Andthere’s nothing like spending a lifetime learning how to work together with your siblings as covert operatives to show the powers that be in theCSAhow much more valuable your family is when working together than any of us would be spread throughout different agencies.Weare definitely stronger together.Andwe are all nothing if not professional.
“Yeah,”Ledgersays. “Let’sget this party started!”
Okay, most of us are professional.
Milesis inMaracaiboon a mission.ButEmersonis at his desk, looking as studious as he always is, andCharlieis at her desk, looking alert and on top of everything, as usual.Shegrins at me and gives me two thumbs up as she says “Welcomeback” into my earpiece.Iforgot thatIam still wearing it.Iremove it and push it into my pocket.Ledgerambles over to stand next to me in the open space, andGiannacomes from her desk, all of us facing the director and looking up at the monitors.
“ThankstoJace,Ledger, andCharlotte, we have recovered the ‘key’ thatHendricksonwas handing off regarding theEradicationProject.Wedid not retrieve the buyer, and we’ve turned case ownership ofHendricksonover to theFBI.Whichmeans we currently have two issues we need to work.
“Thefirst that we need to figure out is who the brush pass was intended for— the buyer.Theycould be trying to use alternate means to acquire the key.Thesecond issue is finding the object that the key unlocks.Wedon’t know if there are more keys out there—Hendricksonand his partner could’ve possibly sold to multiple buyers, so we need to get to that object before them.”
Emerson, who might possibly be the best analyst in the world— althoughI’dnever say that to him— starts giving a rundown of what we already know, which mostly isn’t new information and mostly doesn’t interest me.Whatinterests me is who needs to be taken down and whoIneed to protect.Thenhe says that they’ve been analyzing the key sinceLedgerreturned with it and found out that the key is to a briefcase, and an image of the exact type of briefcase comes up on the screen.Emersonand his team are searching online for any chatter about it.
Oncehe finishes,Iask, “Sowhat about the unintended recipient of the brush pass?They’regoing to keep searching for her.”Andevery protective instinctIhave is telling me to go protect her.
Normally, it doesn’t feel strange to refer to someone whose picture is up on the screen as the subject, the target, the seller, the buyer, the muscle, or any other descriptor.Butfor whatever reason, it feels strange to callMackenzieby anything other than her name.
DirectorLancastergives a single nod. “Wehave asked theFBIto keep a protective detail onMs.MacNeiluntil further notice.You’reright— she could still be a target.”
Besideme,Ledgerraises two fingers to get my mom’s attention and asks, “IstheCIAgoing to try to take over this case?”
Ilean in close and say, “Nicejob.Ibarely detected bitterness in your voice.”
Ledgerchuckles as we both look to the director for the answer.TheFBI’spurview isU.S. citizens who commit federal crimes onU.S. soil.TheCIA’sdomain is foreign entities on foreign soil who are putting theU.S. at risk.Ouragency, theCSA, handles those cases that fall in between the scope of those two, like dealing with foreign agents working against theU.S. onU.S. soil.OrU.S. citizens working against us on foreign soil.
Weare also much smaller than theFBIandCIA, which makes us much more agile and better equipped for some missions.And,Idon’t like to brag, but as our name suggests, we’re very good at clandestine ops.
Sowe work closely with theFBIand, much toLedger’schagrin, theCIA.Wepass some things off to them and they pass some off to us, and sometimes— mostly for missions thatLedgeris assigned to, coincidentally— we find ourselves on the same missions as theCIAand there is a bit of a power struggle.
DirectorLancastershakes her head. “Thisone is all ours.Thatcould change, of course, once we find out who the buyer is, but for now, assume we are taking this one all the way to the finish line.”
Still, allIcan think about is the buyer going afterMackenzie, and every protective nerve in my body is activated and feeling the need to do something.Ihold up a finger and the director nods at me, soIsay, “Ithink there is a good chance that neitherHendricksonnor the buyer knows who the accidental recipient of the key is.Charliesaid that theCCTVcameras in the area aren’t great.”
“Theyreally aren’t,” my sister says.
“Eithercould’ve been wearing cameras, butIdon’t think they got her face.Thefact that they haven’t foundMackenzie— the accidental target—tells me they didn’t.
“Butthat doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to figure it out eventually.Andhaving a big blackSUVfollow her everywhere is only going to tip the buyer off to it being her because there’s no better hint that they found the right person than a vehicle that screamsFBIalways shadowing her.AgentWrighttexted me a few minutes ago to say that the subject and her friend already made them.Andif civilians did, the professionals won’t be far behind.”
Mymom is nodding asIam talking, and then she says, “We’llrequest that they use a nondescript vehicle.”
“AndIthink that’s great for while she’s at work or sleeping,”Isay, putting a voice to the concernsIhave for her safety while trying to keep every bit of emotion out of my words. “Butoutside of those hours,Ithinkweshould have a protective detail on her.”
Thedirector’s eyebrow rises, waiting for me to continue, soIdo. “Thebuyer knows thatMs.MacNeilwas the recipient of the brush pass, but they don’t know that she no longer has the key.Ifwe stay close to her, it might help us to discover who the buyer is.”
“Youwant to use her as an asset?”Ledgerasks. “Asbait?”
Ishake my head, hoping it doesn’t come across too vehemently. “Idon’t think we’ll need to.We’vebeen working on this case sinceIturnedCarlsix weeks ago.Weknow so much more about it than theFBI—Ithink we’ll be able to catch things that they won’t because of our closeness to the information we’ve already discovered.”
Thedirector studies me for a long moment, andIcan see her thinking through all the implications.Beforeshe came to theCSAas an intelligence operative, she was first recruited at age twenty-one into theCIA.Shequickly became one of the best operatives they had ever seen, possibly because she was so good at seeing the big picture.Thatskill has made her an even better director.
Eventually, she nods once. “Doyou think you can do it without letting her know about this agency or your role here?”
“Yes, ma’am.”Now,I’mnot saying it will be easy.Infact, if we let theFBIcontinue to do 24-hour protective detail themselves and keep us out of it, things will probably be much easier.Becauseif things get to the point whereMackenzieneeds to know that people are after her, theFBIcould tell her.
Ican’t.Afterall, this agency hasn’t remained a well-kept secret for the past thirty-one years by agents being over-sharers.
“Okay, she’s your assignment then,Jace.Yourasset, even if she doesn’t know she is.You’rethe one with the connection, and you’re going to have to push that connection to succeed.”
