Lazy Dayz Motel, The Bronx New York. January 30, 2021, 4:01 p.m.
"Well, that could have gone better," Max mused from the window.
Back at the Lazy Dayz Motel in the Bronx, he and I kept watch on the room down the block. I'd pointed it out to him when we'd arrived. Cedric had been keeping an eye on the security feed and, aside from a few basic trips in and out of the motel for food, it seemed as if Daniel's teammates had hardly left. Indeed, their black SUV was still parked outside in the exact spot it'd been when I was first here.
I shot Max a wry grin. "I don't know. I think Jacobs was starting to warm up to me by the end."
"I think she was getting ready to punch you in the face."
"Well, either way at least they agreed to bring in some backup."
Indeed our conversation with CIA agents Kenneth Riley and Neveah Jacobs could have gone better.
Max, Lia, and I had breezed into Ginger Snapped Café in Midtown Manhattan at two-fifteen. We'd chosen a table that was near and exit and easily defensible – just in case either of the CIA agents recognized me and I'd had to make a quick getaway.
In preparation for the meeting, I'd made a few rapid adjustments to my appearance. Though I'd been dying my hair for years – a necessity since Melanie Briar was blonde but Jessie Collins had been a brunette – I'd gotten a little lax with it.
My hair had ceased to be the rich chestnut brown I'd first made it when I'd assumed Jessie Collins' identity. Instead, it'd become a warm toffee – a blend between my natural blonde and the dark brown.
To meet with the CIA, I knew that it was better to look as far different from Melanie Briar as I could. Gone were the accents of blonde, meticulously hidden by the dye that I'd gone out to purchase earlier that day – Tasha in tow.
Her decision to join me had been unexpected, but welcome. We'd hardly had a spare moment to spend together since she'd arrived and I found that I missed her presence just as much as I had missed Lia and Max.
My friendship with Tasha had always been quieter, more subdued, but nonetheless close. We'd established a different form of trust than what I had with my other friends. Lia, Max, and I had trained as field agents. Designed to shoot first and ask questions later. Tasha, gifted with a breadth of technical knowledge like Cedric, had been trained as an analyst. Someone to watch our backs from the comfort of a control room. Our eyes and ears from the security and data systems that she hacked.
Together, we'd walked through the streets of Manhattan until we happened upon a little drug store. It was there that we found the hair dye and makeup. I had been trying to gauge if Tasha was acting strangely around me, but there didn't seem to be anything amiss. She was bubbly as ever though there was a slight hesitancy in her eyes that left me wondering.
As we left the store, Tasha had said, "Do you think we can really do it? Wipe Scorpion out for good?"
"I don't know," I'd admitted. "But I have to try. For Daniel's sake. For my dad. Hell, for me. I'm tired of running."
Tasha placed a hand on my arm. "We're tired of you running too. I know that we're all spread apart now what with you in Switzerland, Lia and Max in England, and me in France but it would be nice to be able to meet up with you somewhere without fear of an internationally-feared terrorist organization tracking our movements."
I'd laughed darkly. "You can say that again. Speaking of France, how do you like working for Interpol?"
"It's a good fit for me," she'd told me. "Henri Lemoine and I get to see each other sometimes. He's working in France too for the President."
Henri Lemoine. It was a name I hadn't heard in years but there were only good memories associated there. An old friend from my time at Golden Oaks Academy for Exceptional Young Students – the school where I'd been first introduced to the life of espionage.
"He took Patrick's death really hard," Tasha had continued and there was the hard edge of sadness in her voice at the thought of that bright light that had been extinguished.
Patrick Callaghan. A former classmate and first boyfriend of mine. Strong and selfless to the bitter end when he'd died on a rooftop in Bristol. Defending me.
Like Henri, Patrick's death had sent me spiralling. That, coupled with Daniel's perceived death and the need for me to disappear – leaving behind once again all that I cared about – had wrecked me for months. I'd had nightmares about leaving him behind to his death, and terrors about everyone else who had died for me as I'd gone to rescue my brother, for months.
"How is he doing now?"
"Good," Tasha had said. "Really good. He's been dating this really sweet woman who works for the President's Office. They're super cute together."
"What about you? Are you seeing anyone?"
Tasha shook her head, the curls bouncing. "No. I've been a little busy. Trying to do some soul-searching and find who I am before hunkering down into that sort of commitment. You and Cedric seem like you're pretty close. Things going well there?"
I'd nodded. "Yeah, he's the greatest. He looks out for me unconditionally. I honestly don't know that there's anyone else who would have responded to this whole thing as well as he has."
Not a lie. With our parents, it should have been next to impossible for Cedric and I to stomach each other. I didn't want to jinx whatever good luck had brought him into my life. Even though I was still hesitant about the lies he and Helena had been feeding me, I understood the reasoning behind them. The hesitancy would pass once Scorpion was gone for good. Then there would be no need for more secrets and lies.
"He and I have been working on getting us the best visual and audio that we can from inside of that gala. We'll be your eyes and ears, Mel. Don't worry about a thing."
"I won't," I'd said to her with a smile. I looped my arm through hers and suddenly we were just any two girls on a chilly winter afternoon. Laughing and talking, truly catching up for the first time in years.
But, as we'd spoken and arrived back at the hotel, that dark spot in her eyes had lingered and never faded.
In the hotel before we'd left, the hair dye working its magic, I'd taken a few moments to update Carmichael on the plans and then took a few moments to call my father and inform him about what we were planning.
Jack had been concerned and, okay, a little pissed. He was certain that none of us were walking out of the gala alive. Perhaps he was right. But I'd laid it out for him anyway and given him the hard news. That if he didn't hear from me within twenty-four hours after the gala, assume the worst and disappear again.
We'd both had very little to say to each other after that and so the call had ended quietly, both aware that it could be one of the last times – if not the last time – that we ever spoke to each other.
Then, needing to spread some better news, I called the Ortiz's. Daniel's parents had been anxiously waiting for an update. Per his instructions, I didn't tell them that I'd made contact or that he was okay. I definitely didn't tell them what he was planning.
What I did tell them was that I'd seen him, with my own two eyes in the flesh, at a motel I was staking out. The sob from Grace's mouth had been enough for me to know that I'd made the right choice in telling them something. I knew that they'd been living off of a wild, desperate hope for his survival. I was pleased that I could nurture that hope just a little.
By the time the CIA deigned to join us in the café, my hair had been dark and sleek and shiny. With some touches of makeup to my face – dramatic angles, added freckles, dark eyes – Melanie Briar had been almost entirely erased.
Which was a good thing because Agents Riley and Jacobs were about as fun to talk to as a dead fish. Jacobs was younger – probably around thirty – and had dark hair that had been cropped into a serious bob. She kept her posture perfect and stared at us all with laser focus. Riley was old school and it showed. He had grey starting to pepper his brown hair and age lines forming on his hard face. He spoke in a no-nonsense kind of way.
From the way he stared at Max, Lia, and I, it was also clear that he didn't appreciate the fact that those he was collaborating with were all a good thirty-odd years younger than him.
I was sure it felt like babysitting to him, though I also knew that I'd seen more terrorism field cases than he had. Cedric had dug up some information on our CIA friends before our meeting. We knew a bit about Riley's history – courtesy of Malcolm Ortiz – who had told us that the grizzled man had been a cop in L.A. before making the grade at the CIA. He was a specialist in heists and hostage scenarios but had never seen a lick of international terrorism.
Jacobs had spent her twenties in the United States Army Special Forces before she'd been coveted by the CIA. At the academy, she'd graduated first in her class but she'd mostly sat at a desk since graduation. This was her first major case.
Compared to the three of us, the CIA agents were the green ones. They may have both been older but Max, Lia, and I had the know-how. Especially when it came to Scorpion.
But it was still no surprise that the CIA were resistant to our plan to push a sting at the Shadow Lawn Mansion on Saturday.
"You have no proof," Jacobs had argued, leaning across the table. "Aside from the word of a known killer that we have been trying to apprehend for years. He killed dozens of Americans went he set off that bomb in our Croatian embassy."
"We know," Lia had countered, pitching her voice low so that the five of us were all that could hear. "But he's the best informant we've got and he's given us valuable intel. This is the only shot we've got to end Scorpion for the next decade. All of the major players will be there. They won't assemble again for a long time."
"How the hell do you intend to get in?" Riley had asked. "You said that Hawke had broken ties with the team that we've been chasing down." He'd gestured to the pictures of the team he'd brought and scattered across the table. I'd been staring down at Daniel's face for twenty minutes.
"Hawke has guys on the inside that he trusts," I'd said. "He's communicating with them and me to come up with a system so that we'll be able to identify them so that we don't accidentally kill someone who is helping us. But, it's also a party. And from what we know of the attendees, it's going to be a lavish affair. That means caterers and entertainers. We should be able to get in without being noticed. I've got my guys determining who's been hired so that we can find our way inside.
"Lots of things can go wrong there," Riley had said, chewing on the side of his cheek.
I'd shrugged. "Lots of things can go wrong in any situation. But we've got back-up on their way from Switzerland. People I trust."
"What, exactly, is your plan here? I'm having a hard time figuring it out. Is this a straight up shoot 'em all till they're dead or are you planning on issuing arrests. And if it's the latter, who the hell is responsible for bagging 'em all?"
They had all stared at me. Even Lia and Max.
"Arresting them is the plan. Hawke is working towards getting us attendance lists from his inside guys. The GCCO will use those lists to compile arrest warrants."
Not a complete lie except it was Daniel arranging the attendance lists.
"But yes," I'd hissed, voice low. "If we've got sufficient proof upon entering that mansion on Saturday that all of those present are working for Scorpion and things go south, I am perfectly fine pulling out my gun and doing what needs to be done."
Riley had taken a moment, stared at me hard, and then nodded once to Jacobs. "Keep us posted," he'd said and then they'd breezed out of the coffee shop.
Lia had then taken off to update Tasha and Cedric at the hotel. They'd decided earlier that morning that the three of them would go scout out the mansion so that we could starting determining our actual infiltration plan.
Max and I had ventured to the motel where we'd been for the last hour, watching that SUV across the lot and the video feed I'd set in place previously.
"Do you think we'll actually pull this off?" Max asked, letting the curtain fall back into place. He came to perch next to me on the couch, staring at the video feed running on my laptop.
"Yes," I said immediately.
"How do you know?"
"Because it's us. And I won't let myself consider anything else."
"Because of Daniel?"
"That's part of it." Max waited for me to speak. I sighed. "Everything that's ever happened to him is my fault. No matter what, I have to make this right for him."
Max nodded once, a hard gesture. "We will. On Saturday, we can make that a priority. Getting Daniel out alive. If he's there and not somewhere else in this god forsaken city...I'll make sure of it myself."
I squeezed Max's hand. "Thank you."
He nudged me, glancing at the screen. "They're leaving," he said.
Indeed, the door to the motel room was opening and three people were exiting the room. Daniel and the two Italian brothers ambled towards the SUV. They carried no bags and entered the car without preamble. Max and I watched as it rumbled to life and sped out of the parking lot.
Three of them. No Ivy Deering in sight which meant that she was probably still in the hotel room. Daniel had said she could be trusted. That she, like many of us, was nothing more than a victim.
"C'mon," I said to Max. I lurched to my feet and quickly checked that my guns were in place and loaded, extra clips attached to my belt.
"What are you thinking?"
"I want to take a look inside that room."
And I want to see if Ivy is inside. I hadn't divulged Daniel's information about Ivy to anyone yet. I hadn't wanted to draw attention to her lest one of my friends was a double agent who would be content to kill her to send a message. It had been my plan to get her and Daniel out at the gala but if we could assure her safety now it would mean one less variable in play on Saturday.
The best thing about Max was that he knew how to read me. He took one quick look at my face, saw the resolve, and nodded. "We'll have to be fast," he said and opened the door.
Max and I walked across the pavement to the other room. Luckily, the motel seemed to be near empty. Good, I thought. No extra eyes to watch us.
Lucky for us, the motel was old school. No electronic locking mechanisms to keep us out. Picking a lock was something I'd learned to do even before my formal espionage education. Wes had managed to teach me a few things during our childhood and that had been one of them.
The door swung open.
At first glance, it was the same as any motel room. An exact replica of the one that we had rented down the block. Two beds, perfectly made up as if with military precision. The curtains had been drawn tight, allowing no light. Duffle bags were set by the door in a straight, even line. As if they were ready to be picked up at the first sign of trouble.
Max drifted to begin sifting through the drawers to the dresser. Empty. All of them empty. He stalked to the bedside table but my eyes had fallen on the closed door to the bathroom towards the back of the motel room.
I pulled my gun out of its holster and clicked the safety off. Slowly, quietly, I turned the handle and pushed the door in.
A small, terrified shriek was the first thing I noted. The sound alerted Max who was at my side in the next half-second. But I was already putting my gun down as I entered the bathroom.
There, handcuffed and gagged in the corner – wedged between the bathtub and the toilet – was Ivy Deering.
She looked almost the same as yesterday when I'd first seen her and Daniel speaking in the parking lot. The same curtain of red wavy hair; same smooth, pale skin. The sole difference was the bruise that had formed on her cheek. It was dark, purple-blue, and close to the size and shape of a handprint. She'd been hit.
Her eyes were wide, spring green and bloodshot, as she stared at us. Max angled his gun towards the floor but didn't holster it as I crept forward and removed the gag.
"Ivy?" I asked. "Ivy Deering?"
Max's head whipped toward me. I didn't have to look to note the surprise in his eyes. Shock that I knew her and had said nothing about it.
"How—how do you know who I am?" Ivy shrank back a bit, cringing into the porcelain.
I told another lie. How easily they fell from my lips. "James Hawke asked me to get you out of here if I could. To get you away from Scorpion."
"James sent you?" her voice was a whimper as I helped her to her feet. I noticed that she limped as she took a step forward. That was new too.
"Yes. My name is Jessie. This is my friend Max."
Ivy regarded Max. Whatever she saw there, in him, she decided to trust. "They'll be back soon. They went out to resupply and meet up with a contact but they told me it wouldn't take long," she said. Her nails bit into the skin of my wrist. "Please get me the hell out of here."
Max and I shared a brief look. "Hawke asked you to do this?" he hissed, voice low.
I didn't blame him for being hesitant. But I nodded. "Yes. He told me that she could be trusted. She's a political prisoner. Being held against her will, forced to help them, in exchange for her mother's cooperation."
Max turned his steely gaze back to Ivy. "Then let's go." He ushered us out of the bathroom and towards the door. Ivy stuffed her feet into a pair of boots by the door and grabbed her coat off of a chair.
"Wait!" Ivy exclaimed as he went to open the door. She dropped to her knees and began rifling through the duffle bags. A moment later, she handed me a laptop and a cell phone. "They belong to Emilio and Pietro Esposito. They're two of the men who have been...watching over me."
I took the laptop and stuffed the phone into my pocket as Max checked the curtain.
"Clear," he said.
"Let's go," I said. Ivy clung tightly to me as Max opened the door and we raced across the lot and back into our own room.
Ivy gaped as we shut the door. "Seriously? This is your idea of an escape plan? Twenty feet away from where we started?"
Max was already dialling his cellphone. He spoke rapidly and quietly – arranging for us to get a ride out of here. "Cab will be here in ten minutes."
"Give me your hands," I said to Ivy. She held them out and I started working at the handcuffs, trying to spring the locking mechanism free. A moment later, they opened. "What was that phone you tried to hide in your pocket?"
Max's head swung towards us, his fingers dashing once more for the holstered weapon at his waist.
Ivy paled. "I—It's for me to communicate with David. He works with Emilio and Pietro but he hates them just as much as I do. David got me the phone right before we came here. Every mission we do together, he gives me a new burner. Just in case something happens and he and I get separated. The others don't know about it. He and I agreed to look out for each other. To have someone watch our back."
David Jones was Daniel's alias. And though I knew he trusted her, I couldn't extend the same liberty. Not yet.
"Okay," I said. "Give it to me."
Ivy handed it over immediately. I searched her quickly and found no other phones or communication devices, no concealed weapons.
The minutes we spent waiting for the cab were agonizingly slow but eventually, it arrived. The three of us hastened for the vehicle, gave the driver our address, and released a breath only as we peeled out of the parking lot.
*~*
The Roosevelt Hotel, Manhattan, New York. January 30, 2021, 6:26 p.m.
It had been a long and silent cab right back to the hotel. We didn't dare speak, not with the cabbie's ears so close and available. I only messaged Cedric, alerting him to the fact that we'd managed to retrieve Ivy. He was the only one I had informed about her when I'd briefed him on what had transpired during my conversation last night with Daniel.
God, things moved fast. Had it really only been the night before that Daniel and I had spoken? Only been this morning that I had lost faith in Cedric, had forced him to turn a gun on himself, just to regain that trust.
This case was going to give me an aneurism. At the end of it, I was going to need a vacation. Somewhere hot and beachy with fruity drinks.
Somewhere far away from this frozen hellhole New York had become.
I was fanaticizing about that sandy warm place when we pulled up to the hotel. Max paid the driver and then the three of us were in the elevator, stopping off at our floor and sauntering down the hallway.
"We trust the people in this room," Max said to Ivy as we stopped in front of the door. "They're part of our team. You can trust them too."
Ivy glanced at me, saw the honesty in my eyes, and nodded. "Okay."
Lia and Tasha were watching the news when we entered. Cedric was perched on the edge of a chair, his computer balanced on his knees as he typed rapidly. All three looked up.
Cedric slammed the computer top shut and lurched to his feet. "Are you good?" he asked me.
I nodded. "I'm fine. Guys, this is Ivy. Ivy, this is Lia, Tasha, and Cedric. Ivy was a political prisoner being held by Scorpion. Hawke gave me some intel on her the last time we spoke and asked me to get her out if we got the chance. We did."
Even though we were in a safe space now, I didn't dare use Elliot Carmichael's name. Ivy's mother was still a prisoner. Plenty of people would kill for the real identity of James Hawke and it could be an easy way for Ivy to free her mother. I wasn't about to give anyone that opportunity. Not when doing so would be sure to cause a cataclysm of disastrous events.
"Any trouble?" Tasha asked.
"No," Max said. "The other three stepped out and left Ivy gagged and handcuffed in the motel room. They still weren't back by the time we left. I'm sure they'll be right pissed but they shouldn't be able to link it to us. Ivy managed to get us some of their tech. There might be useful information on it so we should start hacking our way in."
He indicated the cell phones and laptop he'd been carrying. Lia strode to Max's side and the two of them moved to start doing what they could to pull information from the tech. Cedric pulled Ivy off to the side to debrief her and I watched them go. There would be questions there that we needed answers to. Intel that could be invaluable. I took a step, about to follow after Cedric, but Tasha sidled up to me.
There was a nervous look on her face and she murmured low, "Can we go somewhere to talk? There's something you need to know."
I stared at her hard for a moment but there was nothing on her face except concern. "Yeah," I said. "I'll meet you in your room in a few minutes. I just want to clean up quickly. Is that okay?"
"Yes. I'll meet you there."
Without another word or backwards glance, Tasha disappeared out the door and down the hall to her own room. I changed out of my clothes and took the fastest shower I'd ever had, erasing the sprays of blood from my neck and arms. My soiled clothes went into a bag. We'd dispose of them later somewhere that they wouldn't be noticed.
Then, dressed in a fresh shirt and pants, I quietly interrupted Cedric's conversation with Ivy long enough to tell him where I was going. A look of panic crossed his eyes but it was gone in the span of a blink.
"Be safe," he murmured.
I squeezed his shoulder and went to find Tasha in her room. She greeted me at the door, pausing to let me in after briefly scanning the hallway.
"Is everything okay?" I asked as I entered the room. On instinct, I marked exit points, checked for threats, looked for any sign that it might be dangerous.
There was only Tasha, shifting her feet and trying to look anywhere but at me. "I have something to tell you. But I need you to keep a cool head."
"What's going on Tash?"
A dark, sinking feeling washed over me. It felt as if a bomb were about to drop. I didn't dare breathe.
Tasha strode for the desk in the corner of the room. She popped open a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. Without preamble, she plopped them into my hands.
"What are these?" I asked.
"Just read them."
I did, perching on the edge of the bed as I scanned them over.
A few were heavily redacted documents with little information but enough that I could piece together a road map. It was me – everywhere I had been over the last five years. Each checkpoint and appearance I'd made. Like someone had been tracking me.
The other papers made we want to throw up. Email correspondences, text messages, phone records. All of it about me. Sent to a private phone number and an email address that was comprised solely of numbers. No doubt linked to a fake name.
And all of the information, every word, about finding me and using me and then, ultimately, killing me.
"What is this?" I looked at Tasha and despite her asking me to keep a cool head, I felt a deep calm sweep through me and not the good kind. It was a calm that promised violence. "What the fuck is this, Tasha?"
Tasha leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of her nose. "My computer was running a security sweep on the Shadow Lawn Mansion today. I had it set to run some code so that I could get total access to their cameras and everything for the mission.
"But I also wanted to keep doing some digging on Daniel to see if I could learn more about where he's been and what he's been doing. I wanted to try and see if there would be a way to lure him out somehow. Since my computer was going to be unavailable, I asked to borrow Lia's for the day.
"As I was on it, she got some messages. And they were enough to raise my suspicions so I did a little digging and came across all of that." Tasha gestured limply to the papers. "I made copies while you were all out and then erased by tracks so she doesn't know I saw it but...Mel, I think Lia might be a double agent."
A million thoughts swirled in my head as my stomach dropped. Lia, I thought. And that was sadness and grief pulsing through me.
"You've spent more time with her than I have these past few years," I said. "Did you ever notice anything wrong? Some indication that she was working for Scorpion?"
Tasha shook her head. "No. Never."
"What about Max? They rarely do anything apart. Do you think he...?"
I couldn't even finish that sentence out loud. Not with the papers in my lap staring me in the face.
Not Max, I pleaded internally. I'd considered this possibility, obviously. Thought it was possible that it could be either of them but now? With this proof.
It felt like a part of me was dying. Losing someone else in my life yet again.
Tasha said, "I didn't see his name on anything but they're so close. And about to be married. Do you think she would lie to him about this?"
"I don't know."
There was a beat of silence. Stretched taut with tension.
"There's something else," Tasha murmured. I raised my eyes to her, waiting. "I found Cedric's name on a few things. They were all heavily redacted but...I thought you should know."
I kept my face carefully blank. Of course, I already knew this. It was not surprising that Cedric's name was showing up on Scorpion documents – especially considering how they knew about his link to me.
Tasha hadn't given me a reason to distrust her. In fact, she'd given me every indication that she should be trusted. With these papers and the truth about Cedric. But I had no way to validate her claims. Not like with Cedric when I'd been able to go to Helena as a second source.
With Tasha, there was only blind faith.
And given my history, with everything that had happened to me and family since I was a child, blind faith was something that I was not overly committed to.
So I put on a mask of betrayal, released a shaky breath, and let the tears of frustration sting my eyes but not fall. "Damn it."
"I'm so sorry, Mel."
"Is there anyone else you've told about this? Your colleagues at Interpol?"
Tasha shook her head, dark curls bouncing. "No. I thought that this was something that we should keep between us. Especially going into this op. What if we get in there and they turn on us?"
"If we confront Lia, we could end up killed or worse," I countered. "As you said, we don't know where Max's head is. And Cedric...I don't even want to think about how he's connected to all of this."
Tread carefully, I thought. Shit, I needed time to think. There were so many variables. All of these secrets had begun to unravel like a spool of yarn.
"What are you thinking of doing?" Tasha asked.
"Nothing," I said honestly. "We don't change the plan. I've spoken to my boss at the GCCO. She's sending reinforcements. Even if...even if Lia makes a move against us, we can still pull this off."
"We'll lose the element of surprise. Without a doubt, she'll be telling her associates."
Yes, I thought. That's right.
For a moment, I said nothing, thinking it over. Then, "They're expecting an attack anyways. Carmichael told me that's why they sent Daniel's team in. They wanted to cause a diversion to keep the police on high alert and away from what they were planning. When they learn that their strike team has been killed, they'll know that something is coming."
"You don't think they'll cancel the event?" Tasha's brows furrowed low over her eyes.
"No." I was firm on that. "Those arrogant sons of bitches will only up their security. They think they're impenetrable. We're going to show them that they're not."
Tasha walked over to me, stopping a foot away. "And if Lia tries to get in our way?"
A wave of nausea raced through my veins but I squashed it with half a thought. I rose to my feet and stared down at Tasha with a grim look. "It's like I said this morning. I'm going in there and ending this. No matter what it takes."
"No matter what," Tasha agreed.