She checked her blind email account and her heartbeat quickened at the message from Matt. It took her twenty minutes to skim all the articles and links, and when she was done, she sat back, absently eyeing the screen. The man who’d arranged for her extradition looked ordinary enough, yet posed a threat that had almost killed her. That was only one piece of the puzzle that had upended her life, but a critical one. And one that she needed to terminate with prejudice if she was ever to be safe.
Matt’s situation was more complicated – the organization after him had as many heads as a hydra, and they’d never be completely rid of the menace it posed. But over time, the crooked heads of the drug ring operating within the CIA would turn to new enemies, and she hoped that Matt would be forgotten or at least de-prioritized.
“Hope hasn’t worked well so far, has it?” she muttered, and then pushed aside the morose thought. They would get through this, as they had all the rest.
But first she needed to attend to the attorney’s brother. He’d decided to hunt her like an animal to exact revenge? He’d just invited hell on earth into his life, because she wouldn’t stop until he was erased.
She pulled the headphones on, adjusted the microphone, and dialed the Romanian cell phone number Matt had included in his email. Warmth flooded through her when he answered.
“Miss me?” Jet asked.
“More than anything. Where are you?”
She gave him an abridged account of her extradition and escape from prison, and finished with her Ukrainian odyssey. When she was done, he was speechless.
“I…so it’s all about the attorney? That doesn’t make sense. They came after me.” He told her about the shop.
“I overheard the Russians who kidnapped me talking. It sounded to me like they did an information share with your old friends. Tit for tat.”
“That certainly complicates things for us.”
“Yes. The worst part is they now have my prints and photograph on file. I need to think that through, but it means we’re going to have to find someplace pretty remote to go to ground.”
“Fine by me as long as we’re together.”
She swallowed hard. “You always know the right thing to say.”
“Stick with the truth is my motto.” He paused. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got to go after Leo.”
“I was afraid you’d say that. I know you too well to try to talk you out of it.”
“You also know why it’s the right move.”
Matt sighed. “How are you going to do it?”
“One of the articles was about a charity function tomorrow night. In Novorossiysk.”
“I saw that.”
“No point in wasting time, is there?”
“Pretty short notice, though. Hard to do any thorough reconnaissance,” Matt observed.
“It’s a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a cocktail party. There’ll be security, I’m sure. But they won’t be expecting me. I’ve pulled off far harder operations.”
“I know. I just hate that you have to do this.”
Jet didn’t see any point in belaboring it, so remained silent.
“How do you plan to get there? That’s a fair distance, isn’t it?” Matt asked.
“At least seven hundred kilometers. But I’ll find a way.”
“Can I do anything to help?” Matt asked.
“Just keep my baby safe.”
Matt hesitated. “Hannah misses you.”
“Let me talk to her.”
Hannah’s voice came on the line. “Mama!”
“Hi, sweetness. I miss you.”
“Miss you too.”
“I’m coming soon, but in the meantime, you have to behave, okay?”
“Course. When?”
“Three or four days.”
“Oh. Why?” The disappointment was obvious in Hannah’s tone.
“I have some stuff to take care of.”
Hannah brightened. “I had ice cream.”
“You deserve it if you’ve been good. Have you?”
“Yeth.”
“I love you more than anything, Hannah.”
“Love you too.”
“Let me speak to Matt.”
“Okay.”
Even though Hannah’s vocabulary had been expanding, it was difficult to have meaningful conversations with her, and Jet looked forward to the day when they could sit down and really talk. It was so much easier in person.
Jet felt a twinge of guilt. The poor thing had been put through so much in her short life. And yet she was always happy and optimistic, in the way that only children could be, as every day brought new surprises and adventures and opportunities for fun.
“I’m back,” Matt said.
“I’ll be traveling the rest of the day and probably tomorrow. I’ll check in with you when I can.”
“Think I should stay at the inn?”
“I’d change to another town tomorrow. Just send me the location. Are you keeping this phone for a while?”