Irish
I could feel the tension in the room the moment I walked inside. It flowed particularly strong between Money and Dr. Benjamin. As I walked past their table, I made eye contact with both Emme and Lynx. Her furrowed brow led me to wonder if she was feeling the same thing I was.
I walked to the front of the room and waited for conversations to die down before I spoke.
“Thanks, everyone,” I began when heads that had been facing away turned in my direction. “I’d like to bring us back to a vector view and get out of the weeds if we can.”
I saw heads nodding.
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but since I began this ‘mission’—if you want to call it that—my personal mandate has remained the same: to find out why agents were being ‘killed in the line of duty’ at a rate that was exponentially higher than in previous years combined. Additionally, to get to the bottom of why those murders were being covered up by the CIA, the organization that the majority of the dead agents worked for. My personal mandate hasn’t changed.”
“Nor mine,” said Cope when our eyes met.
“To be honest, I don’t know that I thought much about the desired outcome besides stopping the carnage. Three months ago, when the initial rounds of arrests were made, I believed we caught the perpetrators and it was time to call the mission. It wasn’t long before I realized how wrong I was.” I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“I’m in the same place today. I listen as new discoveries bring yet another piece that fits into the puzzle. It would be easy to name Xander Harris as the culprit, but that would be as naive as thinking this…this…Argead was taken down with Fisk, or Flatley before him.”
My eyes met Burns’, and he nodded.
“What we have to determine now, collectively, is what we believe the desired outcome to be. Who are the players that remain that we know about? The quick answer is Harris, Antonov, and Chen. We all know there are layers upon layers deeper than that. So again, what is the desired outcome?”
“Why aren’t we revisiting a deal with Fisk?” asked Cope.
“You’re thinking now that Kerr and Byrne are dead, he might be willing to talk? Antonov and Chen are still alive and well, the last I heard.”
“I don’t know, Irish. I just think it might be worth another ask.”
“It wouldn’t hurt anything,” said Doc.
“I need to know you aren’t considering sacrificing Jinyan Yanli,” said Benjamin.
“I don’t think we’ve made a determination either way,” said Money.
“I must insist—”
“As was just said, we haven’t made a determination either way.” As far as I was concerned, Dr. Benjamin was in no position to ask for anything. A case could be made that he was an accomplice to murder, given he admitted in front of a room full of people that he had been aware a hit was scheduled to take place and he stood by and watched it happen.
“I have information that may influence the extradition of Harris.”
My patience with Dr. Benjamin was wearing thin enough that deferring to someone else was necessary. “Decker?”
He stood and walked toward the doctor. “Let’s get something straight. We are a combined team working toward a common goal. Either you are on this team, or you’re not. If you have an agenda that differs from that of the majority, you have no business being here.”
When Saint stood, I anticipated things getting heated.
“Before we go any further, let’s take a break. Decker, Dr. Benjamin, let’s take this conversation offline.”
When Decker motioned us outside, Saint followed.
“Irish? A moment?” he asked.
“What?” I snapped.
“I’d like a few minutes alone with Adam.”
“It better be to tell him to either get with the program or get the fuck off this ranch,” I seethed.
“It is neither, but I guarantee the same result.”
I found his use of the word guarantee an interesting choice.
“Decker, let’s give Saint and Dr. Benjamin a minute.”
He looked at me like I had three heads, shook his, and then stalked inside with me following.
“Can I be of any assistance?” asked Emme.
I looked out the window to where the two men appeared to be in a heated debate. “I really don’t know.”
“I had no idea.”
“Do you mean about the reason he’s so obsessed with what is happening in Hong Kong?”
“Yes. He never let on.”
“Did you expect him to?”
She shrugged. “There were times I felt as though he was baring his soul. I suppose he was, just not enough that I could understand what he was trying to tell me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Essentially, what you said about his obsession with Hong Kong. My focus with China has always been single-minded, at least on a personal level. I want to put an end to the flow of pharmaceuticals and active ingredients from China into the United States. To the world, if I could influence it, but it has always been my goal to find a way to end our dependence on them for something that could so easily be used against us.”
I knew Emme’s older brother had died from prolonged use and a subsequent fatal dose of fentanyl, and that upon his death, she vowed to everything she just reiterated.
“Dr. Benjamin’s goals aren’t that different from mine. He wants to see change in a part of the world that will get far worse for anyone who is prodemocracy or speaks out against the Chinese government. I predict we will not see change for the good in our lifetime.”
“It would’ve been nice if he communicated what he was doing or where he was going prior to leaving, but I suppose that’s too much for Saint to consider,” I said as I watched Saint and the doctor get into a vehicle.
“I know you’ve never cared for him, but I feel I must defend him.”
I tried to remember a time in the past when Emme may have seen Saint and I interact, but I couldn’t recall an occasion when we did.
“It’s more in the way you talked about him,” she said, nudging me.
“Or it’s that you read minds.”
“If I could, I never would’ve doubted you,” she repeated what she’d said yesterday.
“You could look at it this way; I was better at my job than you thought.”
She laughed, and so did I. It was a nice reminder of how much I’d enjoyed working with her when I first went undercover at MIT.
“Back to Saint. He’s a good man, Paxon. I doubt Lynx and I would be together if it weren’t for his interference.”
“Interesting word choice.”
She laughed again.
“Look, I appreciate what you’re saying. However, from my perspective, maybe even Lynx’s too, the man should probably consider a different career.”
“Are you saying you don’t believe he’s effective in his role as an MI6 agent?”
“I doubt you’d find many who disagree with me.”
“Perhaps not.” When she walked away, Decker approached.
“Ready to get back to work?”
“In a minute.” I went outside and Decker followed. “What I said earlier about not knowing the end game on this, I really don’t. I suppose the only way we’ll know how much deeper this goes is to get Harris and/or Fisk to talk.”