Last to Die

“You’re talking about extraordinary rendition,” said Frost.

“That makes it sound so clinical. But yes, that’s what it’s called. Sixteen years ago, our mission was to scoop him up, whisk him to a private airstrip, and fly him to a detention facility in a cooperative country.”

“For interrogation? Torture?” said Jane.

“It’s a lot less than what he did to his victims. This man wasn’t driven by politics or religious convictions. He was in it for the money, and he’d made a fortune at it. Wire him enough cash, and he’d arrange to bomb a nightclub in Bali. Or take down a jumbo jet from Heathrow. His fortune made him untouchable—at least, through normal channels. We knew he’d never face justice in Italy. So we had to deliver justice another way. We had one chance, and only one chance, to snatch him. If we fucked up, if Icarus slipped away, he’d go underground. With his resources, we’d never get another shot at him.”

“Icarus?”

“Only a code name. His real name isn’t important.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well,” said Jane.

Carole went back to the window and peered out through cracked panes. “Oh, we accomplished the mission. Waited outside his favorite restaurant, where he dined with his wife and children and two bodyguards. When they came out, we were ready for them. One team boxed in the bodyguards’ vehicle. The other team pursued the car with Icarus and his family.” She turned to look at them. “Have you ever driven a mountain road there?”

“I’ve never been to Italy,” said Jane.

“And I’ll never be able to go back. Not after what happened.”

“You said you accomplished your mission.”

“Yes. In spectacularly bloody fashion. We were in pursuit. Four of us, in two cars, winding up killer curves. We almost had him when the truck came around the bend. Icarus hit the guardrail and skidded. The truck hit him broadside.” Carole shook her head. “It was a fucking mess. His wife and the older son crushed on impact. The younger son taking his last breaths.”

“And Icarus?” said Frost.

“Oh, he was alive. Not just alive but fighting us. Nicholas and Erskine got him restrained and threw him in one of our vehicles. Six hours later he was on a plane, handcuffed and sedated. He woke up behind bars. You know the first thing he said, when he saw me? You’re dead. All of you.”

“You did kill his family,” pointed out Jane.

“That was unfortunate. Collateral damage. But we accomplished our mission. The truck driver was too shaken up to give the Italian police any useful details about us. Erskine continued in his post at the embassy. Nicholas went back to his cover story as a financial consultant.”

“And Olivia went back to selling nonexistent bedpans.”

Carole laughed. “At least Olivia went home with a souvenir. She stayed on in Italy for a few weeks. Met a dorky tourist named Neil Yablonski. By candlelight, in a Rome restaurant, I guess even a dork looks good. A year later, she married him.”

“And you all went on with your lives.”

“That’s how it should have been.”

“What went wrong?”

“Icarus escaped.”

In the silence that followed, Jane put it all together. The reason why three families were massacred. “Vengeance,” she said.

Carole nodded. “For what we did to him, and to his family. Those thirteen years he spent in prison made him even more of a monster. It gave him time to nurse his hatred, to feed it, grow it, until it consumed him. The escape was an inside job, that’s the only way it could have happened. I’m sure he offered a king’s ransom to whoever helped him. After he slipped out of sight, we had no idea where he went, or even what he looked like. We never did locate all his secret accounts, so he still controlled a fortune. I’m sure he bought a new face. And new friends in high places.”

“You said he spent thirteen years in prison,” said Frost.

“Yes.”

“So he escaped three years ago.” He looked at Jane. “That must be why Nicholas Clock and his family packed up and left on the sailboat.”

Carole nodded. “After Icarus escaped, Nicholas got nervous. We all did, but he was the only one worried enough to pull up roots and actually ditch the Company. I didn’t think it would be easy for Icarus to track us down. Until the Italian government got involved.”

“Why?” said Jane.

“Blame it on politics, on WikiLeaks, whatever. Word got out to the press that the CIA had committed an act of extraordinary rendition on Italian soil. Suddenly the Italians were pissed. Violation of sovereignty. A CIA operation that killed three innocent civilians. Our names were redacted from all the reports, but money opens doors. Especially if it’s a lot of money.” She went back to the window and looked out, a lean silhouette framed in gray light. “Erskine and his wife were killed first. Shot, in a London alley. Days later Olivia and her husband were dead, too, after their plane went down. I tried to get word to Nicholas, but the message didn’t reach him in time. In the span of one week, all three of my colleagues were dead.”

“How were you lucky enough to stay alive?” said Jane.

“Lucky?” Carole’s laugh was bitter. “That’s hardly the word I’d choose to describe my life. More like doomed. To keep looking over my shoulder. To always sleep with one eye open. For two years I’ve been living this way, and even though the Company does what it can to keep me safe, it will never feel like enough. And it won’t be enough to keep those three children alive.”

“Icarus would go that far? He’d kill children?”

“Who else would be hunting them? He killed Nicholas and Olivia and Erskine, all dead within a week of each other. Now he’s hunting their children, exterminating the family lines right down to the last survivor. Don’t you see, it’s all about making a point. It’s a message directed to anyone who dares oppose him in the future. Cross me, and I will massacre you and everyone you love.” She paced back toward Jane, and her face seemed etched even more deeply with exhaustion. “He will try again.”

The sound of a car passing on the street made Carole turn around to the window. She watched as the vehicle passed. Long after the sound of the engine had faded, she was still standing there, searching for, expecting, the coming attack.

Jane pulled out her cell phone. “I’m going to call the Maine State Police. Ask them to dispatch a team—”

“We can’t trust them. We can’t trust anyone.”

“Those children need protection now.”

“What I’ve told you is classified. You can’t share any of these details with law enforcement.”

“Or what, you’ll have to kill us?” Jane said, and snorted.

Carole moved toward her, no trace of humor in her face. “Make no mistake. If I have to, I will.”

“Then why are you telling us all this? If it’s so top secret?”

“Because you’re already deep in this. Because your interference could screw up everything.”

“Screw up what, exactly?”

“My best, maybe my only chance, to nail Icarus. That was my plan, anyway. Place all three children in one location, and he won’t be able to resist the target.”

Jane and Frost glanced at each other in astonishment. “You planned it this way?” she said. “You arranged to put those kids at Evensong?”

“It started as a precaution, not a plan. The Company believed they were safe in their various locations, but I had doubts. I was monitoring them. And when the first attack came, on the girl—”

“You were the Good Samaritan. The mystery blonde who magically showed up on the scene. And then vanished.”

“I stayed with Claire long enough to make sure she’d be safe. When the police arrived, I slipped out of sight. Arranged to move her straight to Evensong, where we already had one of our people in place.”

“Dr. Welliver.”

Carole nodded. “Anna retired from the Company years ago, after her husband was killed in Argentina. But we knew we could trust her. We also knew Evensong was remote enough and secure enough to keep the girl safe.