I thought two of the sources were assigned to other agents.”
“Yeah, but Quinn was the one who put together the source identification packets before recruitment for the informants. She identified the subjects as targets. Gathered their vulnerabilities so the FBI wouldn’t be blindsided down the road for any trials if needed. Put together psych evals and intel to be used against the informant to, you know, motivate them into cooperating. Only after the dossiers were compiled and targets approved to become FBI assets, did other agents and correlating field offices take over for the other two that are missing.” Harper spoke so fast, which was typical, that A.J. had to take a second and digest her words.
“And?” More was coming, A.J. felt it.
“Quinn chose to remain the handler for the Volkov sources. And with Ana’s ex-husband showing up to Headquarters, well, something isn’t right. Everything is leading back to—”
“Her,” A.J. finished, painful and foreboding dread leaching into him.
Chapter Eight
Ana brought her hands to her knees, her body shaking as she stood across the street from Wilson Porter’s townhouse and out of view of any neighboring houses that may have had cameras positioned with a view of the street.
She snatched a breath of the hot, humid air and stood upright, preparing herself to go inside. Her hand dipped into the pocket of her black hoodie for her disposable phone, and she replayed the urgent voicemail from Porter she’d missed while Kyle had been removing the takeout from the bags.
“It’s me. I’m sorry I couldn’t reach out before, but I haven’t been alone until now,” Porter said, his voice breathless. From running? “I’m being hunted. Someone is following me. Ran me off the road. I’ve gotta go dark, but, Ana, I found him,” he said, huffing around his words. “Initiate the backup plan and be at the set location in precisely ninety-six hours. I’ll get him there, you have my word.” He growled out in pain as if he’d tripped and fallen and was struggling to get up. “And watch your back. It’s about to get ugly.” The call ended abruptly.
She powered off the phone, knowing she’d need to destroy it tonight. When both she and Kyle had received a call from the office alerting them to Porter’s possible disappearance, she’d urged Kyle to go to the office, and she’d meet him there. After he left, she’d hurried to her safe to check to see if Porter had called her. The disposable phone in her safe was only to be used between her and her boss for an emergency such as this.
One message. The contingency plan she knew would, at least temporarily, have her looking guilty as sin.
I was trained and conditioned to handle anything, Ana reminded herself, shoving away the terror working to cling to her like wet clothes during a torrential downpour.
She had to remain unshakeable. She couldn’t break now.
So, Ana kept her head low to avoid any neighborhood surveillance cameras while moving onto Porter’s property and into his backyard.
Thank God Porter was single. No kids. No dogs. No one home so she could make an easy entry.
Ana opened the screen door and stuck her key into the lock of his back door. The key was reserved for shit-hitting-the-fan kind of moments like now.
She quietly shut the door behind her and pulled out her personal cell, using the flashlight to guide her to his office. It was down the hall and two doors on the left.
Ana circumvented his desk and set her phone down, positioning it so the light shone on the wall. She eyed the framed photo of George Washington before carefully lifting and setting it on the floor by her feet.
Ana punched in the code for the safe and waited for the small door to unlock and click open.
Her shoulders fell forward in panic when she saw the box was empty.
“No,” she whispered and threw her hand inside to feel around even though it was clearly freaking empty. The backup plan was failing before it even started.
She shut and locked the door and rehung the picture, not sure what else to do aside from getting the hell out of there.
But first, she had to access Porter’s security system and erase the footage of her entry. Her being there would look suspicious, especially right after his disappearance, even if she was using a key he’d given her.
Ana started out of his office but paused in the hallway at the sound of a creaking floorboard above her. She wasn’t alone.