“What did he suggest?” I asked.
“To pull K19 in.”
Both Buck and I raised a brow. An Invincibles partner was suggesting bringing in a rival company?
“Yeah, I don’t like it either, but hear me out.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
“This is the part I like. Cope will contact Doc and get him to contract out a couple of undercover gigs.”
“Where?”
“Inside Interpol, for one.”
“Who are you thinking?”
“Casper.”
The choice surprised me. Calla “Casper” Rey did far more work with the Invincibles than with any other private firm. I knew because her husband, Beau, was one of the agents whose death had gone unexplained, forcing Casper to resign from the agency when she couldn’t get any answers about how he’d died. I knew Casper well and admired her.
“Who else?” asked Buck.
“I’ll leave that to Doc.”
“Why did you say you liked the part of the plan where Cope contacts Doc?” Stella asked.
“I’ll answer that,” said Buck. “Because Doc will think it means he’s got a shot at recruiting Cope to join up with them.”
“Does he?” she asked.
“Hell no,” muttered Decker.
“Cope won’t sign with the Invincibles either.” When I spoke, all eyes turned to me.
“We’ll see,” said Deck.
“What’ll Casper’s assignment be?” Buck asked.
“To get inside Interpol’s executive committee. If we can get her in place quickly enough, she can be set up in time for the end-of-quarter meetings.”
Interpol served as a clearinghouse for international crime intel, rather than an actual law enforcement agency. The organization only had as much power as its executive committee, and of the three positions—president, vice president, and secretary-general—only the latter was a full-time, paid position.
The other two offices were advisory in nature and held by individuals who still worked for their respective countries’ intelligence agencies. The committee only met officially at the end of each quarter. Everyone in intelligence believed they met far more often than that in an unofficial capacity.
“Does Fisk have any connection to Interpol?” Buck asked.
“Negative,” Deck answered.
“What about Kerr?” asked Stella. “Does he have any connection to the current executive committee?”
“Irish?” prompted Deck.
As he instructed on the plane, I’d spent the rest of the flight learning as much as I could about the man Stella just asked about, along with his connections.
“Both Daniel Byrne, the current president, and Boris Antonov, his vice, served as delegates under Kerr. I haven’t been able to find a connection to Kim Ha-joon, the secretary-general, yet. However, he’s tight with Byrne and Antonov.”
“What about a connection between Kerr and Fisk?”
I wasn’t prepared to answer questions from a reporter, so I didn’t. “Need-to-know.”
Decker cleared his throat. “Irish, answer Stella’s question.”
There were times Decker’s high-handedness pissed me the fuck off. “They worked together at CFR.”
“CFR?” Buck asked.
Stella pushed back her chair, stood, and walked over to the window. “The Council on Foreign Relations.”
“Officially, it’s a foreign policy think tank. Unofficially, a place for its ‘members’ to meet without having to announce it as such,” I explained to Buck.
“Which office?” Stella asked.
“Fisk was in DC. Kerr was in New York.”
“Barb too?” Buck asked.
“New York office,” she responded.
There it was. The line had been drawn between Stella’s aunt, Kerr, and Fisk. That hadn’t taken long.
“What happened to him?” Buck asked.
“Kerr? He stayed on at MI5, but not as director general, the position he’d held for years,” I told him.
“What did he do instead?”
“Consultant.”
“Where did Kerr go after that?” Stella asked.
“Retired.” Something occurred to me, and my eyes met hers.
“What?” she asked.
“He divorced his wife at the same time he left Interpol. He’s been married to Sally Hennessey for nine years.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Stella stalked out of the cabin door.
“Who’s that?” Buck asked, standing to follow her.
“At the time, she was the executive editor at AP.”
“Barb’s editor?” Deck asked.
“Affirmative.”
A few minutes later, Stella came back in. Buck wasn’t with her.
“Hey, Deck, can I have a minute with Irish?” she asked.
Jesus, first Decker, now her? It was one thing to take his shit. I had no intention of taking hers.
“I was just getting ready to head out anyway.” He put his laptop in his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“Are you leaving the ranch?”
“As soon as I make sure Rock has the install of the security system under control, I’m headed to Texas.”
After Decker left, Stella sat down at the table. “Look, Paxon, I owe you an apology, and it’s long past due.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I know you’re a good man, and you deserve a lot better than has been doled out to you, including by me. But now, I’m part of the investigation. The same people you’re after either killed my aunt or arranged for someone else to do it. I’m going to take them down, Irish, if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Copy that.”
“Can we figure out a way to work together on this?”
“I promised Decker I would.” I stood to leave.
“Where are you going?”
I wanted to tell her I didn’t answer to her. Instead, I told her I work better alone.
“But—”
“Whatever I find, I’ll share.”
“Everything good?” Buck asked when I went outside.
“I told Decker I’d work with Stella if that’s what you’re referring to.”
“I consider that good.”
“Whatever.” I returned to my cabin. Once there, I tried to figure out an excuse to contact Flynn, but I couldn’t come up with anything. Instead, I decided to continue looking into Nicholas Kerr.
As I’d told Stella earlier, once he left Interpol, he went back to work for SIS, but only in an advisory position. There wasn’t a lot about what he’d been up to in the last ten years, which I found suspicious. How did someone go from being that big of a player, to a man of little influence in such a short amount of time? The answer was, he hadn’t. He’d just gotten quieter about it.
On a whim, I decided to look up his travel records and hit pay dirt. I grabbed my computer and rushed next door.
When I got there, I could see Buck and Stella inside.
“What?” Buck snapped when he opened the door.
“Where did Stella go?”
“To get dressed, asshole.”