Secrets of the Dead (3 page)

“Where is he now?”

“Safe.” Adam’s response to Eve’s question was clipped.

Undeterred, she gave him an understanding look. “Keeping a ten-year-old boy corralled indefinitely under high security can’t be easy.”

He grimaced. “You have no idea. Jaid has taken a leave of absence from the bureau so she’s with him around the clock, but he wants his life back. His friends, his freedom, his school, and he wants it sooner rather than later. That’s where you two come in. Your cover will necessarily be part truth, part fabrication.”

Eve’s earlier words began to make sense to Declan now. “As a married couple.”

Adam gave a nod. “Exactly.” There was a flicker of amusement in his expression for an instant before it vanished. “Meet the future Mrs. Gallagher. You got married in Scotland, which alleviates the need to falsify records here. Your names appear on a piece of property, a house the two of you own.”

“I’m sure we have excellent taste.”

Declan slanted the woman at his side a quelling look. Undercover work wasn’t a damn lark. And he wasn’t all that anxious to go into deep cover with someone by his side that he didn’t know. Had no reason to trust.

“As it happens it’s quite nice.” There was a note in his employer’s voice that made Declan think the man was enjoying this. “Too expensive for you now, though, since Gallagher got himself fired from Raiker Forensics, so you’re renting it out while you live in a much cheaper place in downtown DC. Cheap being the operative word.”

Forgetting his trepidation for a moment, Declan said, “So I’m a disgruntled ex-employee with an ax to grind? Hope you aren’t type casting.”

Raiker ignored the comment. “I have an extensive web of contacts on the street and for the past couple of weeks we’ve been seeding them with your phony backstory while you wrapped up your last case. There’s definitely been interest. The story has it that you were canned four months ago, which should be safe enough since you were working in Vancouver at that time. You’ve been turned down by every agency you’ve applied for employment at, and you blame me for that. I figure the botched snatching had to involve more than the four men we know of. They probably planted a kid in Royce’s school so everything about our routine could be noted. And they have someone with the skills to hack the school’s computer so they could copy our ID and insert Hobart’s picture there. If there are accomplices who haven’t scattered, they’ll try again, and with your background you’ll present an irresistible opportunity. I’m betting they’ll reach out to you.”

The pieces were falling into place. “So I got fired, I’m pissed, and looking for payback.” Declan hooked an ankle over a knee, intrigued at the prospect. “What exactly do I bring to the table?”

“You have extensive knowledge of my security systems and routines.”

He snorted. Like Raiker would ever be that careless. No one person, hell, no one company possessed more than a splinter of that knowledge. It’d be nearly impossible to piece together the elements that had gone into the layers that protected his agency and home. “Believing that means they’re capable of grossly underestimating you.”

The man’s grin was feral. “They already have if they don’t think I’ll come after them with everything I’ve got.”

“Okay.” He was more comfortable now that he had a blueprint of the plan. “So I’m going to give them information that will lead them into a trap?”

“In a nutshell. All the while providing us with inside evidence about who’s behind this whole thing and what they want. After you provide them with the phony details we’ll do the rest of the investigation from afar. And we’ll be ready for them when they act.”

“That sounds like something I can do on my own. No offense to Ms. Larrison…”

“…none taken.” Amusement laced her voice.

“…but I’ve done deep cover before.” He went on as if she hadn’t spoken, his attention on Adam. “I’m not sure what Eve can add to the op.”

“It’s not just your undercover experience that will come in handy on this case. I’m hoping you’ll get a chance to use your computer know-how, as well, if the opportunity presents itself. As for Eve… Malsovic’s network includes a number of central European and Asian organizations, so we’re not quite sure where this will lead. He’s Serbian. We haven’t yet determined the nationalities of the two accomplices downtown. But there may be more foreigners involved. You’re bi-lingual and your second language is somewhat obscure. You and Eve will be able to converse freely without fear of being understood.”

Declan’s mouth quirked up. “So you don’t believe the kidnappers will be speaking Scottish Gaelic.”

“I’m hoping not.” Raiker set the remote on his polished cherry desk. “But Eve does. She speaks several other languages…well.” He corrected himself. “Several is a massive understatement. She’s a hyper-polyglot. How many languages, Eve?”

“Sixty-seven, including dialects.”

Stunned, Declan swiveled his head to gape at her. “Fluently?”

Looking vaguely insulted, she replied tartly, “What would be the point of learning a language if you don’t learn to speak it fluently? Currently I’m able to read and write in about fifty of them. I’m working on improving that.”

Belatedly aware that his jaw was hanging open, he shut it. Over sixty languages. Yeah, that’d qualify as a special skill set.

“Eve is on loan to us from the Department of State. She’s uniquely qualified to not only identify the language used by the people who reach out to you, but to translate anything they might say in your presence.” Adam’s voice was satisfied. “You can consider her your secret weapon.”

_______

Declan’s secret weapon
was currently plowing her way through a plate heaped with an open face hot turkey sandwich, gravy and mashed potatoes. He paused in the midst of eating his hamburger, half in awe at the systematic battle she was waging on the meal. They’d been living their cover for three days, and he still couldn’t get used to her appetite. He gauged her at about five five, a hundred and ten pounds. Where the hell did she put all that food?

Eve looked up then, fork paused on the way to her mouth. “What?”

“Nothing.” Resuming eating, he took a bite of the burger. Chewed reflectively. Swallowing, he added, “You should sign up for clinical studies at John Hopkins. I’m sure they’d jump at the chance to study your metabolism.”

She shrugged, seeming unabashed. “It’s been a while since we’ve eaten.”

“Breakfast. Today, not last week.”

She set down the silverware long enough to sip from her water glass, her gaze unflinching over the rim. “You’re probably used to the kind of women perpetually on a diet who nibble rabbit food and complain about their weight.”

As it happened, he was. And that trait had long baffled and frustrated him. “I have a large extended family. The only female in it that eats like you is my niece, Sadie. Of course, she’s four.”

“And headed for a positive body image. Good for her.” She picked up her fork again and resumed eating.

They spoke in Scottish Gaelic whenever they conversed, at his insistence. It was never too early to take safety precautions. “Assuming the kidnappers’ accomplices eventually make contact, and Adam appears certain they will, we need to finalize our strategy.” He polished off the burger well before she finished her meal.

She rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over it. Daily, in fact.” Her response was made between bites. “We already memorized the background Adam arranged for us. My job is mostly listening for a foreign language and interpreting what’s said even as I pretend I don’t understand a word they’re saying. I’ve had practice. Don’t worry about it.”

He was dubious about the type of “practice” she might have gotten, but when he’d tried to probe she always shut him down. Despite living in close quarters with the woman for nearly seventy-two hours, in most ways she was still an enigma.

Which had all his instincts quivering. She wasn’t a cop or an agent, but she was damn well versed at speaking without giving away anything personal. Normally that wouldn’t bother him, but he didn’t like walking into danger with a partner as much of a question mark as was the situation he was sent to assess. “Deep cover isn’t like the safe surroundings of the State Department. One slip up and we’re both screwed. It isn’t a matter of if this can go bad, it’s how.”

That snared her attention. “What’s the worst case scenario?”

“The worst?” He snagged a fry off his plate and contemplated it. “Not having them take the bait,” he decided, before taking a bite. “Then we’re blown before we ever start. Raiker has a backup plan, but this one is pretty damn fine.” And he might not be selected to have the starring role in Plan B, a scenario he wouldn’t be at all happy about. “Fastest way to burn us inside is if someone recognizes us. I put away my share of scumbags when I was working the streets. Scum attracts scum. Believe me, I’ve been in the middle of a high stake deals and then some assh--…guy,” he amended quickly with a glance toward her, “from my past walks in and calls me by a different name. Things can go south fast, and you can never predict just how or when it’s going to nosedive. Just take your cue from me.”

There was a thin line between convincing her of the possible dangers and scaring the hell out of her, so Declan left it at that. He didn’t know why he had such a bad feeling about the case. He’d usually worked alone undercover, but had often partnered after he’d made detective, or on the job for Raiker. Maybe that was the source of his foreboding. He knew nothing about his “wife” other than that she looked like a high schooler and she could give the Rosetta Stone a run for its money. But book smarts didn’t necessarily translate to street smarts.

“When were you working the streets?” Eve swiped another fry as she asked the question. “You mean before you went to work for the Mindhunters?”

“I should probably warn you that Adam isn’t fond of the nickname his agency got tagged with, but yeah. I was with DCPD before that.” Given the interest she was showing in his fries, he probably should consider himself lucky he’d finished the hamburger when he did. “It’s an intriguing job. The agency is called in at the request of other law enforcement entities, so we partner on the most complicated cases. And of course Raiker’s private lab facilities are second to none, and many agencies contract just for them to avoid the backlog in their state labs.” He stopped then, aware she’d neatly extracted information without providing any in return. She was too skilled at that for it to be accidental.

“How long have you been working at DOS?”

“A few years.” She smiled slightly. “You’re guarding your plate like a goalie defends the net. Wise choice, if a little too late.”

He wouldn’t be distracted. “Do you have family in the area?”

Her eyes, a pure and cerulean blue, went immediately wary. “Why?”

“It’s a normal enough question.” He picked up his napkin and swiped it across his lips. He could count the things he knew about her on one hand, even after living with her for the past few days. The apartment had only a single cramped bedroom, but after one look at the double bed in it Eve had opted to make up a bed on the couch each evening before putting the evidence of their sleeping arrangements away the next morning. Still, one usually learned more than they wanted to in such close quarters, especially sharing a bathroom. What he’d discovered wasn’t much. It wasn’t that she didn’t talk. She did. Incessantly. She just rarely revealed anything about herself when she spoke, and Declan had come to believe that was by design.

Mentally he ticked off what he’d learned about her since leaving Adam’s office. She was neat. And quicker than any female he’d ever spent time waiting on, which was a plus. He’d also discovered that the soft waves that fell to her shoulders were the result of some very determined time taming her curls with a straightener.

He ate another fry, smiling at the sudden memory of how he’d also learned she had a deep and abiding fear of cockroaches.

“My family all live within twenty miles of DC. I have the requisite parents. Still married. A sister and a brother, both older. Two nieces and a nephew whom I adore. And you?”

The waitress appeared silently beside them and filled up Declan’s empty mug. They were done with the meal, but it wasn’t like they were in a hurry. Picking up the cup he took a sip, aware of how little her revelation really divulged. “Parents, not still together. A maternal gran and grandda who are. Paternal grandfather. An eclectic collection of half-siblings and ex-stepparents and stepsiblings, all of whom seem incapable of managing their affairs properly for any length of time.”

She eyed him knowingly. “So they call you in to do it for them.”

The statement was uncomfortably spot-on. “How do you know that?”

“You seem supremely competent. Plus you have that bossy I-know-best air.”

He set the mug down with a bit more force than he’d meant to. Not for the life of him would he reveal just how often he’d had something similar hurled at him by a spiteful relative who’d only hours earlier called him sobbing and pleading for advice, before he’d wised up. “I’ll admit to being a fixer. But I learned the hard way that most people asking for help only want me to mitigate the consequences of their actions, and aren’t actually interested in changing the things about themselves that caused the problem to begin with.”

Finally she put her fork down and pushed the plate away with a satisfied sigh. “Speaking as someone who has been on the receiving end of more unsolicited advice than I can count, I can understand the sentiment. But if they call and ask, they can’t cry about getting exactly what they requested.” Sneaky as a snake she reached across the table and stole some fries from his plate before he had time to react. She sat back to eat them, appearing supremely pleased with herself. “How much longer do you think we’ll have to wait for the failed abductors to make a move?”

“Getting edgy? Almost three months is long enough for them to have recovered from their first failed attempt. Plenty of time to regroup. Maybe they decided it was too dangerous, in which case we’re likely to have very long and boring days ahead of us. But if they’ve been planning to make another try…then we’d likely hear from them soon.”