“Again, a no,” Carter said, leaning forward. “So, this marriage certificate is the only link in this chain that you can easily break. Otherwise, it’s going to be a bitch to try to deport someone who’s come here legally, isn’t it?”
Schneider’s face was growing increasingly jowly, like gravity was getting stronger. “There are plenty of avenues, like the fact that your alias doesn’t exist.”
“Which you don’t want the Russians to know.”
“You’d just be delaying the inevitable. And while we investigate, we have every cause to hold her in custody.”
“That’s arguable, when she hasn’t been proven to have done anything wrong. You know what’ll happen if we send her back. They’ll figure it all out, if they haven’t already. She won’t just be set up for this murder—she’ll be exposed as a spy. You know what Russia does to spies. She risked her life for us every day for four years.”
“She did it for her own purposes, like every agent we recruit. This is a woman who has lied to you, possibly throughout your entire relationship—working or otherwise.”
“You think she had this planned from the beginning? And then what—she bided her time forfour years? That’s a long time and a lot of risk for an outcome that was never certain.”
“Are you telling me you’re willing to let this marriage stand?”
Carter didn’t know what the hell was going on. But the one thing he knew was that he had to buy Nika time. Get her an immigration lawyer—or whatever the hell kind of lawyer might be useful in this batshit scenario. He eyeballed Schneider. “Yes, I am.”
Schneider slowly shook his head. “Despite everything we’ve shown you today, despite everything she’s failed to tell you, despite the legal jeopardy this could put you in?”
“Don’t forget,” Silvia added in a warning tone, “you just confirmed that there was no relationship until last night.”
“I confirmed that there was nosexualrelationship. You have witnesses who say we were a couple prior to that. And you yourselves could give evidence that the marriage has been consummated, if called upon. Though I can’t imagine you’ll be in a hurry to present the video of this interview as evidence in a Russian court.”
Schneider leaned forward, so he and Carter were pretty much head-to-head. “Now Mr. Beck, if you think for a second?—”
“Let’s take some of the heat out of this conversation, shall we?” Silvia interrupted, staring pointedly at Schneider until he relaxed back into his chair. “There’s one key matter we haven’t discussed, and that’s what’s to become of you, Mr. Beck. A cloud is hanging over your record, and unless you can distance yourself from this scandal, I can’t see you having any future that involves the CIA.”
The room seemed to get a little smaller. “You’re threatening to fire me?”
“It’s not a threat; it’s a reality. I’m not the type to deal in blackmail.”
“Everyone who’s served in the field deals in blackmail. You’re threatening to fire me unless I sign this document? Just clarifying, for the interview tape.”
“It’s more a question of cooperation,” Silvia said, choosing her words carefully. “If you don’t do everything in your power to work with us on this, you leave me powerless to save your career. And you know the way this works—we would not be able to confirm to a future employer that you’d ever worked for us. This isn’t me laying down the law—you know the rules, I damn well taught them to you. I don’t need to tell you that until this incident, you’ve been on our radar as one of the best operatives out there. We’d have to assess how far you’ve been compromised, but beyond that, if you cooperate, you’d get your pick of assignments. You could go to the ends of the earth for however long you damn please. And I know how you like to stay occupied.”
“Not at the cost of a woman’s life.”
“Mr. Beck,” began Schneider. “There is already plenty of evidence pointing to Elena as the perpetrator, and more is likely to come in the next few days. If you want to avoid getting embroiled, I suggest you sign the document now.” There was a knock at the door, but he continued. “The situation is changing hourly, so I don’t know if we can make the same offer tomorrow, or if we can provide the same level of assistance if criminal charges were to be laid against you, alongside the?—”
Another knock, and the door opened. “Apologies for the interruption,” said a woman in an FBI jacket—one of the agents who’d stormed the hotel room. “Assistant Director Schneider, I have a note for you.”
Schneider stood, scraping the chair behind him, took a piece of paper from her, unfolded it, and read it. “You got to be kidding me,” he said under his breath.
He passed it to Silvia, who read it, her eyes widening. She looked up at Schneider. “What the hell?”
“What’s going on?” Carter said, trying to get a read on their faces beyond the obvious shock.
Schneider glanced at his watch. “Interview ended 3:36 p.m.,” he said. Without another word, he and Silvia left.
Chapter 18
Alice
Present day
Alice woke on the bed around dawn to find Carter still listening to the tape, lying on the rug in a T-shirt and jeans, his hair wet from the shower, staring at the same damn spot on the ceiling. She got a full-body adrenaline rush just from letting her gaze graze over him.
The fact she was naked suggested the events of last night had, in fact, happened. It had been a double surprise—that it had occurred in the first place, and that she’d managed to let herself get swept up in the moment. No doubts, no hang-ups. Maybe it was because there was no question of a future for them, or even of seeing him again after he dropped her at the police station today. Maybe it was the sense that none of this was real. Fate had given her one night to live out her fantasy, and she’d made the most of every second. Sex like a spy.
