Chapter 11 #4
Candace groaned. "How problematic is this for you?" she asked Alex.
"I don't know," Alex replied. "The more people dig to find her... well, let's just say we'd better hope she's covered all her bases—any connection she has to the CIA."
"She has," Claire said.
All eyes turned to her.
"She has," Claire repeated.
Alex shook her head. "We don't know that, Claire."
"She's the Sphinx, Alex. If anyone knows how to cover her tracks, it's Jane."
Alex opened her mouth to speak. Claire talked over her.
"Look, I know I'm not in charge of anything. I get that."
"Claire."
"Christ, Toles. I love you. Would you just listen?"
Alex chuckled. "Go on."
Claire took a deep breath to steady herself. "Okay," she said. "I might be wrong about this. I don't think Jane is off looking for her father. And I don't think she's off at some ski chalet trying to put herself together."
"Uh-huh," Alex said. "What do you think?"
"I've been over it in my mind. At first, I didn't know what to think. And I admit, I panicked a little." Claire took another deep breath. "I think she left to give us a distraction."
Alex blinked.
"I do," Claire said. "At least partly. Alex, Jane has more information about the players in the Collaborative than anyone I know."
"And she's told us?—"
"Has she?" Claire pushed back.
"Are you suggesting that Jane's interests don't align with ours?" Alex asked.
"No."
"Then I don't?—"
"Alex." Claire's gaze drifted to Candace. She smiled, then returned her attention to Alex. "I think she's held back some."
Alex visibly bristled.
"Because as much as you want to believe that knowing everything is the only way?—"
"It is the only way."
Claire shook her head. "No. Not always. Some things might put you at greater risk.
Some things might put Dylan and the girls at risk.
Don't ask me what those things are. I don't know.
We both know they exist. Donald Waters being alive?
" Claire sighed. "Alex, Donald Waters and my father worked hand in hand.
On everything. I know that much. She didn't know about her father.
That's got to have made her wonder who helped keep him hidden. "
"She could have called Jim."
"Maybe. But Jim doesn't have that answer, Alex. He was called to see Waters. For years, he thought Waters was dead, too. Just think about it. Think about Jane."
Alex groaned.
Claire leaned forward. "Think about Jane."
"I am thinking about Jane."
"No. You're thinking about what Jane should have done. What you would have wanted her to do."
Alex's eyes narrowed.
Claire held up a hand. "I know. I hate when people say that to me, too."
Jameson glanced at Candace. Candace remained quiet, watching Alex with the kind of patience that usually meant she had already followed the thread somewhere none of them wanted to go.
Claire continued. "Jane knows how this works. She knows what happens if Stephanie and Alexandra file a missing person's report. She knows the press won't let it go. A former First Lady disappears? That story doesn't stay local. It doesn't stay contained."
"No," Candace said quietly. "It commands the day."
Alex looked at her.
Candace's expression was grim. "Every network. Every paper. Every international outlet. Speculation, timelines, old footage, experts, former staffers, security analysts. Everyone would be looking for Jane Merrow."
"And not looking somewhere else," Claire said.
Alex pushed out a slow breath.
There it was. The thing she had not wanted to see because seeing it made Jane's absence feel less like a crisis and more like a move.
A dangerous move.
One Alex found reckless.
"She just walked away without telling anyone?" Alex asked. "How, Claire? Everyone is on the radar. Jane Merrow?—"
"Is a spy."
The room fell silent. For a moment, everything went so still that the only sounds were their breathing.
"No." Alex shook her head. "No. We are supposed to be past this."
"Past what?" Claire asked.
"This," Alex snapped. "Vanishing. Deciding alone. Making yourself bait because you think it protects everyone else. We agreed, Claire—all of us."
"Yeah, well, agreements are broken all the time." Claire's voice softened. "Ferro is under the radar. Maybe he can figure out where she headed—with some help from us. But I think we all know that in the next day or so, Jane Merrow will become a missing person. Officially."
Alex's head throbbed. She massaged her temples.
Candace finally spoke. "If Jane intended this as cover, we can't waste it."
Alex looked at her.
"I'm not saying I like it," Candace said. "I don't. And if Jane is using her public profile to divert attention, knowing the risks, then we both know she felt it was necessary."
"She knows the risks," Alex said.
"She does," Claire agreed.
Candace's gaze held Alex's. "And if she did this for us, she did it because she believed we would understand what to do with the time it bought us."
Jameson looked between them. "Move Kapralov."
Claire nodded. "We need to move him."
"To where?" Alex asked. "We haven't even shown JD the building John converted yet. Where do we put him?"
Jameson raised her hand. "I might have an idea."
All eyes went to her.
"I sold my condo in Albany to my brother, Toby. He wanted to convert it into a rental property. He never has," Jameson said.
Alex shook her head. "JD, we can't bring anyone into?—"
"I can handle it," Jameson said. "It's not forever. Trust me. No one will look there. Toby won't look there." She laughed. "I'll tell him Claire has a crazy old uncle who needs a place to stay for a bit."
Claire laughed. "Gee, thanks."
Jameson smiled.
Alex shook her head. "It's?—"
"Risky?" Jameson asked. She shrugged. "Maybe it is. I think it's probably the safest option."
Alex looked at Candace.
"No one will look for Nika in Albany," Candace said.
Alex sighed. "I don't like it."
Claire laughed. "Since when does it matter if we like something?"
Alex groaned.
"Come on, Alex. Maybe I'm wrong about Jane. But even if I am, I'm not."
Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's true," Claire said. "Even if Jane is off somewhere crying into a glass of wine, it's a distraction we need to take advantage of.
That's just where we are. I don't like it either.
And believe it or not, I care what happens to Jane.
That's all the more reason we need to do this.
Let the girls call it in. I'll call Pyotr. "
"I don't trust Pyotr," Alex said.
"Then I guess it will have to be enough for you to trust me," Claire replied.
Alex stared at her.