Chapter 16 Playing the Part
Chapter sixteen
Playing the Part
Mariana
The federal building looms above me like a glass and steel tombstone. Everything about today has to be perfect—every word, every reaction, every tell. Harrison thinks he's meeting a desperate fugitive. He needs to believe he's winning.
"You're clear," Mikhail's voice comes through the earpiece, barely a whisper. "Harrison's on fifteen. Six guards, just like we expected. Remember—"
"I know," I murmur, pretending to check my phone. "Sell the desperation. Make him believe I'm breaking."
The lobby security is chaos—metal detectors screaming at everyone who passes through. Mila's interference working exactly as planned. The guards look overwhelmed, waving people through with cursory checks.
"Federal Agent Castillo," I tell the desk guard, using my real name. We need Harrison to think I'm too desperate to hide, that I feel safe here.
His eyes widen. "Ma'am, you're—you're wanted for—"
"Call Deputy Director Harrison. He's waiting for me, I'm here to make a deal."
The elevator ride feels endless. Every floor is another layer of the performance I'm about to give. I think about those thirty-nine women Harrison sold, about Mikhail’s sister, about my mother he threatened. This has to work.
Harrison's waiting in the conference room, looking exactly like what he is—a snake in an expensive suit. His presence had always caused me a certain discomfort, rejection, but I attributed it to his position. Now I know my instinct was right.
"Agent Castillo." He doesn't stand. Power play. "Or should I say Mrs. Kozlov now?"
So he knows about the marriage. Good. That's part of the story we're selling.
"I'd rather you avoid using that name. Agent Castillo is fine. That's who I am and that's what I want to continue being."
"Sit."
I remain standing, but let my hands shake slightly. "I prefer to stand."
"Nervous? You should be. Do you have any idea how many federal agents are looking for you?"
"That's why I'm here." I let desperation creep into my voice. "I can't—I can't do this anymore. The running, the hiding. My mother—"
"Ah yes, your mother. Legal resident, isn't she? Though paperwork can be so easily misplaced, records altered."
I flinch. It's not entirely acting—the threat to my mother makes my blood boil. But Harrison needs to see weakness.
"I want my name cleared and my mother out of this, out of danger. What do you want?" I ask.
"The question is what can you offer me?" He leans back, studying me like a specimen. "You married him. The Ghost."
"It wasn't—I didn't have a choice."
"No?" His eyebrows rise. "He forced you?"
This is the crucial moment. The story we're selling has to be believable.
"Not forced. Not exactly." I sigh loudly and approach stealthily.
Then I sit down, still looking cautious, making myself smaller.
"He saved my life and took me with him. From that point on everything was.
.. intense. And he became possessive. He was convinced that saving me put me in his debt, that I now belonged to him.
And for a while I felt that way too, I believed it, that I didn't have a choice.
My training didn't prepare me for that, for the way I feel like he brainwashed me. "
"Stockholm syndrome?"
"Maybe. I don't know. Everything happened so fast... I think my nerves at seeing my reputation and years of work compromised and dirty led me to a state of shock..."
Harrison leans forward, interested. "Tell me about him. The real Ghost."
"He's everything they say, everything we thought.
Brilliant. Lethal. Completely without conscience.
" I drop my eyes. "He confessed to me that he’s been watching me for two years.
Knows everything about me. He said he fell in love with me after watching all that time how fervently I tried to catch him. "
"And you believed that?"
"Have you ever been around someone like him? Someone who looks at you like you're already theirs? Who makes you feel like resistance is pointless?"
Through my earpiece, Mikhail chuckles darkly. "Laying it on thick, little wolf."
"So he convinced you to marry him," Harrison prompts.
"He insisted. Said it would protect me, that being his wife meant no one else could touch me. And that he would help me clear my name." I touch the ring on my finger. "But the last part wasn't true. He had no intention of doing it, nor of letting me go."
"And how did you get out of there? How did you get here? Alive and unharmed."
"Lying. I asked him to help me bring my mother to safety, to let me talk to her and convince her to come with me.
I managed to convince him, and when we put the fake plan into motion, I ran.
I knew he wouldn't go near my mother with you and the federals watching her to catch me.
But now I'm being hunted by him. I betrayed him, and he's going to destroy me for it.
.." I look up at him with calculated desperation.
"I need you. I need your help. I just want my life back. "
"And what about your husband?"
I let conflict play across my face. "He's not my husband.
He's my captor, a criminal. He managed for a while to make me think differently, to make me depend on him, to make me feel like I had no choice and that he was truly on my side.
But he lied to me. He manipulated me and used me. I owe him nothing."
"And what do you plan to do now? What do you expect from me?"
"You have the power and the resources to clear my name and give me back my life. I want to make a trade: all the information I've acquired about him during my captivity, in exchange for protection for me and my mother."
Harrison stands, walking around the table. I force myself not to tense as he approaches.
"You know what I think, Agent Castillo? I think you're lying."
My heart pounds. "I'm not—"
"Not about all of it, of course. I believe he manipulated you. He must be an expert on that, I’m sure. But I don't believe you're ready to betray him."
"Then why am I here?"
"Desperation. Fear. But…" He stops directly in front of me. "You still have feelings for him."
"That's not—"
"Don't lie to me!" His hand slams on the table, making me jump. This time it's not acting. "You married him. You let him touch you. You've been gone all this time, alone with him, with nothing and no one else. I'm sure at some point you must have thought you'd actually fallen in love with him."
"I don't—"
"But I can help you with that. I can help you get rid of any feelings you still have for him. What if I told you he's been lying to you from the beginning? That everything between you was orchestrated?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ghost doesn't work alone. Never has. He's been Pavel Volkov's weapon for years, and Pavel aimed him directly at you."
"Pavel Volkov is dead."
"Is he?" Harrison smiles coldly. "Or is that just what Ghost told you? Think about it—why would the most wanted man in New York risk exposure to save an FBI agent? Why marry you after such a short time? Why the sudden desperation to protect you?"
"Because—"
"Because Pavel ordered him to. You were getting too close to the truth about the trafficking network. So they gave you a different truth—a romance with a dangerous man, a corruption narrative that destroys your credibility."
Through my earpiece, Mikhail's voice is tight: "Stick to the plan. Let him think he's winning."
"That's insane," I say, but I let doubt creep into my voice.
"Is it? Has he told you he loves you?"
"Yes."
"Has he claimed you're his? That “you belong together”?"
"Yes, but—"
"Classic manipulation tactics. Make the target feel special, chosen, irreplaceable. Meanwhile, he reports everything back to Pavel."
I shake my head, but Harrison sees the doubt he's planted. "I need proof."
"Work with me, and I'll give you proof."
"Work with you how?"
"Publicly, you're still with Ghost. My corrupted agent turned by the dangerous criminal. But privately, you feed me information. Help me bring down both Ghost and Pavel's entire network."
"You want me to be a double agent."
"I want you to redeem yourself. If you want your name cleared and your mother safe, you'll have to do it yourself."
"What if he finds out? He will kill me."
"He will never know. You'll leave here and return to him repentant, begging for his forgiveness, convincing him that your little escape attempt made you realize that you really only have him, and that you can only trust him, and that you'll never be safe again outside without his help.
You'll play the devoted wife, and when he thinks you have no intention of escaping, you'll contact me. I’ll help you do it, and you'll help me destroy him and everything he's built. "
This is it. The hook we need him to swallow.
"What would I have to do?" I ask, making my voice small.
"Convince him to meet with my contact. Someone who claims to have information about Pavel's operations. Ghost won't be able to resist. And he'll be too pleased, thinking that you're trying to help him."
"He'll be suspicious..."
"Then make him un-suspicious. You're his wife now, aren't you? Use that."
Through the earpiece: "Say yes. Make him believe it."
I take a shaky breath. "This could go very wrong. I could end up dead. If I do this—when it's over—my record is cleared?"
"Completely. You'll be a hero. The agent who went undercover to bring down the Ghost."
"My mother?"
"Protected. Permanently."
I stand, pacing to the window as if wrestling with the decision. In reality, I'm giving Mila time to ensure she's captured everything.
"I need guarantees," I finally say. "Written immunity agreement."
"That can be arranged."
"And I want Rodriguez pulled off the case. He's too emotionally involved. He'll compromise everything, making Ghost nervous and suspicious of me."
Harrison's smile is cold. "Agent Rodriguez is persistent, isn't he? Still trying to save you from yourself."
"He doesn't understand. This is bigger than his feelings."
"Agreed. Rodriguez will be reassigned." Harrison returns to his desk, pulling out a phone. "You have forty-eight hours to convince Ghost to meet my contact. The Riverside warehouse, Thursday night."
"That's too soon."
"That's the point. We can't risk him trying to escape and taking you with him. I know you are capable. Don't disappoint me, Agent Castillo. Or should I practice calling you Mrs. Kozlov?"
"Mariana is fine."
"Mariana then. Remember—you're playing a part now. The devoted wife slowly becoming his teammate. Make it convincing."
"I know how to do my job."
"Do you? Your recent actions don't reflect that. You let your obsession with that criminal drag you down to the point where you couldn't help but fall for him."
I let him see a flash of anger. "I didn't fall for him! He caught me. There's a difference."
"Is there? I guess we'll find out. First you have to redeem yourself."
I turn to leave, then pause. "Your contact—who is it?"
"Someone Ghost will find irresistible. Someone claiming to have information about his dear sister Anya."
My blood runs cold, but I keep my face neutral. "He doesn't have a sister."
"Doesn't he? How well do you really know your husband, Mariana?"
I leave without answering, but inside I'm seething. Using Anya as bait is cruel, even for Harrison.
The elevator ride down feels even longer than the ride up. When I finally exit the building, I walk three blocks before Boris pulls up in a black sedan. Once again, Mila and the rest make sure I'm impossible to keep an eye on, and Harrison knows better than to send someone to trail me right away.
I slide into the backseat where Mikhail is waiting. The second the door closes, he pulls me against him.
"You did perfectly," he murmurs against my hair.
"He bought it?"
"Completely. Mila has everything recorded. Harrison just implicated himself in a conspiracy to entrap a federal agent."
"It's not enough. We need more."
"We'll get it. Thursday night at the warehouse."
I pull back to look at him. "It's a trap."
"Of course it is. But Harrison doesn't know we know that." His thumb brushes my cheekbone. "You were magnificent. The desperation, the doubt—he believed every word."
"And Harrison doesn't know about the baby, we confirm it."
"Good. Let's keep it that way."
Boris speaks from the driver's seat: "Alexei wants an update."
"Tell him Phase One is complete," Mikhail says. "Harrison believes he's turned Mariana. Thursday night, we move to Phase Two."
I lean against him, exhausted from the performance. "Do you think he really has information about Anya?"
"No. But he knows I'll come anyway, just in case."
I close my eyes. "God, I hate this. Pretending to betray you, even as an act."
"It's necessary."
"Doesn't make it easier."
He kisses my temple. "Two more days. Then we spring the trap, get Harrison's full confession, and end this."
"And if he's suspicious? If he figures out we're playing him?"
"Then we adapt. We know how to do it and survive.
Don't forget that these bastards have spent their entire professional lives behind a desk, making calls and pulling strings while others do the dirty work for them.
We're the ones who go out there, the ones who take action, the ones who do things for ourselves.
We protect our family with our own hands. "
Our family. Such a small phrase for such a huge concept.
But as we drive through the city, I can't shake the feeling that Harrison's smarter than we're giving him credit for. That maybe, just maybe, he's playing us as much as we're playing him.
Thursday night will tell.