Page 86 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

Luke.

She let it go to voicemail. She wasn’t interested in dealing with him at the moment.

Her phone pinged a few seconds later, and she expected it to be a voicemail from Luke. Instead, she got a response from Mark.

No worries. I accept your apology.

Anger boiled inside of her. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe because he didn’t offer an apology of his own.

“I’m not the one who should apologize!” Ellie said aloud, roughly. “Who do you think you are? What right do you have to take my personal belongings and not give them back right away?”

She was so angry at him, she could barely see straight.

“And then you questioned me like I was some kind of suspect. It’s none of your business who I work for. Also, Mister, I can carry a gun if I want to.”

She paced the room now. Giving him a piece of her mind.

“Who doyouwork for, buddy? Are you the mole? I saw how you handled a gun. You know how to handle a gun because your father is a policeman? Why do I think you’re lying to me?” Her voice mocked the way he had asked her the same question earlier that night.

Ellie took a deep breath and picked up her phone and typed out a message to Mark.How about a diving date? We can go to one of your favorite spots you mentioned. I’ll rent a boat. To make it up to you.

She hesitated before sending it.

It could be dangerous, yes. But wasn’t everything she’d done so far? If Mark were the mole, she needed answers. And if he wasn’t . . . well, she couldn’t afford to wonder.

Her fingers hovered over her phone. Was this reckless or calculated? A mix of both, maybe. Either way, she hit send.

Mark’s reply came almost instantly.

Sounds great. When?

Ellie’s fingers hovered over the screen as she considered her options.

Sunday,she wrote.

Mark’s response was a simple thumbs-up emoji, but it was enough to make her heart race.

She set the phone aside and walked to the window, looking for any potential threats although she didn’t expect to see any.

Now, she had three suspects.

She had made the mistake of getting too close to each of them. That wasn’t happening anymore.

Now she was all business. One of them could be the mole. She wasn’t going to rule out anything at this point.

Another thought hit her like a semi-truck on a freeway.

They could all three be working together.

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Iranian Ministry of Intelligence

Tehran

The dimly litoffice reeked of stale cigarettes and frustration. The high-ranking Iranian intelligence officer sat behind his oversized metal desk, and his fingers drummed an impatient rhythm on its worn surface.