Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jason didn't know how Alisa was still on her feet. But as they entered the safe house, he was once again impressed by her emotional strength. She'd bloodied her hands trying to save Henry's life and had then seen more blood in the motel room where her father had been staying. She'd heard what could have been his goodbye letter, and she hadn't fallen apart, although she looked shell-shocked.
"Do you want a drink?" he asked as they moved through the kitchen and into the dining room.
"Right now, I just need a break. I'm going upstairs."
Not wanting to push her into a conversation she didn't want to have, he let her go. He needed to work, anyway. He went into the den and got on his computer, eager to see what he could learn about Dan Hunt—AKA Alexei Bruno. He finally had the connection between Novikov and the Hunt family, and it was seriously disturbing. If Novikov needed a chemist to carry out his plan, then that pointed to a chemical or bioweapon attack, which could be catastrophic.
After several minutes of searching through the FBI databases, he'd found absolutely nothing on Alexei Bruno, which seemed a little unusual. It almost made him wonder if Alexei's past had been scrubbed from every channel, even the official ones. Tapping his fingers restlessly on the desk, he debated his options, and one jumped out at him. Dan had said he had a friend he was trying to reach. And that friend must have been the person who helped him reinvent himself. Since he hadn't been a part of witness protection, and there was nothing he could find in the FBI files, there was only one other person to ask.
Picking up his phone again, he texted Mick Hadley: What do you know about Alexei Bruno?
The reply came within a minute, but it wasn't an answer. It was a question: Do you have him in custody?
No. Do you know where he is?
Call me.
He debated for another second, then punched in Mick's number. "Why didn't you tell me Dan Hunt was a former chemist named Alexei Bruno?"
"You didn't have a need to know," Mick returned, using one of the CIA's most popular phrases.
"The hell I didn't. I'm trying to protect Hunt's wife and daughter and find Novikov. This was critical information you were sitting on."
"I didn't know Hunt had been outed until yesterday when he called me, desperate to get security for his wife and daughter. I assured him they were being taken care of. I told him I would help him, too, but I needed to know where he was. He declined to tell me."
"Why wouldn't he tell you if he wanted your help?"
"He said he couldn't trust anyone. He hung up, and I've been looking for him ever since. Where is he?"
"Novikov has him."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Hunt's friend, Henry Cavendish, was beaten and shot by Novikov's men. He gave them Hunt's location at a motel in Brentwood. When we arrived at the motel, Hunt was gone. There was blood and signs of a struggle."
"Is Cavendish dead?"
"He's in surgery. His condition is critical. Hunt is with Novikov. A lot of this could have been avoided if you'd shared the information you were sitting on, Mick. What the hell were you thinking, keeping it to yourself?"
"I didn't believe Novikov knew Dan was in LA," Mick replied, not a trace of guilt in his voice. "Novikov was here three years ago, and there was no connection between him and Hunt then. After the courthouse explosion, I told Dan he should leave LA, but Dan thought LA was probably the safest place because Novikov never hits the same city twice."
"Until now. How long have you known Daniel Hunt?"
"Since he was Alexei Bruno, and I helped him get out of the Soviet Union."
"Why did you do that?"
"He helped us stop Novikov from launching a chemical weapon. While we weren't able to capture Novikov, several members of his gang were killed, including his brother, and we arrested several other members of the organization, some of whom were already setting up smaller cells in the US. Because of Alexei's efforts, Novikov's organization was considerably weakened. It took Novikov another ten, almost fifteen, years to get back to anything close to the power he once had. Alexei was given asylum in the US, and we created a new identity for him."
"All right. Let's focus on what's happening now. If Novikov has Daniel, what's he planning?"
"A dirty bomb would be my guess. When I spoke to Daniel yesterday, he told me he'd been working at the lab with Cavendish. This went explicitly against the agreement we made thirty years ago that he would never, ever work as a chemist again. Apparently, he was trying to find a cure for cancer, and he couldn't resist using his big brain one more time." Mick paused. "Does his daughter know about his past? "
He wasn't going to talk about Alisa with Mick. "She only knows enough to be confused."
"That's probably best. I'm aware you have a guard on her mother's room. I hope you're keeping Alisa safe as well. She and her mother are both leverage for Novikov. He'll threaten their lives to force Daniel to work for him."
"I figured that out days ago. But it would have been nice to have your help."
"As I told you, I didn't believe Daniel Hunt was involved in this until yesterday."
"You always have an answer, Mick, but somehow, I never like it."
"What can I do for you now?"
"Where is this dirty bomb going to go off?"
"If I knew that, I would tell you."
"I hope that's true. By the way, I heard an interesting story about you and my father from Patrick," he said, not sure why he was bringing it up, but since he had Mick on the phone, he might as well ask. "He said you and my father captured Novikov when he was a young man and that you tried to turn him into an asset at the request of your agencies, but it didn't work. Is that true? Did you have him in custody at one point?"
"We did. Novikov was twenty-five years old at the time, and we weren't much older. We didn't want to let him go, but the higher-ups at both our agencies had another plan. We tried to turn him, but it didn't work. He said what we wanted to hear in order for him to become an asset, and then he blew up a train station six months later and sent us both a mocking text. Drew and I would have never let him go if we'd had the choice, but we were young agents then. Your father was doing his first stint overseas with the international team. I was also green. Things would have been different if the same events had occurred later in all our lives."
"I can't believe my father didn't tell me this," he muttered.
"It wasn't his proudest moment, or mine. Which is why I would like nothing more than for you to take Novikov down."
"I want to believe that, but you sat on the Daniel Hunt information for too long."
"It wasn't my secret to share, not until I had a reason to think his cover was blown."
"Which happened yesterday. What did you do today?"
"I've been looking for him. Where was Hunt staying?" Mick asked. "He could have left a clue behind."
"If he did, my team will find it."
"We're on the same side. Give me the name of the motel."
"I don't think you have a need to know," he said and then hung up the phone. They might be working toward the same goal, but he didn't trust Mick, and he wasn't even sure he believed the story Mick had just told him. But that was something he'd worry about later. He got back on his computer. He had a lot of loose threads now, and he needed to tie some of them up.
As if on cue, his phone vibrated with a text from Savannah. She and Beck were at the nightclub. Pieter Moldev has been there when they first arrived. Beck had spoken briefly to him, but he'd been in a hurry to leave. They'd waited another half hour, but there was no sign of Dominic Ilyin, so they were going to leave.
He thanked her for the update, wishing their trip hadn't been a complete waste of time, but it had been worth a shot. There was still a chance Moldev and Ilyin would reconnect at some point. They just needed to keep on it. Tomorrow, they'd regroup and figure out if there was another approach they could take.
Alisa heard Jason working in the den when she went downstairs and decided to leave him be while she went into the kitchen to see what she could find for food. She'd taken a shower and put on her leggings and one of her favorite T-shirts, which had been in the bag Jason had packed for her. She was still scared and confused, but she was also hungry.
She checked the freezer first, excited to see a large frozen pizza with mushrooms and sausage. She pulled it out and set it on the counter. Then she turned on the oven to preheat while she opened the refrigerator, happy to find a bag of salad as well as cucumbers, tomatoes, and salad dressing. As she pulled dinner together, she felt a sense of normalcy that was very soothing. It was nice to focus on something besides her racing and terrified thoughts.
At the sound of footsteps, she turned around, happy to see Jason coming into the kitchen.
"I thought you were upstairs sleeping." His gaze swept her face with a concern she was fast becoming addicted to.
Maybe caring about her safety and well-being was just his job, but it felt more personal than that, especially when they kept ending up in each other's arms. "I took a shower instead. I needed to clear my head. Thanks for packing my favorite T-shirt."
"It looked like something you wore a lot. I can go by your place tomorrow and get you more clothes."
"Tomorrow," she echoed, taking a sip of her wine. "I think I'm going to stop planning for tomorrow. It seems pointless."
"That might be true. What are you cooking?"
"Pizza. It's almost done. Do you want wine?"
"Sounds good," he said, pouring himself a glass.
"Did I hear you talking to someone earlier?"
"My CIA contact, Mick Hadley. While we don't know where your father was born, I'm guessing it was somewhere in Russia or Eastern Europe, which meant his asylum had the CIA written all over it."
"Were you right?"
"Yes. Mick said your father helped them avert a chemical weapon attack thirty years ago and, as a thank-you, they got him away from Novikov and out of the country. The CIA created your father's new identity as Daniel Hunt. He was told at the time he could never work as a chemist again. Your father abided by that until this year, when he decided to help Henry with his new therapy."
"He risked his secrets to help Henry cure cancer. There's nobility in that, right?"
"I think so. I'm sure your father thought he could work in the background with Henry, and no one would ever know. That might have been the case if he hadn't run into Tatiana at the lab. She was probably the only person in LA who would have recognized him."
"So Tatiana told Novikov that my dad was in LA. And that's why he came here to launch an attack? Because of my dad?"
"It's possible that he was already coming here but your father was an added incentive. Novikov's brother was killed during the aborted bombing that your father was responsible for thirty years ago. Novikova may not have just needed a chemist, he may have also want revenge."
"Great," she said dully. "This gets worse and worse."
"Poisoning your mother was his first shot. He wanted your father to know his cover was blown, and he was coming for him."
"It's so cruel to hurt an innocent woman."
"That's who Novikov is. He doesn't have a conscience. He's a cold-blooded killer."
"And now he has my father," she said, a lump growing in her throat.
"Your dad is still alive. Novikov needs him to complete his mission."
"You should be with your team and not with me, Jason."
"I'm working from here. And right now, I'm hungry."
As he finished speaking, the timer went off.
"Well, you're in luck because the pizza is ready."
Their conversation had soured her appetite, but she would force herself to eat. She needed to keep up her strength for whatever was coming next.