Page 25 of Secrets Beneath the Waves (Beach Read Thrillers #2)

CHAPTER

THREE

Three weeks later

Ellie stared at the phone in her hand, her thumb hovering over the call button.

It had been three weeks since the chaos with Harrington, twenty-one days of frustration, making little progress finding the mole, even though she’d spent the better part of every day digging into the web of lies she knew the traitor was weaving.

The mole existed and she’d seen evidence of it. She didn’t know who he was yet.

But tonight wasn’t about any of that. She needed to talk to her parents for some semblance of normalcy. Well, as normal as their family could get.

Her dad had called a couple times, and she’d been negligent in calling him back. He wouldn’t be happy. She hit the button and waited, the familiar ringtone from the secure satellite phone echoing in her ear. Her dad picked up first, as was usually the case when she called.

"Well, well, if it isn’t my long-lost daughter, calling to remind me she still remembers her poor, forgotten father," Dad said on speaker, his voice practically drowning in melodramatic sarcasm.

“I’ve been busy, Dad,” she replied, rolling her eyes, something she learned from her mother, who sometimes did it so hard at her husband, he quipped on several occasions that her eyes were going to get stuck in the back of her head.

“Busy? Your mom’s been worried sick about you!” he exclaimed.

“I talked to Mom last week!” she shot back.

“What? Jamie! You talked to Ellie and didn’t tell me?”

“Hi, Mom!” Ellie called out, knowing full well her dad was about to launch into another dramatic tirade. At least, she had deflected his angst at her mom instead of her. If only temporarily.

Her mom’s voice chimed in from somewhere in the background, totally ignoring her husband’s accusation. “Hi, sweetheart! How’s the mission? Or should I say, the dating game?”

“Dating game?” Dad’s voice shot up an octave. “What dating game? Who’s dating? Is someone dating my daughter?”

“Yes, I forgot to tell you,” Mom said, her voice casual. “Ellie met a guy. They’ve been on a couple of dates.”

“What?” Dad practically roared. “We have a rule! I’m supposed to meet the guy before she goes out with him.”

“And how exactly is she supposed to do that?” her mother countered. “You’re in Virginia, Alex. She’s in the Cayman Islands.”

“I can be there in three hours!” he declared, sounding like he already had a flight plan ready. “If nothing else, I could talk to him on a video phone. I like to look your boyfriends in the eyes.”

“Stop it!” her mother groaned. “Just because she goes on a couple of dates with one guy doesn’t mean he’s her boyfriend.”

Ellie tried to laugh it off, but a pang of anxiety twisted in her stomach. “Well, uh, about that,” she said hesitantly. “Actually, I’m kind of . . . dating three guys.”

“Three? Three?” her dad exploded. “What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t know about the others.” Her mom’s laugh rang out. “This should be interesting.”

Ellie took a deep breath. “Okay, so there’s Mark. I met him at a coffee shop. He’s sweet, funny, and we’ve been on a few dates. I actually like him. He’s the one I told you about, Mom.”

“What’s his last name? Where does he work?” Her dad said. His tone was skeptical.

“Dad, stop.” Ellie shook her head. “You’re not going to do a background check on him.”

“What do you know about the guy? How do you know he hasn’t targeted you?”

“I approached him. I practically asked him out.”

Dad groaned.

“Then there’s Luke. He works at the CIA office.”

“The CIA office?” Her dad’s voice was at a fever pitch. “And you’re dating him? That’s not a good idea. Stay away from guys who work for the CIA. They aren’t marriage material.”

“He’s right,” her mother said, mockingly. “Trust me, I know. I married a guy who works for the CIA.”

“It’s not like that,” Ellie insisted. “He asked me out, and I figured it’d be a good opportunity to . . . you know, check him out. Look around his apartment. See if he might be the mole I’m tracking.”

“You went to his apartment?” her dad practically shouted.

“Spy dating? Good thinking.” Mom was clearly amused and more than willing to pour fuel on the fire to provoke her dad.

“That’s not good thinking,” he said. “If you want to see his apartment, break into it when he’s not there. You don’t have to throw yourself at him.”

“I’m not throwing myself at him. We went on an innocent date.”

“And you went back to his apartment. You know what guys want when they ask you to come home with them. It might be innocent to you, but not to him.”

“It’s an efficient use of her time,” her mother argued.

“Nothing happened. Well, almost nothing,” Ellie said, almost teasingly.

“Whoa! What’s that supposed to mean?” Dad used enough emphasis to stop a stallion in its tracks.

Nothing happened other than a slight peck on the lips, but Ellie was enjoying getting a rile out of her father.

“Who’s the third guy, Ellie?” her mom asked.

“Right, the third guy is Matthew. He’s the contact you gave me, Mom. The one I called after I took down the man trying to kill Harrington. The man with the gun.”

“You took down a guy with a gun?” Dad said. “How come I’m just now hearing about it?”

“I told you about it,” Mom said calmly. “She wasn’t in any real danger.”

“You didn’t tell me about it.”

“Maybe I forgot. Anyway, Alex, you know Matthew. He works for us. Remember when we ran that operation in Amsterdam? You sent him there to do some surveillance work. I sent him to Cayman to help Ellie.”

“I remember. He’s not good enough for you, Ellie.”

“I’m not going to marry him. After the interrogation, we went back to his place and ordered dinner. So, it wasn’t really a date.”

“His place?”

“We couldn’t go out to a restaurant. We can’t be seen together in public. He’s undercover and so am I.”

“Are you planning on going to every single guy’s apartment in the Cayman Islands?”

“I might. If I have enough time.”

“What was the deal with the gunman? Tell me about the interrogation?” Mom asked, deftly changing the subject, which Ellie was thankful for.

“Matthew threatened to waterboard him, and he sang right away. Turns out, he had a grudge against Harrington’s healthcare company because they denied his mom’s surgery claim. Lone wolf type. He wanted to make a statement by killing the CEO. Matthew turned him over to MI6.”

“Good job, Ellie,” Mom said. “You saved his life.”

“Matthew thinks I should try and get close to Harrington. He’s suspicious of him. I’m thinking about going on a date with him. What do you think, Dad?”

She wasn’t actually thinking about going on a date with Harrington but was enjoying teasing her father.

“What are you, a swallow now?” he asked, with a hint of anger behind the words.

“Dad!”

Swallows were infamous Russian female agents trained in the art of seduction, deception, and psychological manipulation, using intimacy as a weapon of espionage.

This method, often referred to as Sexpionage , allowed them to gain access to highly classified information by exploiting the desires and weaknesses of their targets, typically powerful or influential men.

Ellie’s mom had trained her extensively on the art of seduction and how it could be a powerful tool but also a dangerous gamble if taken too far and should be used sparingly.

She favored a more straightforward approach, one that avoided emotional entanglements and the risk of putting yourself in a compromising situation.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. Ellie isn’t going to cross any lines,” her mom said. “I’ve done it before.”

“When have you done it?” Dad asked roughly.

“Many times. You know about them, Alex. Remember one of my first missions to Belarus? We had just met. I went back to that Turkish oligarch’s hotel room. He thought we were going to have sex. I kidnapped him instead. You helped me. That’s how we got our first Gulfstream. We stole it from him.”

“Yeah. I remember.”

“There was the Sheik in Abu Dhabi. I wore that tight-fitting black dress, and he invited me back to his mansion. I rescued five girls from that mansion. He’s dead too. That’s how we got the yacht.”

“Okay. Okay. You don’t have to remind me of all of them. I remember. Now, Ellie. Here are the rules. You can go back to their apartments as long as you kill them once you get there.”

Ellie ignored the comment. Thankfully, her mother did too.

“So, Mark, Luke, and Matthew?” her mom said, her tone incredulous. “Three guys? How are you going to keep them all straight?”

“All you need is a John and you’ll be dating the writers of the four gospels,” Dad quipped.

“Very funny, Dad. And don’t even think about it. You are not doing a background check on them either.”

“Oh, come on,” he said. “You know I can’t resist. Just a quick peek. Their bank accounts, credit card debt, maybe who they’ve dated before. Have they ever been married?—”

“Absolutely not,” Ellie said firmly. “If you dig into their lives, I’ll know. And I’ll be furious.”

“I’ll come down there then,” he said. “Talk to them myself. See what their intentions are.”

“Dad, no,” Ellie said, exasperated. “I can handle myself.”

Her mother’s laughter bubbled up again. “Oh, Alex, let the girl live. You should be happy. She’s dating three guys. That’s better than being hunted by three guys.”

Ellie grinned, then frowned, as she remembered an incident earlier that day. “Exactly. Mom gets it.”

“Barely,” she replied. “I do agree with your dad about one thing. Romantic entanglements are tricky on a mission. I couldn’t even imagine trying to juggle three of them. You don’t want to blow your cover.”

“Do you have any idea how reckless that is? Dating three guys at once.” Her father’s voice was sharp, teetering on the edge of disbelief.

“Dad, it’s not that serious,” Ellie said, trying to keep her tone light.

“Not serious? Ellie, you don’t know these men. One of them could be dangerous. Or worse, working against you. What if one of them is the mole?”

“You’re being dramatic again, dear,” her mom said.

“It’s not dramatic,” he shot back, his voice quieter now but no less intense. “Do you remember Istanbul? The diplomat who claimed he was on our side? We let him into our inner circle. He was an ally—until he wasn’t. We killed him three days later. You never know who you can trust.”

The phone went silent for a moment, the words settling over them like a heavy fog. Ellie’s grip on the phone tightened as the entire exchange made her uncomfortable.

“That’s why I worry,” he said softly, the edge in his voice giving way to something rawer, something closer to fear. “It’s not about control. It’s about keeping you alive.”

Ellie’s throat tightened. “I know, Dad. But I’m not walking into these situations blindly. You and Mom taught me better than that.”

He started to speak, but she cut him off.

“I don’t intend to let any of them progress much further. I’m focused on the mission first. You’re right, Mom. Dating all three is already a distraction. This whole conversation has been about them.”

“I’ll admit, it’s been entertaining hearing your father fret over your love life,” she said. “You’ve got him all worked up. I doubt he’ll sleep tonight.”

Ellie laughed. “Don’t worry about me, Dad. I know what I’m doing. Anyway, I should get going. Love you guys.”

“Love you, sweetheart,” Mom said.

Her father sighed. “Fine. Love you too. But if any of these guys step out of line, you call me.”

“I’ll handle it,” Ellie said quickly. “Bye!”

She hung up before he could argue further. Setting the phone down, she let out a long breath.

Her mom’s words echoed in her ears.

She’s dating three guys. That’s better than being hunted by three guys.

Her mother had meant it as a joke—a cynical quip about the dangers of their line of work—but Ellie wasn’t laughing now. The memory of the three Middle Eastern men trailing her earlier that day gnawed at the edges of her mind.

She had spotted them immediately, their movements too deliberate, their glances too rehearsed. Were they merely watching, or were they waiting for the right moment to make a move?

She should have mentioned them to her parents. That’s the main reason she called them.

She thought about calling back. Even picked up the phone and started to dial the number.

Immediately decided against it. She already knew what their reactions would be. Overprotective. Furious. Ready to insert themselves into the mission or pull her from it altogether.

No, for now, she’d keep it to herself. At least, until she was certain they were a real threat.