Page 107 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

She kept her eyes locked on his, steady, unwavering. “Trust me. You don’t want to buck me on this. Those men were a threat. Now they aren’t. End of story.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t. He wouldn’t cave—not yet, at least. But Ellie knew this kind of knowledge could crush a man if he wasn’t strong enough to bear it.

“This is bad, Ellie. If this spirals, we’re both done.”

She studied him for a long moment before responding. “Then make sure it doesn’t spiral. Cause you’re wrong about one thing.If it spirals, you’re finished. Not me. I’ll be fine either way. I’m protected. If you screw up this mission, you’ll be the one in trouble. I’m trying to protect you now. If you tell anyone, then I won’t be able to anymore.”

Luke nodded reluctantly.

She almost felt sorry for him. He honestly thought he was in a lot of trouble either way. All she cared about right now was finding the mole. If Luke said the wrong thing, the mole could slither deeper into hiding, and she might never find him. Then he’d get blamed.

“Go home, Luke. Get some rest. Pretend you never met me. I’ll be out of here soon.”

She abruptly turned and walked away, leaving him standing alone in the parking lot, with the words lingering over him.

In a moment of reflection, she realized she wasn’t happy about being so direct with him. While the romantic connection between them was nothing more than a flicker on a candle in her mind, she had fanned that flame to get close to him. To find out if he was the mole. Never expecting him to get caught up in the mission.

He had feelings for her and she had hurt him. Led him on. And she regretted that. Maybe in some ways, it was a game, and this was how the game was played. She just hoped he was smart enough to play it.

Luke got in his car and she watched as he drove away.

As soon as he was out of sight, an unexpected idea popped into her head. A lightbulb moment. She took out her phone and dialed her parents.

“I have an idea,” she said when they answered. “A way to find the mole once and for all.”

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

Langley, Virginia

For Paul Dietrich,the news out of the Cayman Islands was disturbing.

The day’s intelligence briefing circulating through the CIA headquarters stated that one Iranian national was shot and killed execution style in a parked car in the marina. Another two Iranians rented a boat and were missing. All three were presumed to be Iranian intelligence operatives.

The daily update had arrived in his inbox that morning, and that piece of news was buried on page three. Not the news he wanted to see. Every day, he anxiously scanned the update for news that a CIA operative, namely Ellie Austen, had been killed.

Instead, Paul found that the Iranians had failed again. It sent his already high blood pressure skyrocketing. He was walking on a high wire without a net and could feel the winds getting stronger, ready to blow him off, sending him plummeting to his death below.

He had tried to access Ellie’s mission files to find out why she was in Cayman, but his security clearance didn’t give him access.He worried she might be there to search for a double agent. To find him.

At first, he thought he was being paranoid. Now he wasn’t so sure. He had been running his traitorous operation out of the Cayman Islands for years. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Ellie Austen was running a mission out of there now.

He never set out to be a traitor. His first assignment was in London. An ideal starting point for an ambitious newbie intent on becoming a station chief. But he made the mistake of sleeping with one of his married subordinates and was banished to Ukraine, buried in the cold, miserable chaos of a country teetering on the brink. One of the worst places to go in the entire network.

He made the best of it and used the opportunity to cozy up with several Russian oligarchs under the guise of intelligence gathering. The relationships admittedly became too friendly, but he never crossed a line.

Until he received a call one day from the acting CIA Director himself, Neal Fuller, with an unusual request. He was ordered to find Jamie Austen. At the time, he knew Jamie from her reputation. While he was reluctant to help because he didn’t trust Fuller’s motives, Paul saw it as an opportunity to get out of his banishment.

Fuller had promised him everything: a cushy position at Langley, millions siphoned from the accounts of Alex and Jamie Austen as payment for his loyalty. It wasn’t betrayal, not in Paul’s mind. Not then. Fuller had convinced him that Jamie and Alex were dirty. He justified it by telling himself he was following orders.

Mostly, the compromise had been driven by greed.

To his credit, Fuller nearly brought down Jamie Austen and her husband, Alex. He had come close, so close Paul could almost taste the victory back then.

Unfortunately, he had bet on the wrong horse.

Fuller had played him. Instead of Langley, Paul was exiled to Rome. An improvement, but a consolation prize that came with none of the promised millions. He felt like he had been cast aside like garbage. He couldn’t even get Fuller on the line to confront him about it.