29. Savior

29

SAVIOR

S ullivan and I slept, made love, and slept again throughout the night. Rather than impassioned, each time was gentle and sweet, a way to convey our feelings for each other and soothe what had happened without words.

As far as I knew, no one had attempted to contact either of us, and even if they had, I would’ve ignored them or sent them away.

“Hey,” I said when she opened her eyes and looked up into mine.

“Hey.” She looked over her shoulder at the sunlight streaming in through the window. “What time is it?”

“I’ve no idea, and I don’t care.”

She sighed. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me yesterday was actually a horrible nightmare.”

“I wish I could, my love.”

“I cannot believe Fallon was working for Weber. My God, I told her everything . David, she said I signed my death warrant as well as all of yours.”

“We’ll do everything to keep you and each other safe, Sullivan. It may mean leaving Ashcroft. It also may mean leaving the UK, at least temporarily. Whatever it takes is what we’ll do.”

“My mind is racing with what I missed.” Sullivan groaned. “I trusted her from the very first.” Her eyes opened wide. “If you hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve given her the microSD card. At the time, it was the only place where the entirety of my investigation was stored.”

“I’ve no doubt everyone is questioning how she was able to deceive and dupe us, myself included.”

“Con in particular.”

“Agreed, since I think their relationship became more than asset protection.”

“She couldn’t stand him.”

“Another smokescreen, perhaps.”

Sullivan groaned. “I’m sure you’re right.”

I glanced over when I noticed the screen of my mobile light up. I’d put it in do-not-disturb mode last night so I wouldn’t hear calls or message alerts. When I reached over to pick it up, I saw there was only one, and it was from Gus.

Typhon and Viper ETA twelve hundred hours, it read. It was ten now, so we had time. However, we should do a debriefing between now and then.

Who’s on the property presently? I responded.

Everyone.

“What’s happening?” Sullivan asked.

I told her about the impending arrival and that everyone else was either already here or hadn’t left.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Physically, okay. Mentally and emotionally, I’m a wreck.

“Understood.”

“I need answers, David. As much as I wish I could set it all aside, I cannot.”

“Shall I request Gus gather everyone together at the castle in, say, an hour?”

“Please.”

After offering her privacy, Sullivan said she’d prefer I shower with her. “I don’t know when I’ll feel comfortable being alone longer than a few minutes.”

“Nor will I, letting you out of my sight for any length of time.”

I sent a message to Gus, who immediately responded that everyone was already gathered in the main dining room but to take our time. He also messaged that, overnight, SIS had arranged for security to be quadrupled and the estate was on lockdown.

Forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the castle’s entrance after a quiet ride from Thistle Gate. I parked, then Sullivan and I walked inside hand in hand.

“This way,” I said, going left rather than right, which would’ve taken us toward the library. “Everyone is in the dining room.” When we entered, my three closest friends stood, then took turns embracing Sullivan first, then me.

“Have you been at this all night?” I asked, noticing all were in the same clothes they’d worn yesterday.

Con spoke first. “Yes. Assessing damage and risk, primarily.”

“You should know another body was found in the tunnels,” said Gus.

“Whose?” I asked.

“Not yet identified.”

“Dressed in all black?” Sullivan asked.

“Affirmative,” Gus responded. “Wearing gloves and a ski mask. We don’t have ballistic reports yet, but believe the gun Fallon was holding when we arrived on scene was used to kill him.”

“He took me from the library.”

Gus nodded. “We suspected that might be the case.”

“Has anyone prepared a preliminary report?” I asked.

“Collectively, yes,” Con responded.

“You’re here,” said Mairi when she walked in from the direction of the kitchen.

Both Sullivan and I stood.

“Forgive me,” I heard Mairi say when the two women embraced.

“Without you, we never would’ve found Sullivan,” I said, resting my hand on her shoulder. God knew how long it might have taken us to realize she was missing if Mairi hadn’t shared her concerns about Fallon with Gus and me. I shuddered, realizing how close I’d come to losing the love of my life.

“Shall we get started?” Con asked when Mairi left the room. “The reports Ash asked about have been distributed via a secure app and should be available on your computers. We will also review them verbally.”

My eyes met Sullivan’s, and she nodded, then opened her laptop.

Con cleared his throat. “I’ll begin with damage assessment. As we’re all aware, Weber knows the extent of what we know, with a few exceptions. And those are primarily things we’ve learned in the last several hours.” He shook his head and sighed. “Apologies, but this needs to be said. Everyone in this room is likely asking themselves the same questions I am. How was Fallon Wallace able to infiltrate SIS as well as be named editor in chief at the Crown Herald.”

“Is the latter connected to the massive data breach at the news agency?” I asked.

“In part. It does appear she wasn’t just hired. She was recruited into the position. University records and work experience all line up, at least on the surface.”

“What do you mean?” Sullivan asked.

“All of it, including everything we think we know, could very well have been intentionally planted as well as AI generated.”

I thought about Periscope’s warning. It came the same day we first met Fallon. “Has any progress been made on Shelby Torriton’s cause of death?”

“Typhon said he expects to hear from the medical examiner today.”

“She said, ‘They’ll come for you. In fact, they already have.’ She had to have been talking about Fallon.”

“Most likely,” said Gus.

If only the woman had been more specific in her warning. “She also said, ‘Janus thinks he controls Chimera. He’s wrong. That may be your only chance at survival.’ Could it be Janus is Weber and Fallon, Chimera?”

Con typed something on his keyboard. “I wasn’t able to find anything on either code name.”

“Typhon was running them as well.”

Something else occurred to me. “Mairi said she saw Fallon speaking with Ambrose. Has anyone questioned him yet?”

“Negative,” said Gus. “What’s perplexing about my mum’s report is that according to CCTV, Ambrose left the estate within minutes of his leaving Thistle Gate.”

“On Christmas?” I asked.

“Affirmative. However, my mum insists it was him she saw with Fallon.”

“CCTV footage?”

“There’s nothing after his departure on Christmas day. Nothing with Fallon meeting with someone else either.”

“We need to find him.”

Gus nodded. “On it.”

“This means Fallon, or someone else, was controlling the fucking footage,” I said, not making eye contact with anyone in the room. The fault of Fallon’s infiltration did not lie on the shoulders of any one person. All of us were to blame, and I’d not have Con thinking I held him alone responsible.

“We believe that’s true with Glenshadow as well,” said Tag. “Which explains why we couldn’t find the intruders’ access points.”

“The tunnels,” said Sullivan.

“Come again?” Tag asked.

“They probably accessed Glenshadow through the tunnels connecting it to Ashcroft and Blackmoor.”

“It’s definitely possible,” responded Tag. “It also stands to reason that they initially planned to abduct Sullivan, but had to abandon the plan when we discovered the perimeter breach.”

“So Fallon switched her plan of attack in order to find out how much Sullivan knew and how much she’d shared with us.”

“A logical line of thinking,” said Tag.

“Con, you had dinner with Fallon the same night, correct?” I asked.

“Affirmative.”

My head cocked. “But then, she arrived at Glenshadow the following day via helicopter.”

“Again, that is correct. Since transport had already been arranged to take you to Edinburgh, I offered to have her picked up on the Isle of Arran first.” Con pushed away from the table, put his elbows on his knees, and lowered his head.

“Con, don’t.”

“I can’t help it. I actually said I believed Fallon was on the side of good, not evil. I gave you my reassurance.” He got up and left the room.

“Give him a minute,” I said when Tag stood to follow.

“He said it himself. Everyone here is asking themselves the same thing. How was Fallon Wallace able to infiltrate SIS?”

“I understand, Tag, and I predict there will come a time when each of us experiences what Con is going through presently. All I’m suggesting is we give him a few minutes to collect himself.”

“Right. Of course. Apologies.”

Less than five minutes later, Con returned. “Typhon and Viper are arriving earlier than expected. They should be touching down momentarily.”

“I’ll go get them,” Gus offered.

After he left the room, I glanced at Sullivan’s computer screen when an instant alert popped up.

“It’s another message from Clive,” she said. “What should I do?”

“I’d like to suggest you consider holding off a bit longer until we’ve had a chance to debrief further,” said Con.

“Of course,” she responded. “May I ask something else on the same subject?”

“Go ahead.”

“Given what we know now, do we still believe my uncle has been working with Weber?”

“It’s too early to say with any certainty.”

“Let’s take a break before Gus arrives with Typhon and Viper,” I said after Con’s response.

“Good idea,” said Tag.

“Walk with me?” I said to Sullivan. “How are you holding up?” I asked once we were behind closed doors in a room where I hadn’t set foot since my mother’s death—her sitting room.

“Conflicting emotions,” she admitted. “While I can mentally process that Fallon was working with Weber all along, I’m sure what I’m feeling is similar to Con. How stupid is it that one of the biggest disappointments is realizing we were never friends and she wasn’t the mentor I thought she’d be?”

“Betrayal hits hard emotionally,” I said, pulling her into my arms. “She positioned herself as an ally, gained our trust, and got the team as a whole to share classified information with her. Scarier still is that the woman figured out our security protocols and identified vulnerabilities.”

“So much of what she said and did makes sense now, even though I didn’t question it at the time.”

“Such as?”

“Her interest in the tunnel systems, in particular, but also how anxious she was to stay at Ashcroft versus Blackmoor. I thought it odd that she pushed so hard to relocate, but then didn’t.”

“She must’ve had a specific reason for wanting to return to Con’s place.”

Sullivan murmured her agreement.

“There’s something else of interest. We were joking around about how much more intelligent she was than Con. Now, I think she was giving us prompts.”

“Exactly,” said Sullivan. Her tone of voice and expression were more animated than they had been since we arrived at the castle earlier. “Of course she’d use prompts since it’s how AI works. At least with the more simplistic apps. I mean, there are books written about how to craft a question in order to get the answer you’re looking for from such an app.”

From the window, I saw Gus pull up and three other people get out of the golf cart. “Who is that?” I asked, not recognizing the second woman with them.

“I don’t know who any of them are,” said Sullivan, turning to face the same direction I was.

“We should get back.”

Rather than exit through the foyer, I led Sullivan out a different door, down a hallway, and through the smaller of the castle’s two kitchens.

“I was just about to come ask if you’d like refreshments served,” said Mairi.

“That would be much appreciated, especially considering neither of us ate before leaving Thistle Gate earlier.”

“Of course, sir, err, David. That will take some getting used to.”

“It will come with practice,” said Sullivan, smiling.

“We’d offer to stay and help, but some of our colleagues have just arrived.”

Mairi nudged me with her elbow and winked at Sullivan. “As if I’d allow you two in my kitchen.”

We entered the dining room just as Typhon, Viper, and the mystery woman walked in with Gus.

“Before we get started, I’d like everyone to meet Dr. Margot Sterling, code name Lex, who is the preeminent MI6 expert in artificial intelligence. She’ll be working with your team as the investigation moves forward.”

Typhon had been looking at me, so he missed Con’s expression.

“I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet all of you, but under the circumstances, I’m sure you agree there’s nothing pleasurable about it.”

“Excuse me,” said Con before storming out of the room.

“What in the bloody hell?” Typhon muttered, looking at me.

“I’ll go,” I offered when Tag took a step in that direction. I hurried out of the room and called out his name when I saw Con heading toward my office.

“I’m not doing this again,” he said over his shoulder.

“Doing what?”

“Having someone I’ve never heard of, was given no background on, foisted on me. Not a chance.”

“Your reaction is premature. Typhon said she’ll be working with the team, not you specifically.”

“Which of us knows the most about AI?”

“You, of course.”

“There you have it.”

“Con, I hate to say it, but I don’t believe you have much of a choice in the matter.”

“Don’t I?”

“Outside of leaving Unit 23—wait, tell me that’s not what you’re suggesting.”

“It’s her or me.”

“Can we finish the briefing before you issue the ultimatum?”

He didn’t immediately answer, but when he stalked out of my office like he had the dining room, I followed.