Endgame (Last Chance Series) (27 page)

His only regret was that he'd had to leave Payton to watch over Nigel. Not that he expected Nigel to run, but there was something going on here, and he didn't want t
o make a tactical error. Enough had gone wrong with this case already.

Madison stared out the window, her profile backlit by the late afternoon sun. "I hate to say it. You're not going to like it at all."

"You think that Nigel shot Schmidt."

"I think it's possible. Look—" she turned to face him, her face reflecting her indecision at sharing with him "—if Harrison is right, and somebody planted the false information, then someone on the inside is probably behind it."

"I'll buy that, but what makes you think it's Nigel?"

"Well, for one thing, the British have been pretty vocal about their disapproval of the accord. They've got their own interests in China to protect. It's bothered me from the beginning that Nigel was part of the team. Not so much because I had reason to distrust him, but because it didn't make sense politically for his government to pull him off another assignment to come and help preserve an economic alliance they're categorically against
."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Gabe asked, studying the curves of her face, trying to see the evidence with her eyes.

"Until recently, you didn't exactly inspire confidences, especially mine." Her smile was wry, but her eyes remained serious. "And I didn't have anything concrete to go on. I still don't really, just a lot of coincidences."

"Like what?"

"Like our disappearing vagrant. You saw that gap on the roof. No one could have jumped that. He had to have gotten out another way."

"The alley."

"It seems the most likely." She shrugged, turning away from him again.

"So you think Nigel lied."

"I think it's possible."

"What about Payton? He had the entrance."

She shook her head. "The only way off the fire escape is through the alley. And I heard someone in the bedroom, remember? He had to have gone out that way."

Gabe didn't like the turn of the conversation, but he had to admit there was a certain amount of logic there. "That's not enough to base your distrust on, surely."

"There's the fact that we found him holding a gun, standing over the body. But we can rely on ballistics to clear that up."

"And that's it?" It was pretty damning, but nowhere close to airtight.

"No." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "There's more. Nigel has been awfully handy. He's the one who found the supposed connection between the ballistics for Jeremy's murder and the assassination attempts in China. Remember, Payton said he'd looked into the matter, and hadn't been aware a ballistics report existed. I saw his face, Gabriel. He didn't believe Nigel for a moment."

"So why didn't he say anything?"

"I don't know. Maybe, like me, he didn't have anything concrete."

"Is there anything else?"

The taxi honked at a pedestrian, and they both jumped.

She turned to meet his gaze, her gray eyes clouded with distress. "The alleged intelligence report placing Schmidt in China. Doesn't it seem just a
little bit coincidental that it was a
British
intelligence report?"

Gabe sighed. The evidence did seem compelling. "You think that Nigel is behind the murders?"

"No, actually, I don't. Remember I said that I thought it was possible that someone was leading us around as a sort of decoy?"

"Yes. And I thought it might be an attempt by the terrorists to deflect us from their real targets."

"Well, what if they're not related? At least not like we've been thinking. What if it's an attempt to keep us from finding the real culprits? If we fail, so does the accord..." She trailed off, chewing on her bottom lip.

"And Britain wins," Gabe finished for her. It fit
. He hated the fact, but he couldn't ignore it.

His stomach twisted as he faced the probability that Nigel Ferris had betrayed him.

"I CAN'T SAY that this particularly surprises me. I knew the ballistics test was bogus." Payton sat on the sofa in Gabriel's suite, his expressing reflecting disgust more than surprise.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Gabriel asked, his arms crossed in a forbidding manner that had even Madison on edge.

"Because initially it was just a suspicion, and then when Lin Yao confirmed it, I still didn't have tangible proof. I figured it was better to wa
it it out and see what else surfaced." The line of Payton's scar shone white in the lamplight, the only real sign that he was anything but totally relaxed.

Madison marveled at the fact that these men could have any relationship at all. Their entire lives consisted of lying and protecting interests that more often than not must be at odds with one another. Yet here they sat, talking about another friend, who for all practical purposes appeared to have betrayed them all.

Harrison was keeping an eye on Nigel, pretending to take him out for a night on the town, with the promise that Madison would fill in the details for him later. She wished suddenly that he were here with her. A known quantity in a suddenly unfamiliar world.

"Well, if Madison's hunch is correct, I'd say we have a hell of a lot more than speculation."

"So what do we do with the information?" Madison asked, searching Gabriel's eyes for something of the man she'd spent the night with.

"Hang on to it for the moment. I want full confirmation of the facts before we act. And then I suppose we give Nigel the opportunity to defend himself."

"But won't he lie?" Again Madison was surprised at the degree of acceptance between the three of them. It was almost as if they were playing a game and Nigel had merely been caught out cheating.

"Not to me." Gabriel shook his head, his smile meant to be comforting. "If you're right, he's only been doing his job, and I suspect it hasn't been particularly pleasant for him. He could even be relieved to have it all out in the open."

"What about retribution?"

"Things don't necessarily work that way in espionage, Madison."

"All's fair in love and war?" She was surprised at the note of bitterness in her voice.

Gabe shrugged. "Something like that. Retribution is a funny thing. It tends to keep reciprocating and sometimes the better part of valor is to simply let things slide. The CIA isn't likely to go on record condemning a British operative. Especially when the Agency had a part in his involvement in the first place."

"So they care more about their own reputation than right and wrong?"

"It's a gray area, right and wrong. As I said before it's all perception. What we view as right is wrong for someone else. In this case
, the accord is a good thing for the president, and a disastrous thing for England's prime minister. And while it would have been better if they hadn't become involved, the price of exacting retribution from them would cost more than the original transgression."

"I suppose you could call it a question of diplomacy," Payton said.

"A man died, for God's sake. And Nigel may very well be responsible."

"It's not as if Schmidt was an exemplary member of society." Payton shrugged.

"Like you'd know anything about that." The words were out before she had time to think about them, and she immediately wished them back.

But Payton smiled. "Things aren't always what they seem, Madison."

Gabe was smiling, too.

Understanding dawned. "You're not really a mercenary, are you?"

Payton's smile widened. "As far as the world is concerned, I am."

"But if I were to access CIA secured files?" She probed, already knowing the answer.

"You'd find Payton listed as a top operative." Gabe's icy gaze met hers, the trust there almost unnerving her. "But of course you can't access those files."

"Nor would she want to," Payton said, his unruffled gaze meeting hers, the only expression one of acceptance, and as easily as that, Madison realized she'd crossed the line from outsider to full membership in their
little group, Payton accepting Gabe's trust in her without question.

"But no matter what kind of brotherhood exists between respective espionage agencies, you still can't discount the fact that Nigel purposefully sabotaged our case. Three innocent people have died in the time it's taken us to chase after his mythical man."

"Not so mythical, it turns out." Payton tipped his head toward the forensics pictures of Schmidt.

"So you think he meant to frame Schmidt?"

"I don't know for certain. It could be that Harrison stumbling on the connection between W. Smith and Ernhardt Schmidt was as much a surprise to Nigel as it was to us. That would certainly explain his beating us to the scene."

"
To kill Schmidt."

"Possibly," Payton said. "But if so, someone clearly beat him to the job."

"But you thought he was guilty..." Madison trailed off uncertainly.

"For a moment, yes." A shadow of something crossed Payton's face, but Madison couldn't read it. "But Nigel didn't have a silencer. I checked. So if he'd killed Schmidt, we'd have heard it."

"There are lots of things that can be used as a silencer, Payton." She wasn't certain why she was arguing, maybe because she no longer understood the rules of the game.

"I'm not saying he didn't want to kill the man, Madison. Especially if his talking would have put an end to the game. But I
honestly don't believe he actually did it."

"Then who did?" Madison asked, frustration building.

"That's the question of the hour, really. And I'm not sure I have an answer."

"Not the British," Gabriel said, echoing her earlier thoughts. "It's one thing to run interference with the task force, and quite another to kill U.S. businessmen in an attempt to stop negotiations with the Chinese. There's no way the legitimate British government is behind this. I'm guessing the only thing they're guilty of is taking advantage of an already developing situation."

"And Nigel's friendship with the two of you." Madison saw a flash of something in Gabriel's eyes, and her heart twisted. He wasn't as immune to Nigel's betrayal as he'd have her believe.

"So we're back to Chinese dissidents."

"I'm not so sure," Payton said, walking over to the minibar to pull out a Coke. "They'd certainly be delighted to see the accord fail, but the M.O. is all over the board, and even allowing for personnel changes, I just don't see it as a terrorist act."

"Great, that puts us back at square one." Madison bent her head forward, rubbing her temples.

Gabriel sat down beside her, his strong hands taking over the massage, and she leaned back against him, oblivious to Payton and what he might surmise from their intimacy.

"As soon as we're certain of the facts, we'll confront Nigel. If we're lucky, he'll have information that can help." Gabriel's voice rumbled
through his chest, her body absorbing the vibrations.

"It's possible he's tampered with clues," Payton said.

Madison opened her eyes, something popping from the back of her mind to the forefront. "The cell phone calls. I thought the page Nigel showed us looked funny. Remember it was fuzzy. Especially around the entry that connected Candace to W. Smith."

"So maybe he changed the entries." Payton opened the can and took a sip. "Or at least added the bit about Smith."

"Should be easy enough to verify." Madison pulled away from Gabriel, immediately missing the contact. "All we have to do is request the original."

"Or ask Nigel."

"I'd feel better if we saw the original records." Madison wasn't as ready as Payton to trust their so-called friend.

"We can do both." Gabriel, despite his proximity and the warmth of his hands still resting on her shoulders, sounded more like a commander than a lover. And she sighed, moving to break contact completely.

"Now?" Payton's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"No." Gabriel stood up to walk to the window, shiftin
g the curtains to peer outside. "It's late. And we've no reason to believe that Nigel will run. I think the best thing is for you and Harrison to trade watch and make sure Nigel doesn't do anything drastic. Madison and I will follow up on some of our hunches, and we'll face Nigel in the morning, hopefully armed with more than speculation. Sound like a plan?"

Except for the fact that Payton was leaving them alone, it sounded reasonable. Madison thought about making an excuse and leaving them to
deal with the problem on  their own, but she couldn't.

She was part of a team, and nothing, not even her burgeoning feelings for Gabriel should be allowed to stand in the way of accomplishing their objectives. Besides, her relationship with Nigel was unfettered by the past, and that fact alone meant that she was the most objective of the lot.

"Works for me," Payton was saying, already heading for the door. "I'll go and relieve Harrison now. Shall I fill him in?"

Gabriel nodded. "It's best he knows. But let's keep it between the four of us for the moment
. I'd rather take this to Cullen when we have all the facts."

Payton nodded and slipped out into the hall, the door shutting ominously behind him.

"So." Madison stood up, turning to face Gabriel. "Where do we start?"

*****

GABE STOOD AT THE WINDOW of his hotel room, stretching. It was late, almost one o'clock, but in the past three hours they'd managed to accumulate quite a bit of evidence, thanks in part to Cullen's long and very powerful reach, and in part to the task force's myriad connections.

Primarily his and Madison's.

Between them they'd obtained solid confirmation that the British had no intel on Schmidt and a purported trip to the Himalayas and that there had been no ballistics report connected with the assassination attempt in China.

Further, Payton's friend, Lin Yao, had reported back to say that there was no known connection between Schmidt and any dissident groups in China. The man was evidently in bed with most everyone else, but not the Asians.

And most damning of all, they'd obtained a separate copy of Candace Patterson's cell phone records. There had been no call from W. Smith. The call Candace had received right before she died, the call that had caused her to leave Lexco, had emanated from Dreamscape. Identity unknown, but totally unrelated to Ernhardt Schmidt.

Nigel had been playing them all.

Gabe gripped the windowsill, swallowing his anger. Thoughts of retribution were pointless. Nigel had been following orders. In their world, ultimate loyalty had to mean something. And always, the players must keep that thought in the backs of their minds.

The truth was that no one could ever be completely trusted. Not even a friend. The only person he could really count on was himself. Hell, he'd learned the lesson often enough. Even with the events that bound the three of them together, there would always be a higher loyalty.

Other people who held title to their souls.

He turned then to look at Madison, dozing on the sofa. What kind of life could he possibly offer her? Deception and subterfuge, certainly. But love and trust? He laughed, the taste bitter against the back of his throat. What a load of garbage. How in hell had he thought he would be able to have a relationship with her?

Just because she was in a similar business didn't mean she'd understand him or the game he played. And there was certainly no turning back. He was who he was. He turned to the window again, trying to push it all away, to wall the emotions in.

There was no such thing as happily ever after. If nothing else, Nigel's betrayal proved it once and for all. Everyone was in it for himself. And he was a sentimental fool to entertain any notions to the contrary.

"I wish I could make it go away." Her voice was soft, hesitant, but still it touched him deep inside, easing his pain in a way he wouldn't have thought possible.

He felt her hand on his shoulder and turned to face her, his heart hammering. "I'm not sure anyone can make it go away, Madison. But I appreciate the thought." He started to move, to dismiss the moment of intimacy, but she tightened her hand on his arm and he stopped.

"Don't shut me out, Gabriel. You said yourself we were worth the chance." She tipped back her head, her eyes searching his, her hand tracing the line of his jaw. "We're two of a kind, remember? I know you. As well as I know my own heart. And I know you're hurting. So let me in. Let me help."

"You can't." He hated the bitterness in his voice and wished he were stronger.

"Then just let me hold you." The simple words cut deep, leaving a burning warmth that felt strangely fulfilling, the idea of letting go suddenly more appealing than he could have imagined. No one had ever offered to hold him before. At least not without motive.

He studied her face, seeing nothing but concern and love reflected there.
Love
. The word sent shivers of desire lacing through him. Not physical need, but a soul-deep yearning for something—someone. He'd shut out those kinds of thoughts for so long, and now here she was standing in front of him, offering herself with no strings attached.