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Stuart ended the call. Suddenly his need for revenge against Viktor Baran, and to some extent Marissa Cole, had become clearer. Everything depended on how much one cared for the other, and judging from Baran’s rejection of Trenton Cole’s bribe, Stuart might have found a crack in the AGS’s top man’s armor.
They werea few minutes from Viktor’s house when Marissa received an urgent text message from Yeager to meet up at Langley. The bottom finally fell out, Marissa thought grimly.
“What is it?” Viktor asked. He maneuvered the BMW into a U-turn to head to CIA headquarters.
“FBI agents raided Reed’s apartment. They were gassed,” Marissa replied tersely. “No info on casualties.”
“Fuck,” Viktor muttered just when his phone buzzed.
“Baran . . . we just got the news . . . I’m heading to Langley, right now. Send Edmunds or Stark to the scene and make sure they suit up in protective gear—no exceptions. Got me?”
They arrived at Langley in twenty minutes and cleared security in another five. Allison was already in the briefing room with Yeager, the widescreen replaying FBI footages of the attack.
“This is being passed off as a gas leak for now,” Yeager told them. “The casualties are limited to federal agents, so we are able to keep this off radar. Two agents from the FBI, onefrom DHS were declared dead at the scene. Another three, I believe all from FBI, were able to take atropine.”
“Why weren’t the other agents able to take their atropine?” Marissa asked.
“According to the initial reports, three assailants wearing protective masks jumped them when the canister released the toxin.”
“I don’t get the whole point in this. Why would they lure agents and waste a canister?” Viktor interjected.
“We don’t have anything,” Yeager said. “With some of their lead agents down, FBI is requesting the CIA to step back in. Work in the background of course with AGS taking the lead, since you guys are already familiar with the case.”
“Who tipped them off?”
“There was an inter-agency bulletin on Reed and Logan. A Loudoun County police officer called it in to the FBI this evening. Federal agents swarmed within the hour. About forty minutes ago, they got confirmation of the apartment unit and they went in.”
“Doesn’t sound right,” Baran mused. “Has anyone talked to the police officer who called this in?”
Yeager shook his head. Viktor pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Stark. You on the scene? . . . I want you to talk to the police officer who reported . . . What the fuck? He’s missing? . . . shit, they’ve been set up. He’s probably the same guy who gave up the apartment number info . . . Our best bet for a lead is the surviving agents. Find out which hospital they’ve been taken to and see if you can debrief them. AGS has point on this.”
“Dead end,” Viktor said, hanging up. “This is pissing me off. We’re being stringed along like puppets. The feds put me back on this case, Yeager, I’m seeing it to the bitter end. I’m not handing it off to the FBI or DHS whenever the whim suits them.”
“Understood.”
“Uh . . . I think I got something,” Allison announced. She looked pale and unsettled as her eyes shifted between the three occupants.
“Well, speak up, Guthrie,” Marissa said.
“Stuart Kwon received a call from the U.S. about five minutes before the tip came into the FBI.”
Marissa grinned triumphantly. “Are you saying our man slipped up?”
“No. The call doesn’t incriminate him.”
“Well, if Reed or one of his thugs called him,” Marissa’s voice trailed off. “You couldn’t trace who was calling?”
Allison was normally straight to the point and her hedging was making Marissa nervous. “Spit it out, Allison.”
“The number of the originating call belongs to Trenton Cole,” Allison said. Marissa felt the floor shift beneath her feet. Her analyst added on a whisper. “Your father.”
Marissa sank into the nearest chair. Viktor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“I know their companies do business together, but I don’t think my father—” Marissa choked. Not her father. He wouldn’t have anything to do with terrorism and blatantly harm the homeland.
“Do you have a transcript or a recording?” Viktor asked.
