Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ana walked down the narrow aisle toward A.J. “You need to see a doctor about your head when we’re back,” she scolded. “That’s an order.”
Finn secured a bandage to A.J.’s temple, hiding the gnarly cut he’d gotten when he was thrown from the BMX, and then pivoted his focus to Anthony to check for damage.
They hadn’t had a chance to question the forger yet, in too big of a hurry to get away from the safe house before the fire department showed up. A.J. would feel a lot safer once their plane was in the air.
A.J. followed her down the aisle to a pair of empty seats and ushered her to the one near the window.
“Any news on Porter?” Her voice was soft yet resolute, and he was unsure whether she was feeling angry, sad, or a combination of the two regarding Porter.
“He’s still in surgery. We probably won’t know his status until we land in Hungary.” A.J. reached for her hand and clasped it in his. They’d both changed clothes upon arrival at the private hangar west of Atlanta. Opting for comfort on the long overnight flight to Hungary.
He’d swapped his military camo fatigues for jeans and a long-sleeved, black button-down shirt, and Ana had on jeans and a scoop-neck white silk blouse.
“At least he’s still alive. He was close to telling me something important, but I don’t know if I’d believe anything he had to say at this point.” Her shoulders collapsed, the weight of Porter’s betrayal a heavy burden, and it was the last thing she needed.
“Jessica provided her contact at the FBI the three locations for the missing sources. They should be dispatching teams to find them soon,” he added, hoping to offer her a glimmer of good news on such a dark night.
“Any word on Winters? What about him?” She turned her head his way, the usual sparkle in her green eyes gone, her auburn brows drawn tight.
“Natasha has people in D.C. looking for him. Winters wasn’t at his home or the office.
But by now, he must have heard Porter is in surgery, and Ivan is dead.
I’m sure he’ll take off. And with any luck, he’ll hightail it to the Maldives.
I assume he decided to cut Porter out of the payday.
” At least Luke and Knox are there waiting.
“Porter claimed he had nothing to do with the missing sources or hiring Ivan,” Ana said, her voice still soft and subdued. “Do you really think he was trying to protect me?”
“I can understand why you’d want to believe that.” A.J. squeezed her hand. “But maybe we wait and get all the facts before we determine his guilt in all of this. What do you say?”
She lightly nodded, her gaze going to the small window at her side. “I still don’t get Winters’s role in my parents’ death.”
En route to the jet, Jessica had announced she’d recovered the names of the agents in the case file from fifteen years ago.
Not only was Winters not on scene that night, he wasn’t even working in D.C.
at the time. He was a special agent at the Bureau in New York City.
Something didn’t add up. “Winters will have to explain himself once Luke and Knox get their hands on him,” A.J.
said with a firm voice, hoping if he spoke his thoughts aloud, his words would translate to reality.
Ana pinned her back to the seat but kept her hand locked with his. “And now we know why the FBI didn’t track the account to the Maldives. Winters probably blocked the agents from finding out. He wanted that payday.”
“Well, POTUS will be alerting Director Mendez about the evidence we have implicating Winters as the person who not only hired The Huntsman but is most likely working with the SVR. Hopefully, once the wheels touch ground in Budapest, you’ll have been removed from the fugitive list.”
“Once we’re wheels up, I need to talk to Anthony,” Ana said as the jet taxied down the runway of the private airstrip outside of Atlanta.
“I’m just afraid his answers will prompt more questions, and quite frankly, I’m tired of speculating.
Too much trusting the wrong people.” She peered A.J.
’s way as the plane climbed into the air.
“If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I would have survived this. ”
“I got you. Don’t worry.” He repeated what he’d said to her the night of their first kiss in the pond.
“You do, don’t you?” she whispered, and he had to read her lips when his hearing went to shit once they were in the clouds.
“I do,” he mouthed and leaned in, resting his head against hers as the plane began to level off.
He wasn’t sure how long they were in that position, but when he opened his eyes and pulled back, Roman was standing in the aisle.
“I think it’s time to talk to Anthony.” Roman cocked his head, and Ana nodded.
They unbuckled and went to the couch to sit across the aisle from Anthony’s seat.
He held a bottle of water, but it looked like the guy needed a gin after what he’d just gone through.
Roman had given him a change of clothes before the flight since he’d been wearing the same ones for the past two days.
Apparently, he’d been living in Savannah under an alias when Porter had found him.
“I’m so sorry this happened,” Ana apologized, her hands falling to her jeaned thighs.
Aside from Harper, the rest of the team hung back, offering Ana some space to talk to Anthony. A.J. would never leave her side, though.
“I am so glad you’re alive.” His Italian accent carried through his words. “Your parents wanted you to have a good life.” Anthony chanced a look at A.J. “I see you found someone you care about.”
Am I that easy to read?
“I did, but, Anthony”—Ana leaned forward ever so slightly across the narrow aisle—“I need your help. You were the only friend of my parents I ever met, so I assume you were close to them.”
“Your father was my best and oldest friend, yes.” Anthony’s blue eyes softened. “I was your godfather, but you disappeared immediately after they died.”
Ana’s gaze dropped to the floor. This must have been news to her. “Did you know my parents were Volkov spies?”
Anthony’s chest rose with a deep inhalation before he let the breath free through his nose. His hand trembled a little. A.J. doubted it was fear. Maybe Parkinson’s? He probably had trouble forging paintings and the like anymore.
“I did not know they were spies until they handed me the Daylight Ledger three months before they died, entrusting me with their secret. I was angry at first, and I did not want to help. I may be a criminal, but I love America. I moved here when I was a teenager, and I was not interested in helping to betray the country.”
“So, what changed?” Ana scooted to the edge of the couch at the news Anthony might be able to unravel mysteries that had haunted her for years.
“Your parents swore they were getting out of the espionage business. They didn’t want to be spies anymore.
They said they’d been recently activated by the Volkovs, but by that time, they’d grown to love the U.S.
and did not want to betray the country. They told me the ledger was their only way to get out. ”
Ana closed her eyes, and A.J. set a hand to her back, his gaze lifting to where Harper now stood silently behind Anthony’s chair. Her eyes were wide with surprise. That was one theory the team hadn’t considered.
Fuck, if it’s true, then . . .
Anthony placed his bottle in the chair’s cup holder and turned in his seat to face Ana.
“But yes, to answer what I know you want to ask me, I made one copy of the ledger.” His reply had Ana opening her eyes again.
“But it took longer to acquire the specific type of leather used for the book, which was a very ancient material. Once I had that, I was able to forge a copy.”
“Not the key?” Ana asked, sitting taller, but A.J. kept his hand on her back.
“No, I did not copy the key. There was no need. Your parents said the forged ledger was only meant as a distraction. A decoy if need be.”
“If the Russians allegedly found the forgery thinking it was the only ledger in existence, and that it was useless without the key,” Ana began, “it stands to reason the SVR felt it was safe to come down hard on the remaining Volkov spies in the U.S. even without the key.”
That had been a theory the team bounced around as a possibility. The ledger and key were only valuable if someone had both.
“But is that what my parents wanted? For the Volkovs to die so they could be free of them?” Ana sounded doubtful her parents would want such bloodshed.
“No, they did not want to be Volkov spies anymore, but they didn’t intend for anyone to die because of what they’d done, which is why they planned to return the original ledger and key to Adrik Volkov,” Anthony explained. “Only, your parents told me something went wrong their last night there.”
“What happened?” Ana asked, her voice tight.
“Your dad said he’d planned to slip the originals back into Adrik Volkov’s home while everyone was at Grigory’s birthday, but Adrik had added several more guards, and he wouldn’t safely be able to get in and out without notice.”
“So, what’d he do?” Ana asked, and A.J. continued to run his hand up and down her back, hoping to help calm her in the only way he knew how.
“Your father said he and your mother hid the ledger and key in some type of tunnel system within the labyrinth. I don’t know.
He said during the party, your mom went one way with the key, and he went a different way with the ledger, and they hid them.
The plan was to wait a few weeks before tipping off Adrik to the locations.
They thought it was best to delay for a period of time after the night of the party, concerned Adrik would quickly figure out who was behind the theft since the guest list was limited to less than a hundred close friends and family. ”
“So, there were never any rumors circulating that Ana’s parents stole the Daylight Ledger?” A.J. asked, hoping for confirmation, another nail in Porter’s coffin.