"On every most wanted list," she finished, surprised by his words and the connection of Cal to a terrorist. "I'm familiar with Qadir and his extensive network. We busted a small terror cell about eight years ago that was loosely tied to him."
"This one may be as well. But the bombings don't exactly fit. Qadir's groups go for mass casualties, maximum chaos. These are too surgical, too targeted."
She thought about that. The explosions didn't seem to match the work of a terrorist organization, but the precision strikes might just be the beginning of something bigger. "Do you think your contact can find Caleb?"
"He's working on it."
"Is your contact CIA?"
"I really can't say, Kara."
She frowned, giving him a disappointed look. "Because he's covert?"
"Yes. And because he wouldn't give me information if he couldn't trust me to keep his secrets."
"I really hate secrets."
"Then you're working for the right agency," he said cynically. "Because my life has been one secret after another. Some days, I could barely remember who I was."
She glanced at his hard profile, thinking that was one of the most revealing things he'd ever said to her. "That couldn't have been easy. I only did one undercover stint at the NYPD, and it lasted two days. I can't imagine having to keep up a cover for a long time."
"It becomes a part of you. And when you live in filth, you get dirty. You can't see the lines anymore."
There was a hard edge to his voice. "It sounds like you're glad you're out."
"I have mixed feelings about it. But we don't need to discuss my career choices."
"I'm curious about those choices."
"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but why are you curious?"
"You don't seem like someone who stops before the job is done. The man you captured and brought into the agency was turned into an asset and then disappeared. Now you know he's somewhere out there causing mayhem… That can't sit well."
"I quit before he disappeared. I couldn't stand seeing his smug face when he told me he was on my side now. I knew he was never on my side or America's side. As for dealing with the knowledge that he's still out in the world running his network once more, it makes me sick, and I would like to bring him down, but I don't have the resources to do that." He cleared his throat. "And that's all I'm going to say about him. We're almost to Queens, and I want to know what I'm walking into."
She didn't really want to change the subject, but Max was clearly done talking about it for now, and she needed to prep him for what he was about to walk into. "It's my Uncle Danny's birthday, and the party is at Hannigan's Pub, which is a firefighter bar owned by my uncle and two of his fellow firefighters, Jack Hannigan and Ray Connover. They bought the pub when Hannigan's father retired. They didn't want to lose their favorite drinking hole."
"Sounds like a fun place."
"It will be packed with family and friends. My uncle is very popular." She smiled. "Fair warning: They're going to ask you a million questions, so if you're having second thoughts, you can still bail and take a rideshare back to Manhattan."
"I'm not afraid of questions."
"You just don't like to answer them," she said dryly.
"Well, I don't think we're talking top-secret level questions, are we?"
"They'll be very invasive, but they won't be about you; they'll be about why you're with me. Whether we're dating. If we're in love. If you're my boyfriend. If they can start putting you in the family pictures."
"Wow, that's a lot."
"Like I said, you can change your mind."
"So, why don't you have a boyfriend?" he asked curiously. "Or do you? I didn't see any evidence of a guy at your apartment, but maybe you spend time at his place."
"I'm not in a relationship now. And I haven't been for almost two years, which has actually been a good thing."
"Two years, huh? Isn't that about the time you left the NYPD? A lot of changes in your life at the same time."
