Chapter 18

By the time Conner got to the house, they had dressed. Alicia tried to calm her heart rate, but it was hard to do. Devon showed Conner into the office. Alicia could tell from his expression that it wasn't good news.

He shook his head and gave her an apologetic glance. "I hate to bother y'all this late at night, but we also got a hit right before I came over. Rory called with the information. Right now, I don't want to do any more talking over the phone."

She knew Rory was one of the head security specialists they employed and one of the few people who had known who she was.

"No problem. And I have to agree. Using the phone, no matter how secure, is always a security issue. Truth is, the sooner we figure all of this out, the sooner I can feel safe again."

The idea that she would finally be able to just live her life was a fantasy she'd never thought would come true. She'd been looking over her shoulder for so many years…and she wanted to be a regular mom to Bridget.

Conner pulled out his tablet, tapped on the screen a few times and brought up the files.

"So, what's this about the Spencer file?" she asked. "What did you find?"

"The Spencer File. Yes, well, I'd always thought it one of those rumors that were never going to be proven." He looked at Alicia with a hint of understanding in his eyes. "All spooks have that weird story of a spy selling secrets. Born and raised in the country they have been ordered to destroy. The big one here was of a Soviet being raised as an American."

"But it isn't a myth," Devon said. "Not from what I found."

"Exactly," Conner said grimly. "I didn't expect you to react like you did."

Devon nodded. "I remember that. I got a few laughs at the office when I went after it."

"Are you sure this was real? It had always been considered a boogie man kind of story for agents. Like to scare us into being good little spies," Alicia said. "I know my father dismissed it for years. But something changed his mind when he started to research old cases."

"I know it is. I had too many reliable sources not to believe them. Plus, when I presented the information, the higher ups got very quiet," Devon said. "It was a little eerie the way all contact was broken off from them."

"Oh, that's not good," she said. "When a spook goes silent, that's usually a very bad thing."

"Why did you latch onto it?" Conner asked.

Devon shrugged. "Not entirely sure. I've always been a geek and there were a lot of little places on the internet that chatted about it. The complexity of it intrigued me. Like a puzzle. The prevailing opinion was that they resurrected the name over and over to use. That it was a family kind of thing."

That made sense to her. In fact, it was a bit brilliant. "So, like Menudo?"

"What?" Conner asked. Devon was looking at her like she were insane.

"Like the boy band from Mexico. When a band member would get too old, they just replaced them with another boy. That way they kept it young and maintained teenager interest."

Devon smiled. "Odd, but yes, that's what they did. Or what I could discern. Maybe it was that fact that made it seem unbelievable. Since the rumors had been around more than twenty years, it seemed implausible. But what if the same people—or in this case country—used the name over and over, then that would make sense. It would seem that the spy never aged."

"Yes, and apparently, it was sent to England. It was their issue after all. And, that's where your father comes in, Alicia."

"I'm seeing where this is going. The CIA handed it over and nothing was done right away. They let it sit there for a few years, but my father was semi-retired. His mind was as sharp as ever, and he had the right security clearance. He'd been going over old information, looking at missions that went right, those that went wrong, and writing up reports. I think he said something about using them for training. Father was one of the few agents around who could remember some of those days and he still held his security clearance. So, this must have hit his desk."

Conner hit a few things on his tablet then handed it to them. "This is apparently where he got, and Devon's name came up."

He handed it to Devon and he shared the screen with her. The file was American in origin and Devon's name was blacked out.

"How did he find out it was you?" She rolled her eyes. "He called someone. Dad knew someone in every bloody spook agency around the world."

He nodded. "That's the report I made up on it. It was right before my life went to complete shit, so I completely forgot about it."

Conner's mobile rang. He answered.

"I told you I wanted to stay off the phone for security." He rolled his eyes and listened to whoever was on the phone.

"Okay." He handed the phone to Devon. "It's Rory. He wants to talk to you about this report. He can only find what I have there and he wants to know if you remember anything."

Devon took the phone and moved away from them to talk.

Alicia glanced at the clock and realized it was probably before sunrise in Florida. "I hate that Rory is up this early working, but I really appreciate it."

Conner gave her a sardonic smile. "First, I always like bugging Rory. He's involved with my sister and well, I like screwing with him. Plus, he's on Miami time so it's not that early."

She nodded then continued to look through the report, noting some of the sources. Then, there was a name that stood out amongst the notes.

Xan Winslow.

A chill ran down her spine, seeping into her soul. All the moisture seemed to evaporate in her mouth and she found it hard to swallow.

What a bloody, bloody mess. All the sounds around her seemed to fade away and she felt the room spin. She gathered up enough strength to draw in a deep breath. She realized then that Conner was still talking.

"And, someone has a huge hard-on for you, Alicia. They've been looking for you the last few weeks; I pinpointed their traveling IP. They were on the west coast, but the latest is Honolulu."

"Here?"

Her heart almost stopped right then and there.

"Yes. In fact, they're staying down in Waikiki, although we haven't been able to pinpoint it exactly. The closest we could get is three blocks. But my bet is whoever they are, they are staying at one of the hotels."

She would be able to contact the traitor. It was a number she'd avoided using in the past, but now, she would.

"Do you have any backup tonight?" Conner asked.

"Devon's here," she said, trying to come up with a way to get out of the house undetected.

"I mean for both of you. If you want, I can stay."

"When Devon gets done with Rory, we'll see what he says. Can you excuse me for a moment?"

He nodded and she slipped out of the room. As she walked up the stairs, her mind started racing. She should have known something was going on. Every turn in the case had been reported by one person. The one person she thought she had been protecting.

Other people would never catch on to who it was. In fact, she might be the only person alive who could connect all the dots. The name was the giveaway. She dressed as fast as she could. She grabbed her Glock and strapped her knife holder to her ankle. After grabbing her knife, she slipped it into the holder. She turned toward the door, but she stopped. There was only one person on her mind for so long, now she had two.

Both of them were in her heart and he needed to know how she felt. And she needed to provide for her daughter.

She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a few words, explaining what she was doing and where she was going. And she did the one thing she thought she would never do before ending the note. She placed it on the dresser in plain sight, and this time, she slipped out down the stairs and out of the house.

After getting off the phone, Devon and Conner discussed the possibilities of who it could be. It would have to be someone her father knew and someone who was still around. That really narrowed the field, but not enough. After a while Devon realized it had been close to thirty minutes since Ali left the room.

Devon stepped out of the office.

"What's wrong?" Conner said as he followed him out.

Devon shook his head and walked up the stairs. The sense of urgency growing with each step he took. He made it to the top of the stairs and ran down to her room.

"Ali!" No answer. And no one in the room. He ran through the bathroom to the other bedroom and found it empty too.

He knew there had been something wrong, but he'd thought it was something else. She had been tired and all the information was a little too much for even him to take.

"Dev," Conner yelled. Devon ran back in and found Conner holding a piece of stationary.

He handed it over and pulled out his phone.

Devon,

Well, it's my turn to run. This is my fight not yours. It was never yours. I know that now. My father had only looked at your research to know the person responsible for this problem.

I am leaving this note for you. And, there is information in my safe deposit box and in my bag. It names you as the father of my child. Please, if I don't return from this, love her like I do. You are the only person I trust her to. Protect her. She is the most precious thing to me on this earth and beyond.

Love,

Ali

He looked up and found Conner hanging up this phone. "I talked to Sean since he knew them. There is one person that came to mind. Her cousin."

He shook his head trying to piece it all together.

"How did Sean know?"

"The first job he ever worked with MI-6 on a joint task force had one grating person, and that was Millicent Hughes. Her name on the job was Xan Winslow."

The name clicked. "Fuck."

"Exactly."

"At least I know she's not flying back to England."

Conner shook his head. His frown turned darker.

"No, Millicent is here. There was a hit from here on the island. I mentioned the hotel and I know Alicia. She's going to go after her."

She left him to go die. "And now we are. Let's go."