Page 54 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)

CHARLOTTE

G abriel’s eyes flicked over all the information. I held my breath, hoping he would see what I saw, because I couldn’t do this without him.

After a few seconds, he nodded. “You’re right. Clever of her. To literally go underground right under Section’s nose.”

I slapped my hand on the table. “Exactly! An abandoned mine is the perfect place for a secret lab, especially for someone like Henrika who has such a public profile. Her legitimate workers would notice her coming and going in a regular lab, and someone might get curious about what she was working on. But something like this? Henrika would have complete privacy. Since the lab is so close to the hotel, no one would think twice about her sailing off to enjoy a day on the lake and then sailing back later, after she finished working in the lab. All she would need to do to sell the illusion would be to take a few photos on the lake with the hotel in the background and then post them online.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “And that’s exactly what she’s done. I’ve looked at dozens of photos of Henrika in a boat on the lake over the past few months, and I never suspected a thing.”

Gabriel held up his hands. “You don’t have to convince me, Char. I know how smart you are and especially how good your instincts are. The real question is, are you going to share the intel with General Percy?”

I thought of the disgust and fury in the General’s icy gaze after Desmond had been taken.

“No, I’m not going to tell Percy. He won’t listen to a word I say.

Even if by some miracle he did listen, he’d want to send a strike team into Henrika’s lab.

The more people who are involved, the greater the risk to Desmond. ”

“What about Gia Chan?”

I shook my head. “Gia believes in me, but General Percy has operational control of the mission. She can’t go against his orders.”

“And Evelyn Hawkes?” Gabriel asked.

A few weeks ago, I’d told him about Evelyn really being Maestro, so he knew how powerful she really was—and not to annoy her.

I thought about it for a few seconds, then shook my head again. “No. If I went to Evelyn and she acted on the intel, then General Percy would realize she is Maestro. I’m not going to blow her secret identity as Maestro unless absolutely necessary.”

I blew out a tense breath. “Besides, Henrika set this whole thing up to play out exactly like the Mexico mission. She has a hostage, and we have no leverage. If she sees a strike team, she might just go ahead and execute Desmond.”

My heart squeezed tight. “I can’t risk that. I can’t risk Desmond dying in the crossfire like my father did.”

My heart squeezed tight again, but I breathed through the sharp spikes of pain. I needed to focus on saving Desmond right now, not on all the specters of spies past that were haunting me.

“Okay,” Gabriel said. “Let’s see what the two of us can do. First things first. We need to find exactly where Henrika is hiding.”

Using the reports from the Section agents about where they’d last seen Henrika and where Bryce and the guards had abandoned their vehicles, I reviewed all the topographical maps of the area, along with drone and satellite surveillance photos.

It didn’t take me long to find an old coal mine about a mile away from the clearing on top of the mountain where the helicopter had taken off.

I kept digging, and eventually, I found a map of the mine, although it was dated several years ago.

I printed out copies, then Gabriel and I bent our heads, poring over the information.

Several minutes later, Gabriel sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “The mine entrance should be easy enough to find, but we don’t know how many men Bryce might have inside or what other security measures he might have rigged up.

This is at least a three-person job. One person to run point and navigate through the mine, one person to provide security and deal with any threats, and one person to help Desmond.

” He cleared his throat as though he didn’t like what he was about to say next.

“Slick is probably going to be in . . . rough shape.”

I grimaced, and another spike of worry slammed into my chest. Gabriel shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable, but he was just laying out the facts. We didn’t know what Henrika might have done to Desmond, how badly she might have hurt him, and we needed at least one more person for the mission.

Gabriel picked up his phone from the tabletop. “I could call in some folks from my crew, but they’re all on other assignments, and it will take them a few hours to get here.”

“Desmond might not have a few hours left.”

Gabriel gave me a helpless shrug. The phaser might be able to walk through walls, but even he couldn’t make an ally magically appear, someone who would help rescue Desmond no matter the consequences.

I looked out over the maps and surveillance images again, trying to conjure a solution. My gaze landed on the photo of Henrika and Feliciano Salvador smiling with the beautiful sunset and glimmering ocean behind them . . .

My eyes narrowed, and I remembered another photo of a beautiful sunset and a glimmering ocean I had seen recently.

My mind whirred, and a few pieces of a different puzzle clicked into place.

I leaned forward and hit some keys on the laptop, searching for a new topic.

It was ridiculously easy to find, and a rueful laugh escaped my lips.

“What are you looking at now?” Gabriel asked.

I stared at him over the screen. “I know someone who can help us rescue Desmond.”

“Who?”

“Nemesis.”

Gabriel jerked back in his chair. “ Nemesis? Why would you think she would help us ? She hasn’t contacted me since the Tannenbaum mission.

It’s been radio silence since her last call on Christmas Day, and I don’t have any way to reach her.

The number she gave me was disconnected, and it was burner phone, so there was no way to trace it. She’s a ghost, Char.”

I gave him a grim smile. “Then it’s a good thing I’m in the business of tracking down ghosts, even the Ghost of Christmas Past.”

I picked up my phone and sent a text, along with my current location at the hotel. Then I laid the device on the table. Nothing to do now but wait and see if I was right about who Nemesis really was—

My phone lit up, and a grin curved on my face as I read the message. “She’s on her way.”

T wenty minutes later, the pale blue glow of magic sparked and shimmered around the library door. The lock turned, the door opened, and a woman stepped inside. She was wearing a long black trench coat that made her look exactly like the spy she was.

Joan Samson’s sharp, searching gaze landed on me and Gabriel, and her lips flattened out into a thin line. She stalked in our direction, her coat flapping around her legs in time to her quick, angry strides.

“ She’s Nemesis?” Gabriel muttered. “Seriously? Ms. By-the-Book Section Liaison?”

“We need her help, so maybe don’t call her juvenile names?”

Gabriel shot me a dark glower, which I ignored.

Joan yanked out the chair at the far end of the table and sat down. Gabriel eyed her, as if mentally comparing her to his idea of Nemesis, but he didn’t say a word.

“Hello, Joan,” I drawled. “So nice to see you again. Neat trick, using your transmuter magic to manipulate the metal lock and open the door.”

Joan arched a dark eyebrow at my snide tone.

“It’s been, what, two hours since you upbraided me in the honeymoon suite? That was a nice touch. A very convincing performance for General Percy’s bodyguards. Brava.”

“It wasn’t a performance,” she replied. “Everything I said was the truth.”

I winced and clutched my heart, as though she had wounded me. “Ouch. Tell me, did General Percy order you to stay behind at the hotel to keep an eye on me? Or did you volunteer?”

“I volunteered,” she replied in a tart tone. “Someone had to make sure you didn’t screw things up any more than you already have.”

I winced again, this time for real. She was right. I had screwed things up, and now Desmond was paying the price for my mistakes.

Joan’s pale blue eyes frosted over even more, and she leaned back in her chair. “I got your rather cryptic text. What do you want, Charlotte? I’m busy overseeing the strike team while they hunt for Niles Perran and Oriana Luzzo.”

“If my message was truly cryptic, you would have ignored it.” I held my hands out wide. “Yet here you are.”

Joan pulled her phone out and held the screen out where Gabriel and I could see it.

Love the photo of your Greek vacation. You should visit Germany next. Hope we can work together again soon. XOXO Charlotte.

“That is the very definition of cryptic,” Joan muttered.

“Still going to play dumb?” I shook my head. “We’re both too smart for that.”

Agreement flickered across her face before she could hide it. Gabriel kept glaring at Joan, but she ignored him and kept staring at me. She wasn’t going to crack unless I made her crack.

I leaned back in my own chair. “Don’t you want to know how I figured out you’re Nemesis?”

Joan’s face remained calm and smooth, and she didn’t move, fidget, blink, or twitch. The liaison should have gone to Casino Night with the other paramortals, because she had an excellent poker face, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking or feeling.

“I figured out you were Nemesis the same way I figured out Miriam Lancaster and Trevor Donnelly were moles—by adding up lots of little things.”

Joan scoffed. “What things?”

I pointed at her suit jacket, which was visible underneath her trench coat. Once again, she was wearing the small sword brooch, and the white diamonds glittered like stars against the dark blue fabric. “Every time I’ve seen you over the past few days, you’ve been wearing that brooch.”

Joan’s fingers crept up to the brooch. “So what?”