“She was suspected of aiding and abetting an international fugitive,” Ozzie said. “She would have been prosecuted,but her superiors couldn’t find indisputable evidence against her. They were forced to simply fire her. Two months later, she went to work for Grafton as his personal assistant.”
Angel did the damnedest thing. He popped his jaw. A nervous tick. Something none of them had seen him do before, making it all the more telling.
Obviously, there was more to Angel and Sonya’s story than simplyworking together on a case when Angel had been a Mossad agent. Color Emily intrigued. She might even have asked Angel to fill in the blanks, had Christian not distracted her by sweeping her hair over her shoulder and massaging the tension out of her neck.
She would have swatted his hand away, had it not felt so good.
“Is it possible she’s undercover?” Samantha asked.
“No such thing.”Angel’s raspy voice had gone completely guttural.
“Huh?” Samantha frowned at him.
“Interpol isnotwhat the movies show. It is not U.N.C.L.E. It does not have power or jurisdiction over local police agencies. It does not track down or capture suspects. Nor does it send agents undercover for anything.”
“It doesn’t?” Samantha asked.
“Interpol simply acts as a liaison between policeforces,” Emily explained. Her time with the CIA had taught her a thing or two about international agencies. “It maintains databases on criminals and facilitates communications between law enforcement from different countries. That’s it.”
“Huh.” Samantha blinked. “Who’d a thunk it?” She shook her head. “But, still, maybe this once they’ve stepped outside their box and sent this Sonya chickin to—”
Ozzie cut her off. “I considered that, so I made a call to a buddy who works for Interpol. He couldn’t find anything to suggest Sonya was undercover for Interpol or anyone else. In fact, he said it’s well known within Interpol that she went rogue, turned dirty.”
Angel’s nostrils flared. Emily wouldn’t have thought it possible, but his expression turned even fiercer.
“And weall know how Spider likes to gather disgraced agents and soldiers to his side,” Boss rumbled, going back to spinning his knife.
“That we do,” Ozzie agreed. “So now the question is, how do we prove that Grafton is Spider?”
“We keep digging,” Samantha said. “We follow every lead until we find a connection.”
“That could take months,” Ace muttered. “Or years. Which we don’t have becauseour funding runs out in December.”
Before President Thompson had left office, he and General Pete Fuller, the Head of the Joint Chiefs, had set up an account that continued to pay BKI’s salary for one year. They’d done so hoping the Black Knights could identify Spider and gather the evidence needed to bring him and his entire empire down during that time.
“We need to get someone on theinside of Spider’s organization.” Angel spoke the words quietly, which made them all the more powerful. “I volunteer.”
For a while, silence enveloped the conference area. It was eventually broken when Peanut hopped onto one of the chairs before leaping onto the table. The rotund tomcat stalked to the center of the gathered group, flopped down, lifted a leg, and began thoroughly cleaning hisballs.
“Becky, your cat has atrocious manners.” Christian’s accent tickled Emily’s ears and made the last word sound more likemannahs.
Becky snorted. “Like you wouldn’t spend half the day licking your own balls if you could reach them.”
Because his arm was still around her, Emily felt Christian’s chuckle before she heard it. It rumbled through him and warmed her heart in ways it shouldn’t,considering she was trying with all her might to ignore the fact that she was, for the time being anyway, head over heels for him.
“It’ll be dangerous,” Boss said, getting them all back on track. “Especially if Sonya recognizes you.”
Angel leaned back in his chair. “She knew me before I was Angel. Before I looked like this.” He flicked a finger toward his gorgeous face. “She will not recognizeme.”
Boss nodded, then dragged in a deep breath. “It’s definitely something to consider then.” He slapped the table, indicating the meeting had come to an end. “But I don’t want to make any decisions until the whole team has had a chance to weigh in on all the pros and cons. Let’s reconvene at the regular time tomorrow morning.”
Emily could tell Angel wanted to press his case. But he wassmart enough to know that Boss had made a decision, and that once that happened, the man was implacable.
Ozzie and Samantha were the first to rise from the table and disappear upstairs. Rusty and Ace followed, sniping at each other the entire way. Angel, never one to be part of the crowd, headed downstairs. And Becky stood with Boss, pulling a root-beer-flavored Dum Dum from her pocket. “Here,Frank.” She passed the treat to her husband. She was the only one of them who dared call Boss by his first name. “Eat this. It’ll make you feel better.”
“I had something else in mind.” Boss snaked a hugely muscular arm around Becky’s waist and pulled her forward for a kiss.
Becky giggled, burying her hands in Boss’s hair.
