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“I gathered the evidence,” Mel said, “and I had him dead to rights. I was planning on going to his boss. But a few days ago, I discovered that, on top of stealing my work, he was getting ready to label me a security risk. And when you work for the CIA, if your boss calls you a security risk, you’re lucky if you’re only fired. So I confronted him.”
She sighed. “Needless to say, it was ugly. He admitted he’d stolen my work, but said no one would believe a traitor. So I challenged him to prove that I’d stolen secrets and sold them to a foreign government. He couldn’t, of course, so I quit on the spot.
“I demanded severance pay, and he refused to recommend it. Said severance pay wasn’t for quitters or security threats. So I played back the recording I’d just made where he’d admitted he’d stolen my work and said there was nothing I could do about it.”
Mel smiled. “God bless cell phones and their recording apps. I walked away with six months severance pay and didn’t sign his damn NDA.”
“Good for you, Mel,” Jase said. “I never liked Kingsley. Always thought he was a snake.”
“You were right,” Mel said. She felt lighter. Still angry as hell at Cliff, but some of her venom had drained away. She was glad she’d told Laila, Jase, and Cody what happened. She’d needed to vent, and Laila was no longer connected to the CIA. Jase wouldn’t be, either, and she suspected Cody would quit the SpecOps group, too.
Mel drew in a breath. “I’m off to Seattle, but I wanted to check in on you before I left,” she told Jase. “I’ll keep in touch.”
She turned to Cody. “Let me know what you decide about staying with the Agency,” she said. “I want to keep in touch with you, as well.”
She smiled at Laila. “You, too, Laila. You have my phone number. Don’t hesitate to use it.”
“I won’t, Mel.” She reached for her former boss’s hands. “I wish only bad things to happen to Cliff Kingsley from now on.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear,” Mel said with a laugh. “But people like Cliff operate beneath the radar. I doubt anything will happen to him.” With any luck, Cliff would be called out for stealing her work and passing it off as his. But Mel was pretty sure she’d used up all her luck in Afghanistan.
“That’s too bad. But I’m sure you’ll be successful in whatever you decide to do,” Laila said.
“Thanks, Laila.” Mel stood up and impulsively hugged Laila. “Don’t give up on him,” she whispered, then walked out of the room without looking back at her former operatives.
Mel stepped out of the hospital into bright autumn sunshine. Hurried to her car and slid into the driver’s seat. Checked to make sure the computer was under the seat where she’d left it, then put her car in gear and drove away, heading west.
She’d visit her sister Zoe in Seattle, stay with her for a week or two while she got her feet on the ground, then figure out what she wanted to do next. The only thing she was sure of?
She never wanted to work for someone else again. Whatever she did, she’d be her own boss.
* * *
Back in the hospital room, Cody’s gaze shifted from Laila to Jase. Back to Laila. “I’m, ah, going to get going. Leave you two alone,” he said. He held out his hand. “Gimme your phone.”
Laila handed it over and watched as Cody created a contact for himself. “Call me if you need anything. Anything at all. Okay?”
Laila nodded. “Thanks, Cody,” she said, her voice thick with unshed tears.
He nodded back. “Got you covered,” he said. He moved to Jase’s side and gripped his hand. “Don’t be a complete asshole, Conway,” he said. “Give your woman a break.”
Jase scowled at him. “Not my woman,” he said immediately.
Cody just shook his head. “You keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it when you’re eighty years old.”
Then, with a final wave, Cody disappeared through the door. She and Jase were alone again.
Jase pretended to be asleep, but Laila knew he wasn’t. She sat on the chair and watched him for a moment. Finally she said, “I have a question, Jase. Right after I boarded the plane, you called my name and started to run up the stairs to me. What did you want, Jase? What were you going to say to me?”
Without opening his eyes, he said, “Doesn’t matter. That man who ran after you? He doesn’t exist anymore. He disappeared when those two shots hit his leg. Now get out of my room.” He closed his eyes and turned his head away from her.
Ignoring his order, she sat by his bed for a long time. He pretended he’d fallen asleep, but she knew he hadn’t. His hands moved on the sheets, clenching and releasing. Clenching and releasing.
After thirty minutes, she swallowed the tears that threatened to fall. Standing up, she bent over and kissed him. Felt his body go rigid beneath the hands she’d put on his shoulders.
He didn’t move or make a sound.
Then she went in search of his nurse. Asked her for a blanket and a pillow. The nurse thought it was for Jase, but Laila used them to sleep on the floor of his room that night. It was uncomfortable, but her bed in Al Kamen had been uncomfortable, too. She’d survived.
