at the secretary’s words.
“Do you mind if we listen to the baseball game, ma’am?” the other agent asked.
“Of course I don’t. We’ve got a thirty-minute drive ahead of us. We might as well be entertained.”
Quinn was glad she didn’t have to make small talk. Her thoughts were already so scattered she needed to get them refocused before they arrived at the harbor. She settled back against the seat hoping to do just that.
Unfortunately, the secretary had other plans.
“How is your mother these days?”
The question caught her off guard. It took her a few seconds to recover.
“Well, I hope. My work doesn’t allow me to see my parents as often as I would like. I take it you’ve met her?”
“Years ago, yes. I had just joined the agency. I was based in London and your mother was responsible for some of our training.” The other woman smiled. “You were just a toddler at the time. Oh, how your mother loved to show off pictures of you.”
Quinn was taken aback. The mum she remembered growing up always seemed to want her kept in the shadows, an ornament to be trotted out whenever her alias required it.
“You were the center of her world.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” Quinn said without thinking. “My father was the one she doted on. They have a unique kind of love. He was and always will be her primary focus.” There wasn’t always room for curious little girl in their orbit.
Secretary Lyle’s expression grew melancholy. “That’s because she almost lost him.”
“What?” Quinn turned toward the other woman.
“It was around the same time I was there. You were too young to remember.” The secretary turned to look out the window. “We all run the risk of taking our work home with us. In this case, an agent from the other side was able to track your mother down. Only it was your father who was caught in the cross fire.”
Quinn felt light-headed. She couldn’t imagine life without her sweet, jovial father. Or how her mum would have suffered losing her best friend and soul mate.
“As you well know, this life isn’t conducive to long-term relationships.”
She looked up from her trembling hands to see the other woman studying her.
“Sacrifices are made for the good of our career. Of our country. After the incident, your mother didn’t want to make that sacrifice any longer. She wanted to give it all up. For your father. And for you.”
“That doesn’t make sense. She didn’t give it up.”
“No. Because your father loved her enough to know what clipping her wings would do to her. She needed the game as much as it needed her. She was brilliant at it. Everyone knew that. Even your father. So they made it work.”
The secretary’s revelations stunned her.
“I get the sense you are a lot like her.”
Quinn snorted. “Hardly. Mum and Dad wanted to leave me with an aunt when they were out in the field. But I would always pitch a horrid fit until they took me. She could barely relate to me until I joined the game.”
“My guess is she was afraid to get too close to you. That way if something did happen it wouldn’t hurt too much.” She locked eyes with Quinn. “Sound familiar? I’m sure we are all guilty of that MO in this profession.”
Unable to stand the other woman’s scrutiny any longer, Quinn turned her face toward the window. They were crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. She stared off into the water, wondering if she really knew anything about anything. There had never been any doubt her parents loved her. They just didn’t do it in the all-consuming way parents did these days. She’d been given little guidance on how to navigate life. Most of it she figured out on her own. No doubt, that was what made her a successful spy. But it also made her a serial loner. A trait she desperately wanted to change.
Her attention was suddenly refocused when a large boat in the water caught her eye.
“There it is. Alexi’s yacht,” she said.
The secretary already had her phone to ear. The yacht slowly crawled toward the shore where hotels, glass sculptures, and the Capitol Ferris wheel decorated the landscape. Crowded among the landmarks were hundreds of people all enjoying a summer Sunday evening. She sucked in a breath when a surge of uneasiness coursed through her body.
“I know,” the secretary said, seeming to sense Quinn’s thoughts. “We’ll need to be extra cautious. But whatever happens, the traitor must be