Dimitri makes an irritated, dismissive sound. “That is not what I meant. I am with you. Of course I am with you, my brothers,” he adds, emphasizing his loyalty. “I was considering the danger so we could plan for how to proceed. I do not intend to die or to allow either of you to die.”
Pride and gratitude for my team—my family—swells in my chest, though it twists around the guilt. The ever-present guilt. “Magnanimous of you,” I return wryly.
He waves me off, though whether it’s because of the sentiment or the fact that he doesn’t know that particular English word, I can’t say. He taps his bicep with his thumb, thinking. “Do you have any idea why the General wants her dead?”
I shake my head. Motive is key when trying to find a killer, so that’ll be my first step. “I’m assuming this has something to do with her work as an informant.”
“Does he know of your spider network?”
I blanch. I never considered the possibility that the Generalknowsthat he sent me the name of one of my own informants. “I don’t know. I’ve never mentioned it to him, but I have no way of knowing how far his reach is.”
“Da.He could be anyone, anywhere. We must know who is she to him. What if she works for him? What if she sees or speaks with him every day—with or without knowing? She might accidentally give something away.”
“He might have put sleepers in her life,” Mac adds—another possibility I hadn’t considered.
“He might be monitoring her online activity,” I add, thoughtfully tapping the top of my desk. “Since we don’t know who he is, I need to be as cautious as possible. Best to move quickly and do it in person. I’ll let her know what I can about the situation, then we can start assembling a list of anyone she sold intel to or about. With any luck, we’ll find him among those names.”
“You believe she will be willing to assist us with this?”
“I’ll figure out some way to persuade her,” I say, though internally I lack some of the conviction I project.
I haveno ideawhat I’m going to say to her.
How would she react—how wouldanyonereact—to finding out the man she’s dating has actually been sent to kill her? Luckily, she trusts me—SpyderMan, anyway. Once I explain everything, I’m confident that she’ll cooperate, but I know her well enough to know that getting to that point will require finesse.
Excitement thrums in my veins at the idea of working to find the General together. Working with her, side by side—a personal fantasy of mine.
“What will you do to ensure the General does not learn of our plan?” Dimitri presses.
“I’ll accept the job to buy some time, but I can’t appear to be flagrantly ignoring a kill order, and if he finds out I’m looking for him, we’re all at risk. The safest course will be to fake her death—at least until we can find him and he’s not a threat anymore. We’ll have to lie low.”
“Will you bring her to one of the safe houses?”
I consider it. “There’s that house in Edison, with the basement already set up as a clean room. We can sort through her list, check out anyone involved in her jobs one by one.”
“Nah, bring her here,” Mac suggests, grinning.
“James,” Dimitri says in a warning tone. “This is serious.”
“I’m being serious,” Mac scoffs. “We’re in a fucking fortress, and this office is basically a clean room. You know this is the safest place—the General can’t touch us in here.”
“We know nothing of this woman, except for that Wesley—” his eyes cut to me and his lips quiver just a little, “likesher. They have history,da, but he has onlybeen watching her for a week. She is still an unknown. It would not be wise to expose ourselves that way.”
“I’m with Dimitri, actually. Not because I don’t trust her,” I add, giving him a look of reproach. After his shenanigans with Nicole, it’s a bit high and mighty of him to decide Madison doesn’t get the same benefit of the doubt. “But I need to handle this delicately. She’s an informant, so she’s likely secretive by nature. Since she already knows me, I believe she’ll be more comfortable with just me.”
Dimitri nods approvingly, accepting my rationale, and Mac huffs a breath of disappointment. “You callin’ me indelicate?”
“A bull in a china shop comes to mind,” I quip.
“You are as subtle as one of those horns used by ships in bad weather,” Dimitri adds.
“Foghorn,” I offer.
“That is what I said.”
I smirk at Dimitri as Mac rolls his eyes. He doesn’t argue when he knows he’s lost—one of his more admirable traits. “Can we get back to the important part, here?”
“I concur,” Dimitri nods.
