was insecure when it came to some quasi-mythical computer geek, but she was honest enough with herself to admit that she was. Maybe it had something to do with knowing that if she failed, he was only a step behind. But he hadn’t been Plan A. She was. She really hoped Krueger made the right call.
“We need a room,” Quinlan told the man.
The man took in the fact that they obviously had no luggage and smirked. “For an hour?”
“For two,” Quinlan corrected him.
“If you pay cash, I won’t need to see identification,” the clerk told him.
“How much?”
“A hundred.”
A bold move Sabrina thought. The clerk was banking on the fact that Quinlan was really horny. Given her current appearance, which she was pretty sure bordered on sexless, it was an extremely bold move.
Quinlan handed over the cash. “A hundred for three hours.”
The clerk sneered this time, then stared at Sabrina, assessing her. Then he simply shrugged. “Have fun.” He passed Quinlan a large key with the number six embossed on the tag.
They left the lobby and made their way down the paved walkway that ran the length of the motel and stopped at the number six door. Quinlan opened it and they stepped inside the nondescript room done primarily in a beige and brown color scheme. There was a door that led to a bathroom. A table with a TV on it. And one bed.
Sabrina tossed off Quinlan’s coat, leaving her gun in the front pocket, and sat on the bed, testing its resiliency. There was none. It didn’t matter. That’s how bone tired she was. She lifted her legs up and lay back sighing in relief.
“You’re soft.”
“Like Carvel ice cream,” she admitted. “Fortunately for you it isn’t my body that’s required for this particular mission. No brawn needed for hacking a password, for breaking a code or for being fish bait.”
Quinlan was about to say something when he stopped and reached for his phone. He’d had the two-way set to vibrate as just one more precaution.
“Quinlan,” he answered.
Sabrina tried to read his face to determine the nature of the conversation but, as usual, that was impossible with him. Then she heard him say, “sir,” and knew that he must be speaking with a superior. More than likely Krueger.
“Yes, I understand. Let me explain what’s she’s done.”
Sabrina listened to the condensed version of how she might be the biggest traitor ever or the biggest hero ever. Q was giving a very neutral rendition of the tale. She wondered if Krueger was smiling knowingly on the other end of the phone. Probably not. Even with no one looking, the man would no doubt play his role to the end. But he had to be thinking,
That was what she was thinking on most days. About everything.
“You should know I think it’s possible that he is in the country. This may be… Yes. Yes. I understand.”
Sabrina sat up, sensing a level of tension creeping into the conversation. It wasn’t evident on his face, but his back was a little straighter. Quinlan rattled off the address, which he’d ascertained from the motel’s logo on the back of the key and told him that they needed cold-weather gear.
“We’ll be waiting.” He snapped the phone closed and carefully set it down on top of the TV. She had an inkling the reason he’d been so careful with the cellular was because he had wanted to throw it across the room. Possibly at her.
“What’s going on?”
“We sent agents to the last known location of the cell we’d been tracking via the satellite. They’ve moved.”
“Do you think they know-”
“No. Up until now there had been no evidence to suggest that they knew they had been tagged. Krueger thinks they might be preparing for a strike.”
Sabrina processed that information, understood the message for what it was and tried to evaluate Quinlan’s tension.
“They’re not going to let us finish,” she concluded.
“They’re coming to get us now.”
“Why? Why not at least let us try to finish this?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
He didn’t so much answer as he explained. “Two agents are on their way. If Kahsan is truly ‘in-country,’ they can’t take the chance of having you anywhere near Arnold’s computer. The risk is far too great. They’re going to pick us up and take you to Langley. You can work there under the government’s protection to see if you have even a chance of breaking Arnold’s code.”
“On what? Some prototype? Get real. The point of the prototype is that it’s a lesser version of the real thing. Breaking it could help or it could be a big waste of time.”
“That’s what you need to find out.” He sat on the edge of the bed, looking away from her.
Sabrina shuffled up next to him. This was it, she decided. Krueger had told her to expect it: the moment when he pulled the plug. It was about to come down to whether she would be going after Kahsan on her own or she was going to have help.
She could do it on her own.
But help wasn’t always a bad thing.
“What about Kahsan?”
Quinlan stood and made his way to the window that overlooked the highway. He pulled the curtains back far enough to see out.
Typical avoidance tactics, she thought, but she wasn’t going to let him get away with that. She joined him at the window. Through the space he’d created all she saw were cars zooming past at high speed. There was only one other car in the lot, which Sabrina suspected belonged to the clerk.
Quinlan was searching for enemies that didn’t exist. At least not here.
“So we’re just going to let him go?” she asked quietly, knowing how the very idea would strike at his soul.
“We don’t have a choice. Krueger was very specific. There’s no time for delays. We have to get you safe.”
“Does he understand what it means to get this close to Kahsan only to let him slip away?”
“We can protect you. We can get you to a computer where you can safely work. We can plan something else.”
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to break Arnold’s test code,” Sabrina argued. “This is Arnold we’re talking about. If his code was simple to decipher, you sure as hell wouldn’t need me. Hoping that I can make some kind of progress in time to track down the people already loose in this country is a pipe dream and you know it.”
That actually could be the truth. Or maybe not. If she had a chance… It didn’t matter, she told herself, cutting off her own ego. Her mission was clear.
“Kahsan is expecting me to make contact. If he doesn’t hear from me soon, he’ll know it was a setup. The reason this guy has been around so long and has been habitually so hard to nail is because he doesn’t take risks. You know that. He always lives to fight another day. If I don’t make contact, if he thinks the CIA has me locked down in some bunker, he’ll assume that retrieving the data is a lost cause. He’ll leave the country.”
“We hope he’ll leave the country,” Quinlan corrected her.
“Is that what you want?” she questioned, confused by his quick acceptance of the situation.
Quinlan let the curtain drop and faced her. His stoic do-your-job-at-any-cost expression also had been dropped.
“No. I want him. But Krueger can’t take chances. Not with your life. Not with innocent civilians’ lives. He’s the one who’s accountable, Bri. If something happens and higher-ups realize it was because he was trying to set up a sting operation, then it’s his neck on the line.”
“Isn’t it the whole world’s neck on the line if we let Kahsan walk away without even trying to take him down?” Sabrina uttered the words and listened to them, as well. That had been Krueger’s point and it wasn’t altogether wrong. Risky yes, but not wrong. It was a bold offensive gesture and if it worked-if she made it work-then the world would be a safer place.
