Chapter 16
“When is the drop supposed to take place?” I asked.
I pulled out my phone to take a picture of her.
Kara’s face wrinkled with protest. "What are you doing?”
"Finding out if you are who you say you are.”
She made an annoyed face.
"My way or the highway, remember?"
I snapped the photo and texted the image to Isabella. [Who is she?]
She responded a few minutes later. [Interviewing a new girlfriend, are you?]
[No.]
Another moment passed, then I got a phone call. I stepped out of the salon and into the galley for some privacy.
JD entertained Kara.
"Her name is Kara Valentine," Isabella said.
"Yes, that's her real name. She's a contract player. Recruited out of college by the CIA as an asset. Mostly as a honeypot. Codename: Fever. It seems fate has a sense of irony. Trained at the Farm, but never officially part of the agency. Specialized in non-lethal asset compromise, seduction intelligence, and psychological leverage. Spent two years working for the company, assigned covert HUMINT ops across Europe. Went out on her own after a situation that resulted in collateral damage. Unofficially burned. Now she specializes in corporate espionage—mostly biotech, aerospace, defense, etc. A little high-stakes blackmail, and the occasional termination—clean operations. She doesn’t seem to get her hands dirty, but she pretty much takes whatever job comes her way.
" Isabella paused. "Be careful with this one, Tyson. She excels at interpersonal manipulation, and she’s skilled with a firearm.
She has moderate cyber skills, but no deep-level hacking.
She can be highly persuasive, exhibits strong compartmentalization, and low emotional tethering.
She's most likely a high-functioning sociopath.”
"Good to know. That pretty much describes more than half the people in this business,” I joked.
“There are a few exceptions,” she reminded.
“Have you ever worked with her?”
“No. And I wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Call it a vibe.” Isabella paused. “You sure can pick ‘em.”
I laughed. "What can I say? Trouble seems to find me.”
"Not everyone can be saved, Tyson. Sometimes people will pull you under with them.”
"I'll be careful.”
"I hope so.”
“What about the data files?” I asked. “The encryption?”
I gave her the scoop about the beacon embedded in the files.
"That presents a problem, but I'm sure there's a workaround. I would need access to the files. Do you have them?"
"Not currently.”
"You can't just send them to me either.”
"Do you have any local assets that could handle this kind of thing?”
“It’s your town, not mine.”
I had a couple of people in mind, but their reliability was in question. "Look around. See what you can find. I'm going to explore some of my contacts.”
“Will do.”
I thanked her for the information and ended the call, then stepped back into the salon.
Kara asked, "Did my story check out?”
"You are who you say you are.”
"I assume you got my full background?”
"I did.”
“So we are all on the same page.”
"At the moment,” I said. “Let’s get some bloodwork and see what we’re dealing with.”
"I'm not going back to the hospital.”
"I've got someone who can do it.” After a pause, I asked, "Are you hungry?”
"Starving."
I nodded to JD, and he escorted her into the galley.
I called Brenda. "Hey, I need a favor."
"What kind of favor?”
"The kind where you don't want to ask too many questions.”
"Does this mean I could get in trouble?”
"Yes."
"Sounds interesting. I'm in."
I laughed. "This requires absolute discretion.”
"Discretion is my middle name."
Brenda examined dead bodies all day. I think she was down for anything that involved a change of pace.
"I’m going to bring somebody in for a blood draw in a bit. This has to be completely off the books, and no one can know about it.”
"This is for a good cause, right?"
“I wouldn't ask otherwise.”
“I'll be here, unless someone dies in the meantime.”
I chuckled. "We'll see you shortly."
By the time I got back to the sky deck, my breakfast was cold. I grabbed the plates and brought them down to the galley. I nuked mine and shoveled it down.
Kara chowed down at the breakfast nook, and JD and I conferred in a neighboring passageway.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea?"
"This is a terrible idea,” I admitted.
"At least we are in agreement on that.”
"But it might be the only way to figure out who killed Yan Zheng and head off an international incident.”
"I'm not totally convinced his killer isn't sitting in our galley right now.”
I couldn't disagree, but the stakes were too high to let this slip away. I had to see where it led. The Zheng incident could spiral out of control. Tensions were rising.
After Kara ate, we headed to the ME’s office.