Page 150 of Protecting You
“I love you, too, Dad.” She wanted to ask him to explain, but Callan was waiting at the door, eager to leave.
She joined him for the walk along the pretty grounds to his Mustang.
They were far outside of earshot when she said, “What did Dad say?”
Callan smiled at her but shook his head.
In the car, he talked about the people he’d met, the event, the news they’d shared.
“Your dad grilled me good.” Callan’s laugh sounded authentic. “He was ticked I didn’t talk to him before I proposed. And I think he’s worried it’s too soon, but you can’t blame him for that. It probably feels sudden.”
Callan must've thought the car was bugged.
She didn’t ask where they were going but was certainly curious what he was thinking when they reached the Portland Headlight, an iconic lighthouse just down the coast.
He parked and then took her hand and led her away from the Mustang, but not inside the keepers-quarters-turned-museum, instead wandering around the side of the building. When they were near the shore, the crashing of waves breaking against the rocks below, he told her everything he’d shared with her father, and everything he’d learned.
She struggled to take it all in.
Lavrentiy was a double-agent called Sputnik. He’d fed Dad bad intel that led to the bombing that killed Ghazi’s girlfriend.
Ghazi was still seeking revenge, twenty years later. Somehow, he’d put together the connection between Alyssa’s father and the Russian double-agent.
“Talk about playing the long game,” she said.
Callan faced the churning Atlantic.
Now they knew Ghazi’s motivation, but how could the information help? What should they do with it?
Why now? Why the deadline? Just to keep her from talking? To keep her moving fast, or was there something going on?
“The meeting,” she said. “Monday.”
Callan’s gaze snapped to hers. “What meeting?”
“Dad has to be in DC for something on Monday. That’s why we had the anniversary party today instead of on Gram and Pop’s actual anniversary. Well, that and Dad wanted to do the whole big party. But I remember them talking about it at Michael’s wedding, how my grandparents would’ve preferred a more intimate gathering, but Dad had insisted. He got defensive and finally admitted that he was going to be out of town on their anniversary.” She shrugged. “It’s probably not related, but Ghazi told me he needed the zero-day exploit working by tomorrow, which would give him plenty of time to ensure he knew what he was doing. And since Dad was Sputnik’s handler?—”
“It could be something. We’ll ask your dad about it.” Callan’s expression softened. “I am sorry about the kiss. I wasn’t sure?—”
“No need to apologize.”
He looked away. She tried to read his thoughts in his profile. His jaw was tight, his lips pressed closed. Had the kiss meant more to him than he’d said?
It’d meant way too much to her.
Even if her body survived whatever happened next, her heart was in serious jeopardy.
“Out of curiosity,” she said to change the subject, “why are we here?”
“Leaving the car unattended was a risk.”
“The club is very well guarded,” she said. “I doubt somebody could’ve snuck out to the lot.”
He gave her a look—chin down, eyebrows up. “Always assume your enemy is one step ahead.” He turned his attention to the sea again. “Even if they didn’t bug it, it’s likely they put a tracker on it. I assume they did since I didn’t pick up a tail. I rented a car under another alias, which will be delivered to a hotel. We’ll take an Uber there, and we’ll get a room so you can build the zero-day exploit.”
“Thefalsezero-day.”
“Right. I just wanted to stop here and make sure we weren’t followed. While you’re working on that, I’ll try to put all these pieces together and figure out what happens next.”
