Quebec #2
Shepherd opened his eyes and gazed into her beautiful blues, always amazed at how they focused on him with love, trust, and respect. “I love you,” he said. “I love us.”
“Me too,” she said. And she did.
She knew he’d been worried that his job would be too much for her when they’d first gotten together.
And she would admit, it took time to get used to the twenty-four-by-seven demands on him.
But getting used to the danger his people routinely were in was harder because she knew them all, and their significant others.
The team was a family, her family, and she cared about all of them.
When one was injured, she couldn’t stop herself from feeling their pain as if it had been Sam who was injured.
The one thing that still bothered her, though, was how much the various intelligence agencies knew about them and interfered in their lives, and how deceptive they were.
Wading through the subterfuge was nothing she had experience with.
Sam, on the other hand, usually outplayed them at their own games.
“There’s something on your mind,” he said, while softly stroking over her silky skin. He cleared a stray lock of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
“It’s no coincidence that she’s the same size as I am. I hate feeling like we were set up. How come they can’t be honest and straightforward?”
Shepherd chuckled. “It’s the nature of the business.
And we were set up. As I told you, Mac called me a few days before you were given the tickets and the dress.
I was sworn to secrecy, State secrets, Diana.
It is no coincidence, and I didn’t even know the mission before we got here, with good reason. ”
***
The meeting took place in their room. Seth Makris arrived first, and Shepherd introduced him to Diana.
She hadn’t been in Mykonos and had not met him when he’d been in town a few months earlier.
Cooper and Madison arrived several minutes later.
Cooper knew Mac as well as Shepherd did, and Madison was acquainted with him from both the Mykonos and Cancun cases.
Shepherd and Mac laid out the mission and its timeline. Its success hinged on timing and the concealment behind the masks. The two couples didn’t have to look identical, just similar enough to make the deception work.
“You’re a few inches taller than our target, Diana. You’ll have to wear flats and she’ll wear heels,” Mac said.
Diana shook her head. “Their handlers know what they look like. Even with masks on, surely, they’ll know Sam and I are not the two people in their charge.” Her nervousness was palpable.
“I could stand in for Diana,” Madison offered.
“You would be a passable double,” Mac said, his gaze shifting between the two women. “But you’re too tall, sorry. We need Diana.”
“And I will be going to the masquerade ball on my husband’s arm,” Diana insisted.
Mac laughed. “You are quite a match for Shepherd. I expected nothing less.” He stopped laughing when Shepherd threw him a look of warning. “Besides, we need Madison’s help with the getaway.”
“Are you sure they will only have two handlers with them?” Madison asked.
“That’s standard procedure, right out of the FSB playbook,” Shepherd answered for Mac. The FSB was the acronym of the Federal Security Service, which was the Russian service that succeeded the KGB.
“A second set is assigned on occasion, but we haven’t seen it happen with these two so far,” Mac clarified. “I’ve been shadowing them for two weeks.”
“Anything else?” Shepherd asked.
“This is how she’ll be wearing her hair. Can you duplicate it, Diana?” Mac asked, handing the photo to her.
Diana studied it. “I should be able to,” she said.
“I’ll be able to help,” Madison volunteered. “I don’t have to be in position until just before the ball begins.”
“We’ll want Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd in the ballroom before they arrive,” Mac said. “So, plan on being there promptly at seven. Kira will delay their departure from their room by ten minutes. No one will question a woman taking longer than planned to get ready,” Mac said.
Diana lifted the photo again of the target couple, Kira and Anatoly Koslov. She and Sam did physically resemble them in hair color and build. “And when they realize we are not the Koslovs?” Diana asked.
“I’ll be long gone with them,” Mac answered.
“And they won’t confront us?” Diana asked.
Both Shepherd and Cooper’s lips settled in matching smirks. “Don’t worry about that. They won’t be a threat to us,” Shepherd said.
“They will be leaving suddenly and will be extremely disappointed to have lost their charges,” Cooper added.
Later, after she’d donned the exquisite gold gown, Diana twisted her hair into an updo as best she could to match how Kira Koslov would be wearing her hair.
Mac had also brought her a necklace that was on a black chain.
He’d advised that she was to leave about two inches trailing down her back.
The earrings he brought were antique-looking crystal, with a center stone surrounded in a circular pattern of matching stones.
Several crystals hung down from the main cluster.
The jewelry matched what Kira would be wearing.
“You look beautiful,” Shepherd said, coming up behind her at the desk where she sat doing her hair and putting her makeup on. He kissed her bare neck, sending shivers down her spine. He still had that effect on her, which he loved.
“Thank you.” She admired his appearance as well. The gold tie stood out against his black suit over the black dress shirt. “You look quite handsome yourself.”
“Are you nervous about this?” he asked.
“No, I trust you, Cooper, and Madison, to keep me safe if anything goes wrong.”
“It will be a quick switch of you for Kira. And then Madison will be nearby while I stand in as Anatoly with the sellers.”
That part of the plan caused a chill to overtake her. That part was dangerous, no matter how much Sam had tried to convince her it wouldn’t be.