“Oh good.” Stefanie breathed an audible sigh of relief. “I was worried we had a glitch somewhere.” She looked back at the components taking up most of the work table. The last thing she needed was an additional complication in her life. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten my hands dirty. It’s nice.”
“If you say so.”
A longtime extrovert, the quiet in the lab felt deafening in the face of her worry. She prattled on, “I’ve spent the last several years pushing paperwork and convincing investors that we knew what we were doing. I missed this.”
Cole took a step into the room. “Well, it sounds like it worked out really well for us and you, then. You’ll have to let me know what you and Nash can put together.”
Stefanie rubbed her forehead and channeled every bit of acting skill she’d gained playing Townsperson #3 in her high school production of Calamity Jane. “Yeah, things have been going really well. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing for my family. My grandpa has been ill and…”
Cole’s face fell. “I am so sorry to hear that. Do you need some time off to go see him? Family is important.”
Stefanie had to push back her natural reaction to cringe at his kindness in the face of her lie. Stefanie had only one grandfather, and he had long been estranged from the rest of the family. She could do this. She studied the grease under her fingernails so she didn’t have to look him in the eyes. “If you’re sure it’s okay. I mean, I just got started.”
“We’re trying to be more flexible with work-life balance. We can work with you when you need time off. Particularly in the case of family emergencies.” Cole waved a hand.
Stefanie smiled past the guilt welling in her throat. “Wow. Thank you.” Once Cole had left, Stefanie allowed herself a moment to enjoy the support of her new company. For the first time in a long while, her interests and talents were finally in line with what was best for her and her family. Cole didn’t seem like a threat to her personally, and that was certainly a point in his favor. Now she just had to figure out where the spy was hiding.
7
Less than half an hour after arriving at his desk at CIA headquarters, Joey checked his email for the third time. He’d been checking more often than he cared to admit since he’d talked with Quinn the previous day. It was clear she was going to pull some levers with the FBI and he wanted to be a more active part of the investigation this time. He’d already lost someone he cared about to Dmitri and didn’t need to see someone else get hurt. Fortunately, before he could check his email a fourth time, Quinn appeared in front of his desk. She got right to business. “J, we have a contact at that marine research company you were worried about.”
Joey felt like he’d been hit in the stomach. “Are they in danger?”
“Officially, no.” Quinn let out a breath. “Unofficially, we’ll see. But, she wants to help, and she’s going to need backup. You interested in pitching in? Need you to confirm you’re in before I offer up the idea to the FBI.”
“Hell, yes. Is she CIA or FBI?”
“Neither.” Quinn studied her travel mug.
Joey tensed. “A civilian? Okay, so you need me to get her out of there?”
Quinn leaned towards Joey and lowered her voice. “I don’t want to make a huge move when our information came from a source in handcuffs and a non-trivial number of educated guesses.”
“You aren’t seriously considering leaving her in place. Dmitri has killed—”
Quinn held up a staying hand. “Trust me, Joey. Of all people, I know. But our best source for this information is a known liar and murderer, and those are the two nicest things I can say about him. It could be a trap or red herring. We move her, we tip Dmitri off.”
Joey stiffened. “Does the civilian know she’s at risk?”
Quinn sighed. “At the surface level, yes. She doesn’t truly know the depth of the danger. That’s why we want to send help. You’ve had the least amount of exposure out of all of us.”
“And I passed your test.” Joey eyed Quinn.
Quinn took a sip of coffee from her travel mug. “You mean by figuring out that Alexis’s bomb-sniffing dog was the one who proved you weren’t working for Dmitri or all of the others?”
Joey laughed. “I’m just glad you’re on our side, Quinn.” He crossed his arms. “And seriously, give me some credit. I knew you couldn’t need my help on that many different questions.” Joey rubbed the back of his neck. “What would you need from me?”
“We need you on the ground helping out, maybe doing some research with her.” Quinn tapped her finger against her travel mug. “Let me think about the best approach and run it by Cam and the FBI. We don’t have a lot of room for error when Dmitri is involved, and the FBI wants to sign off on any decision that involves the civilian – they have the connection with her, not us. We’ve got to play by their rules.”
“Okay. I’ll do it.” Joey leaned back in his chair. “Whatever it is. I’m in.”
Stefanie Ryland zipped up her suitcase and took one last peek in her closet to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything important. While she was an expert in marine biology, she was a novice in fighting crime. It was impossible to say if she’d packed the right wardrobe for a
