Crossing the Line (19 page)

“And what?” He leaned closer to me, desperate. “Tell me.”

“They said ‘the other one' was killed.”

His teeth clenched.

I kept talking. “They said she was coming into headquarters for a debrief, then was reassigned to a satellite training facility. I never saw her and I don't know where they sent her.”

“But she's in KATO?” he asked, eager.

“Yes,” I said, “but they have stations and safe houses all across the world. She could be anywhere.” A plan was starting to come together in my mind.

He nodded. “At least now I have a place to start.”

“
We
have a place to start.” My voice was so sharp and sure it threw even me.

Travis was already shaking his head. “That's not why I told you about this. I just needed to know if you had intel I didn't. This is my problem. I'm not asking you to get any more involved than you are right now.”

I grabbed his arm resting on the table and squeezed. “This is bigger than us.” He tilted his head doubtfully. “KATO's been working on something. First they send me here, and they repeatedly ask me to keep them posted on any new intel the IDA gets about them. Then we find out they're attempting to load up on weapons, and now we know they have someone capable of giving them a weapon designed to take over a country.” His eyes darkened, and I hurried on. “If Eliza is the key to Foster's cooperation, then finding her would give Foster a reason to stop.”

Travis eyed me hesitantly. As if he wanted to believe me, but was afraid to. “How would we let him know we have his daughter?”

I bit my lip, thinking. “I don't know,” I said after a moment. “But we can worry about that once we find her. She needs to be out of KATO's hands, and not just because of what she means to their plan.”
I took a slow, deep breath to give myself a moment. “I know what they're doing to her, because they did it to
me
. So I can't know about this and not help.”

Then something happened. The doubt, guilt, hurt and anger melted from his face, and was replaced with worry and a concern so deep it cut me. “What exactly did they do?”

I blinked and refocused on him. His eyebrows were compressed and his face was hard, but his eyes were so open they scared me. I'd never talked about this before—not even with Dr. March, who knew more details than anyone—but no one had ever asked quite like him. “They did a lot,” I said, keeping my voice detached. “More than we have time for.”

“Come on,” he said. “Give me something.”

I sighed. “Is this only because you want to know what they're doing to Eliza?”

“No.” His eyes got more intense. “It's because I've treated you like shit my entire career. And now you're ready to dive into this without thinking twice.”

I picked at the Styrofoam box in front of me, so I'd have something to do. “This isn't just for you.”

He didn't care. “Jocelyn, please.” He was practically begging, and it made me look up. If it was possible, the concern in his face got even deeper.

I nodded, still not quite sure how to talk to someone who cared. I wasn't about to tell him everything, but I had a compromise in mind. “You have to have heard enough by now to have questions. You can ask
one
.”

He leaned back in his seat, taking me in, considering carefully.
His eyes started at my head and moved slowly down my face. He got as far as my neck, then his eyes flicked back to mine. “How did you get that scar near your ear?”

I inhaled slowly, subconsciously rubbing the red welt under my hairline. I hesitated, wishing I had given his question more conditions. But after everything he told me tonight, I had to answer. “That happened when I was twelve. One thing KATO values highly is their secrets. They wanted us to be able to keep their secrets no matter what.” Travis's eyes darkened and I knew he could see where I was going with this. I pressed on. “Every day for a week my handler burned me with a hot poker to build up my pain tolerance. The first day it was five seconds, the next ten. They added five seconds each day until I could tolerate half a minute.”

Travis looked like he was about to be sick. “
Tolerate
?” His voice was hoarse. “There wasn't even a reason?”

I didn't move. I just looked him dead in the eye.

He reached his hand out for me and motioned me forward. “Come here.” I scooted to the edge of the seat and leaned over the table. Travis slid his hand under my ponytail and cupped my neck. His fingers ran along the burn, then he stood to get a closer look. “It looks more recent than six years old.”

I pulled away and looked at him, shocked. “How do you know?”

His eyes narrowed and his tone was harsh. “I know.”

I swallowed. “They did a tolerance check once a year by burning the same spot. My last one was three months ago.”

I could see Travis getting angry, and I was taken aback to find a part of me was happy about it. He cared that I'd been hurt.

I sat back in my chair. “I'm helping you with this.”

“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Do you have any kind of plan?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing too specific right now, but we can start in the library's computer rooms. They're tapped into some of the most extensive databases on campus.”

I nodded. “We should also tell Simmonds. He should know KATO has Foster.”

“Yeah, you're right.” Travis sighed and glanced at his watch. “I should get going, but we can meet with him first thing in the morning.”

T
ravis got to campus early the next morning and the two of us were at Simmonds's office door before he even arrived. We didn't talk too much, but things had changed. We were
comfortable
around each other, which was something I never expected would happen when Travis had pulled that gun on me a month earlier.

Simmonds's eyes widened when he saw us waiting for him, but he didn't ask any questions until we were inside. “I take it this is about your meeting last night?” He leaned casually against his desk while Travis and I stood in front of him.

“Yes, sir,” Travis said. He glanced at me, and the two of us took turns relaying the story.

“So you're telling me,” Simmonds said when we had finished, “that you can confirm that KATO has Craig Foster?”

I nodded. “As of three months ago, yes,” I said.

Simmonds rubbed his chin. “A lot can happen in three months.”

I tilted my head to the side, understanding what he was getting at. “Sir, this is KATO. Unless you found a body, they still have him.”

He grimaced. “That's a very good point.” He looked to me. “You think this is what they've been planning?”

“It makes sense,” I said. “Something this big they would want to keep quiet until everything is in place.”

“Jocelyn thinks we need to see if we can track down his daughter,” Travis said. “If we can get to her, and find some way to get a message to Foster that he doesn't have to cooperate with KATO anymore, it could complicate their agenda.”

Simmonds nodded. “I'm not sure how easy that will be, but it's a place to start. It'll take some time, though.”

“That's the only downside,” I said. “But Travis said Foster hadn't started to build or test his device when he was taken. He still had a lot of work ahead of him. We may be running out of time, but I still think we have some.”

“It's worth a shot,” Simmonds said. “How's that code coming?”

“I cracked it, but it isn't enough.” I gave him a halfhearted shrug and told him what I'd worked out. “There's another layer to it that I just don't know.”

“Very well.” Simmonds drew a slow breath, taking everything in.

“What about the last folder on the drive?” I asked. “Maybe something in there could either give us more information on their plan or give us some clue about where to find Eliza.”

“We don't know anything on that front yet, but we need to start moving things along,” Simmonds said. “Have your pagers near you today.” He met our eyes pointedly.

My whole body lifted. He had a plan. “You'll have something ready that fast?”

His expression didn't give anything away. “Just be ready if I need you.”

I spent the rest of the day compulsively looking at my pager,
waiting for it to go off. It finally happened shortly after lunch. I made it to Simmonds's office in record time, barely beating Travis, who was right behind me.

“We're making a move?” I asked the second we walked in the door.

“We are,” he said. “We've been working on this for some time, but I had wanted to wait until all of our internal resources were exhausted. Everything you two told me this morning changed the situation.” Simmonds pushed two files across the desk. “Here's your next assignment.”

I flipped the folder open. “Germany?”

“There's a gala at the Russian embassy,” Travis read. “We're copying a decryption device?”

Simmonds nodded. “It belongs to the Russian ambassador to Germany, who is the former head of the SVR. Our tech department is still working to decrypt the rest of the flashdrive from China, but they're not optimistic that we have the capabilities to do so.”

“But this device can do it?” I asked.

“It will be able to handle this and many other files like it,” Simmonds said, his excitement evident.

“KATO's going to want something,” I said, gripping the back of my neck. “As far as they know, when I went to China I went for Travis. They don't know I got the drive.”

“We'll come up with something to give them,” Simmonds said. “For now just tell them you're on a data-retrieval mission.”

I nodded and scanned the documents in the file. “Are these our covers?” According to this, Travis would be posing as a German businessman, and I would be his date. My heart rate spiked. The
cover story made me uneasy. I ignored the feeling. We needed to get this device.

“Yes,” Simmonds said. “We had Walter build a complete profile for each of you, including Internet backgrounds. If anyone tries to look you up while you're there, they'll find exactly what we want them to.”

I nodded, pushing my uncertainties aside. “Do we leave now?”

“Dr. March needs to see you both, but after that, you're good to go,” Simmonds said. We nodded and filed out.

 • • • 

Since we had cover stories, we flew commercially into Germany. “I know I probably don't have to say this, but I'm going to anyway,” Travis said once we were seated in first class. He waited a beat to be sure I was listening. “Promise me that you aren't going to take any unnecessary risks.”

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, trying not to be annoyed. It was fair. “I won't. I learned that lesson last time.”

He nodded once. “Good.”

I sat back in my seat and stared out the window. I didn't feel like talking.

After a while Travis turned away from me and closed his eyes. He fell asleep pretty easily. Once he did, I pulled out my tablet and used the plane's Wi-Fi and the proxy to get to the KATO message boards so I could fill them in on my new mission. I logged off as quickly as I could, then I leaned back into my seat and did my best to relax.

We checked into a hotel for the night to help maintain our cover. There was an extraction team on standby, so we weren't supposed to
actually stay overnight unless we ran into a problem getting away. I'd worry about the logistics that would come with that if I had to, but for now we were primarily using the room to get ready for the gala.

Galas were fancy, formal affairs, which meant this mission came with a dress. I looked at myself in the mirror. The dress was blue and shimmery and fit me perfectly. I almost threw up on the spot. Every time I had to look like this with KATO it was because they were sending me on a more
personal
mission. The killing missions made me feel dead inside, but the sexual ones were worse. They made me wish someone would kill
me
. My survival instinct was the only thing that kept me alive in KATO, but the few times I almost gave up were after missions like those. It was the most powerless feeling in the world.

I took great care with my makeup, somehow hoping if I focused on my face and hair it would distract from what was eating at me. Of course it didn't. It only made it worse. I put the last pin in my hair so it was half up, yet still flowing down my back. I stood in front of the long mirror on the wall, feeling a little light-headed.

“Wow.”

I spun around. Travis was leaning against the bathroom doorframe, staring at me like so many others had when I looked like this. Like so many marks had. It was supposed to be a compliment. My brain knew that, but I couldn't seem to convince my heart, which was pounding furiously.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “Don't.”

“What's wrong?” His tone shifted, and I could hear the surprise and apprehension.

I took a breath to calm down and remind myself how important
this mission was, then opened my eyes. “Nothing.” I grabbed my coat off the bed. “Sorry. Let's just go.”

His eyes followed me around the room. “Okay.” He sounded a little skeptical, but he didn't ask any questions. “Here's your comm.” He dropped the small earpiece in my hand.

“So, how exactly does this work?” I asked, putting the piece in my ear, trying to focus.

“What do you mean?” Travis asked, confused.

“Last mission with you was my first mission with a partner. I've never worked with someone in this type of situation,” I said. “Where you're in one place and I'm in another.”

He blinked a few times and got that perplexed, sympathetic look he got whenever I told him something about KATO. But he moved on quickly. “I tell you what I'm up to and how long you need to provide a distraction. Then I'll tell you when I'm done and we'll meet at the extraction point.”

I exhaled, doing my best to focus on the tactical part of the mission. “And if I need you for anything?”

“Get away from the crowd and tell me through the comms, otherwise we assume everything is going as planned unless the comms kick in. They won't stay off-line for more than fifteen minutes. So if either of us ends up in a bad situation the other will know.”

“Okay.” I nodded once and steeled myself. “We should probably get going.”

 • • • 

The valet took the keys when we pulled up to the embassy, and Travis offered me his arm as I got out of the car. It was weird to have this dynamic with him, but I was determined to use it to get me through
this mission. I gripped his forearm tight—tighter than I normally would have. It was as if I was using him as an anchor. If he noticed, he didn't comment. He led me through the embassy's tall doors and handed the security guard our invitations. The IDA sent an advanced team in to station weapons around the room. We would pick them up when we were inside.

Once we passed the security checkpoint we entered a large rectangular ballroom, extravagantly decorated and fit for any high-society party. Windows lined the back wall, so tall they practically stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The chandeliers were crystal and hung at three different points across the hall.

“You take the gun by the window, I'll get the one by the door,” Travis said.

I scanned the room, taking in every detail, and pausing for a moment on the place where the hiding spot was supposed to be.

“I see Popov,” I said, spotting the middle-aged security member on the other side of the ballroom. Ivan Popov had been on the ambassador's security team since this particular ambassador took up residence in the embassy. He was former Russian military, and this assignment was his idea of retirement. The IDA's intel said he didn't take the job nearly as seriously as he should and had a habit of getting distracted at parties. The only reason he was still on the detail at all was because he was one of the ambassador's closest friends.

I glanced at Travis and saw he had spotted Popov standing in front of a narrow alcove. Inside that alcove was a small staircase, which was a design flaw in the building. At one point the ballroom was intended to be a kitchen, so the stairs were built for housekeepers and staff. It was common for the ambassador to station a single guard
in front of the stairs to keep people from wandering to the upper levels. Popov, who enjoyed being a part of the party, was the one most commonly selected for this task. And since most people didn't even know about the staircase, he saw it as a pretty casual assignment.

“All right,” Travis said. “You know what you have to do.”

I nodded and my heart sped up. I tried not to think about how much this reminded me of KATO and focused on the fact that it wasn't. And that in the end, I wouldn't have to leave this room with anyone but Travis. “Let me know when you're out,” I said, convincing myself to pull away from him.

I moved around the edge of the room, pausing near the window to get a drink and pick up the gun stuck in a nearby flowerpot. I used my purse to shield the room, then snuck it inside and continued maneuvering my way to Popov. I fought the urge to down the drink in one gulp. If I did I'd want more, and in the end it would barely have any impact. But if there was something stronger I could get my hands on, I wasn't so sure I'd be able to show the same restraint.

Travis took a different path to the staircase, opting to weave across the room and blend into the crowd. We wanted to pull this off as quickly as possible. Travis's job was to get to the ambassador's second-floor office and plug a replica of the ambassador's decryption device into the real thing. The tech team had programmed the replica to copy what was needed on its own. Travis just had to wait until the device was fully cloned.

In order for Travis to get to the office, I had to distract the man guarding the stairs and keep him out of the way. The best way to do that was to make sure his attention stayed on me.

I came at Popov from the side, giving myself some extra time to
assess the situation. His eyes moved across the room, and I noticed his attention hovered on the women. I swallowed and forced myself in front of him.

“You must be
very
good at your job to end up in such an esteemed position,” I said in perfect Russian.

Popov turned and examined me. His eyes lingered just a little too long in all the right places, and I knew I had him. It made my skin crawl.

“I do not believe I have seen you at any previous functions,” Popov said.

I smiled and extended a hand. “Mika Stromberg.”

It was pretty clear he couldn't have possibly cared less what my name was. He took my hand, kissed it, and started flirting with me almost instantly. “I am Ivan.”

“I know who you are.” I dipped my head and looked at him through my eyelashes. He still hadn't let go of my hand, and I shifted enough to angle him away from the alcove. Travis took the opportunity to disappear behind him. “You have a
reputation
I was hoping to experience firsthand.”

That was all it took. He gave my arm a tug and pulled me closer to him. Then he took my drink from me and passed it off to a nearby server, before gently backing me into the wall. When he finally let go of me, it was only to brace himself, so he was hovering over me, while his other hand came to a stop on my waist. “I think that's something that can be arranged.”