Page 53 of Out of Control

“Yes, dammit.”

Spencer’s lips tightened until a white line showed around them. Was Boy Wonder actually jealous? Delight coursed through Drago.

“What’s in the bag?” Spencer asked.

“A cell phone and a wallet. If we’re lucky, they belonged to ol’ Fayez.”

“You’re shitting me.”

Drago smiled. “Your big brother act worked like a charm. Nicely done, by the way.”

“Aww, she was just a scared kid.”

Drago snorted. “She was at least twenty-five, and she’s been in the biz a decade if she’s been in it a day.”

“No way.”

“How in the hell has a guy as naïve as you stayed alive this long? It’s a tough world out there. And young girls often get the worst of it.”

Spencer scowled. “Maybe my belief in the basic decency of most people is what has kept me alive. How have you managed to stay functional under the weight of your massive cynicism?”

“Iknowmy cynicism has kept me alive. I don’t take anyone at their word, and I don’t believe anyone is as they seem. I don’t trust anyone.”

“Even me?” Spencer asked with a faint note of hurt.

“Really? You have to ask that?”

“You tell me.”

“Spencer. I would trust you with my life. Hell, Ihaveentrusted you with my life. Speaking of which, are you ready to help me now that you know I didn’t kill Khoury?”

“Not here,” Spencer bit out.

Drago hired a ride via a cell phone app, and the driver dropped them off a few blocks from the safe house. Once the car had disappeared, he led Spencer into another alley and opened another manhole cover. This one wasn’t as fancy as the last one, and they had to lift it by hand and climb down a steel ladder. The cover clunked into place over his head, and Drago joined Spencer at the bottom.

Rainwater flowed sluggishly over slime-coated concrete, and he picked through it. At least they would leave no footprints. After a few hundred feet, he turned into a dry tunnel and moved more quickly. In about ten minutes they arrived at his building and made their way up to his apartment.

Spencer was the first to break his silence. “Dray, I think you’ve got a problem.”

“I’ve got several of them at the moment,” he answered dryly.

Spencer shook his head. “Have you got an enemy inside the CIA?”

“That’s a strange question.”

“Something you said before has got me thinking. Why was there a surveillance drone on you that night? I’m assuming you didn’t announce to your handler that you were planning to barge into that brothel and make an unsanctioned hit.”

“You would be correct,” he answered dryly. “I did not announce my intentions.”

“Then how did the CIA know to be watching you just then? Were you in the middle of some other sensitive operation that required close air support?”

He frowned. “No. I was doing routine surveillance on various Russian assets in Berlin.”

“Then why did the CIA allocate something as precious as an intelligence drone to you that night?”

“I have no idea.”

“Did you do something, say something, to indicate that you were going to do anything significant that night?”