Commitment (40 page)

“You’re saying he stood for nothing,” Krause determined.

“
Moshch eto soblaznitel’naja lyubovnitsa, Jonathan
.
Eto i yest’ vash otvet
. (Power is a seductive mistress, Jonathan. That is your answer),” Ivanov said definitively. Jonathan Krause stood regarding the man and his words silently. Ivanov’s words were confirmation of what he already knew was the truth. It did little to explain why it had been kept a secret for so long or who the man known as the broker truly was. “If that is all,” Ivanov said with a wave of his hand.

Krause nodded as he turned and headed for the door. “Why such a secret?” he asked without turning to look at the man behind the desk.

“Secrets are power’s ally,” Ivanov answered evenly. Krause shook his head and stepped through the doorway. “She will discover the truth, Jonathan. How she discovers it might just determine where she will fall in all of this,” Ivanov said.

Krause nodded. He had no use for the man behind him, but he could not deny that there was truth in the words he spoke. Alex would inevitably learn who he was; who they both were. It was in the files that Eleana held. It was time to decide. He poured over Ivanov’s reasoning. It was a thought process he
once embraced. Now he found it severely flawed. “Secrets are not power’s ally,” he muttered. “Trust is.”

Alex glanced to see Eleana reach the door to the room they had chosen. Alex stepped through the large steel door in her hands. She immediately caught sight of the tall NSA agent standing roughly four feet in front of her. She had never worked with Agent Anderson. His reputation, however, was praiseworthy. It had been an unexpected development to see him in the company of Claire Brackett. Alex couldn’t help but play through a number of scenarios as she approached him. Was he simply another agent acting at the direction of a superior; an unwitting conspirator in a larger game he had no knowledge of? She shook off her musings for a later time.

“Well, well…Agent Anderson. You certainly keep interesting company these days,” Alex called to him.

Marcus Anderson pivoted slowly. “Agent Alex Toles,” he greeted her cordially. A second man went to reach for his sidearm, but Anderson stopped him. “You are just full of surprises. What brings you to Russia?” Anderson asked. “Looking for something you misplaced, perhaps?” he winked.

Alex laughed. “You mean that lovely metal case you and Agent Brackett liberated from my company last year?” she asked. “No. Shopping isn’t my thing. Ask my wife,” Alex quipped.

Anderson raised a brow. “So, what can I do for you?” he asked.

Alex quickly surveyed her surroundings, committing to memory as many details as her brief assessment would allow. She smiled as she scanned the agent before her, noting the placement of his sidearm near his right hip. Steadily, she approached her adversary. The irony was not lost on her. He reported to the man she once considered a trusted friend and
mentor. In her previous life, she would have considered Agent Anderson an ally just by his affiliation. This was a new life and a new time. Alex stepped up to the tall agent and raised her brow suggestively. “Agent Anderson, do you know who you work for?” she asked.

“Do you?” he returned the question.

“My eyes are open,” Alex assured him. More swiftly than he could have anticipated Alex had spun him around, twisting his right arm behind his back. She looked forward and recognized Anderson’s companion’s efforts to draw his sidearm. “Bad idea,” she chastised him. She brought her foot forcefully into the back of Anderson’s knee instantly driving him downward. In one fluid motion, she took possession of the Glock pistol on Anderson’s hip. “Put it down,” she ordered, aiming it at the man in front of her as he raised his weapon. When he did not comply, she repeated her demand. “
Bros’ yego, ili ya broshu tebia
(Drop it, or I drop you),” Alex warned him.

“Alex!” Eleana screamed as she entered the large room.

Alex moved toward the sound of the younger woman’s voice and captured Anderson’s move for a knife in his boot. She felt the blade graze her calf as he struggled to regain his bearings. Alex fought the pain traveling up her leg and spun to her left, landing a powerful kick to Anderson’s temple. “Stay down!” Alex yelled. She pivoted to her right and kicked the second man’s side arm away. “Get his weapon,” she ordered Eleana.

Anderson shifted his weight and pulled himself to an upright position. He wiped the small trickle of blood running down his face and attempted to focus on Alex. He squinted repeatedly to remove the fog over his eyes that lingered. Alex grabbed the second man by his collar and threw him across the floor toward Anderson. “Jesus, Toles,” Anderson complained. “That’s how you treat your friends?”

“My friends?” Alex asked. She turned back toward Eleana. “How much time do you need to recode that badge?”

“Just a few seconds,” Eleana answered.

Alex leaned over Anderson. “You have an interesting group of friends, Agent Anderson. How is Claire?” her voice dripped with disgust.

Anderson chuckled. “Torn up over your friend over there. What’s her codename? Catwoman? Got nine lives or something?” he asked. Alex looked back briefly to Eleana, who raised her head for a split second at his revelation. Eleana struggled to breathe and returned to the task at hand.

“Huh. Never imagined Claire as having any compassion,” Alex said flatly.

“Got it,” Eleana called out.

Alex moved into Anderson’s ear. “I don’t know whose game you’re playing, or on whose team, Anderson. If word gets back to your little friend the sparrow that Eleana is alive, then I will know it is not on mine. Watch yourself,” she cautioned him. “Never a good thing to have mistrust between partners.” Alex started to pull back when she felt his hand grab her wrist.

“I see. Better you think to work with family? No possibility for conflict there,” Anderson inferred his doubt.

Alex shook her head in confusion. “I hope you know who you are working with,” Alex told him.

“You too,” he said. “I’ll give you a head start,” he whispered. “Two minutes. I’d give you five, but that kick was a bitch.” Eleana beckoned to Alex to follow. Alex pulled away from Anderson’s grasp and studied him for a brief second. His eyes were bright and his gaze steady. She made a mental note to add Marcus Anderson to the list of puzzles she needed to complete.

“Alex!” Eleana called again.

“Right behind you,” Alex assured her and sprinted to follow.

“Two minutes, Toles. Two,” Anderson called to her as she exited the room.

want to know where the hell she is!” Michael Taylor’s voice blared through the small office.

“I don’t know,” Agent Stephen Brady answered calmly. “Claire is not exactly one to have a leash,” he observed.

“You think I need a lesson on Agent Brackett, Agent Brady? Is that it?” the NSA Director asked heatedly.

Agent Brady tried not to chuckle at the tirade his superior was throwing. He had enjoyed witnessing Michael Taylor’s unravelling upon receiving the news that Claire Brackett was missing in action. “Have you contacted her father?” Brady made a gentle suggestion.

“No and I have no intention of doing so,” Taylor answered,

“Well, if you don’t want to involve the admiral; what is your plan?” Brady asked his boss.

Michael Taylor mulled over the question for a few minutes. Claire was a wild card. That was a reality that Director Taylor continually wrestled with for the last two years. “She’ll surface,” Taylor assured Brady. “I just wonder what it is she is doing in the meantime.”

“Maybe she is concerned about O’Brien,” Brady offered.

Taylor released a raucous laugh. “Claire? Worried about that fool? I doubt it,” Taylor said as he caught his breath. “The problem with Claire is that she is….”

“Reckless?” Stephen Brady guessed Taylor’s thought.

“Yes. The only advantage is that she has no skin in the game. The only thing she fears losing is her position or at least what she perceives that to be,” Taylor said.

“And you think that is a good thing?” Brady looked to the assistant director doubtfully.

“Reckless is never a good thing. A reckless person with passion is worse. A person who fears something, loves something, needs to protect or avenge….that recklessness becomes the most dangerous opponent anyone can face,” Taylor advised Brady.

“Guess it’s a good thing Claire’s not big on love,” Brady said.

“No. She’s too selfish for that. That worries me,” Taylor admitted

“All due respect, you just said that she would be more dangerous if….”

“At least if she had some ties we would have a trail to follow, Brady,” Taylor explained.

“What about Anderson?” Brady asked.

“In Russia. Last he heard from Claire was the day of the attack.” Michael Taylor picked up a piece of paper from his desk and perused it for a few moments. “Leave Claire to me,” Taylor said. “I have a few ideas. I have something else I want you to concentrate on.”

“And what might that be?” Brady inquired.

“Follow Agent Fallon,” Taylor ordered.

“You suddenly worried about Fallon’s loyalty?” Brady wondered.

“Just do it. He questioned O’Brien. Joshua Tate had to have approved that. See what our good Agent Fallon is up to these days. Who he is spending time with at the FBI when he is there.”

“What do you hope to find?” Brady asked.

“I hope I find nothing, Agent Brady. But, better to know if there is anything to find.”