Page 9 of The Ghost

Chapter 5

Clark

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I GAZED AT MYSELF IN the mirror, combing out my long, wet hair. After so many days of traveling, I’d felt the need for a shower. I was beginning to come back to life, and ready to get started on the next phase of the plan. We’d made it to Dark Sparrow headquarters; now it was time to get to work.

Lukas intended to use all of the assets at his disposal to fight Mr. Ashcroft. That much was certain. How exactly he planned to do that was a different question. We still needed intelligence. All the firepower in the world wouldn’t do any good unless we knew where to point it.

And on top of that, Lukas had insinuated that he knew where Theo’s former handler was. Theo and I had had many conversations about that, and they usually ended the same way. He would go after Regg on his own; I would stay and work on New Dawn.

I didn’t like the idea of splitting up. I’d dragged my feet back at Mr. Ashcroft’s mansion, and I was still dragging my feet. I couldn’t shake the feeling that if Theo left, I would never see him again. To be fair, I didn’t have great luck with men.

I knew that either Theo or Lukas would come get me when they were ready. In the meantime, I had a fully reinforced door and a cot with my name on it. A short cat nap would help me prepare for the marathon that was to come.

I walked back into the tiny sleeping quarters to stretch out on a bunk. But before I drifted off, Theo came back, looking more concerned than ever. I sat up, making space for him to sit beside me. He put his hand on my knee, clearly working up to something important.

“I had a meeting with several high-ranking government officials,” he said.

“You mean Dark Sparrow operatives?” I corrected him.

“No,” he reported. “Americans and British. The head of MI6 and several influential people from the CIA.”

“What are they doing here?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said with a confused shrug. “I was just as shocked as you are. Apparently, they’ve been working with Dark Sparrow, and they’ve been monitoring us this whole time.”

“When were they going to step in?” I cried.

Of all the low-down, despicable things that the government was capable of, sitting back to watch us sweat was one of the worst. I hated the idea of being spied upon. The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was a spy myself, but still. It made me feel dirty.

“Apparently never,” Theo huffed. “But that’s not the worst of it.”

I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.

“They think there’s something about you that Ashcroft wants,” Theo said, looking at me very carefully.

I could tell that he thought I knew something but was being generous with his question. He wasn’t accusing me exactly, but it wasn’t the most comfortable feeling in the world. I tried to remember any time Mr. Ashcroft had specifically singled me out during my time under his care. There were dozens of examples. I just thought it was because I was giving 110 percent while some of the other inmates were phoning it in.

“I mean, he liked me,” I admitted. “But I don’t know why he needs me specifically.”

“Okay,” Theo replied, patting me on the knee.

“Do they think I know something?” I demanded. This was worse than I thought if both the British and the American governments were going to interrogate me. It was one thing to have them spying on us, but another thing entirely to be under their microscope. I didn’t like the sound of that at all.

“They think you might,” Theo admitted. “But it’s not what you think. They don’t think you’re working for him. They said something about all the bodies recovered having shoulder wounds.”

“Shoulder wounds?” I puzzled.

“Was that part of the training?” he asked.

“No,” I answered, shaking my head.

Theo sighed, gazing up at the ceiling as if looking for his next cue. “I’m going to go looking for Regg. Lukas has a team, and I think they might be helpful.”

“You should go,” I encouraged him.

“I don’t want to leave you here alone,” he objected.