Chapter 14
Kiev
The click of Lorraine’s heels on the floor beat in time with her racing heart. It wasn’t odd to get called into her superior’s office.
But this time, she knew it wasn’t for a new assignment or praise for a job well done. This was about her complete failure to capture Lev or Reyna.
Lorraine approached Lester’s door. His assistant looked up from his computer screen, but there was no welcoming smile in his eyes.
Still, she nodded her head in greeting. She didn’t know his name and didn’t bother learning it.
Lester went through assistants quicker than any other person in his station.
“He’s ready,” the assistant stated before returning to his work.
Lorraine squared her shoulders and went to the office door. She rapped twice on it before she heard Lester’s booming voice telling her to enter. She walked in and closed the door behind her as she met her boss’s gaze.
Lester Barros had the lined, weathered face of someone who had spent countless hours in the sun. His years moving around the Middle East from one desert to another had taken a toll on him physically.
But she didn’t know anyone tougher, even though he walked with a slight limp from an IED explosion.
“You sent for me, sir?” she said.
Lester tossed down the pen he’d been using and pushed back his chair. He said nothing as he stood and walked to the windows overlooking the city. With his hands clasped behind his back, he let out a sigh.
She noted the neat stack of files on his desktop, one folder opened. Lorraine took a slight step forward to get a better look, but she still couldn’t make it out. And she knew better than to push her luck.
Lester had removed his suit jacket, and it now hung on a hook near the door.
But his tie was still cinched tightly around his neck, which meant he wasn’t too stressed yet.
He was tall and thin, with a head of thick, salt-and-pepper hair that held just a hint of a wave to it.
Lester wore it combed back, but there was always a section over his left eye that curled onto his forehead.
She’d learned six years ago when they had a drink together that he’d come to the Saints via the Secret Service after several tours as a Marine Force Recon. Anyone stupid enough to underestimate him soon realized their mistake.
He might be at a desk now, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t as sharp as he had been when he had her job.
“What happened?”
Lorraine mentally steadied herself. She’d known this question was coming. “I’ve been asking myself that since I learned that Reyna Harris might very well be a double agent.”
“She was fully vetted.”
“I’m aware, but there’s no denying something isn’t right with her.”
“She’s done an exceptional job. Every mission she’s sent on, she completes quickly, cleanly, and effortlessly.”
Lorraine hated that Lester kept his back to her. That wasn’t a good sign. It meant that he was still undecided as to what to do with her. She needed to turn his mind to her way of thinking. And this was her only opportunity.
“Reyna came under suspicion when I saw her and Lev Ivanski driving away together.”
Lester’s shoulders raised as he took a deep breath. “I, too, saw the footage. She had him at gunpoint.”
“True. However, when I went to get Ivanski from her, she wasn’t at her flat.”
Lester turned on his heel and faced her before leaning his hips back against the window.
“Why didn’t you wait for her to bring him to you?
” Before Lorraine could respond, he continued.
“Because you wanted credit for the capture of Ivanski. I’m sure you hoped you could have a few hours with him to learn about the Loughmans before having to turn Lev over to me. ”
“You’ve never questioned my methods before.”
“Your drive to be the best has made you many enemies. You’ve remained at your post because I fought to keep you there.”
Lorraine was taken aback by the news. “What?” she murmured.
Lester lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “There was no need to tell you. I put my neck on the line for you, but you’ve never let me down before.”
“I pinged Reyna’s phone. She was supposed to be at her flat,” Lorraine stated, knowing she was running out of time. “It’s because I knew she was up to something that I was able to get a trace on her when I called. She’d taken Lev out of the city.”
He lifted a bushy brow. “How many times have you done that?”
She opened her mouth to respond but found no words.
“Exactly,” he said. “Many, many times. Reyna had Lev. We need him to get info on the Loughmans. Instead, she must have figured out that you were questioning her loyalties and ran.”
“They’re working together now.”
He snorted. “Your actions might have effectively turned one of our best—possibly the best—operatives away from us.”
“I don’t believe she was ever ours. She came into this building and went down to archives.”
Fury contorted Lester’s face as he pushed away from the window and stalked to her. “How do you know this?”
It took all of Lorraine’s will not to back up a step. She’d seen that look come over his face once in the past—right before he slit an enemy’s throat.
Lorraine swallowed, the sound loud to her ears. “I followed her movements for a few days. Her coming here was the only thing out of the ordinary.”
“Did you ever think she was sent for?”
“Was she?”
“I’m the one asking the questions,” Lester said in a low, deadly voice that brooked no argument.
Lorraine glanced at the floor. “I wasn’t thinking about the possibility that she’d been sent for. Not when I saw that she’d gone into the archives, and the feed was corrupted so I couldn’t see what she did.”
“When you weren’t able to capture Reyna or Lev, you then decided to ignore all common sense and contact the elders to see if one of them would talk to you.”
“It was a bold move, I agree, but it was ne—”
“If you want to be standing when you leave this office, you’ll shut your mouth right now.”
She’d never heard such a cold tone from him before. Lorraine suppressed the shiver that ran through her as she realized she had managed to take her one ally and sever that bond.
Lester glared at her, disappointment and anger tightening his visage. “I would expect something so impertinent from a new recruit, but not you.”
“I’ve given my loyalty and my life to the Saints. I’m simply trying to ensure that nothing can hurt us.”
“You’ve not given your life. Yet,” Lester threatened. He pivoted and returned to his desk. After sinking into his chair, he rested his forearms on the wooden surface.
Lorraine raised her chin defiantly. “If I must give my life, I’ll gladly do it. I’ve done nothing but serve. I may have overstepped bounds—”
“May?” Lester asked with raised brows.
“I overstepped bounds,” she corrected, only a tinge of irritation coming through in her voice. “But I did it to help this organization.”
Lester snorted and shook his head. “Reyna has been on your team for five years. You’ve always had great things to say about her, even when you were jealous of how well she did. Why would you question her now?”
“She’s never lied to me before.”
Lester held Lorraine’s gaze for a long minute before he leaned back. “As you well know, operatives are trained to lie. It’s what they do.”
“I never lied to you. I expect the same from those on my team.”
He nodded and tapped a finger on the desk. “That one lie had you digging into her life?”
“Yes. I know the reach and strength of the Saints. One person couldn’t do us harm, but I don’t want to be the one responsible for that individual. Reyna was vetted, yes, but she was under my watch. It falls to me.”
“And me,” Lester added with a sigh. “I spoke with the elders. None of them requested Reyna.”
Lorraine bit her tongue to keep from smiling. Lester wouldn’t approve of her showing any type of victory now. “Does that mean I can go after her?”
“Yes. Wait,” Lester said when she started to leave. “The elders want her and Lev alive and brought back here.”
Some of Lorraine’s excitement dulled. She’d been dreaming of taking Reyna out ever since she realized that she was a double agent. “I’ll do my best.”
“Let me put it this way, Lorraine. If either Lev or Reyna is killed, don’t come back. Make it clear to your team that they are to be detained only. And,” he continued, “no torture. Lev’s and Reyna’s questioning will be handled by the elders.”
As long as Lorraine had been with the Saints, she’d never heard of the elders doing such a thing. “Of course.”
“Understand that if either of them is killed, tortured, or questioned, you’ll be the next one hunted. As will everyone on your team.”
She nodded. “I understand completely.”
“Good. Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t.”
Lorraine left Lester’s office with her mind already planning how to get Reyna and Lev. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t realize that someone was in the elevator with her until she heard Anatoli’s voice.
“You scraped by on this one,” he stated. “By the skin of your teeth.”
She decided it was best to ignore him. Engaging him would only make her angry, and she was in too good of a mood to let anyone—especially him—dampen it.
“You underestimated them once. Don’t do it again,” Lester cautioned.
She didn’t heed her own advice as she turned her head to look at him. “Have you forgotten how good I am? I can handle this.”
“Everyone comes up against their match eventually, Lori. This could be yours.”
There was no teasing in his blue eyes, only concern.
His voice held a note of worry that Lorraine hadn’t heard since they were lovers.
It brought her up short. Were Lev and Reyna her match?
No, that wasn’t possible. It would take someone like Lester, someone who had been through it all and came out stronger, cleverer, to best her.
“Reyna knows we’re closing in. She knows our strategies, so she knows what we’re capable of,” Lorraine said. “As for Lev, he’s too stupid to realize what he’s landed in. But he’s about to. I’ve never failed on a mission before. I won’t do it now.”
“Let me come with you.”
She barked in laughter as the elevator chimed when it reached her floor. Lorraine stepped out of the car and said, “I don’t need you to do my job. I never did.”
Anatoli put his hand on the door to stop it from closing. “How about someone you trust watching your back?”
“You?” she asked and shook her head. “No, thanks.”
He moved out of the elevator, and the doors closed behind him. “You’re going to need all the help you can get.”
“I’ve got a great team. Go back to yours,” Lorraine told him and walked to her office.
There, she looked at a map of Poland and the surrounding countries pulled up on a giant screen. She used her hands to turn, zoom, and maneuver the image to look at it from all angles.
“You’re going to the sea,” she murmured. Lorraine leaned over and punched a button on her desk phone to ring her assistant. “Get men ready. I want twenty of them stationed along the Kattegat strait.”
Lorraine smiled as she realized how easy it would be to grab Lev and Reyna.