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I noticed she used the same expression I had.
“Even if you take the profession of everyone who works with you—meaning spies—out of the equation, anyone with eyes and ears knows how you both feel.”
“We should get back to it,” I said, checking the mirror and cringing at my appearance.
“God, you’re so English,” she muttered, following me out the door.
When we returned to the situation room, I was happy to see Nemesis and Ares had arrived.She and I cheek-kissed while Ares took his wife’s coat and hung it on a hook near one of the doors.
“How are you holding up?”Nem asked Wren.
“Fine as long as I keep my brain engaged.”
“Before we chart our next plan of attack, shall we address the elephant in the room, as they say?”Wilder asked when we returned to the table where he was seated.
“Which one?”Wren asked.
“Puck Lindstrom.”
“Pinch and I touched on the subject briefly,” I said.
“If we’re looking into Seshat, we must do the same with Lindstrom,” said Wren.“George, you’ve worked with Puck.Would you please piece together his timeline at SIS?Wild, if you would do the same with Seshat, we’ll merge the two and look at how they parallel.I’ll focus on Seshat’s life prior to joining SIS, then I’ll do the same with Puck’s.”
“Roger that,” I said, happy to have something to do that would distract me.
“What can we do?”Nemesis asked, motioning to Ares, who stood beside her.
“While my gut is telling me Z’s disappearance is somehow related to Agent Lindstrom, we should compile a list of additional suspects,” Wren responded.“Given my father’s career trajectory, I anticipate it will be a long one.”
“On it,” said Nem.She and Ares walked over to another area in the situation room.
I focused on gathering as much information as I could about Puck.He’d joined SIS, namely Military Intelligence, Section 5, seven years ago.Z had hired him, then he was promoted at regular intervals, indicating his exemplary performance as an agent.
One of his primary responsibilities had been to hire junior agents.Of the many he had, three stood out as significant.Jamie “Beak” Thomas, Tracy “Vulcan” North, and DeDe “Seshat” Starkweather.Of them, Seshat had been an agent the longest and was also a physician’s assistant.
I couldn’t help but wonder how long the two had been romantic.Unlike Z and me, they wouldn’t have had to hide it.Not that wehadto hide it, either.That Z was first my boss, then my new boss’ superior, was the reason we’d never acted on our attraction.As professional and responsible as Z was, he never would’ve crossed that line.
Were Puck and Seshat like us?Had theyknownthe first time they touched?Did they look into each other’s eyes and feel an immediate connection?
Given we’d learned yesterday that Seshat was working for AMPS, the human trafficking organization Puck had been investigating prior to his disappearance, it made me wonder if what was between them was real.There was a chance she’d seduced him in order to get assigned to the UK task force.And what of Puck?Was he working for AMPS now too?
I couldn’t imagine anything that would compel me to abandon the oath I’d made to His Majesty the King or to his Secret Intelligence Service.Even before the training every agent went through to learn ways to prevent succumbing to the lures of our enemies, I wouldn’t have been able to betray the UK.
“George and Wren?A moment?”We both stood and walked over to Pinch.“Take a look at this,” he motioned to the electronic board.“This is when Z entered the vehicle, but from a different angle,” he explained.
“Someone he knew was waiting for him,” said Wren.
I nodded.Z’s expression was one of recognition.In it, I saw more confusion than fear.“It would be logical to think it may have been Puck.Although that isn’t to say so definitively.”
Wren sighed and looked away from the screen.“I’m tryin’ to piece together the timing of Puck’s disappearance.Beak and Vulcan were killed in a shootout on the island of Gozo.How long after that took place did he go missin’?”she asked.
“According to the brief, approximately four days,” I responded.“He was believed to be accompanying Cayman from Gozo to the UK, but instead, the two separated at the Malta airport.”
“That was just shy of one year ago,” Pinch added.
“Where in the bloody hell has the man been all this time?”Wilder said under his breath, but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him.
Wren tapped her cheek with her index finger.“The obvious supposition is that, like his girlfriend, he went to work for AMPS.”She returned to her work area.“The answer lies with Seshat.Of that, I’m certain.”
