Page 13 of Rafe’s Future

“Facial rec picked him up during a sat scan for a current op. He’s older, and his hair is a lot grayer, but it’s him.”

“You’re sure?”

She had to be sure.

“I’ve seen the image myself.”

Lena sat up straight, pushing her whirling thoughts aside and clearing her throat. “Okay, so let’s talk next steps. Obviously, we need to put a team together. There’s a select group of agents within my department who are more than qualified to take on this kind of mission, and I⁠—”

“That’s actually not why I called.”

At first, Roger’s words didn’t register because her mind was too busy racing through the impromptu plan.

“They’re solid agents,” she went on. “I trust them to get the job done. And with me in the lead, I know we can finally bring the SOB to justice.”

“Lena, wait. There’s more.”

She still didn’t seem to hear a word he was saying.

“I’ll have to call in a replacement for me to take over the training here, of course,” Lena rambled off the developing plan in a rush. “But that shouldn’t be a problem. I can be in the air and on my way to Langley within a couple of hours, tops. In the meantime, I’ll put the members of the new task force on notice so they can already be on-site when I get there, and then⁠—

“Dammit, Lena, I need you to shut up and listen!”

Roger’s commanding tone made every muscle in her body tense.

“Okay.” She blinked. “I’m listening.”

“This isn’t about you putting together a new task force. That’s not . . .” Her former boss paused. “That’s not the reason I called.”

“Then why⁠—”

“He’s coming after you, Lena.”

She physically recoiled at the news. “Kozlova is coming after me?”

“Not just you. Everyone who was on the ground in Syria.”

“Everyone?” Her heart kicked against the inside of her ribs. “How do you know?”

“Because Calhoun and Sanchez are already dead.”

Shock reverberated throughout Lena’s entire system. “Caleb and Sabrina? They’re both . . .” Lena trailed with an audible swallow. “And this has been confirmed?”

You know it has. Otherwise Roger never would’ve called.

“The public story is Caleb died in a late-night motorcycle accident on a secluded road.”

“And Sabrina?”

“She had a sudden medical emergency due to an undiagnosed birth defect of the heart.”

The man said the words as if he was reading them from a script.

Probably because he is.

“What did he do to them, Roger?”

“The agency’s M.E. and I go way back, and he owed me one, so he was my first call.”