5. The Art of Trust
CHAPTER 5
THE ART OF TRUST
ZOE
D irector Lancaster leads me and Ledger into the conference room behind Director Reynolds , where Kenneth , the lead analyst for my division, is standing next to a guy who I’m guessing is his CSA counterpart— a man in his late twenties with dark hair who doesn’t wear glasses but looks like he’d be at home in them. Our analyst is probably twice the CSA analyst’s age, but they have an eerily similar look and vibe. Like I’m seeing the younger and older versions of the same man.
“ Thank you all for coming. Some quick introductions before we get started,” Director Lancaster says, motioning to the two men behind the oval table, who have the case I recovered open on the table in front of them. “ This is Kenneth , the lead analyst for the Global Intelligence Division , and this is Emerson , the lead analyst here at the Clandestine Services Agency .”
Director Reynolds told me on the drive over that both Kenneth’s team and the CSA’s team have been working on the contents of the case through the night and all morning long. Based on how haggard the two men look, I believe it. When I first turned the case over to Sully and he said we were going to give the information in the case to the CSA that was part of their operation, I had stupidly thought that we’d open the case, take out our stuff, then turn the CSA’s stuff over to them.
But I’ve been on enough missions to know that recovered intelligence isn’t that cut and dried, and that information doesn’t just easily divide up. Everything is connected. So I should’ve guessed that both teams would need to analyze all the information and that we’d be meeting together for this briefing because it contains information we both need.
Director Lancaster closes the door, picks up a remote from the table, and presses a button that darkens the glass wall and door. We can still see out, but I have no doubt that others can’t see into the room. The two analysts stay standing, but once the two directors, Ledger , and I are all seated, Director Lancaster says, “ I know you’re anxious to learn what the two teams of analysts found in the case, so we won’t keep any of you waiting. Emerson and Kenneth , would you like to share what you’ve discovered?”
Emerson , the CSA’s analyst, says, “ Before Operative Steele recovered this case, based on the intelligence my team found, we thought that the case might contain smuggling routes or key contacts, believing that the stolen art was being used as a cover to move illegal arms.”
“ And my team,” Kenneth says, “believed that the art was being sold to fund terrorist activities and that the case might contain a record of the stolen artwork’s location and potential buyers.”
“ What neither of our teams guessed,” Emerson said, “is that it would contain one of the stolen pieces of art.” He pulls out a sculpture of entwined metal and glass, and I suck in a breath. The sculpture is of two figures leaning into each other, supported by each other, and based on everything I’ve found so far, I’m sure it was recently stolen. I glance over at Ledger , who is also sitting up straighter, and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am.
Kenneth picks up a tablet, taps a few things, and the screen on the wall behind them changes to show the five art pieces that we already know are stolen— an abstract painting, a necklace, a mixed media piece with paper, fabric, and pictures, a realistic painting, and a relief carving in wood.
“ We were stumped at first,” Kenneth says. “ No , we were clueless at first that the thefts of these pieces were related at all, since they are all different styles, media, and genres, even after we discovered that it is the same group of people who have stolen all five.”
“ But last night,” Emerson says, “ We discovered—”
“ Emerson discovered,” Kenneth interrupts. “ This part was all him.”
“—that the pieces themselves are all connected.” Emerson is talking faster and faster as he gets further into the explanation. “ Each of them was created by an artist who was living at the same art colony in the Netherlands in the late eighteen-hundreds. None of the artists are Rembrandts , but they all did pretty well. Their pieces generally sell for hundreds of thousands, up to five million dollars.”
Kenneth nods and continues the fast pace. “ One day while the artists were sitting around the campfire, singing Kumbaya , or whatever artists did back then, they decided that they were each going to do an art piece in their own style, all with the theme of ‘ Trust .’ The group didn’t publicize the theme at all. In fact, it took a lot of digging to find out that little detail.”
“ You can see in this piece,” Emerson says, picking up the sculpture, “by the way that the two figures are leaning into each other that it represents how trust involves reliance and vulnerability between individuals.” He points at the abstract painting on the screen behind him, a piece that has a chaotic mix of colors that slowly forms a clear path leading from one corner to the other. “ This one represents the idea that trust can guide you through the chaos and uncertainty of life. And in this necklace, which actually has interlocking pieces—”
“ Emerson ,” Ledger says, more than a little impatience coloring his voice. “ They have a theme. Got it. We don’t need an art history lesson. Let’s get to the ‘ Why it matters’ part.”
“ Right . Okay , well, the art colony connection itself wouldn’t have given us too much, but in studying this piece, Kenneth found that it contains a computer chip.” He squints down at where the metal attaches to the base. “ It’s teeny, was very well hidden, and could’ve easily been overlooked. But we got it, gave it to the tech team, and found that it contains a number.”
My eyebrows draw together. “ Like what? A membership number? A ticket number? An access code? A serial number?” And I’m really starting to wonder just how connected Ledger’s mission is with mine. If it really is just one big operation, then one agency is going to try to claim ownership of it. And it better be the CIA doing the claiming, because I’ve been working my tail off for this. I look over at Ledger and see the same hunger to pull off a successful mission that I have.
No , Ledger . This one is mine .
Kenneth shakes his head. “ Just a single digit. A six, specifically.”
It hits me that both analysts are excitedly sharing their information, which means that this isn’t just one case that’s going to one agency only. They aren’t the ones who get to make that decision, of course, but they’ve seen where the info is taking them and can guess. I bet they’ve found where the two operations separate, and we’re about to hear it. And no matter which half of this big operation the CIA gets, I’m going to complete my missions faster than Ledger completes the half that the CSA gets.
“ One digit?” Ledger asks. “ That helps us how ?” For as much as Ledger and I are usually on opposite sides of, well, everything, we both seem equally baffled at where this minuscule clue is going.
“ It only helps when combined with some chatter we’ve collected online about this man.” Emerson taps the tablet, and a photograph comes up on the screen. The man in the picture has strong facial features, a neatly trimmed beard and dark hair that’s graying at the temples, devious eyes, and a mischievous smile. The man has always seemed equal parts dangerous criminal mastermind and jovial strategist to me.
“ Callid Aragundi ,” Ledger growls.
It’s a name we all know because he’s on the Most Wanted list of pretty much every agency in the world. A lot of lives lost can be attributed to him.
Emerson nods. “ Callid Aragundi . It seems he’s thinking of retirement and wants to pass his fortune along to a person or a group who is ‘worthy’ of not only the cash but also of his vast criminal network. Which means that the chaos and terror he’s caused will be able to continue.
“ From what we’ve been tracking, he may have found a candidate and is now testing his possible successor with a bit of a scavenger hunt-like task, hiding a number in each of these art pieces so they have to steal all of them to get the full number.”
I roll my eyes. “ Oh , he’s a literal bored billionaire, but rather than getting his own crime-fighting team, he has his own crime-causing team.”
“ So instead of being Batman ,” Ledger says, “ Aragundi is The Riddler .”
I glance at Ledger . Okay , points to the man for thinking of Batman , just like I had been earlier.
“ If you combine The Riddler with The Godfather , then yes,” Kenneth says. He brings up a screen that shows various works of art. “ There are ten Trust pieces in total. Our best guess, based on what we know of Aragundi , is that the ten numbers combine to make GPS coordinates leading the possible successor to a location where they have to find something that allows them to continue.
“ Now , his possible successor is going to want all ten. Just to give you an idea as to why— and this estimate could change, based on several factors, like how close to the equator the location is— if they get all ten numbers, it will lead them to an area roughly the size of a baseball diamond. If they get eight, the area they’ll have to search for whatever Aragundi has hidden will be closer to the size of Disneyland . With six, it’s more like a small town. With four, we’re talking about them having to search an area the size of a large metropolis. They’ve already recovered five.”
He picks up the sculpture. “ And we have one, but we don’t know if they were able to get the number from it before attempting to hand it off yesterday— all we know is that the chip is still in it. They’re really going to want the other four.”
“ And you’re sure the numbers are GPS coordinates?” I ask. I don’t know what chatter the analysts have seen, but from what I’ve seen, that’s a big leap. It’s their job to see so much more than I ever could, though.
Kenneth shakes his head. “ It could be part of an international account number.”
“ Same concept, though,” Emerson says. “ If they have nine of the ten numbers, they’ve got a one in ten chance of guessing the missing number. If two are missing, it’s a one-in-one-hundred chance. Three missing? One in a thousand. ”
Kenneth spreads his arms, palms up. “ Or it could be a social security number of a target. A Library of Congress number. A CIA asset tag. An encoded message. A patent number. The point is, they’re going to want to recover all four of the remaining art pieces, or their chances of winning Aragundi’s challenge are small. Especially because there’s something else on each of the computer chips. We haven’t been able to make any sense of it yet, but we suspect that when all ten chips are together, it’ll give information that none of them would give separately.”
Sully says, “ But just keeping them from getting the art pieces— and therefore, the numbers— isn’t enough. We want to be able to send in a team to take down the organization itself and make the world a safer place. Which means installing a tracker and letting them continue to steal the pieces.”
“ The good thing is,” Emerson says as he brings a new image up on the screen with four art pieces, “we know where the other four pieces are, and we have a decent guess as to the order the thieves will try to steal them. First up is this tapestry in Dublin , then this ceramic sculpture in Belgrade . Then this stained glass window in Venice , and finishing with this charcoal drawing in Ankara .”
“ We’ve reached out to the governments where each of the four pieces reside and gotten their cooperation,” Sully says. “ Cooperation from individual art owners is a different story. The ones in Dublin and Ankara are fully on board with our plan. We know enough about the owner in Serbia to know not to contact him, and the fourth, the one in Venice , we haven’t been able to contact at all yet. Those last two will likely require some covert ops.”
I nod, already itching to leave. It looks like I have a good amount of travel ahead of me, which is no problem. I’ve never been to Ireland , so that’ll be fun. And I’m a big fan of Venice . “ This better be our op,” I say, partly to Sully , but partly to everyone in the room. “ It was ours first.”
“ No ,” Ledger says, “it was ours first. It’s our operation. You can’t just come and steal it because you want the credit. We are taking it.”
“ Both agencies want it,” Sully says. “ And trust me when I say that ‘calling dibs’ or claiming ownership in this room isn’t taken into consideration. This was a decision already made in a room with the Director of National Intelligence , my boss, Director Lancaster , and myself, after looking at it from all angles. After much discussion, we came to an agreement that it’s an op best served as a joint mission between the CIA and the CSA . End of story.”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. Fine . So they’ll divide up the locations between our agencies. Two for Ledger , two for me. Of course, the two I’ll pick if I have the choice immediately come to mind— Ireland and Italy . But both directors have turned to face me and Ledger with looks on their faces like maybe it’s already been decided.
After a long, slow breath, Director Lancaster says, “ Director Sullivan and I discussed who we should send on this operation, and we decided that we want the two of you to team up.”
Ledger and I simultaneously let out a disbelieving “ What ?” like we can’t believe anyone could ever think that’s a good idea. I manage to stay seated, though, whereas Ledger immediately stands, sending his rolling chair backward. I’m happy to see that he appears just as shocked and horrified as I am.
I shake my head. “ You mean the two of us going to the same locations? We can’t do that.” I enjoy competing against Ledger . I cannot work with Ledger . That was what we were doing a year and a half ago when everything went disastrously.
I cannot be with this man twenty-four hours a day for an undetermined amount of time. Every mission in our past, our current rivalry— it all makes me feel connected to Ledger in a way I rarely feel with anyone. I crave that connection, even though the glimpse it gives me into what I can never have is a physical pain. And if I’ve got the choice, I prefer to stay far, far away from pain.
Plus , I know myself well. I’ve got strong opinions, I am a lone wolf, and I do not work well with others. Most of all, I do not work well with Ledger Lancaster .
Sully says, “ The two of you are not only the operatives with the greatest knowledge of the ins and outs of this case, since you’ve been the primary two working on it for quite some time now, but you’re also the most qualified for this particular mission. You , Ledger , because of your fearlessness and ability to befriend assets—”
“ You mean his recklessness and unreliability?” I cut in.
“—and you, Zoe , because of your expertise in reading body language and ability to strategize.”
“ Oh ,” Ledger says, “you mean her ability to convincingly lie and be inflexible?”
Sully continues, as if neither I nor Ledger interrupted, “ And because you both have an innate need to win at any cost. And everyone really needs us to get this win.”
I meet my director’s eyes, feeling a bit betrayed that he didn’t warn me during our hour-long drive here that he and Director Lancaster had made plans to put me and Ledger on a mission together. All he told me was that both teams of analysts had been working together all through the night and that we were coming to hear about it. I gave him my best “we’re going to have words later” look.
Director Lancaster turns to the two analyst team leaders and says, “ Can you give us a minute?”
Emerson places his tablet on the table, and he and Kenneth both walk out the door, shutting it behind them. Ledger takes a deep breath, grabs his chair from where it had rolled near the wall, and sits in it again.
Then Director Lancaster says, “ Ledger , do you agree that you’re perfect for this mission?”
“ You better believe I am. But —”
Then she turns to me. “ Zoe , do you agree that you’re perfect for this mission?”
“ Absolutely .” And I do believe it. Still , though, hearing Evelyn Lancaster insinuating that I’m perfect for this mission sends a thrill through me like nothing else.
“ We’re each perfect for this job on our own,” Ledger says. “ We’re less so together. It’ll be disastrous.”
I know he’s thinking of that mission we were on together a year and a half ago. “ Disastrous ” is the same word I use whenever I think of it. Glad to see we’re on the same page about it. And at least we’re on the same page for wanting it to never happen again. We hadn’t crossed paths before that mission, and it was our first time working and spending every hour together. A few sparks might have ignited between us then— whether they were real or not didn’t change the fact that those sparks then scorched the earth.
Then Director Lancaster says to Ledger , “ So you’re saying that I should choose a different intelligence operative for this mission? One who is less perfect for the mission but who can better work with Operative Steele ?”
Ledger crosses his arms, which, I have to admit, shows off his impressive muscles. He must get that it isn’t a question that she needs to have him answer because he keeps his mouth shut.
Then Sully says to me, “ Should I choose a different operative who can work better with Operative Lancaster ?”
I don’t answer, either, but when Ledger stands again and takes a step to the corner of the conference room, turning away from us a bit, I suggest, “ Why don’t you just split us up? Have us each take two art pieces.”
Director Lancaster pulls her eyes from Ledger’s back to meet mine and shakes her head. “ That might be doable for the first art piece, but the other three can’t be done solo. Besides , neither agency is willing to give up point on this mission, so it has to be a joint mission. The preferences of either of you to not work together isn’t going to change that.” She glances at Ledger . “ Please excuse me for a moment.” She stands and walks over to him.
I take the moment to say in a low voice to Sully , “ This is a bad idea. After last time, he’s never going to trust me again.”
He studies me for a long moment, and then he says, “ But isn’t that a specialty of yours? We’ll just have to make one of your objectives for this mission be to get Ledger Lancaster to trust you.”