Page 23 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)

DESMOND

W e spent the next thirty minutes setting up mission parameters, reviewing procedures, and theorizing potential pitfalls.

It was just before ten o’clock, which meant we had roughly seven hours to prep for the mission, pack our gear, and reach the resort.

Henrika was putting us in scramble mode right from the beginning.

Gia did most of the talking, while my father sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, glowering at nothing in particular. The General hated being outmaneuvered, and so far, Henrika was dancing around him like he was standing still.

“Joan, you’ll also be going to the resort,” Gia said. “Diego, see if you can hack into the reservation system and book Joan a room, along with an invitation to Winterfest. Be sure to use a brand-new alias since the UC list has been compromised.”

Joan nodded, while Diego’s fingers started flying over his keyboard.

“What about Henrika’s warning that only Charlotte and I can attend the auction?” I asked.

Gia shrugged. “You and Charlotte will attend the auction, but I want someone on-site watching your backs. Henrika should be so focused on the two of you that she doesn’t notice Joan.

Plus, Joan can nose around and keep an eye on the other paramortals.

I want as much information as possible about everyone who shows up for the auction. ”

We discussed a few more things. Once we had the rough outlines in place, everyone split up.

The General returned to his office to coordinate with the strike team, while Joan headed down to the level-six armory to start gathering gear.

Evelyn, Gia, and Diego kept working in the conference room, reviewing satellite photos of the Glittertop Resort, while Charlotte and I returned to our desks.

Charlotte tilted her head to the right, and I followed her out of the bullpen and down the corridor.

She veered away from the elevators, stepped behind some concrete columns, and slipped into a shadowy alcove.

No security cameras or listening devices were planted in this area, and it was a rare surveillance dead zone inside headquarters where we could speak freely.

“How are you holding up?” Charlotte asked.

“It must have been hard seeing Henrika again, and especially hearing what she wanted. She is forcing us into an impossible situation. If any of the criminals she’s invited to the auction figure out who we really are, or if Henrika tells them, then the other paramortals will stop at nothing to kill us. ”

I shrugged. “I’m used to the danger, and I’ll march into Henrika’s viper’s nest like a good little soldier.”

“But?”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “But I don’t like the thought of you being in danger. Henrika sent that invitation to you , Charlotte. That means she wants something from you , something she can only get in person. In some ways, that’s worse than her simply wanting to kill you.”

“You’re right. Henrika does want something from me, or you, or Section, or maybe even all of us.

Although right now, I can’t imagine what it might be.

” A thoughtful look filled Charlotte’s face, and her eyes narrowed as she once again did those complex mental calculations, trying to determine Henrika’s motives.

I didn’t care about Henrika’s motives. I just wanted her dead for everything she’d done to me, Graham, and the other agents who’d died on the Blacksea mission.

Charlotte reached out and squeezed my hand as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. “We’ll find a way to take Henrika down. No matter how many tricks she has planned or how many guards and vials of Redburn she has.”

“Yes, we will,” I echoed her promise.

Charlotte stepped forward, wrapped her arms around my waist, and rested her head on my shoulder. I buried my face in her auburn hair and drank in her sweet, sharp, sugar-lime scent.

The thought of suffering through another Redburn explosion—or worse, Charlotte being exposed to the deadly formula—made my chest tighten and cold sweat break out on the back of my neck, but I shrugged off the uncomfortable sensations and tightened my arms around her.

No matter what happened, keeping Charlotte safe was my main objective, and I would do anything— anything —to complete that mission.

My phone chirped, interrupting our quiet, private bubble. I dropped my arms from around Charlotte and pulled the device out of my pocket.

“The General wants to see me in his office.” I sighed. “No doubts he has some thoughts about the mission he wants to share.”

Sympathy filled Charlotte’s face, although her aura flickered with guilt. “I’m so sorry Henrika put you in this situation. I should have found some way to track her down before now. Maybe if I had, we could have confronted her and gotten our answers without General Percy ever getting involved.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. It was only a matter of time before my father showed up. For better or worse, the General is always at the center of whatever drama is currently happening inside Section, and right now, there is no bigger drama or greater danger than Henrika Hyde.”

Charlotte’s phone also chirped, and she made a face at the screen. “Joan wants to meet in the armory so we can gear up for the mission.”

“I’ll meet you there after I talk to the General.”

Charlotte nodded, then leaned forward and brushed her lips against mine. I wound my hand into her hair and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss—

This time, both our phones chirped with messages. I didn’t want to let Charlotte go, but as with so many things at Section, I didn’t have a choice.

I dropped my hands, stepped back, and forced myself to wink at her with confidence that I didn’t feel. “See you soon, Numbers.”

C harlotte returned to the conference room to check in with Evelyn, Gia, and Diego before heading to the armory. I rode the elevator up to the fourth level. I ignored the guards flanking my father’s office and knocked on the door. The General buzzed me inside, and I stepped into the office.

My father was sitting at his desk watching the video of Henrika. He paused the feed, and her frozen face smirked at us on the monitor.

Anger shimmered in the General’s eyes. “I can’t believe she had the audacity to send me this video. The sheer, unmitigated arrogance . As if Section couldn’t crush her any time we wanted.”

I got the impression he was talking more about himself than Section 47, but I didn’t ask any questions. The General only told his version of the truth, and never the whole of it, and he wouldn’t answer anything I asked unless it fit into his plans.

“You wanted to see me?”

The General finally tore his gaze away from the monitor. “I have no interest in capturing Henrika. I want her eliminated.”

I hesitated. “Does Gia know this?”

Back in the conference room, Gia had ordered Charlotte and me to gather intelligence about the other auction guests and to figure out if Henrika had a biomagical lab on the resort grounds where she might be storing samples of Redburn and other weapons.

But our primary objective was to recover the UC list, then capture Henrika so a Section strike team could swoop in and abduct her.

With Henrika out of the way, the threat of her selling the Redburn formula would be neutralized.

Although no one had any idea how we might accomplish those goals, given the legions of guards Henrika was sure to have at her disposal.

My father waved his hand, brushing off my concern.

“Gia Chan might oversee the cleaners, but I’m the head of the board of directors, which means I outrank her.

Gia might not like it, but there’s nothing she can do about it.

You are to eliminate Henrika as soon as possible. That’s an order, Desmond.”

The General speared me with a hard gaze, his eyes glittering like chips of ice.

My father was primarily a political animal, always weighing and measuring actions and reactions.

Such maneuvers had enabled him to climb to the top of the Section ranks, but for once, he didn’t seem to care about any fallout from his orders. Odd.

“Is there a problem?” the General asked. “I thought you would relish this opportunity. After all, your being so desperate to kill Henrika Hyde and Adrian Anatoly is what got us into this mess in the first place.”

I stiffened at the verbal barbs. “No. I don’t have any problem eliminating Henrika.”

And I didn’t. My personal hatred and vendetta aside, I had killed people who had committed far fewer and much less atrocious crimes than Henrika and not thought twice about it.

In some ways, Henrika Hyde was the most dangerous, vicious enemy I’d ever encountered, and it would be a pleasure to finally make her pay for everything she’d done.

All the undercover agents she was currently threatening, all the lives she had already taken, all the pain, misery, and suffering she had visited upon the families of the Section agents who’d been killed on the Blacksea mission.

The only thing that made me hesitate was Charlotte. Henrika couldn’t answer questions if she was dead, and Charlotte deserved to know what had really happened to her father all those years ago.

The General nodded, mistaking my silence for obedience. “Good. I’m also giving you another objective.”

I bit back a tired sigh. Of course he was. The General never just asked for one thing when he could ask for two, or three, or a dozen. “What?”

He pulled a photo out of a folder and slid it across the desk. The image showed a glass vial with a thick red liquid inside.

In an instant, the office melted away, and I was back on the beach in Australia, my body burning with agony, even as I watched the light die in Graham’s eyes and took his remaining energy, his life, to save myself like the bloody coward I truly was . . .

“I’m sure you can guess what that is.” The General’s eager voice snapped me back to the here and now.

“Redburn,” I muttered. “How did you get a picture of it?”

A sly smile curved his lips. “Given the D.C. station’s lack of progress over the past few months, I planted a few of my own spies in Henrika’s organization.

One of them sent me this photo earlier today, which they took in a secret lab at the resort.

I was plotting the best course of action to find and retrieve the vial when I received the video. ”

My gaze snapped up to his. “You’ve confirmed Henrika has a weapons lab and samples of Redburn at the resort?”

The General nodded, leaned back, and steepled his fingers together.

“Yes. Obviously, the threat of unleashing Redburn is one of her contingency plans to keep Section agents at bay, so Henrika has to be storing a supply of the explosive at the resort, although my spy hasn’t been able to pinpoint the exact location yet. ”

A sick, sinking sensation flooded my stomach. “What do you want me to do?”

My father stared at me, his eyes even colder than before. “We can’t allow any samples of Redburn to fall into enemy hands.”

I nodded, working hard to hide the relief crashing through my body. “So you want me to find Henrika’s lab and destroy any samples?”

The General let out a deep, hearty chuckle, as though I’d just made a marvelous joke. “Of course not. I want you to bring me all the samples of Redburn, along with any other weapons Henrika might have on-site.”

Back in Germany, when I’d confiscated the vials of Redburn the mercenaries were going to use to blow up Tannenbaum Castle, I’d told Charlotte that the Section leaders, including my father— especially my father—would want to reverse engineer the explosive for their own purposes.

And now the General was confirming my worst fears.

As a cleaner, I could see why he wanted Redburn so badly.

Paramortals could be difficult to kill, and a weapon like that would give Section 47 a huge tactical advantage.

But I didn’t want anyone to suffer the way Graham and I had suffered on the beach.

The force, fire, and fury of the explosions blasting over me was something I would never, ever forget.

I still woke up sweating and screaming in the middle of the night, clawing at the phantom burning sensation in my skin as though I had been doused in boiling honey.

In my own way, I could be as ruthless as the General, but I wouldn’t wish that searing, unending agony on my worst enemy—except for Henrika, for creating such a horrid weapon.

Section 47 might keep the public safe from rogue paramortals, but not everyone in the spy organization had pure, good, noble intentions.

It wouldn’t be long before Redburn was used in a personal vendetta rather than in a strategic mission, and innocent people might get caught in the crossfire, subjected to horrible pain and certain death just because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, son?” the General asked, once again jerking me back to the here and now.

Son. My father only called me that when he wanted to drive home a point—and remind me exactly who was in charge.

I nodded again, even though every fiber in my body rebelled at the small, acquiescing motion. “Yes, sir. I’m to bring in as many samples of Redburn as possible and eliminate the rest, along with Henrika.”

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” My father speared me with another hard look. “This is strictly between the two of us, Desmond. Understand? Gia doesn’t need to know about this either. Neither does Charlotte.”

I nodded yet again, still trying to think through the remembered pain skittering through my skin like a live electrical current scorching everything it touched.

“Good,” he repeated. “Go prep for the mission. I’ll find you later. Dismissed.”

I spun around and left the office. My father had given me a mission, but for the first time in my life, I wasn’t going to complete it. I couldn’t —not if I wanted to be able to live with my own conscience.

The General wanted me to eliminate Henrika?

Okay. As soon as Charlotte got her answers from the other woman, then I would follow his orders and kill Henrika.

But I was going to destroy every single sample of Redburn that I found before the formula could fall into the wrong hands—including my father’s.