At least he had tonight to look forward to.
Even if the prospect of his liaison with Tamara no longer seemed quite as exciting as before.
Five
Lily stepped out of the shower and toweled off her hair, humming. The afternoon delight with a certain hot chef had done wonders for her mood. It had been liberating to ditch her cold, calculating alter ego, if only for a while.
Maybe she didn’t have to be “on” every single second. What would it hurt to loosen up some, see things from a different perspective? What if Jude wasn’t-
The soft tune vibrating her cell phone dispersed the thought before it could form, and she crossed to the dresser and flipped it open. She didn’t need three guesses as to who would be on the other end.
“You don’t waste much time,” she said by way of greeting SHADO’s interim boss.
“We don’t have any to piss away, Agent Vale,” Dietz answered with deceptive calm. “Stay focused and locate those remaining two missing files before they wind up in the wrong hands. The last thing we need is the press getting a whiff of one of our best men going bad, stealing a weapon of mass destruction, and selling it to our enemy. SHADO will be roasted in the news and the government will go up our asses and around the corner.”
She frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. “I still don’t understand why St. Laurent would send out six worms containing damaging evidence of his own guilt. I mean, he had to know we’d eventually be able to trace the route back to him as the source.”
“He
She couldn’t. St. Laurent certainly didn’t need the extra millions in the bank. But something kept nagging her. “Then what is the root of his motivation? What would turn a man so completely against his country?”
“Lily,” he sighed, dropping the formalities. His voice became sad, as though the world rested on his shoulders. “When your upbringing is as pathetic and hardscrabble as St. Laurent ’s, it can damage a man. Sometimes to the point of no return. I can only imagine that his resentment simmered and grew year by year as he clawed his way to the top, obsessed with someday being in the position to do exactly what he did.”
“Stick it to everyone who failed him, in the most spectacular way,” she said, drawing the conclusion. “I know he refused to cooperate, even under torture, so why did you bother with the mind sweep instead of just putting him down?”
This was the longest conversation they’d ever had, and she took the opportunity to continue asking him the questions that had been bothering her. Usually, he simply relayed the information and barked the next orders. Today, he seemed uncharacteristically patient, as though making a concentrated effort to be more like Michael.
Perhaps Dietz was taking some heat for his methods, which were cold even by Lily’s standards.
“I was attempting to buy SHADO time to unravel what St. Laurent had done, discover his contacts, and find the files he planted. On the off chance we’d need him, I didn’t want him eliminated just yet.”
“And now? I’ve found four of the six files.” Encrypted files she’d been ordered to hand right over to Dietz with no time or way to decipher them.
“Depends. Is the sweep holding?”
She knew what was coming, and a part of her dreaded telling him. Even considering what Jude had done. “Honestly? I think it’s starting to break down. He says he’s having migraines and nightmares.”
“All right. That’s it, then.” He paused, let the truth fall into the space between them. “If he’s allowed to remember, his vengeance against SHADO-against both of us in particular-will be swift and merciless. You understand what must be done.”
Bile rose in her throat. “Yes. Quick and clean?”
“No, he’s a society figure and too many questions will be raised if we make it an obvious hit. Use the poison in four evenly spaced doses, no more than a week apart. His health will decline steadily, and once he’s dead, our sources will plant in the newspapers that Jude St. Laurent, renowned artist, never recovered from his accident. No one will question his death.”
Except Liam. She kept her lips sealed. The younger man had done nothing to deserve to die.
“Consider it done.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
Lily disconnected, sick to her stomach. She was doing the right thing for the best of reasons-eliminating a traitor before he could regain his memory and do any more damage to the United States. But why did it feel wrong?
Something about her talk with Dietz tugged at her brain, but the significance escaped her.
She put it out of her mind. If it was important, it would come to her later.
Robert Dietz leaned back in his chair and gazed into the pockmarked face of his right- hand man. “Finally, the end of the so-called indestructible St. Laurent.”
“She’s found all the files?” Tio asked, crossing his beefy arms over his chest.
“We’re still missing the same two, but if they haven’t been discovered by now, I’m willing to bet they never will. And he could’ve been lying about how many he sent.”
The other man scowled. “Maybe. But the asshole said himself he’s the only one who knows where they’re hidden. The whole reason you were keeping him alive was insurance against his death triggering the fucking things.”
“Be that as it may, we’ll have to take the risk. We can’t wait any longer.” He stood, went to the wet bar, and poured himself two fingers of scotch. “Our overseas friends are becoming anxious for their delivery and I want my goddamned money.”
He didn’t say that if he failed, his life wouldn’t be worth the ink on his birth certificate.
“Unlike real terrorists, who just want glory.” Tio smirked, showing the gap in his front teeth. “Nice spin, by the way.”
Dietz raised his glass in a toast. “Wasn’t it? I should win a frigging Oscar.” He drained the amber liquid, relishing the fire that burned all the way to his gut.
The other man regarded him thoughtfully. “All these months wasted babysitting St. Laurent when we could’ve moved by now. We’re damned lucky Ross is still grieving and hasn’t returned to the helm yet. He comes within a mile of this and he’ll smell it in an instant.”
“First of all, luck has nothing to do with my success. I don’t wait for breaks; I make them. Second, our next project will be to ensure our poor, distraught widower doesn’t return.”
Tio popped his big, scarred knuckles. “A plan I can get behind.”
“Good.” He slapped his highball glass onto the counter. “I’m already running this place, so we’ll make certain it becomes official.”
“Death to taxes and the weak.”
“I’ll drink to that, my butt-ugly friend.”
“We’re not friends.”
“You learn fast.” He pinned Tio with a steely glare until the other man flinched first. “Keep it up and you might live to spend your share.”
But I wouldn’t count on it.
