It was time to pay the piper.
JAMMER LEFT A SLEEPING Gina. Donning a pair of jeans and a shirt, he slipped out of the hotel room and went down to the busy, noisy lobby.
He’d screwed up royally. Completely. Now came the damage control. He dialed the number and waited until the line was picked up.
“Since you’re calling me at this hour, it must be important.” The voice was slurred and concerned.
Jammer didn’t sugarcoat it. There was no time to break the information gently. “My identity has been breached.”
Now the voice was wide-awake. Jammer heard the rustle of blankets and a light being snapped on. “That’s not possible. Only you and I know that you’re-”
In a voice that sounded much calmer than he felt, Jammer said, “No, not my real identity, the Ghost identity.”
“How did this happen? Who is involved?”
Jammer gave him the story, leaving nothing out. The silence on the other end of the line stretched, but Jammer was used to it. His partner needed time to think about the next move.
“All right, we’ll snatch up Roorback and Fromme and put them on ice until you’ve finished with Fuentes. I’ll set that in motion as soon as I get off this phone.”
“What do we do about Gina Callahan?”
“What do we do with an undercover Watchdog agent who has the knowledge that the very man everyone is after has now just blown his cover?”
Jammer rubbed at his temple. “Yeah. I think I can persuade her to keep the information to herself. My guess is that I’m her target, but if she can bag Fuentes in the process, she’ll be happy to wait just a little bit longer.”
“We’ll neutralize her in a different way than we planned. Leave that up to me. She is still unaware that you know she’s Callie Carpenter, correct?”
“Yes, I’ve managed not to reveal that information. It would require explanations that I can’t give her right now.”
Jammer looked out at the people milling about the hotel-checking in at the front desk, going to dinner and moving in and out of the elevators. He sat down on one of the sofas in the lobby, suddenly exhausted.
“I understand why you revealed the Ghost’s identity. You had no choice. Letting a government agent die is not what we’re about.”
“I’m aware of that. If anything had happened to her, I would go mad and that would effectively screw up this whole thing anyway.”
“You in that deep, then?”
The question was not unexpected, and it was just common sense to reveal everything. This situation couldn’t get any worse. “I’m afraid so. I intend to keep her with me until this is all over, so square that up.”
“I think that’s the best solution at this point. At least with her by your side, you can watch her. Let me get moving on these problems. I’ll call you back when they’re handled. Jammer, stay focused. We’re almost to ground zero.”
Jammer sighed. “It doesn’t change anything for us. I still can’t have a relationship with anyone and you know it. We both do.”
For the first time since Jammer had met the man on the other end of the line, he heard compassion in his voice. “If she’s willing to go under with you…?”
“You think I would subject her to the hell that I’ve had to go through these last three years?” Jammer hissed. “I can’t ask her to give up everything like I did. She has a family.”
“You have one, too.”
“It’s not the same. I’d be asking her to choose between us, and that just isn’t fair. I had no other choice to make. I was already dead. I made my choice based on what happened to me. It was the right thing to do. Fuentes has to be taken out of action.”
“Yes, it’s a tough situation you’re in. I admire what you’re doing. We wouldn’t have even gotten this close to realizing our plan if it wasn’t for what you sacrificed. When we lost those agents…Even though we found you alive, I was incensed the mission had gone so wrong.”
“I bought into it. It was my decision. Their deaths are on both of us.”
“And now we have a real chance at making it right. So much is at stake-that’s why it’s critical to keep all this top secret. No one-I mean no one-can know.”
“I’ve kept my part of the bargain. I agreed to the rules.”
“I believe it’s what’s protected you all this time. Everyone-other agents, their agencies, even the president-was kept in the dark. It was our plan that the other agencies would perpetuate your cover for you. The disappearance of a few people all worked in our favor. But now those agencies are getting serious about bringing you in. So I’ll have to break protocol and reveal information to the director of Watchdog that I wouldn’t normally reveal.”
“Do what you have to do to buy me more time. Fuentes is so close to prison orange. He has to pay, or this has all been for nothing.”
“And the Watchdog agent? Would you risk it for her?”
“No. I couldn’t and still be able to live with myself-or look her in the eye.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
RUSSELL STANFORD, the director of the DEA, lay back on the pillows. He’d never had a case like this one. It was unique, and the whole burden of the plan fell on his shoulders. It had been his idea. Of course, Jammer had leaped at the chance to bring Fuentes to justice.
Even now, Russell wouldn’t let himself think of what he had done to protect the whole operation. Sometimes justice required a hefty price, and someone had to pay it.
“Russell, is everything all right?” his wife asked in a sleepy voice.
“No,” he replied. “I need to talk to the director of Watchdog.”
“I hope you’re not in the doghouse,” she said with a chuckle.
That’s why he loved her. She didn’t mind being woken up in the middle of the night, she endured his sometimes unreasonable working hours and she was always there to support him. A true patriot’s wife.
“Go to sleep, sweetie. I’ll just be a minute.” Russell bent over and kissed her, then turned off the light. He went into the study for privacy and so he wouldn’t disturb his wife.
The first few phone calls he placed were to a couple of agents who excelled in what Russell liked to call a bag and gag. After indicating that Joost Roorback and Dieter Fromme must be kept on ice for an indefinite span of time, he then placed his next call to Gillian Santiago, director of Watchdog and the one who was going to keep Callie Carpenter on a short leash. She was a formidable woman and an excellent director. She would understand that the DEA wouldn’t ask for dispensation unless it was due to dire circumstances. It looked as if he wasn’t the only one who was going to lose sleep tonight.
10
“ARE YOU GOING TO wear that on the plane?” Jammer asked.
Callie went to a mirror to check out her backside, trying to see what he was talking about. “Why, do I have a rip or something?” The denim skirt she wore was short and tight, made out of spandex. The hot-pink top covered her torso, but bands of see-through material played peekaboo with her skin.
“Or something,” he said, looking her up and down and shaking his head.
“What? It covers me,” she said with a smirk.
His eyebrows rose. “In all the right places.”
“If anything, it might get us through the customs line a little bit faster.”
Callie’s phone rang and she glanced at the number. Answering, she said, “Tina, you can’t believe what Jammer just said about my outfit.” Callie had been trying to reach her boss ever since she had woken up this morning. It
