Black Rose (13 page)

CHAPTER 34

The mission to Brazil was underway. Stephanie retreated to her computer room and waited for Nick to report in.

She'd been thinking about Selena.

Stephanie's life revolved around her work. She was an introvert, happiest when immersed in the world of her computers. For Stephanie, the powerful Crays at her disposal were more than machines. They were friends, almost human, guides into the infinite layers of secrets hidden away on the computers of allies and enemies.

Stephanie liked to practice her skills by hacking into the files of the world's intelligence agencies. Once she was in, she'd begin looking for information. What exactly she was looking for depended on whether it was related to an assignment or to her personal curiosity.

Today it was curiosity. She was at her console in the computer room, looking for something that might explain Selena's animosity toward the Russians. She felt a little bit guilty about it. It would be easy to misinterpret what she was doing as busybody snooping. It wasn't her intention to snoop, not really. Stephanie was fiercely loyal to Elizabeth and to the Project. She liked Selena a lot, but something was definitely off with her. It might be something that could affect the Project and she was determined to try and find out what it was.

She'd gone through Langley's revolving firewalls and was into the archived records section, searching for anything they might be related to Selena. CIA was certain to have a file on her. Hell, they had reports on everyone connected to the intelligence community. She'd once looked for her own file and was amazed at the details it contained. It had taken her a day or two to get over her indignation, but in the end she couldn't deny that it went with the territory. If you worked for the government, they had a file on you. If you worked in intelligence, that file would be classified and extensive.

Stephanie entered the parameters for her search. Two file references popped up on her screen. She opened the first and skimmed through it. It contained basic health and education history, results of Selena's polygraph tests, evaluations and a record of increasing levels of security clearance. It was standard stuff with nothing unusual. The second file reference led to a section of the archive that was locked away behind a new firewall and the highest security restriction.

Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide this. I wonder why?

After several minutes she was rewarded with the first page of a file about someone called Joseph Connor.

Not Selena
, Stephanie thought. She was about to click away when she saw Selena's name midway down the page. She read a few sentences and took a deep breath. She transferred the contents of the file to her own computer, shut down access to Langley and began reading.

A half hour later she sat back in her chair, stunned by what she had discovered.

Joseph Connor was Selena's father. Her father, mother and older brother had died in a car crash when Selena was ten years old. The file revealed that it hadn't been an accident. Joseph Connor had been an agent for the CIA and he'd been murdered by the KGB. Selena's family had been murdered by the Russians.

That wasn't all. The file identified her father as a double agent passing information to Moscow. The file was deliberately vague about whether or not he had been working with the blessings of the seventh floor. The report concluded that he'd been eliminated because the Russians no longer trusted him.

Stephanie sat back in her chair, stunned.
If Selena knows about this, it would explain what I'm seeing in her. But how could she have found out? I wonder if Nick knows anything?

Stephanie printed out the file and put it in a manila folder. She had to go to Elizabeth with this. She stood and went upstairs. Elizabeth was in her office, leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed.

She looks tired.
Stephanie knocked on the open door.

"Got a minute?"

"Come on in, Steph."

"I've got something you need to look at," Stephanie said. "Have you noticed that Selena seems uncomfortable lately whenever something comes up involving the Russians?"

"Now that you mention it, she did seem a little irritable the other day when we were talking about them."

"I think I know why."

Stephanie handed the folder to Elizabeth.

"What's this?"

"Read it and then we can talk about it."

Stephanie sat down as Elizabeth began reading. After a few minutes, Elizabeth looked up and said, "Where did you find this?"

"Buried in the deepest hole Langley could dig, behind half a dozen layers of security."

"Does Selena know about this?"

"I don't know for sure," Stephanie said, "but if she does it would explain why she's so reactive when the subject of Russia comes up."

"She was fine working with Korov."

"She'd come to know and trust him," Stephanie said. "He was like one of the team, for a while there. And if she does know, maybe she found out after he was killed."

Arkady Korov was a Spetsnaz officer who'd worked for General Vysotsky. He'd been seconded to Elizabeth in an unusual alliance between enemies formed out of mutual necessity. He'd been killed in the field while the team was on a mission to stop an unbalanced general from establishing a fascist police state in America.

"How would she find out about this if it was buried?" Elizabeth asked.

"That's a good question. I think we have to ask her."

"You do realize what this could do to her if she isn't already aware of what's in this file."

"I know," Stephanie said.

"Why would Langley hide this away?"

"The file shows that Selena's father was working for the Russians at the same time he was working for us. What it doesn't show is whether or not he was a traitor. The Russians killed him, so they must have thought he'd betrayed them. That would seem to vindicate him."

"Then why not acknowledge him?" Elizabeth said. "Put it in his record. Put one of those anonymous stars up on the wall at Langley."

"It could be a cover-up," Stephanie said. "Maybe someone screwed up and blew his cover. Someone high up. It wouldn't be the first time Langley got an agent killed because someone made a mistake. Or there could have been a mole at the agency. Someone who told the Russians he was a double."

"Not many people would have known what Connor was doing," Elizabeth said. "It would have to be someone with a lot of authority."

"Someone who was high up the time," Stephanie said.

"The agency had a lot of failures back then. That was when Aldrich Ames was there. He was right in the middle of clandestine ops, he knew who the doubles were. No one really knows how many people he betrayed. He never told them everything after he was arrested."

"But why cover it up? Ames is the most public example of a traitor within the CIA that there is. There wouldn't be any point in hiding something he'd done from an internal point of view."

Elizabeth tapped the file with her pen. "The last entry is dated nineteen eighty-seven. Ames was still there when this was written. Maybe he buried it. He wouldn't want anyone to find out he'd betrayed Connor to the Russians. It wouldn't have been difficult to make it look as though Connor was the mole. The agency knew they were harboring a traitor and they were looking for him. If Ames set Connor up, it would have taken some of the heat off him."

"You think Ames framed Connor?"

"It's possible," Elizabeth said. "Either way, we have to talk to Selena about this."

"What about Nick?" Stephanie asked.

"What about him?"

"If Selena knows about this, it's a good bet Nick does too. I think he should be here when we talk with her."

Elizabeth opened her desk drawer and took out a bottle of aspirin. She washed three tablets down with cold coffee.

"We have to wait until after they get back from Brazil to do it. Steph, can you find out anything else about Connor? The accident? Who was his handler?"

"That's another thing," Stephanie said. "His case officer was William Connor, Selena's uncle."

Elizabeth tried to rub away the headache growing behind her forehead.

"This gets more complicated all the time."

Stephanie said, "DCI Hood was around back then. Do you think he might know something about it?"

"It's possible," Elizabeth said. "I have to think about whether I should approach him about this. Whatever her father did or didn't do, it's nothing to do with her. I don't want her to feel that she's under suspicion because of what's in this file."

"It might be useful to find out who ordered his death," Stephanie said. "Connor was stationed in East Berlin for two years before he was killed. A lot of the Stasi and KGB records from back then were discovered after the wall came down. Finding out more about Connor's death could help us decide if he was a traitor or a patriot. If we can clear him, it would make things a lot easier for Selena."

"All right. We'll talk to her when they get back. That should give you time to find out whatever you can."

"I'm on it," Stephanie said.

Elizabeth looked at the row of clocks on the wall across from her desk.

"They should be over the drop zone just about now."

CHAPTER 35

Helmets, battle dress and MP-5s. Pistols and plenty of ammunition. Ronnie carried a separate pack with C4 and detonators, just in case. Tropical air blew through the open hatch of the C-130. With it came the smell of the Brazilian rain forest rushing by four thousand feet below. Nick waited for the green light that would signal it was time to jump. The voice of the jump master sounded in his headpiece.

"Get ready. Thirty seconds."

Behind Nick, Selena felt the first rush of adrenaline. This was her second jump since she'd joined the Project. The first had been a high altitude jump over the Himalayas from 23,000 feet. This looked like a piece of cake compared to that.

The light turned green. "Go!" Nick said.

He leapt from the plane, counted seconds and pulled his rip cord. The harness grabbed him hard in the groin and pulled as the chute blossomed open. The ground was coming up fast, a cleared field on the border between the rain forest and the Indian reservation. Nick pulled on the steering toggles and guided himself toward what looked like a soft spot. He looked up and saw the others above him.

So far, so good.

The landing zone wasn't as soft as it looked. Pain shot up his spine as he hit, a reminder of the last time he'd done this. He struggled to his feet and pulled the chute in. Five minutes later, everyone was gathered on the edge of the clearing.

"You're limping," Selena said.

"It's nothing." Nick took out a map.

He looked up and scanned the drop zone. "We're right where we wanted to be."

A fast running stream bordered the far edge of the clearing. Beyond, a narrow path disappeared into the trees. He pointed at the path.

"That's where we're going. It will take us close to the clinic. We won't know what we're up against until we've got eyes on it. The people living here have nothing to do with this, so don't assume everyone is hostile. But don't get careless either. It's a safe bet any Europeans you see could be part of Schmidt's group. If you see Schmidt, don't kill him. We want him alive."

"What about the plague?" Selena asked.

"Better put the masks on now. Anyone we meet could be infected. Make sure you're bloused up tight. There could be fleas and fleas carry plague."

Selena bent down and checked that her pants were pulled tight around the tops of her boots.

"If Schmidt's here, he must have heard the plane," Ronnie said. "He'll know something's up."

"He won't know what it is," Nick said. "Anyway there's nothing we can do about it. Let's get the masks on."

They pulled on the masks. Lamont helped Selena adjust the straps until the mask was tight against her face.

"All set." Lamont smiled at her.

"Whenever this is made of, it stinks."

Lamont laughed, the sound muffled behind the mask. "You'll get used to it."

"I feel like the creature from the black lagoon," she said.

"Yeah, you kind of look like it too. You like those old sci-fi movies?"

"I love them. All those tacky rubber creatures. My favorite is
The Attack of the Crab Monsters
."

"Mine's
The Attack of the Giant Tomato
," Lamont said. "It's gotta be the worst movie ever."

"
The Blob
," she said

"
Attack
of the 50 Foot Woman."

"How about
The Incredible Shrinking Man
?"

"That was cool," Lamont said. "The scene with the spider was really creepy."

"Are you guys about done with the film review?" Nick said.

His words were clear, with an odd mechanical quality caused by the voicemitter and mike on the front of the mask.

"Sorry," Lamont said.

"What's this indicator do?" Selena asked.

"If it turns blue it means the filter is no good anymore," Ronnie said. "We should be out of here long before that happens."

"Weapons hot," Nick said. The safeties on the MP-5s clicked off.

"Everyone ready? Let's go."

They set off along the edge of the trees toward the trail.