The displayed list had at least two dozen places on it. Quinn spotted the address of the abandoned apartment building a little more than halfway down.
“How did he come up with this?” Quinn asked.
“We don’t know.”
“Peter, for God’s sake, you still trust this guy? It sounds to me like he was in on it.”
“We’re convinced otherwise,” Peter said. “Our priority now is to get the rest of the information from him so we can judge if we have a credible threat on our hands or not.”
“The DDNI is dead,” Quinn said. “You have a credible threat, all right. You’ve been talking to him.” He paused. “And, you know what? Right now, shouldn’t your number one priority be getting me out of trouble?”
“I have a question,” Nate said.
They all turned to him.
“Am I the only one wondering why Peter is telling us all this? I mean, no offense or anything, but usually you don’t tell us anything. Am I wrong?”
Quinn could feel his gut clench. He would have noticed, too, if the evening’s events hadn’t pissed him off so much. He had come into Peter’s room expecting to get answers, and answers he got. But now he realized why.
Peter must have seen it in Quinn’s eyes. “Number three,” he said.
“No,” Quinn said.
“Are you going back on the deal? No questions. You’re the one who offered that condition. That means you take whatever I give you.”
Quinn could feel Orlando and Nate tense behind him, everyone realizing the fate they were about to receive.
“Here it is,” Peter said. “Job number three. You help me get the information Primus knows, then help me stop it if necessary.”
“That’s two jobs,” Quinn said, regretting more than ever the deal he’d made.
“It’s one if I say it’s one,” Peter said. “The condition was no questions.”
There was a low, short hum followed by another a second later. Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He flipped it open.
“Yes?” Peter said, then listened for a moment. “All right. Stay there.” He closed the phone, then looked at Quinn. “So what’s it to be? Are you going to stand by your word? Or do I need to let people know you’re unreliable?”
In Quinn’s world, reputation was everything. He was pretty sure he could weather whatever negative PR Peter put out there, but it would still hurt. More important, though, Quinn considered himself a man of his word. If Peter wished to pervert a promise made out of necessity, there was nothing Quinn could do but go along with it.
“Fine,” he said.
“Good.” Peter smiled, then stood up. “Sean found a car for you. It’s on Forty-sixth, on the other side of Times Square, about halfway down the block. He’s waiting.”
He pushed past them and headed across the room toward the door.
“Once you’re out of the city, head north,” Peter said. “I’ll call you with instructions later.”
Peter let them out of the room. Quinn didn’t even look at Peter as he stepped into the hallway, but he could sense the head of the Office lingering in the doorway.
“Quinn,” Peter said. “The agent that was hurt tonight…”
Quinn stopped. “What about her?”
“I thought you should know. It was Tasha.”
“Tasha?” Quinn said.
The name had also gotten Orlando’s and Nate’s attention. They had all crossed paths with Tasha the previous year in Singapore.
“Tasha Douglas?” Nate said.
Peter nodded.
“How is she?” Orlando asked.
“Not good, but she’s holding on.”
“She working for you now?” Quinn asked.
“It was a … joint operation,” Peter said. “With her out… see … that’s why I need your help.”
Quinn stared at Peter, then said, “This is the last one. And I’m not talking about just our deal, Peter. No more after this.”
Peter’s jaw tensed, his words slipping through clenched teeth. “I know.”
CHAPTER
11
