Page 27 of Code Name: Reaper (K19 Allied Intelligence Team Two #5)

I gasped. “Did you say Langley?”

“That’s right. Not the kind of work he could talk about, I don’t think.”

“As in the CIA?” Reaper pressed.

“Can’t say for sure, but that’d be my guess.”

“Did you know my mother?”

“I only met her once or twice. Real pretty girl.” He looked at me and smiled. “You look a lot like her.”

A cold gust of wind blew through, carrying away most of the pile of leaves he’d been raking.

“Do you want to come inside?” I offered.

“I would, but I’ve got some other things to take care of across the way. It was sure good to see you again, Charity, and if you ever decide you want to put the place on the market, I’ll do what I can to help.”

“I appreciate it.” I hugged him and kissed his cheek.

“Norm was a good friend to me when I lost Violet. Then when Dorothy passed, I did the same for him. The neighborhood isn’t the same without them.” He looked up at the house. “I guess that’s why I’m over here as much as I am. Good memories, you know?”

“I do know, and thank you.”

As he walked away, my eyes filled with tears. “He seems so lonely,” I said when Reaper tightened his arm around me and I leaned into him.

“Do you want to look around some more inside?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Maybe later.”

Reaper glanced over at me once we were in the SUV and on our way to the town house. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It? Which one? That my ‘mother’s’ family name was Hyde? I suppose that means Jekyll isn’t my father. If it’s even the same Hyde.”

I rested against the seat and covered my face. When Reaper’s hand rested on my thigh, I turned to him.

“I know I said it earlier, but I don’t understand why my grandparents told me so little about my mom and dad.”

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“When I was younger, I did. Maybe middle-school age. It made both of them so uncomfortable—and sad—that I eventually gave up.”

“I take it you didn’t know your dad worked for the agency.”

“Not a clue. But if he did, it would’ve been around the same time Prism worked there.”

“There’s a possible connection,” Reaper suggested.

“True.” Something else nagged at me. “So if Hyde was my mother’s maiden name, what if Jekyll was her brother?”

“Of everything, that makes the most sense.”

“Uncle Edgar? It sounds creepy, doesn’t it?”

“Not as much as Uncle Jekyll.”

“That’s for sure.” I chuckled. “Here’s another thing. We know he graduated from Bethel-Rhodes at the same time Mercury did and that he eventually went to work for MI6.”

“His father may have been a diplomat, which would explain why Jekyll attended high school in the States and also answer the question about his nationality,” Reaper added.

“Once we’re at the town house, I’ll see what I can find on that angle.”

We’d been inside a few minutes, and I was scouring intelligence sites for a possible diplomat with the last name Hyde when there was a knock at the door. “It’s too early to be Vera,” I said as Reaper went to look.

“It’s my mom. Okay if I invite her in?”

I smiled. “Of course.”

“Hello, Kingston,” she said, hugging him when she came inside. “I swear you get taller every time I see you.”

“Ma, I hit six-four in college and have been the same height since.”

“Hello, Amaryllis. Or do you prefer Charity?”

“Hello, and either is fine. Can I get you anything? Do you want to come in and sit down?” I asked.

“If I’m not interrupting.” She glanced at the piles of photos we’d left on the dining table.

“You’re not. In fact, the timing is great,” Reaper told her.

At first I was lost, but then I realized what he was getting at. “I know this is a really long shot, but you don’t happen to remember anyone named Hyde from foreign service? Someone British?”

She thought about my question for a few seconds.

“Nothing that immediately comes to mind, but as you suggested, it would be a long shot. At any given time, there are more than fifteen thousand foreign service personnel stationed in the US. A high percentage of those would be from the UK. I’ll look into it, and if I find anything, I’ll let you know later. ”

Kyra took the cup of coffee Reaper handed to her.

“Which reminds me, that’s why I stopped by. Are you free for dinner this evening?”

Reaper looked at me.

“I doubt our meeting this afternoon will last more than an hour or two, so yes.”

“Excellent. We can kill two birds with one stone, as they say. Rick can try to answer any questions you might have, and I can get to know Amaryllis better. Not to mention spend time with my son, who I never see enough.”

“I’d like to suggest we meet here,” said Reaper. “That way, we won’t have to be concerned about sensitive information being overheard.”

It was a good idea and the reason we’d made the same suggestion to Vera.

“I can order something from one of the local restaurants, and your dad and I can bring it with us. Anything off limits?”

“Pizza,” Reaper and I said at the same time, then laughed.

When Vera arrived at fifteen hundred hours and I invited her inside, I was stunned by her appearance. It was as though she’d aged five years in the seven months since I last saw her.

“How are you?” I blurted.

“I was about to say the same thing to you.” She set her bag on a table in the living room.

“Tired, frustrated, and as ready to give up the search for Mercury as I am determined to find her.”

“Ambivalence is a curse I understand all too well.”

“Have the two of you met?” I asked when Reaper returned from upstairs.

He approached and extended his hand to shake hers. “I haven’t had the pleasure.”

After the two had traded greetings, I motioned for us to take a seat in the living room.

Reaper looked between us. “Should I be present for this meeting, or would you like me to leave the two of you alone?”

“Most of what we have to talk about will be beneficial to you both. I can’t think of anything you shouldn’t be privy to, but will let you know if there is.”

We both sat on the sofa and waited for Vera to continue.

“We have a lot to cover, so let’s get started. To begin, from my perspective, the most troubling thing I’ve come across is the volume of intelligence that has either been redacted or appears to never have existed. Things that should have.”

“For example?” I pressed.

“Primarily, Operation Avalon since it so closely relates to both Prism and Mercury. Like you, I was disappointed that you weren’t able to learn much from Hal Edmonds. That he gave his daughter the names Hyde and Minerva is interesting, though.”

“I thought so too but would like to hear why you do.”

“After reviewing the brief from the state department on Operation Avalon, I anticipated he’d share intel focused on that, including the details of what Prism and Mercury were investigating.

The supposition is that Minerva Protocol was created specifically for that reason.

Therefore, his mention of it makes sense. What doesn’t is the Hyde reference.”

“More mysterious is the addition of the letter H,” Reaper commented.

“Is there any update on his condition?” Vera asked.

“I haven’t checked, but his daughter offered to keep us posted,” I responded.

She retrieved her tablet from her bag and swiped the screen. “One of the primary reasons I wanted to meet is to discuss Avalon in correlation to both Argead and Romanov.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I murmured.

“There’s evidence suggesting that the three organizations, if you will, are more connected than initially thought.”

Reaper’s brow furrowed. “In what way?”

“The supposition was that Argead and Avalon had little to do with each other. Additionally, that Romanov saw an opportunity, when Kerr and his conspirators were taken down, to pick up where Argead left off. Now, we believe Romanov, as a criminal network, has been in existence as long as the other two, if not longer.”

I rested against my chair, processing the implications. “Thus, them being connected?”

“Based on additional intelligence, of course. I’ve prepared a brief that I’ll forward now. You’ll see I’ve also included Wren in the distro list and suggested she share it with the coalition.”

“It’s appreciated.”

“You’ll see in what I compiled that I suggested you consult with Irish Warrick, Sumner Copeland, and Money McTiernan. It’s your decision, of course.”

“It’s a good idea,” said Reaper.

“Now, what questions do you have for me?”

“What do you know about my parents?”

She closed her tablet and returned it to her bag. “This part is more difficult.”