Spy Games (Tarnished Heroes #1)(58)

“What’d you find out?” Rand leaned on the adjacent desk, peering over Andy’s shoulder.

“Dark web chatter about an intel auction.” Andy twisted to peer up at Rand. “Now, I don’t know where the auction is going to happen—yet—but judging by the source, it’s Chinese in origin. I don’t need to tell you that this could be real, or a trap to lure you in.”

“It’s a risk we have to take. Can you find out more about it?”

“Maybe. It’ll take time. You know who might have more information?”

“Don’t say it.” Rand groaned.

Noah White.

Pain in Rand’s ass. The nosy motherfucker would have a finger in every pie. That was why he was valuable to the company. Whereas Andy had ethics, Noah was after the rush. An adrenaline junkie funded by the U.S. government.

“You can either wait to find out what I can learn, or you go chat with your old friend.”

Rand flipped Andy the bird.

“I’m sorry. Who?” Sarah glanced between them.

“Your boyfriend’s best friend.” Andy grinned.

“He’s not—”

“We’re not together,” Rand said.

Andy’s brows rose. He shrugged and turned back to the monitors. “Intel on the auction went out this morning. I imagine if we can front a little money, we can find out more. It’s going to be expensive if it’s not a trap entirely.” His fingers flew across the keys.

Used to be they could simply beat answers out of the bad guys. Rand didn’t like the fifty-fifty chances that this was, indeed, a trap. Then again, large-scale political functions were almost always used to cover up the underhanded dealings on the intelligence market.

These days, they couldn’t get anywhere without decent computer skills.

“Lives depend on it. Kids. Families. I’ll do whatever it takes, okay? Just make it happen.”

Andy’s finger’s stilled. Rand was playing him, and likely Andy recognized the ploy. “Consider it done,” Andy said without another pause.

“Thanks, man. You know how to get ahold of us?”

“Yup. Use the Istanbul code.”

“What do you know about a guy named Zhang Wei?”

Andy didn’t just stop typing, he went completely still. And not deer-in-the-crosshairs still. No, this was predator-still.

“Is he here?” Andy’s voice was rough, raw.

“He is,” Sarah answered.

“That’s why we need the help,” Rand said.

Andy turned, his complexion gone ashen. One side of his upper lip curled up. “Tell me. From the beginning.”

Rand had been fairly circumspect in his call for help, and the others wouldn’t ask too many questions. That was how it had to be. But from the look on Andy’s face, he wasn’t going to let them go without an answer.

Rand filled Andy in, keeping to the barest of details, with only a few added details from Sarah.

“I’ll help you, but I get Wei. Me, okay?”

“What are you going to do with him?” Sarah stared at Andy.

No, no, no, don’t answer that.

“I’m going to kill him.”

…

Mitch peered down at the parking lot.

Irene and Hector were gone. He had no idea where they were, what was happening, and his superiors wanted answers.

What a fucking nightmare.

If they didn’t recover those protocols soon, their jobs were over. Their assets in Asia would abandon them if they weren’t killed. Something had to happen. It was happening without him. And he had no way of figuring this out.

Fuck.

Why was Charlie dead? How had this happened? It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

The body was here. They were going to compare the dental records and they just weren’t going to match up. He’d done it to protect Charlie, but how did he explain what he couldn’t prove to the higher ups?

Mitch was fucked.

“Mr. McConnel?”

“Hmm?” He turned to face the young woman at his door.

She was vaguely familiar. One of the analysts, if memory served. Not fresh out of the academy, but close enough that she looked more like a kid to him. God, he felt old.

“Carol Sark, hi.” She extended her hand. In the other she held a folder.

A fucking folder.

His stomach tightened at the sight of it.

Did they know? When Charlie came to him, scared for his life, Mitch had switched out the medical records in an attempt to protect Charlie and throw off the suspected mole.

“Hi, Ms. Sark. What can I do for you?”

“I had some questions about an operation you were part of. It’s come up in my review. Do you have a minute?”

The last thing he needed was to answer questions right now. He couldn’t keep things straight, what he was supposed to admit to, what he wasn’t, the things no one could ever know. But he had to press on. Business as usual. No fucking this up. His life depended on it.

…

Sarah stared straight ahead, weaving through people with Rand at her back.

“Calm down, Sarah,” he said just loud enough for her to hear.

Calm down? Was he serious?

They’d just bartered a man’s life for help. And she was supposed to—what? Be on board with this? She knew Wei was bad, but was killing him the answer? Irene had talked about what they did ending the killing, not causing it. But would green lighting Wei’s death protect more people? It was a gray area she’d ignored until now.