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She wrapped her arms around Linc, wanting to believe everything he was saying, but he was wrong. “Honey, I would have volunteered if Elijah had come clean and told me he was trying to get those people out of a Syrian prison. So, me going to Syria and choosing to work with Elijah is a moot point. I went, even though he didn’t tell me everything. Then, if he had told me everything, I would have gone too.”
“Leila, it’s not your fault,” Jase reiterated quietly from across the table.
She pushed herself away from Linc’s chest. “Okay, what you're saying sounds plausible. But I’ve been back from Syria for almost five months. Why wait till now if he wants information from me?”
“I can’t answer that unless we have an idea of the information that he wants.”
Leila sat up straight. “I know exactly what he wants. I don’t know why he wants it. It makes no sense. But the last thing he was asking me before I passed out, he wanted the name of the man in al-Assad’s government who would arrange the release.”
She saw Linc look over at Jase. “What?” she asked.
“That’s it, baby? That’s all he wanted?”
Leila nodded. “I couldn’t give up the name. The guy was risking his life, and probably all of his family’s lives, to help get those prisoners released.”
“For five million in diamonds,” Jase said with a bit of a sneer.
“I don’t care if he was in it for profit or not. He was going to help us rescue those four people. Elijah told me he’d known the guy for over thirty years.”
“So, the Director, the First Assistant Director, Elijah, and you know this guy's name. At least we can now say that the Vugar’s spy in the CIA isn’t either of those two guys because they could have just given him the information and he wouldn’t have had to come after you.”
She was so tired, and trying to go through all the mental calculations with him right now was tough, but Leila kept at it.
“That’s not true. This guy was Elijah’s friend. He never told anybody at Langley who his contact was.”
“Fuck,” Jase breathed.
“Fuck is right. So, we’re stuck with the fact that anybody at the CIA could be our spy. Leila is the only one who has the information that Vugar wants, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.”
“Then they’ll try to hurt Mom or Dad to get to me,” Leila whispered.
Linc jostled her while he got out his phone. He dialed a number and then he put the phone on speaker.
“You got something?”
“Kostya, Leila’s listening in. It’s me and Jase. We figured out what Vugar wanted from Leila. The info came from Elijah and was never shared with anyone in the CIA, that’s why Vugar’s spy hasn’t been able to supply him with the info.”
“What is it?” Kostya bit out the question.
Leila leaned forward over the table so she could be heard better by the phone. “Hi, this is Leila.”
“Hi, Leila. I’m so sorry about your dad. How is he doing?” Kostya’s tone had immediately changed to someone who was sympathetic and caring. She could see why Linc enjoyed working for him so much.
“Eventually, he should be fine. He won’t be running any marathons, but he’ll be back to golf, so all is good.”
Linc squeezed her waist and winked. He got the fact that she was just trying to stay upbeat.
“Anyway, Lieutenant, I know what Vugar wants.”
“Call me Kostya. What does he want?”
“He wants to know the name of the contact in al-Assad’s government who was going to arrange the prisoner release. I can’t figure out why that would be of any use to him, but it’s what he wanted me to tell him. I couldn’t. I was afraid it would blow the release of the prisoners and put a target on his back. He’s been a friend of Elijah’s for years. I couldn’t do it.” Leila sucked air between her teeth, remembering that encounter with Vugar.
“Here’s why I’m calling,” Linc jumped in. “Before a call with Caryn tomorrow, we’ve got to work out getting Leila’s parents to a safehouse, or something. Vugar will definitely use them as leverage to get Leila to talk.”
“Agreed,” Kostya said. “Gideon and I will still be up there bright and early. I think that Max Hogan might have some juice in the FBI, I’ll give him a call too.”
“Who is Max Hogan?” Leila asked.
