After a long day of waiting to talk to her sister, the curious face of Stefanie Ryland greeted them on a video chat. Ree forced a cheerful smile. “Good evening, Auntie Stef!” Stefanie was one of a small group of people who knew Ree and Parker were expecting a new little person in their life, and Ree was more than willing to use that knowledge to smooth their upcoming conversation.
Stefanie’s eyes flipped from curiosity to skepticism. There truly was no bullshitting her family. “Nice try, but I had to go pick up a ‘gift’ your FBI analyst husband sent. I’m not fooled that this is about the baby, even if I am soon going to be the world’s greatest aunt. Parker, are you trying to trick me into doing some research for your job? You could just ask. I’m happy to help, you know.”
Parker cleared his throat. Stefanie was, like Ree’s mom and dad, under the impression that he was a relatively inexperienced analyst at the FBI. They’d been admonished not to share even that with anyone for security reasons. As a military family, they understood the rules, and Parker had never been worried they might slip up. They didn’t even talk about it at family gatherings. As a result, Ree’s family had remained uninformed of the true extent of Parker’s undercover work with the FBI and were blissfully unaware of Ree’s involvement entirely. Parker exchanged a look with Ree. “I’m afraid it’s a little worse than that. My team has been dealing with a bit of a situation with a rogue Russian politician. We believe he has a spy working for him in the United States.”
“Sounds ominous.” Stefanie rested her chin in her hands and leaned into the video.
Parker slipped a hand into Ree’s. “We think there’s a chance that one of his sleeper agents is hiding out at the Oceanic Exploration Group.”
Stefanie put a hand over her mouth, then lowered it. “Okay. I’m sorry. Back up.” She closed her eyes, then opened them. “A Russian politician sent an agent to do something to my new workplace? And why are you both delivering this news? Isn’t it classified or something? You skipped some key information, new brother. I don’t know what Ree’s told you about our family, but we don’t beat around the bush.”
Ree smiled. “Oh, he knows. Parker isn’t beating around the bush. It’s just hard to know exactly where to start. Dmitri is resourceful and to be honest with you, he’s dangerous. And we don’t know why he’d be working with your company. We were hoping you might help us figure it out. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you’re doing? Specifically?”
“Okay, I’m going to walk past the fact that you said ‘we,’ and answer your question. But we will come back to it, just so we’re clear.” Stefanie gave her sister a pointed look. “The Oceanic Exploration Group sends research platforms into the ocean using remotely controlled vehicles – think of a drone, but a submarine – to do deep ocean research, inspect underwater equipment, check out shipwrecks, monitor pollution, you name it. Our fees are lower than most of our competitors and our platform is customizable. We do a little site scouting for mining operations, but not much yet. I mean, it’s possible that a Russian politician cares about mining opportunities, but that’s not especially nefarious. It’s money, sure, but there is global interest.”
“That’s very helpful. That’s just the kind of information we’re looking for.” Parker scribbled down a note.
Stefanie narrowed her eyes. “You could get most of that off the company website. What else do you want from me?”
Parker looked up from his notebook. “What about the people you do business with? You work with boat operators, I assume?”
“Yes. We have a handful of folks that manage the research platforms and deploy the submarines, mostly employees, but not all. I can tell you where to find a list.”
“That would be a great place to start.” Parker scribbled down another note.
Stefanie tilted her head. “Is that all you’re looking for?”
Ree shot a look at Parker, then looked at her sister. It’d be easier, coming from her. “The FBI would like you to be a source of information. Maybe just keep an ear to the ground, let us know if you see anything suspicious back at the office.”
Stefanie crossed her arms. “Let’s talk about why you said ‘us.’”
Ree looked at Parker, their silent discussion taking under a second. Ree leaned in to face her sister, insofar as it was possible on a video chat. “Stef, I’ve been involved in operations with the CIA and FBI that involve this politician. For operational reasons, I needed to go in as myself on one of them. It makes this investigation a little more high-stakes than usual. The politician’s name is Dmitri Yeninov, and he might know who I am. Therefore, we’ll need to be careful in our communications and let me know if you hear his name, even just his first name. If someone slips up, it could be the lead that makes sure we are all finally safe.” Ree put a hand on her stomach. “Sis, this guy is dangerous. We can get you out of there if you want. I’d go in myself, but I puke every few hours right now and it’s inconvenient…”
Stefanie’s eyes went wide. “Inconvenient? That’s the only reason you can think of for not getting involved? Ree, what have you gotten yourself into? You’re a professor, not a spy!” Her eyes shot fire at Parker, who assumed a calm mask, his default when he was in over his head.
“Well…maybe I can be both a professor and a spy.” Ree had offered to help the FBI on a case and she wasn’t sorry about any of it. “And for the record, I insisted on helping. Strongly. So please
