Disavowed(55)

“Yes. The CIA must have evidence against her to have been able to order the disavowal. I want to know what it is. Two agency assets in two different cities died the same night they met with her. She swore she was innocent. My gut says she was telling the truth, and the agency’s trying to set her up to cover something else. Something big. I’d like to find out what really happened and clear her name if possible. I feel like I owe her that much.”

Tuck was silent a moment. “You seriously believe her?”

“Yeah, I do. I’ll understand if you don’t want to be involved though, in which case we’ll just pretend this conversation never happened.”

Tuck gave an irritated grunt. “You know me better than that. If you say she was set up, then I’m willing to believe it. Want me to talk to Celida about this?”

“No, I’ll do it. Just wanted to give you a heads up and let you know what I was planning.”

“I appreciate that. Anything else the guys and I can do?”

“Tell them to have a beer for me and I’ll see you all in a few days. And I need you to text me Celida’s cell number.”

“Will do. Call if you need anything though, okay?”

“You know I will.” After hanging up he called Celida. He filled her in on the situation, held a finger to his lips to warn Briar to keep silent as she exited the bathroom. She was still wearing the T-shirt and sweats he’d loaned her. The primal part of him liked the sight of her in his things but they’d have to get her more clothes.

“Can you look into this without tripping anyone’s radar?” he asked Celida.

“I’m gonna have to figure out how I can minimize the chances. I can’t guarantee someone won’t get flagged. The systems are really sophisticated.”

“I know.” It was a huge risk for her to take. Could potentially end her career if things didn’t work out the way Matt hoped they would. “If I’m wrong and it’s nothing, then it’s nothing. But I think this is something big that needs to be uncovered.”

“Okay. Can I bring Travers in on this, or no?”

“Just you. The fewer people involved, the better until we know if this is even worth pursuing.”

“Dammit, now I just want to dump my other cases and focus on this.”

Matt smiled. “So you’re in?”

“Totally in.” There was no hesitation in her voice.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

She chuckled. “You know I love a good conspiracy theory. I’ll look into this in a little bit. If I find anything, how can I reach you?”

“I’m not sure where I’m going yet, but it’ll be safer if I contact you.” They still had a few more burner phones left.

“Okay. I’ll start this as soon as I can. Hopefully I’ll have something for you when we talk next.”

“Thanks for this, I really appreciate it. Good to know I’ve got people I can count on to have my back.”

“And vice versa. Take care.”

“You too.” He hung up, smiling at Briar’s questioning look. “Got someone over at counterterrorism looking into this.”

She frowned, combed her fingers through her damp hair. “Just like that?”

“She’s engaged to one of my team leaders. She’s solid and a former Marine. She knows the risks involved and is going to do it anyway.”

The suspicion on her face morphed into mild surprise. “You have nice friends.”

“I do.”

She cocked her head a little. “So if not Mexico, where are we going? And how are we getting there? Driving’s too risky, and flying’s worse.”

Not if we take the right flight. “Got one more call to make. I’ll take care of it.” He dialed the number from memory and the man answered on the third ring. “Hey, it’s DeLuca,” he said. “I need a really big favor.”



****



Two hours later Briar stood next to Matt at the end of a small airstrip outside of town as light snow fell from the leaden sky. She kept her hands in her coat pockets, their breath forming vapor in the cold air as the sleek little jet did its final approach and touched down on the far end of the runway.

“You sure about this?” she asked him. Little late to be bringing it up now, but she was already unsettled by being out in the open like this, and waiting for whoever Matt had called. Too many people for her liking knew she was still alive. Adding more just seemed like asking for disaster.

Matt wrapped his arm around her waist, still careful of her stitches, and gave her a squeeze. “Yeah. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

She couldn’t help the rigid set to her muscles as the jet taxied toward them and parked close by. The engines began powering down and a minute later the forward door popped open. Matt kept his arm in place as a man appeared in the opening, tall, with graying brown hair.