Part 5 (1/2)
”The office is closed,” she said as she came nearer. ”I was hoping there was a restroom.”
Slade held out his hand. If she'd called anyone, that could mean trouble. Ten minutes and they would be out of here. Still, ten minutes could be a lifetime when every second counted.
She acted confused at first, then she placed the phone in his hand. The expression on her face warned that she'd sensed his distrust. ”I didn't call anyone.”
He tucked the phone into his pocket. ”There's a restroom inside the hangar.”
He waited while she took care of business. The pilot readied the plane. When Maggie joined Slade outside once more, he said, ”Let's go ahead and board.”
The plane's engine roared to life as they approached. Maggie hesitated and looked to Slade. He waited for her to get right with this step. He'd said all there was to say. This was the only option. He had to a.s.sume since an ambush hadn't been waiting that this phase of his arrangements hadn't been compromised. That was the best he could do.
Slade took the steps to the plane first, had a look around inside and then offered a hand to Maggie. When she was inside, he pulled in the steps and secured the door.
”Ready?” the pilot asked.
Slade gave him a nod as he settled in for the flight. Once they approached Mexico City he would give the pilot an alternate airfield for the landing. He wouldn't like it since the change would deviate from the flight plan he'd filed, but he would get over it.
If he didn't, Slade would handle the landing himself. He hadn't operated an aircraft this size, but he was a quick study.
Maggie leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She would have questions. That she saved them for later was fortunate. The pilot didn't need any additional details to pa.s.s along if questioned later.
Slade had resources south of the border, but none like McCain. Weapons, ammo, ID, rudimentary gear and ground transportation. Nothing more. Basically, once they hit the ground in Mexico they were on their own. There was one place he felt confident about leaving Maggie, but he had to be sure that avenue was still viable.
Mexico. Under the circ.u.mstances, most would be running in the other direction. But not Slade. He fully understood that running would be futile at this point. Maybe if he were still on his own he could manage. His gaze settled on Maggie. But not now.
Now he had just once chance... Kill the Dragon before she killed him.
Chapter Six.
Chicago, 2:00 p.m.
”Lucas.”
Lucas jerked from his troubling thoughts. ”Yes?” He focused on the faces around the conference table in Victoria's office. ”You were saying...?”
Victoria's worried gaze settled on his, and Lucas managed a dim smile. The last thing she needed right now was to worry about him. Simon Ruhl and Ian Michaels, Victoria's seconds in command here at the agency, were briefing them on the Keaton situation. None of the news was good. Lucas felt a cramp of new frustration.
”Jim received confirmation that, thankfully, there were no victims as a result of the explosion,” Simon explained. ”Only property damage. Unfortunately, that's the only good news we have.”
”Still, that's a tremendous relief.” Victoria's shoulders sagged, confirming the reprieve she felt at hearing the news.
Ian Michaels picked up the briefing. ”Maggie James appears to have vanished. None of her employees has heard from her. Her a.s.sistant manager allowed me to check her apartment and it appears untouched. Her personal belongings seem to be in order.” He glanced at his notes. ”My contact says there have been no transactions on any of her credit cards or her bank card. However, her car and purse were found at the bus station downtown. There was no indication of foul play other than the ominous facts that her keys were in the ignition and her purse was abandoned.”
”There have been no public-transportation arrangements in her name or Keaton's,” Simon added. ”That doesn't mean one of those routes hasn't been utilized. We know that Keaton has operated under numerous aliases.”
”What about this woman referred to as the Dragon?” Victoria asked.
That she glanced at Lucas as she stated the moniker twisted the misery already writhing in his gut. He had brought this new menace to Victoria's door. His every effort to determine the threat Keaton represented had proved futile. And it had cost numerous lives. For the first time in his adult life Lucas felt helpless. The admission, even if only to himself, sliced through his heart like a newly forged dagger.
”What about you, Lucas?”
Lucas turned to Ian. Both he and Simon had been with Victoria for a very long time. Either man would gladly lay down his life for this woman. As would Lucas. ”I spoke with Thomas Casey this morning.” Thomas and Lucas had once worked together in the CIA's most elite covert unit-the Specialists. Thomas was also the uncle of Casey Manning, Lucas's G.o.ddaughter. ”Based on the incident in Acapulco, the CIA believes she is somewhere in Mexico. For the past ten years there has been no doc.u.mented activity related to her. Most consider her deceased, as did I. There is no evidence that Keaton is her son or that the woman called Alayna, whom Stark and Casey encountered in Acapulco, is her daughter.”
Lucas heaved a weary breath. ”That said, there is no evidence to the contrary, either. In fact, outside the club she owned, there is no evidence Alayna exists at all. The same goes for Keaton. What we know of his life here the past two years is all there is, it seems.”
Victoria shook her head. ”How can this be?”
The worry weighing on his wife hurt Lucas more than any other aspect of this business. That Keaton had obviously taken an innocent victim deeply disturbed him. They had to find Maggie and help her. If she didn't realize the danger around her, she would very soon. Then it might be too late.
”We'll keep you posted on any updates we receive,” Simon offered, winding up the briefing.
Lucas thanked both men as they left Victoria's office.
Victoria sat, as Lucas had been minutes ago, lost in her own troubling thoughts. He reached across the table and took her hand. She lifted her gaze to his.
”We will find them. Then we'll have our answers.”
”Is she the one trying to kill Keaton?”
Lucas wished he could answer that question with any measure of accuracy. ”That is the consensus.” Victoria knew this the same as he did. There were other questions she wanted to ask. If he was brave enough, he would give her the answers without her having to ask. But just now he lacked the courage to say the words that might in any way hurt her further.
”Is there any chance she will fade into obscurity like before?” The hope that flickered in Victoria's eyes thrust the knife deeper into Lucas's chest.
”She won't stop until she's finished what she started.” That he knew with complete certainty. Though his personal a.s.sociation with her was limited, he knew her reputation well.
Victoria fell silent again. For several moments she seemed lost in thought once more, then she returned her attention to him. ”Do you know her name?”
Lucas shook his head. ”I can't be certain of anything related to her. In the intelligence-gathering world we work under deep cover, weaving elaborate webs of deception.”
”But you had a name for her,” Victoria pressed. ”She was your lover, Lucas.”
The pain in Victoria's eyes ripped at his heart. ”Renae. She called herself Renae back then. That name was never officially connected to her. She has many aliases, all dead ends as far as tracking her activities.”
”Is it true that she looks enough like me that we could be sisters?”
Lucas had known this question was coming. To her credit, Victoria had not allowed personal feelings to get in the way of what had to be done. Maggie James needed their help. Slade Keaton needed to answer for his deceptions. The Dragon needed to be stopped. At least three countries had extermination leases on her head.
”There was a time when the resemblance was quite striking,” Lucas confessed. He thought back to the evil woman with whom he had foolishly allowed himself to become involved, however briefly. ”But she's nothing like you, Victoria.” He squeezed her hand. ”Not in any way. She is pure evil.”
”Yet,” Victoria acknowledged quietly, ”you were still drawn to her on some level.”
He swallowed back the bitter taste the memories prompted. ”There were times when lines were crossed for the sake of the mission.”
Victoria smoothed the pad of her thumb over his hand. ”I'm aware that accomplis.h.i.+ng the mission required great sacrifice at times.”