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I rolled my shoulders and gripped the back of the chair in front of me. “It appears someone is on to us.”
“Macht, I need to ask you something,” said Verity.
“Go ahead.”
“How much of a threat is Schön?”
“More to herself than to anyone else,” he said, eyes downcast. “She is very intelligent and has it in her to be a good agent.”
“But?”
“Given her appearance, her role in intelligence thus far has been as a honey trap. She’s trying to escape being…What is the word? Pigeonholed? My understanding is Ambassador Marchand is helping facilitate her transition away from such assignments.”
“Which is why he recommended her for the Swiss task force,” I muttered, shaking my head. “How well did you know her prior to this assignment?”
“I knew of her, but we hadn’t met until we both arrived in Zurich on Thursday.”
“How did Godwin end up on Schön’s radar?” Verity asked.
“She saw him leaving the terminal at the same time we were.”
“How did she know who he was?”
“Briefs,” I said, answering Verity’s question before Macht could. “An agent who hadn’t been vetted by anyone other than Marchand was given highly classified briefs, which she, in turn, used to circumvent command and go off half-cocked on my bloody op.” My voice increased with every word I spoke to the point I was shouting. I shook my head. Marchand was quickly becoming a liability to the coalition he’d amassed.
This was not the first time I’d heard he gave information to someone without Nemesis’ consent or knowledge. The most recent had been to the father of the Maltese task force commander, Poseidon. His dad was the former Italian ambassador to the UN and a crony of Marchand’s.
Both Poseidon and Nemesis had been furious over the leak. And, as I said to Verity earlier, it was one instance when Z had run interference.
I glanced at Verity. Her forehead was furrowed. “What are you thinking?”
“Godwin wasn’t on our radar.”
“So why was he on Marchand’s?”
She nodded. “Precisely.”
I turned to Macht. “You said Schön saw Godwin leaving the terminal. Who was with him?”
“No one that she or I saw.”
I nodded. “I want you to think very hard about what you remember about Godwin, the woman with him at the restaurant, the man who accompanied him on his visits to the two banks, and anyone else you saw him interact with, regardless of how inconsequential it may seem.”
“Roger that, sir.”
“Reaper, I’d like you to do the same. Everything you saw and heard, along with what you’ve already reported. We’ll reconvene in the morning before we head to Corviglia.”
“Roger that,” said Reaper.
“In the meantime, Verity and I will gather whatever information we can on our end.”
“What time was your flight on Thursday?” Verity asked.
“I arrived at twelve hundred.”
“And Schön?”
“One hour later.”
