Lazlo’s Last Stand

Find me a mole.

It isn’t me. It isn’t me. It isn’t me.

That was the only thing that was real to her now. She knew she was not the person betraying Corbett and the Lazlo Group. Gradually, with that thought as her anchor and her starting point, her mind began to function again.

And with its function came emotions. Anger. Pain. Anger again-yes, that was better. She could work with anger.

Okay, if Corbett wanted a mole, by God, she’d find it for him. And hand it to him on a silver plate. Personally. Even if the truth broke his heart. Or hers.

Adam or Edward? She knew it wasn’t her, and it wasn’t Corbett, so it had to be one of those two.

She couldn’t believe it of Adam. He’d been Corbett’s best friend since their days in British intelligence, and it had been Adam who’d worked so hard and sacrificed his own career to clear Corbett when he’d been framed for treason. He’d helped to found the Lazlo Group. It seemed inconceivable that he’d now want to destroy it along with the man who’d been like a brother to him.

But then…how well did she really know Adam Sinclair? A person’s circumstances could change. Maybe he had reasons she didn’t know about.

Then there was Edward Lazlo, Corbett’s own brother. A bit of a bounder, it was true, but still loved and in a strange way looked up to by his younger and much more worthy brother. In an even stranger way, she realized Corbett felt responsible for his brother, which was why he’d made him controller for the Lazlo Group. It would devastate Corbett to learn his own brother had conspired with his worst enemy to destroy him.

Edward or Adam?

Either way, it wouldn’t be good news for Corbett.

Lucia sat quietly, her mind working feverishly to map out her plan of attack. One phrase kept creeping into her thoughts, one she’d heard many times before-admittedly, mostly in movies and television dramas, but it did seem to make a certain amount of sense. Follow the money.

Yes, she thought, that might just be the fastest way to the truth.

She was still sitting there an unknown amount of time later when Kati came in, muttering sorrowfully over Corbett’s absence, to prepare her breakfast.

Corbett found it fitting that, as he drove down from the mountains of northern Hungary to the Danube River valley, he should leave behind clear skies and a brilliant moon casting its winter enchantment over a landscape lying peacefully under a fresh dusting of snow, only to have the coming of daylight reveal a dismal gray-and-brown world and a sun reluctant to emerge from behind a pall of dirty fog. He felt every bit as gray and dismal and was no more eager than that surly red sun for the task that lay ahead of him.

He had plenty of time during the drive to Salzburg to contemplate what that change of heart meant to his life and his future. He’d expected his feelings for Lucia to have changed him, of course, but he hadn’t expected to discover he’d completely lost his taste for his chosen profession.

Although, when he thought about it more, it wasn’t really his work with the Lazlo Group he dreaded. That work had given him considerable satisfaction-not to mention financial reward-over the years, and he’d made a good many lasting friendships because of it, both among the agents he’d employed and worked with, and the clients he’d served so well. He’d have been more than happy if that was what he had to look forward to today.

However, the Lazlo Group was currently in a shambles, and most of his best people in hiding-too many others dead or missing in action. Add to that the fact that he was about to face down the woman responsible, who also happened to be the woman he’d once treated abominably, plus the son who hated him so much he’d tried three times to kill him.

Then there was the other person he had to face-the one who’d stabbed him in the back. He had plenty of time on that long drive to think about that, as well, and doing so left him with no conclusions and a gnawing ache in his belly.

Not Lucia. She’s too open, too honest. I’ve worked side by side with her, taught her everything I know, and I’ve always known she had feelings for me, I just didn’t want to let myself believe they were real. Maybe didn’t believe I had a right to her love…who knows? But I know she’s not capable of betraying me. And certainly not without my knowing. It’s not Lucia.

Not Edward. He’s my brother. More to the point, he’d have way too much to lose by destroying the Lazlo Group-it’s the only thing keeping him financially afloat, most of the time. Although, I suppose…if someone made him a better offer… No, he’s my brother, dammit! It’s not Edward.

Not Adam. He’s been my best friend for more than half my life, the one person I could count on to watch my back when it counted. He’s saved my life a dozen times. Why would he betray me now? For the sake of a woman? Is it possible that because of Lucia…No, dammit, I know him! It’s not Adam.

But it had to be one of the three, didn’t it? He’d been over it a thousand times, looking for a loophole in that conclusion. And there wasn’t one.

The gnawing pain in his belly was joined by a pounding one in his head.

He thought again of Lucia and the dawning realization that his life was half over and there was a whole part of it he’d missed out on. The part that included a home filled with warmth and children and love. And not having to go through life all alone.

He thought of Edward. Even as greedy and vain as he could be, he had a family, nice wife, kids, though he probably didn’t know the real value of them. Edward’s son, Josh, for instance. A great kid, who’d grown into a fine man and one of Corbett’s best agents. And now about to marry the prime minister’s daughter. From all accounts Prudence Hill could be a bit of a handful, but Corbett knew if anybody could deal with a bright and feisty woman, it was his nephew.

Thinking of that made Corbett smile. It had been one of the bright spots in an otherwise trying time.

Although, when he thought about it, there had been others, these past six months, Lazlo Group agents past, present and future, who’d somehow managed to find new love-or rediscover an old one-in the midst of the chaos and mayhem all around them. Mitch and Dani, back from the dead. Witt and British SIS agent, Marina Bond. The return of Sean McGregor to the fold, and his reunion with his former wife, Natalie-another British intelligence agent. And just last month, perhaps most surprising of all, Mark Alexander and that American undercover agent, Renee Sabine…

Food for thought, certainly. Corbett hadn’t quite got to the point where he was picturing himself puttering around in a rose garden or building model trains in the basement, but he was beginning to wonder whether it might be possible after all to have all those things he’d been missing-wife, kids, family-and still run the most respected private-security agency in the world. It would depend, he supposed, on the outcome of his current mission.

And whether Lucia would ever forgive him.

It turned out to be even easier than Lucia had thought it would be, finding the proof. Of course, it wasn’t the first time she’d been called upon to access confidential financial records, but in this case there’d been a determined effort to hide the ill-gotten gains, and she was quite proud of the way she’d managed to untangle the web of deception and follow it to its sad conclusion.

It wasn’t going to be easy for Corbett to hear this. Nor was it going to be easy for her to tell him, even if it did mean her own vindication.

After she’d transferred the incriminating records to a flash drive, she sat for a long time gazing at the monitor, chewing on her lip and wrestling with her choices. Corbett had made it abundantly clear he didn’t trust her. If she disobeyed his orders-and broke her own promise, even if it was one she’d had every intention at the time of breaking-wouldn’t she simply be proving him right? What if he decided he could never trust her again? What if-the very thought made her feel cold and sick-she lost him forever?

On the other hand, she knew he’d want to have this information immediately, no matter how heartbreaking he was sure to find it. But she had no way to reach him and no choice but to sit here and twiddle her thumbs and go quietly mad until he decided to contact her.

And in the meantime he was going into what could be a life-or-death confrontation, and what if he chose the wrong person to trust?

She could still lose him forever.