridiculous thing ever. But also brilliant, because he can always say like, you’ve never said I wish so-and-so were dead in the heat of the moment? It’s not his fault if someone acts on that. But, if they do and he’s happy with the results, he rewards people.”
Jo dropped her head back against the padded headboard.
“I see,” Elias muttered. “Without anything concrete, you’re stuck there. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s Isaac play into it?”
“Isaac used to be one of Giovanni’s favorite errand boys. I’m not sure what he did, but he’s on Giovanni’s shit list right now. I figure, Isaac knows where the bodies are buried. If I can drag him down with me, back him into a corner, he’ll turn on Giovanni. I hate that’s my play, but I want out of this. I can feel the walls closing in, but my handler keeps telling me everything is fine, and no one suspects me.”
“Where is this handler of yours?” Elias asked dryly.
“With his family for the holidays? No idea.”
He shook his head, muttering things Jo couldn’t hear.
“So, you’re in Seattle to burn Isaac?”
“No. Not exactly.” Jo blew out a breath. This was the meat of it. “Giovanni is working on something. What? I don’t know. He called a bunch of people over and started going off about this new thing he just heard about. Some sort of virtual, computer bomb that’s being developed, and he was going on about how great it would be to get our hands on that kind of technology.”
“A virtual bomb?” Elias frowned. “I’ve never heard of something like that.”
Jo waved a hand. “I’m not super tech-savvy. I can do what I need to, but don’t ask me to look at a DOS prompt.”
“Your plan is to get the tech, and...?”
“Get the tech and deliver the recording, Isaac and tech to my handler, then tell them I’m out. That was the plan when I thought I would be the first one here. Someone beat us to Seattle though, and clearly they want to be the ones to give Giovanni his prize.”
“Are you open to help?” Elias asked slowly.
Jo drew in a deep breath. “I can’t ask for it. Not when I know it’s dangerous.”
He peered sideways at her. “So if I just happen to follow you, you won’t stop me?”
She tried and failed to swallow the lump in her throat. No part of her wanted to risk him, and yet if he were with her she had a feeling, a sense that it would all be okay. But was it worth losing him? If she died, it would be because of her choices made in the line of duty. It was a risk she’d always known was there.
Jo stared at the dark TV screen. “This is why I have that dumb rule.”
“What?”
“I’m scared. The idea of you out there with me, what if it all goes wrong? What if something happened to you?” She shook her head. “I don’t think I could live with myself.”
Elias reached over and pulled her to his side, tucking her in close. He still smelled like soap.
“How am I supposed to live with myself if I just send you off on your own?” he asked.
There was no good answer. Not for them.
Life was about risks, and now she’d have to take one of the biggest ones yet.
5.
Thursday. Aegis Group Safe House, Seattle, Washington.
Isaac was up with the sun. In fact, he’d barely slept despite lying on the most comfortable mattress ever. It was hard to enjoy things when he worried about his life.
This was supposed to be an easy job.
Stick with Jo.
Stay close to her.
Wait for her to reveal if she was, or wasn’t FBI.
Kill her.
Why couldn’t they stick to that schedule?
Isaac tiptoed out of the room. As far as he could tell, neither Jo nor her boy-toy had emerged last night. He crept down the hall on bare feet, moving slowly so as to not giveaway his presence. Jo in particular seemed to suspect the very shadows most of the time, and her companion was cut from the same cloth. If they hadn’t been fucking each other’s brains out last night, he’d have never gotten the microphone in under the door.