Page 22 of The Ghost

Stepping off of the elevator, we spotted him at the head of the room, in conference with a technician who was monitoring a screen. He looked up as if sensing our presence and waved us over before we even crossed the room.

“I’m glad the two of you are together,” he said unceremoniously. “We have some new intel.”

I glanced at Clark, knowing that this couldn’t be good. No matter what New Dawn was up to, each successive move they made spelled trouble for us and for the rest of the world. My window of opportunity for taking Regg out was closing. I had to act fast. This whole drama with Ryan was poorly timed, to say the least.

“This way,” Lukas said, showing us back into the conference room.

I’d seen all I wanted to of those four walls. I hoped that we wouldn’t be thrust into another official briefing. I trusted Lukas, but I wasn’t sure about George Oliver or his CIA counterparts. It didn’t seem like there was any good news to be shared in there.

“A nuclear scientist and his family are missing,” Lukas announced as soon as the door was closed.

“Who?” Clark demanded.

“Where?” I asked.

“Ezra Schach and his family, from Israel,” Lukas said. “They’ve been on the CIA’s radar for some time.”

“What does that mean for us?” Clark wondered.

“It may be nothing,” Lukas admitted. “But if New Dawn has them, it may be important. Schach is on the cutting edge of nuclear technology, and if he was pointed in the wrong direction, he could do some real damage.”

“Is there any way to confirm whether he’s involved with New Dawn?” I asked.

“That’s where you come in,” Lukas said. “We need you to find Reginald Banks ASAP. He might know whether Schach and his family have been kidnapped, and if so, where they’re being held.”

“Got it,” I agreed.

“There’s something else,” Lukas continued. He glanced at me and then at Clark, his gaze incomprehensible.

“Go on,” Clark insisted.

“It has to do with Ryan Abrams.” Lukas hesitated.

“Good,” Clark snapped. “Let’s hear it.”

Lukas walked over to the laptop and called up a file. He didn’t bother putting it on the big screen but waved us both over so that we could take a look.

“I dug into his story and found out that he’s been undercover.”

“Officially?” Clark asked.

“Yes,” Lukas confirmed. “According to this, there’s nothing suspicious about his actions.”

“If he was under official cover, why didn’t he reach out?” Clark pointed out.

Lukas shook his head, knowing how much those words hurt. “I don’t know. He’s been working with Dark Sparrow, only I didn’t know about it.”

“How could you not know?” Clark demanded.

“It’s a big organization,” Lukas attempted to explain. “He’s just one of a hundred operatives who have dual allegiance.”

“Did the CIA know?” Clark snapped.

I could only imagine the pain she was going through, realizing that not only had Ryan lied to her, but everyone else was in on the secret. I forced myself to read the information carefully, not wanting to miss anything. It said that Ryan’s death was faked to allow him to move about freely. He was instructed not to make contact with anyone in his life, but that still didn’t excuse his behavior.

“Yes,” Lukas answered. “They knew.”

Clark rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest in a blatant self-protective move. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked at me with relief. At least she knew I would never leave her. I couldn’t imagine what was going through Ryan’s head that he wouldn’t at least give Clark a heads-up. There was something not right about the whole situation. Ryan wasn’t acting like a man in love.