Besides, he had a bigger concern than his out-of-bounds sexual fantasies, one that hadn’t been addressed yet. One that could kill them as surely as it had killed Wally.
Backtracking through the house, he wasn’t surprised to find Evan sitting in his office, kicked back in his chair and staring at the wall. He wondered if the director was mulling over the same problem that concerned Donovan. Falling into the chair across the desk from him, he waited for Evan to focus on him before asking, “How was Wally’s cover blown?”
Troubled lines creased Evan’s forehead. “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear. “What did Maya say?” Their informant in Egypt was the last Omega employee Wally had contacted before leaving the country, a move that indicated he knew his communications might not be secure.
“Not much. He stopped by her office at the Cairo museum and left an envelope in her drawer, the usual form of communication when he thought he might be watched. He didn’t say anything specific, so we know he was worried about implicating her if the message was intercepted. That alone says a lot.”
Donovan nodded, imagining Wally’s state of mind. Dread for himself and the hostages. Worry over getting a final message through without implicating anyone else. “What did the message say?”
“It was the usual bland letter thanking her for her help. The essence of it was that his research was complete and had already provided academic recognition.”
Research complete meant his assignment had been accomplished; he’d found the location of the hostages. But he’d been recognized. “Academic recognition? That sounds like he was recognized by someone affiliated with a university.” It didn’t make sense. “How could someone from a terrorist group recognize a college professor from a tiny Midwestern university?”
“Good question,” Evan agreed.
“The second one is even more puzzling—why would they follow him all the way back to his hometown to eliminate him when simply moving the hostages would be easier? When’s the last time you heard of a terrorist organization dispatching someone to do that?”
Evan shrugged. “Never.”
“Exactly.”
They stared at each other in silence. Donovan tried to imagine again what Wally could have discovered that would target him for immediate death. How could two hostages be that important?
Evan leaned forward on his desk, obviously disturbed. “Why the hell didn’t he just come here? He’d be safe, damn it. And he could tell us what he found without having to bury it in trivial bits of conversation.”
Donovan had asked himself the same question. “Maybe he didn’t want anyone to connect him to us. Because they don’t know about us, we still have a shot at rescuing the two hostages.”
“Trading one life on the chance that we can save two? That’s a hard choice to make.”
Evan wasn’t a field operative, so Donovan didn’t bother explaining that it wasn’t such a tough choice. They all went into a mission prepared to do whatever they had to in order to save hostages. Even die. “He must have thought we had a good chance at succeeding.”
Evan shook his head. “Then why did he make it so hard? He gave Jessie a message so obscure we can’t figure it out. Why not just tell her where the hostages are so she can tell us?”
It went to the core of what had been bothering Donovan for the past several hours, and try as he might, he had come to only one conclusion. It turned his stomach. “Because he didn’t want someone in Omega to know.” He flinched when he said it, unwilling to believe it even though he knew there was no other answer.
Evan stilled, studying him closely. “Are you implying we have a mole?” he asked quietly. “Someone who might give information to whoever is holding the hostages?”
“I’m saying Wally implied that, yes. It’s all I can conclude.”
“I don’t believe it,” Evan said flatly. When Donovan didn’t reply, his brow furrowed as he turned the idea over in his mind. Donovan gave him time; he’d had the same reaction. “I don’t want to believe it,” Evan amended. “That means you or Kyle or Avery or Mitch…”
“Or you or Maya or one of the guys working the computers and satellite relays, or guarding the house. A lot of people have access to information if they want it. We trust all of them to be on our side, with the same objective. Obviously Wally wasn’t so sure.”
“But he didn’t name anyone.”
“No. I suspect he realized there was a mole, but didn’t know who.”