“Okay, well, bye.”
“I’ll see you later, Flynn.”
She walked away, waving behind her, and I went inside.
“Are they still in there?” I asked Decker.
“Mm-hmm,” he grumbled.
The door opened seconds later, and Buck came out.
“Where’s Stella?” Decker asked.
“She’ll be out in a minute.”
“We’re gonna need her.”
“If I go back in there—”
Deck held up his hand. “That was the last thing I was suggesting. Believe me.”
Stella came out and sat in the chair Buck pulled out for her.
“I spoke with Burns,” Deck began. “He said he’s heard rumors about Operation Argead but never had a reason to look into it. Which means he didn’t burn it. He has theories about who did, though, and has promised to see what he can find out. For now, there’s no reason for me to go to California.”
“Copy that,” both Buck and I said.
“There’s more.”
“What?” Buck asked.
“Settle down, young Buck. I’m getting to it.”
“You do know that you’re only a couple of years older than I am, right?”
“In age maybe, but infinitely older in wisdom.”
Instead of sitting here, listening to this bullshit, I wished I could get up, go outside, call Flynn, and give her a list of things I needed from her, none of which included food, towels, or anything else for the cabin.
“Burns thinks it would be best if we kept this thing as far away from the Invincibles as possible. Mainly to keep the heat off Irish and Stella. Cope and Ali too.” Decker looked over at me.
“What did he suggest?” I asked.
“To pull K19 in.”
Both Buck and I raised a brow. An Invincibles partner was suggesting bringing in a rival company?
“Yeah, I don’t like it either, but hear me out.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
“This is the part I like. Cope will contact Doc and get him to contract out a couple of undercover gigs.”
“Where?”
“Inside Interpol, for one.”
“Who are you thinking?”
“Casper.”
The choice surprised me. Calla “Casper” Rey did far more work with the Invincibles than with any other private firm. I knew because her husband, Beau, was one of the agents whose death had gone unexplained, forcing Casper to resign from the agency when she couldn’t get any answers about how he’d died. I knew Casper well and admired her.
“Who else?” asked Buck.
“I’ll leave that to Doc.”
“Why did you say you liked the part of the plan where Cope contacts Doc?” Stella asked.
“I’ll answer that,” said Buck. “Because Doc will think it means he’s got a shot at recruiting Cope to join up with them.”
“Does he?” she asked.
“Hell no,” muttered Decker.
“Cope won’t sign with the Invincibles either.” When I spoke, all eyes turned to me.
“We’ll see,” said Deck.
“What’ll Casper’s assignment be?” Buck asked.
“To get inside Interpol’s executive committee. If we can get her in place quickly enough, she can be set up in time for the end-of-quarter meetings.”
Interpol served as a clearinghouse for international crime intel, rather than an actual law enforcement agency. The organization only had as much power as its executive committee, and of the three positions—president, vice president, and secretary-general—only the latter was a full-time, paid position.
The other two offices were advisory in nature and held by individuals who still worked for their respective countries’ intelligence agencies. The committee only met officially at the end of each quarter. Everyone in intelligence believed they met far more often than that in an unofficial capacity.
“Does Fisk have any connection to Interpol?” Buck asked.
“Negative,” Deck answered.
“What about Kerr?” asked Stella. “Does he have any connection to the current executive committee?”
“Irish?” prompted Deck.
As he instructed on the plane, I’d spent the rest of the flight learning as much as I could about the man Stella just asked about, along with his connections.
“Both Daniel Byrne, the current president, and Boris Antonov, his vice, served as delegates under Kerr. I haven’t been able to find a connection to Kim Ha-joon, the secretary-general, yet. However, he’s tight with Byrne and Antonov.”
“What about a connection between Kerr and Fisk?”
I wasn’t prepared to answer questions from a reporter, so I didn’t. “Need-to-know.”
Decker cleared his throat. “Irish, answer Stella’s question.”
There were times Decker’s high-handedness pissed me the fuck off. “They worked together at CFR.”
“CFR?” Buck asked.
Stella pushed back her chair, stood, and walked over to the window. “The Council on Foreign Relations.”
“Officially, it’s a foreign policy think tank. Unofficially, a place for its ‘members’ to meet without having to announce it as such,” I explained to Buck.
“Which office?” Stella asked.
“Fisk was in DC. Kerr was in New York.”
“Barb too?” Buck asked.
“New York office,” she responded.
There it was. The line had been drawn between Stella’s aunt, Kerr, and Fisk. That hadn’t taken long.
“What happened to him?” Buck asked.
“Kerr? He stayed on at MI5, but not as director general, the position he’d held for years,” I told him.
“What did he do instead?”
“Consultant.”
“Where did Kerr go after that?” Stella asked.
“Retired.” Something occurred to me, and my eyes met hers.
“What?” she asked.
“He divorced his wife at the same time he left Interpol. He’s been married to Sally Hennessey for nine years.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Stella stalked out of the cabin door.
“Who’s that?” Buck asked, standing to follow her.
“At the time, she was the executive editor at AP.”
“Barb’s editor?” Deck asked.
“Affirmative.”
A few minutes later, Stella came back in. Buck wasn’t with her.
“Hey, Deck, can I have a minute with Irish?” she asked.
Jesus, first Decker, now her? It was one thing to take his shit. I had no intention of taking hers.
“I was just getting ready to head out anyway.” He put his laptop in his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“Are you leaving the ranch?”
“As soon as I make sure Rock has the install of the security system under control, I’m headed to Texas.”
After Decker left, Stella sat down at the table. “Look, Paxon, I owe you an apology, and it’s long past due.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I know you’re a good man, and you deserve a lot better than has been doled out to you, including by me. But now, I’m part of the investigation. The same people you’re
