Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
“ W hat about her?” Warrick asked, turning his phone.
“You’re seriously on a Crusina dating app?” Cassidy asked as their flight began to descend. Not that she was jealous. She’d be happy to spend a night with Warrick, but it wouldn’t be professional, and it would make working together awkward. She’d pushed those feelings down a long time ago. Now she helped him look through the dating apps.
“Do you know how much information I get from these local dates? I’ve saved your ass more than once by going on a date with a local.”
“In that case,” Cassidy said, snatching his phone from him and flipping through the candidates. “Her. She works in finance. Every insurgency needs to be financed.”
Warrick frowned. “That’s actually a really good point. Just how is this multi-year insurgency being financed?”
“Well, she works at the former state bank. I bet she can tell you.”
The plane touched down and when Cassidy looked out the window, she saw a limo pull up. The door opened and Deming stepped out.
“Your boyfriend is here,” Warrick teased.
Cassidy frowned. She really needed to be more transparent with her feelings. It went against everything she’d been taught as a spy. But when it came to non-mission dating, she needed to be honest.
“Cassidy!” Deming smiled as she walked off the plane with Warrick right behind her, his cane tapping on the metal stairs. “Thank you so much for coming. You know my personal guard, Jin Kuzmin.”
Cassidy hugged Deming and shook Jin’s hand. Jin usually got time off when Deming was in Keeneston, so she didn’t know the guard very well. He was average height and muscular. It was clear he worked out and stood as if he were a former soldier. His dark hair was buzzed short and his face was always serious. “This is my partner, Warrick Vidar,” Cassidy introduced.
“Jin, you work with Warrick. Anything he needs, get it for him. Cassidy and I need to catch up.” Deming led her to his limo as Jin took Warrick to a Land Rover that was right behind the limo. Cassidy slid into the back of the limo, and Deming joined her before raising the privacy screen. “It is good to see you again, Cass.”
Cassidy was starting to feel horrible at the look of eagerness in Deming’s eyes. She’d been so blind and now she had to be honest, which was very difficult for a spy. “Deming, I need to talk to you. I’m here because you’re my friend. My very good friend. And I want to see you safe.”
Deming’s smile faltered a little and then he sighed. “Ari tried to warn me that was all I am to you,” he said, referring to Princess Ariana of Rahmi, who lived in Keeneston with her husband, former Diplomatic Security Agent, Jameson Duke. She was Rahmi’s UN Ambassador. Her father, Mo, was Deming’s mentor.
“I’m so sorry. I hope my friendship will be enough. If you’re uncomfortable with me here, I can ask for another team to be sent.”
Deming straightened up in his seat then reached out and took her hand. “No. A true friendship is a treasure, and I’d be a fool to part with it. Also, there’s no one better at your job than you. I want this insurgency over. You and Jin are the only people I trust to get it done.”
“Thank you, Deming. Tell me about the trial.”
“It’s been going on all week, but the victim testified early this morning and will be on the stand all day today. Her name is Dasha. Her father was killed in front of her by the defendants. She was injured too, but she had trouble identifying them since they attacked her from behind. Tomorrow I’ll testify that the defendants’ motivation for the killing was based on my father’s demand to run the state bank as his personal account. Dasha’s father was the president of the bank and wouldn’t turn over money belonging to his other clients. I overheard my father order the defendants to speak to Dasha’s father until he saw reason. Between her testimony and mine, there’s no doubt of their guilt. However, these insurgents keep popping up and creating problems for me and anyone who supports my change of the government from a dictatorship to a democracy.”
“Do you know who is funding them?” Cassidy asked, and Deming frowned.
“I assumed it was from the money my father and his cronies stole. What’s worrying me though is how these insurgencies have spread outside of Crusina. It’s why I called you in.” That was backed up by the intelligence Cassidy had too. The insurgents seemed to be dipping their toes into other countries’ politics.
“I have a plan, but it’s extreme,” Cassidy told him. “Are you up for it?”
“Anything to finally get to the bottom of this.”
Cassidy handed him the garment bag. “Then this is what we’re going to do.”
Cassidy and Warrick were settled near the presidential palace. They had met with Jin and gone over what they needed for tomorrow and then ate dinner together. Deming had excused himself shortly after. She was sure it was to re-center himself as her friend and nothing more. Jin had handed them their IDs after Deming left. She was undercover as a journalist reporting on the trial, and Warrick was her producer.
After dinner, she’d taken a nap while Warrick went on his date. Now it was the dead of night and Warrick was set up in the news van outside the courthouse. Cassidy pulled up the black hood of her sweatshirt and climbed from the van.
“Be careful,” Warrick told her in the small comms device snug in her ear.
“I’m scoping the place out, not going to war.”
“You never know if the people trying to assassinate Deming are doing the same.”
“Good point,” Cassidy said, glancing around as she walked around the courthouse. “I see four positions that could be used for an assassination attempt. The position right behind the van will be the best for my plan,” Cassidy told him.
“I can’t believe you’re not telling me your plan.”
“It’s dangerous, but it will pay off.” Cassidy listed off the other locations where a shot could be taken. “Pass that onto Jin and get those locations shut down, but in a way as to make it not obvious. Plumbers, HVAC people, construction, something like that,” Cassidy ordered.
“Done,” Warrick confirmed in her ear a short time later.
Cassidy strolled around the courthouse, learning all the alleys and hiding spots. She saw several weaknesses, but there was only so much she could do without raising suspicion. She instructed Jin to close a couple of the streets and was glad when he didn’t push back on any of her instructions.
Cassidy made her way back to the news van and knocked on the door. Warrick unlocked it and she jumped inside. “I think we’re all set. Did you get any information from your date?”
Warrick nodded as he pulled the van onto the street, their spot reserved for tomorrow. “Yes. Turns out she’s not a fan of the former president, but she is of Deming. She told me all of the citizens are a lot happier under his democracy, but the oligarchs are the ones causing problems. They still think they can order people around and take what they want. She named the defendants as some of the worst, and told me about some others who are still taking what they want even if it’s illegal.”
“Why don’t they turn them in?” Cassidy asked.
“She said everyone is afraid of them. Even when they tried to tell Deming and the police, the people who told were found dead within hours.”
“There’s still a leak in Deming’s inner circle.” Cassidy figured as much, which was why she didn’t tell anyone except Deming her plan. “Did your date give you names?”
Warrick shook his head. “I’d think Deming would know though. If they were that powerful during his father’s rule, Deming would know.”
“I’ll ask him about it tomorrow. Now, let’s get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be something else.”
Cassidy hopped from the van after Warrick parked it at the hotel. It was time to get some sleep. Tomorrow, she had an insurgency to take down.
He watched Cassidy climb from the van. They were in Crusina for the same reason. To get answers. Cassidy probably didn’t know the answers she needed to get, but he did. People here held the answers to his revenge.
Over the years, he had investigated Cassidy Davies down to the most minute details. He felt as if he knew her better than she knew herself. One thing he’d learned as he watched her take down Agent Naylor for corruption—Cassidy Davies wasn’t a traitor. She did the right thing even when it was hard.
He watched her stride into the lobby and finally made his move. He had to be careful. His heart was becoming involved. He’d almost been caught in Keeneston outside the Blossom Café because he just wanted to see her.
His whole adult life had been focused on revenge and then Cassidy had walked into it. The more he learned about her, the more space she took up in his heart. So much so that he felt it was his duty to watch her back, even if she never knew him the way he wished she could.
He could change that. He knew that. He could walk out of the shadows and talk to her. But, no matter how much his feelings for her were growing, the need for revenge was greater. Maybe, just maybe, when it was all said and done, he’d step forward and see if she could be interested in a man with a heart as black as his clothes.