Deep Rising (An Outside the Lines Novel) (Entangled Select) (5 page)

Chapter Six

“Hi, Daddy.”

Svetlana paced ten feet away, but he could still see her pale green eyes shining clearly. Any dilation in her irises would not escape his notice.

“No, I’m fine,” Lana maintained. “How’s Mom?”

He followed the muted flow of trivial conversation closely. He’d had his doubts upon reading the Intel reports, but having met Lana Orskya and interrogating her face-to-face, he seriously questioned her involvement in this terrible plot. After SEAL training, when he moved into DEVGRU, he’d been trained to detect the minutiae of deviant human behaviors. He knew how to interpret body language, variations in speech rhythms, eye movement, and other physical reactions in guilty parties. Over time, it had become second nature, and he could make a split-second decision on a person’s guilt or innocence. Thus far, he hadn’t been wrong. He believed Lana, but he didn’t trust his assessment because something about the woman distracted him, and there was far too much at stake to risk a mistake. So he’d watch her carefully and let the chips fall where they would.

“Listen, Dad,” she said. “I was just wondering if you have Sergei’s new phone number?”

In the silence of the cabin, he overheard her father’s thick accent as he proclaimed “no.” Jared had already forced her to reach out directly for Sergei, but the only numbers she possessed were no longer in service.

Her fingers turned white. She clenched the phone as if her life depended on it. Crossing the room, Jared rested his palm atop hers on the receiver.

“Don’t get any crazy ideas,” he warned in a harsh whisper. “We need to preserve the integrity of this situation.”

Lana’s lower lip trembled. He moved closer. When she would’ve shimmied away, he stilled her with a hand to her hip. Her muscles tensed.

“Easy,” he muttered.

Her big eyes locked on his. He stayed there, counting the pulse in her neck, listening as her father rambled on about the weather and an aunt’s home cooking. When Lana continued to shiver like a sparrow he leaned into her neck.

“Just take it slow,” he whispered.

She leaned back. Her eyes searched his; her pupils dilated. And, for just a fraction of a second, he knew it wasn’t the call or the circumstances or the prospect of her half brother committing such brutal crimes that caused her quick intake of breath. For an equally mad moment, he wasn’t thinking of anything else either. Just the warmth and nearness of this woman. Damn it all to hell.

He should call Gordon and quit now. He should get out because his judgment was skewed where this woman was concerned. But what then? He’d given his word. He’d accepted this mission. He didn’t want to think about the ramifications of refusing to do his job or what it would mean for the mission as a whole…or his future. And what about Lana? Another agent wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her, to use whatever means necessary to obtain the required results.

She sucked in a breath and slapped her hand over the receiver. “Give me some space.”

Yeah. A good idea. For both their sakes.

He released her. “We don’t have all night.”

Spinning away, she walked to the far corner of the kitchen. The tangled old phone cord trailed behind her.

“Oh. Really?” Her voice assumed a nervous edge to it. “Do you plan to do as he suggests?” she asked.

Perhaps another twenty seconds passed before he overheard her heartfelt good-bye. When she replaced the phone in its cradle, he approached her again.

His government contacts, no doubt, had recorded the entire conversation, but he’d rather hear what transpired from her lips. Later, he’d compare dialogues and determine if she’d withheld something. “Well, what did you discover?”

“My dad heard from Sergei a few days ago. He told Sergei that he and my mother were in Colombia. Sergei warned my father about a huge storm brewing in the Pacific. My parents are taking Sergei’s advice and heading back to Florida this week.” She dropped her eyes to the floor. “Can you obtain my father’s phone records to trace Sergei’s number?”

“We can, but I seriously doubt Sergei was foolish enough to place a call from his own home. Besides, if he called two or three days ago regarding activity in the Pacific, he’s likely en route to that area right now.”

“Do you think Sergei warned my father because he plans to do something?”

“Most likely. Tell me, Doctor. Can a tsunami be generated in the Pacific?”

“Of course.”

A storm gathered around the mountain. Drawing the door closed and stepping onto the porch, Jared punched in the clearance codes on his cell phone. He regarded the ominous, violet clouds swirling around the peak of Mount Rainier while waiting for his call to transfer to Gordon Quaid. The thunderstorm culminating in the distance couldn’t compare to what brewed in the Pacific.

“Jared, it’s Katherine Russe. What’ve you got?”

More than I bargained for
.

He preferred to communicate directly with Gordon, but Katherine would suffice. He’d previously interfaced with her on several occasions. As second in command, she called the shots in Gordon’s absence.

“Ms. Orskya recognized the buyer,” he said. “He happens to be her brother.”

“He didn’t come up on any of our preliminary searches—”

“It’s her half brother. She made a positive ID on him from the Azerbaijani photo taken with The Wolf. He lives in Astrakhan. He was born to a woman named Katia. She and Svetlana’s father were never married. Sergei Aleksandr didn’t take the Orskya surname.”

“Semantics.” Katherine blew out an annoyed breath. “Give me something constructive.”

“Sergei’s been in contact with his father. He told the old man to get out of Dodge, or in this case, Colombia.”

“Okay…”

“The Orskyas are vacationing along the coast, some beachside town.”

“He was issuing Dad a caveat?”

“Lana has confirmed that a tsunami in the Pacific is a definite possibility. And my gut thinks that he was warning his father. My guess is he’s targeting Hawaii.”

“Why?”

“Lana claims there’s structural instability on the southwestern flank of Kilauea.”

“I’m not convinced,” Katherine said. “Kilauea had a flank failure back in 1975. It caused some localized damage but nothing serious. All the experts insist there isn’t enough slope or landmass to generate a mega-tsunami. Anything coming down the flank would slide into the sea, but not with enough force or weight to set off the type of wave we’re worried about.” He heard her tapping her nails, thinking. “Can the explosive load from The Wolf compensate and actually send a slice of the island crashing into the sea?”

“Lana claims it can. If done right. But you and Gordon are the ones with a plethora of physicists and geologists at your beck and call. Ask one of them.”

“I intend to,” Katherine murmured. “Gordon’s out, but ten to one he’s going to want you on the Big Island.”

“I kinda figured that.”

“I’ll make the arrangements. There’s an airstrip at the base of Mount Rainier. A jet will be on hand within the hour to take you and Ms. Orskya to Hawaii.”

Keeping Lana around would…complicate things. Namely for him. Better that she stayed here in Washington where a secondary team could maintain surveillance on her from a discreet distance. “I don’t need her with me.”

“You can’t make that assessment with certainty. Or have you already performed a code nine interrogation?”

Code nine fell just shy of arrant torture.

“No. She’s cooperated thus far. Besides, she doesn’t fit the profile. She’s no more in league with her brother than I am.”

“This isn’t open for conversation,” Katherine said. “Take the woman. Get on the plane. Go to Hawaii. Now.”

Jared dragged a hand through his close-cropped hair. He rubbed at his eyes. “Did you get the information I forwarded on Sergei Aleksandr?”

“Yes. As soon as Gordon verifies the intel I’ll have him touch base with you. Is there anything else?”

“No. I’ll call when we land.”

The call disconnected, and Jared tucked his phone into his jeans. The door to the cabin creaked open, and Svetlana joined him on the porch.

“I’m still struggling to process this,” she said.

“You and me both,” he said. “Pack a bag.”

“What for?”

“We’re going to Hawaii.”

“I can use a vacation.”

Her mouth tilted upward in an almost-smile, and Jared grinned fully at her wry tone. Nah, this wouldn’t be a beachside retreat with rum-topped cocktails and sunset luaus. Taking Lana to Hawaii would put her—and him—in harm’s way. Recognizing this, he had to factor the odds on her being in league with this Sergei character. If the woman
was
guilty, if she was consorting with terrorists, then he’d really have to watch his back. A person capable of mega-tsunami cataclysms wouldn’t bat an eye at murdering little ol’ him.

She left the door open to her bedroom and he followed her into the vaulted room. The large wrought iron bed captured his attention.
You’ve got backwoods fever to be thinking about twisting up the sheets when you just acknowledged that this woman could gut you in your sleep.

Lana opened a rolling suitcase and unceremoniously dumped the contents of the carry-on onto the floor. Boots and sneakers thudded against the wood. She tossed a mound of dirty clothes into the plastic laundry bin beside the door, then she moved to the closet and started pulling shirts and slacks from hangers. Jared followed her movements in the reflection of the dresser mirror. He had a Glock holstered at the small of his back. If Lana reached into her closet for a gun, he could draw, fire, and avoid catching any lead. He was close enough to the bed that he could dive for cover.

Thinking of concealed weapons, he was tempted to search through each of the drawers and to check beneath the bed and behind the armoire—all obvious hiding spots—but a cleaning team would follow up with the cabin, so he didn’t waste time with that. A hairbrush, some candles, a bottle of perfume, and a jewelry box rested atop the night table. On the opposite table he spotted a couple of pictures, and he crossed around the bed for a closer look after Lana moved from the closet with a pile of clothes in her arms. She dropped them on the bed.

Jared pointed to a picture of a girl perched atop a boulder. “This you?”

“I was eleven.”

She’d been a cute kid. A picture of her parents and brother rounded out the “family space.” No photos of Sergei or Lana’s ex-husband. Come to think of it, the cabin held no clutter. No knickknacks or collectibles or junk. “Sterile” environments like this usually raised flags in his line of work, but with this woman, he suspected it stemmed from her preferring simplicity. Her home didn’t lack warmth. Neither did the woman. The cabin was a reflection of her: clean, open, natural.
Beautiful.

There you go again
.

“I’m ready,” she told him, zippering the suitcase and rolling it toward the door. She turned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Agent Hawthorne, what would happen if I said no? If I refused to go with you?”

Oh, now, darlin’ don’t go thinking you have a choice…

“Lana, we require your cooperation.”

She bit her lower lip. She was smart to be wary.

He crossed the room and claimed the carry-on. In an effort to make her understand, he crowded her against the doorway. He topped her by almost a foot, and his shoulders were twice the breadth of hers. She could fight, refuse to cooperate, but it would be futile. He didn’t want it to come to that, for either of their sakes.

She tilted her head back and her eyes flashed angrily. “It doesn’t matter what I want. Does it?”

He wouldn’t lie to her. “No.” He tucked a lock of her unruly hair behind her ear and then stepped back.

She was trapped in this situation. And so was he.

September 9 - 7:22 am

CIA Headquarters

Langley, Virginia

Gordon Quaid returned to his desk and reviewed the covert-op specs. Several aberrations flashed across the page. His surveillance team had been discreetly trailing The Wolf for the better part of a month, and they had done so without attracting any notice. Then, suddenly, after a major transaction between The Wolf and this crazed Russian wave-maker, satellites failed to locate him? It didn’t make sense. Neither did the correlation between Sergei Aleksandr and his apparent detestation of America.

A Middle Eastern fundamentalist regime he could understand. A would-be communist attack, even a South American rising warlord, presented a better candidate for this kind of destruction. A lone Russian deciding to wipe out the world constituted a far-fetched scenario, even to his jaded view of the world. The Cold War had ended decades ago.

He was missing something. A crucial detail.

Grabbing the phone, he contacted General Greene.

“Has your team detained The Wolf?” he asked.

“And a good day to you too, Quaid,” the general replied. “To answer your question, no. We received conflicting information in Azerbaijan. Another transaction was rumored, but it acted as a smoke screen, allowing the buyer and The Wolf to evade pursuit.”

“Did someone tip them off?”

“I was hoping you’d have the answer. I’m forwarding the intel. Your databases and analysts are more inclined to determine the source. Could be coincidental. The Wolf has eluded teams in the past. He’s as paranoid as they come.”

“I’ll have my men take a look at it,” he promised the general. “Who’s taking lead?”

“SEAL Team Three. Master Chief Tyler Houston radioed in at 0700. A couple of our local informants claim The Wolf is en route to Gaziemir. Houston’s team lost The Wolf’s trail in Slavyanka. They missed him by a day in Mikhaylovgrad.”

It had taken the US
years
to find Bin Laden. But The Wolf wasn’t holed up in some “Waziristan Haveli” compound, hiding away from all public scrutiny. The Wolf had a penchant for brothels and beaches. Gordon would know. A decade ago, the US had monitored The Wolf brokering weapons in Darfur. The Wolf had been on the right side of the CIA then, but in the time since, he’d taken to bigger guns and bombs, and his only loyalty was to the highest bidder.

As it stood, The Wolf was the only link to this Sergei Aleksandr terrorist. “If your man Houston can’t bring him in, then assign someone else. Or send in a second team.” Gordon needed answers and he needed them now. Jared’s interrogation of Lana Orskya had been productive, but until the suspects were apprehended, the entire country remained at risk.