AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“One thing TJ gets right,” Big Tag said under his breath.
It was good to know that Big Tag approved of how TJ handledhis anxiety.
TJ sighed and squeezed her hand before getting back tostaring down the Canadian operative. “I’d like to know how you planned thismission. Dennis said he’d originally had a different location in mind. I’mgoing to assume your embedded agent is the one who tipped off Huber as to thelocation of Dennis’s date.”
“Oh, I had Terry deal with all of it. I never contactedHuber at all. After your team raided the German compound, Terry told me thatHuber was suddenly more interested in Lou than he was in the sergeant. That’swhen I decided to work with MI6 to bring her in for questioning.”
“That bit of intelligence was one of the reasons I thoughtit was a good idea to bring her in,” Oliver admitted. “If Huber thought shecould be a stand-in for the bombmaker, then we needed to take her off theboard.”
“Sharing that bit of intelligence and sitting down with usso we could all work together would have been the right play, but Parker overthere doesn’t like to share,” Big Tag said, menace plain in his tone.
“I think you know the reputation your team has when it comesto sharing,” Parker countered. “Miss Magenta doesn’t play fair, and that’sexactly why I didn’t call you up. We’re not friends. Your team literally tiedme to a damn spanking bench in Australia and left me out of whatever intel youpicked up. So yeah, I wasn’t about to offer to work together.”
Big Tag stared at the Canadian. “We can discuss politenessat another time. When did you decide to set up Lou again?”
Parker sat back with a weary sigh. “I had the idea when Iwas sitting in the lounge here with Ms. Magenta. She was teasing Lou about theDennis guy, and I got her to tell me the story. She told me she was almostcertain Dennis would try again. I found him, and Terry convinced Dennis tochange his plans. We needed the whole thing to go down in a place where wecould control the comings and goings. That particular bar has been closed forweeks in preparation for a renovation. We simply reopened it. But I wasn’tgoing to let Huber walk out with Lou. She wasn’t supposed to bring TJ with her.According to the DMs she sent to Sims, she was going to attend alone.”
“Yeah, he was setting up a freaking opportunity to molesther,” TJ said under his breath.
He was very dramatic. “Given all the things going on, Iwasn’t about to go on a date. I thought it was a get-together with some peoplefrom high school, and TJ would have known almost everyone there. I wasn’t evergoing to meet with Dennis alone. Not until this situation resolved.”
TJ growled.
“Not ever now.” Her boyfriend was a very growly top. She hadto admit it did something for her.
“I was watching the whole time, and Terry handled thingsproperly. He made sure he was the one who checked you for weapons. He left youthe gun,” Parker pointed out. “All I wanted was to hear the name. I neededHuber to acknowledge the name on tape. Terry was going to get close enough toLou to ask her to talk to Huber, but he didn’t need to. She brought it upherself.”
“Because TJ pointed out that he thought you were there.” Shegave her guy a bright smile. “That was brilliant. I didn’t pick up on it.”
He grinned. “You would have figured it out. I only didbecause the guy let me keep my gun. It was logic from there. I knew wedidn’t have an agent embedded, so it made sense that it was the Canadians.”
“Working missions on American soil without informing theAgency,” Big Tag pointed out.
“Says the man who started it all.” Parker slapped at thetable. “Years ago you ran an op in Toronto, and that’s precisely why we’rehere. The CIA killed Huisman’s father.”
“I wasn’t working for the Agency at the time,” Big Tagpointed out. “And somehow I think Emmanuel would have found his dark side oneway or another. He’s good, though. He played things beautifully in Australia. Iwasn’t able to give the Agency anything on him. Now we can talk.”
“Will what we’ve found be enough for your boss to keep thecase open?” Lou asked.
Ben nodded. “Yes. I’ve already sent Joseph what I got, andhe’s handling Terry’s body.” Ben’s jaw clenched. “I’m really… Damn it, itshouldn’t have gone down like that.”
“I’m going to give you some advice, Parker.” Big Tag closedthe folder in front of him and stood, looming over the room. “Ditch the guilt.The way you play, there’s no place for it. You were willing to risk everyone’slives for one answer. If I was your handler, I would be perfectly happy to sendyou on any op because you’ll get the job done. That blood on your hands isnothing. It’s a speck. You’ll bathe in it before you’re done. You keep down thepath you’re on and there won’t be an inch of your soul that resembles what youstarted with. What you did today is one of the most ruthless things I’ve seenin a long time. There’s a part of me that’s impressed. There’s a part of methat thinks I should take you out now because Terry isn’t the only personyou’re going to get killed.”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Ben insisted.
“But you would do it again,” Big Tag said quietly.
“You don’t know what Manny’s capable of.” Ben sat up, hisjaw going stubborn.
“No, but I damn straight know what you’re capable of.” BigTag walked to the door. “I’m going back to Langley with the lawyers where I’vebeen told I’ll have a chance to meet with your boss and have a long chat abouthow we’re going to handle the situation with Huisman.”
Oliver sighed and pushed back from the table. “Yes, I thinkmy boss is planning on being at that meeting as well. If Sami and I could catcha ride with you, we would appreciate it. Perhaps you could yell at me some moreand get it out of your system before you meet with my boss.”
Big Tag snorted. “Not on your life, Oliver. Your boss willbe getting the full brunt of my rage, but you’re welcome to a seat on theplane. Zach, we’re wheels up in two hours. Make sure the Brits are wherethey’re supposed to be.”
Zach nodded. “I’ll get them to the airport on time.”
“Shouldn’t I be on that plane?” Parker stood, his expressiongoing blank. Like he knew what the answer was going to be.
