13. Savior

13

SAVIOR

W hile on the flight to Edinburgh, I mentally prepared myself for my conversation with Periscope. I had two objectives, but only one worth pursuing. First, I wanted to determine for myself if she’d received the instructions to order me to shoot Sullivan directly from Weber.

Second was to convince her she wasn’t a suspect, even though she was in custody. The idea that assigning the Tower-Meridian investigation to her would somehow lead us to Weber was ludicrous. Half of me had a mind to contact Typhon and tell him so.

I rested my head against the seat and glanced around the interior of the helicopter. Traveling to Edinburgh this way was a welcome luxury, one I could well afford but wouldn’t have considered if Con hadn’t made the suggestion.

Apart from the urgency of any given assignment, I was rarely in a hurry to get anywhere. Driving alone wasn’t different than any other aspect of the way I chose to live my life. Now, I couldn’t wait to return to Glenshadow and Sullivan.

Perhaps it would have been better to drive. I would have had time to sort through my feelings for her. And then what? I wasn’t lying when I said this thing between us was new for me. What good would overthinking it do?

There’d been women in my life, of course, but considering my line of work, I’d never been in a relationship. It wouldn’t have been possible unless it was with someone either in MI6 or Unit 23 who already knew I was an assassin. While it was common among my fellow agents to have affairs and even marry, there wasn’t anyone I worked with who I wanted to have a drink with, let alone shag.

With Sullivan, I wanted her in every way—in my bed and in my life. I’d be happy just having her in my arms. I closed my eyes, reliving every moment of the morning, from giving her the cold shoulder to knowing I couldn’t leave Glenshadow without attempting to make things right between us. Not that I had done. At least not entirely.

All too soon, yet not soon enough, I felt our descent and rolled my shoulders, dreading the conversation ahead and knowing I couldn’t be benevolent toward Periscope. Assassins weren’t empathetic. At least none I knew.

“Typhon? I didn’t expect to see you,” I said after coming inside from the helipad and finding him leaning up against the wall.

“I’ve not much time,” he said as we approached the building’s security checkpoint. “By the way, we’re on high-alert protocol.”

“Right, err…” I scrunched my eyes. “Why are you here?” I asked once I’d surrendered my weapons.

“Periscope.”

If he were taking the meeting in my place, I’d be greatly relieved. However, I doubted that was the case.

“I’ll observe. Let’s get this over with.”

“Yes, sir.”

I followed him to the lift, up a floor, then down the hall to an interview room I’d not previously been in.

“I’ll forewarn you she’s in a state. She’s refusing to see or speak with anyone but you. When I attempted having a conversation with her, she became hysterical, saying she knew I was here to kill her. I suggested you had more reason to than I did.”

“Did you, really?”

He nodded and motioned to a door. “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll buzz you in. I want to see every reaction.”

“Roger that,” I responded, leaning up against the wall outside the room where Periscope waited. My question about whether Typhon had really said I had more reason to kill her than he did was rhetorical. Earlier, when I thought about the lack of empathy among those in my profession, my boss appeared at the top of that list.

At the same time my mobile pinged with an alert, the door unlocked and I entered.

“Periscope,” I said when the woman I barely recognized raised her head. Her eyes were glassy, with dark circles beneath them, and her skin was ashen as if she hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks rather than days. Her legs were shackled and her hands cuffed.

“Savior.”

Hard as it was to remain detached, I reminded myself of two things. First and foremost, she was a traitor—an enemy within Unit 23’s midst. As part of one of the most elite teams in the world, that someone had gotten to her was chilling in itself. Prior to this, I would’ve said we were impenetrable. “You demanded to speak with me.”

“To warn you.”

“Warn me about what?”

“They’ll take you all out. Every one of you. First, me. Then, her. But they won’t stop.”

“Who, Shelby?”

“They’re much more powerful than you think.” Her eyes darted about.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Her eyes bored into mine. “I’m already dead. If only you’d killed her…”

“Do you think Weber would’ve let you live?” I scoffed, then sneered. “How did they get to you?”

“No one is safe. If you think you are, you’re as stupid as I was. They’ll come for you.” She raised her brows as if something had occurred to her. “In fact, they already have.”

My irritation with being here in the first place was exacerbated by her cryptic dialogue. Now, I was angry at what was evidently a bloody waste of time. “I see no point in continuing this conversation.” I pushed my chair away from the table and stood.

“Janus thinks he controls Chimera. He’s wrong. That may be your only chance at survival.” She looked at the door that she’d likely been brought in through. “I have nothing more to say.”

As soon as I reached the door I’d come in, the lock clicked. Typhon waited right outside.

“She’s delirious,” I muttered.

“Yet the information she gave may be of value.”

“Janus and Chimera?”

“What is it they say? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”

I glanced around to make sure we were alone. “What are you suggesting, Typhon?”

“Come with me.” He stepped into another room and shut the door behind us. “She said, ‘they already have.’ Whoever is coming for you is already in your midst, Savior.”

“That Weber got to me through Periscope tells you that the unit is vulnerable.”

He paced the room, something I often did. “We need to assess everyone.”

I put my hands on my hips, looked down at the floor, and shook my head. “I won’t do it. Don’t bother asking.”

“Even to save Sullivan’s life?”

“If you have reason to believe anyone in my crew, as you call us, is dirty, spell it out for me right now. If you’re grasping at something that isn’t there because of a warning given to us by a madwoman, you can fuck off.”

He put his hand on the doorknob. “Once the seed of doubt is planted, there’s nothing to stop it from growing.”

“You’re a bloody bastard, Marras.”

He shrugged his shoulder. “You should be thanking me that you still have a job, Ashcroft.”

“Until I find the next traitor you let in the gate. Then, what?”

He grinned but not through his eyes. “Maybe I’ll retire and let you take over. In the meantime, I’ll run the names Janus and Chimera and see if anything relevant pops up.”

By the time the helicopter landed at Glenshadow, I was ready to tear Con limb from limb. I was equally angry with myself for not having the conversation I’d told myself I would prior to meeting with Periscope.

“Where’s Con?” I asked when I was met at the door by Tag and Gus.

“Ashcroft,” said Tag.

“I need to speak with him immediately.”

“I’ll drive you over,” Tag offered.

I shook my head. “This is between Con and me alone.”

Gus handed me a key fob.

“Where is Sullivan?”

“She and Fallon Wallace are in the library,” Gus responded.

“Find her, and do not let her out of your sight until I return.”

Tag followed when I stormed outside. “What’s going on, Ash?”

“My apologies, my friend, but I must sort this with Con first.”

Typhon was right about there being nothing to stop the seed of doubt from growing once planted. Right now, Con was on my radar. That didn’t mean Tag or even Gus weren’t the person, or persons, who’d come for me. I’d give almost anything to have every suspicion quashed, to believe without the shadow of a doubt that my three closest friends would never betray me or the Crown. Except the one thing—person—I could not risk in this was Sullivan. It was my responsibility to protect her, and if called for, I’d lay down my life to save hers.

“I’m looking for Con,” I said when Mrs. Drummond met me just inside the entrance to the castle.

“He’s at Thistle Gate.”

I was almost out the door when I heard her call after me.

“Your Grace, if I may.”

“Time and again, I’ve told you not to address me in that manner, Mrs. Drummond.”

Since I hadn’t stopped walking, she hurried after me. “Understood, sir, but…”

I sighed. “Yes?”

“Your uncle has returned.”

My father’s doddering brother was the least of my worries at the moment. I stopped walking and turned to her. “And?”

She stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Lord Blackmoor said he believed you may be returning to the estate later today.”

“I urgently need to speak with Con , as I’ll point out, you’ve referred to him for most of our lives. After which, I will return and speak with you.”

“Thank you, your?—”

I leveled a glare at her.

“Ash.”

“That’s better.” I stalked off toward the bridge, but before I’d managed to get across, I heard Ambrose shouting my name.

“David, a word?” he hollered.

“Not fucking now, Brose,” I muttered, not loud enough for him to hear me. Instead, I waited for him to meet me where I stood.

“Hello, Uncle. I didn’t expect you.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it, then opened it again. “I’ll remind you that Ashcroft is my home as much as it is yours,” he sputtered.

While I wanted to inform him that it wasn’t and that I’d been generous in allowing him to come and go as he pleased, I had no time and even less inclination to get into an argument with him.

“I have an urgent matter to attend to and will speak with you once that’s taken care of. Goodbye, Ambrose.”

“But, but…” I heard him continue sputtering as I hurried off in the direction of Thistle Gate. As I rounded the front of the cottage, Con came out the front door.

“Hey, Ash. What happened with Periscope?”

“Before I answer that question, I have one for you.”

His brow furrowed at my tone. “Shall we go inside?”

“Let’s take a walk instead.”

Not far from the cottage, outside my estate’s perimeter, there was an old pier. While I didn’t doubt there was surveillance of some kind picking up our activity, I hoped that what the two of us said to one another wasn’t.

“Ash? What’s going on?”

“What do you know about Tower-Meridian’s business?”

He sat on one of the pilings. “Why don’t you cut to the chase and ask me what you really want to know?”

“Very well. How is it one of the world’s preeminent cyber experts was unaware of the true nature of his business?”

Con looked out at the loch. “Until you asked me to look into Weber, he wasn’t on my radar, Ash. He wasn’t on anyone’s, as far as I knew.”

I studied him. Would I know if he was lying? Did I truly know him as well as I believed? Or had I turned such a blind eye to the activities he engaged in that it had gotten to the point where I ignored the possibility that, like Periscope, he could very well be a traitor?

When he got to his feet and stepped closer to where I stood near the end of the pier, my hackles raised.

“Ashcroft.”

I faced him. “Blackmoor.”

“I will forgive you this as it’s my fault you’re doubting me in the first place. However, I swear on my mother’s soul that I would never betray you or the Crown. Now, what’s going on? Just be straight with me, for fuck’s sake.”

Con didn’t waver nor did he step away. He had every right to punch me in the face and knock me into the loch. And yet, he stood toe-to-toe with me, barely blinking, let alone looking away.

“Periscope.”

“I figured that much. What did she say?”

I motioned to the pilings. “A lot of rambling, but she mentioned two names—Janus and Chimera.”

He shook his head. “Not immediately familiar.”

“Typhon is running them.”

He smirked. “As will I when we’re finished. Is your line of questioning the reason he hasn’t asked me to do it yet?”

“He muttered something about seeds of doubt taking root.” He still hadn’t looked away, but I did. “Periscope is certain Weber is going to get to her. She said, ‘No one is safe. If you think you are, you’re as stupid as I was. They’ll come for you.’ Then she added as if she suddenly realized something, ‘In fact, they already have.’”

“I see. So she’s suggesting there’s a traitor in our midst in addition to her.”

“She also said, ‘Janus thinks he controls Chimera. He’s wrong. That may be your only chance at survival.’”

“Tell me what you know about Weber. What’s he into?”

“Sullivan’s theory is weapons trafficking, yet I can’t help but wonder why he’d order a hit on a reporter if that were the case.”

“So, it’s worse.” He put one hand on his hip. “I’ll admit one of the reasons I came over here was how hard it was for me not to eavesdrop on her and Fallon. And, no, Ash, I didn’t plant any ears.”

“I’m sorry for doubting you, Con.”

He half nodded, half shook his head. “I’m more than miffed, but as I said, I’ve given you cause through the years to doubt me.” He hesitated, but I sensed there was more he wanted to say. A few seconds later, he did. “I’ve been better of late, you know. Not that any of my more nefarious activities, as you and Tag called them, were criminal in nature.”

“I’ve no right to criticize you. I knew full well you’d employ means not necessarily sanctioned by SIS when I asked you to find all you could on Weber and Tower-Meridian.”

“Is anything Unit 23 does sanctioned?”

We both chuckled.

“The person whose brain I really want to pick is Sullivan’s.”

“You and me both.” I glanced back at the cottage. “How far off are we from returning?”

“Not as close as I thought we’d be. I discovered industrial-strength malware on the Crown Herald’s servers. I have to hand it to Fallon. One of the first things she did after coming on board at the agency was to put a cyber-resilience system in place.”

“How complex?”

“Critical infrastructure in line with GCHQ’s cybersecurity guidance protocols.”

I was stunned, but more, I couldn’t help but wonder if we should be taking a closer look at Fallon Wallace’s background.

“I dug deep,” said Con, picking up on my train of thought.

“And?”

“Better if I let her tell you herself. I’ll say this much. I’ll sleep better at night knowing both she and Sullivan are on our side.” I opened my mouth, but he held up his hand. “And, yes, I do believe they are firmly on the side of good, not evil.”

I sighed again and looked up at the castle. “Brose is back.”

Con rolled his eyes. “I know .”

“What makes you say it that way?”

“Can’t you deny him access? I finally had to escort the bugger out of the cottage. I swear, if I hear one more story about your grandfather, who your uncle is convinced would’ve made him the heir over your dad if the Crown would’ve allowed it, I’ll lose my bloody mind.”

“There’s been more than one occasion when I wished I could do the same. The man has no idea what it takes to run an estate of this magnitude.”

Con chuckled. “I’d blame inbreeding again, but you turned out all right.”