"Maybe the Valentine team will come good after all." Walker worked hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Maybe it didn't work that well because Mark patted Walker's hand on his thigh.
"What plan are we on now?" Mark asked, forced lightness in his tone.
"We’re still on the same plan. My team have worked out an extended strategy for any eventuality like this."
It was one of the things he really enjoyed about his training. Jake had drummed it into them that they needed contingency plans all the time. They had worked through this exact scenario during one of their field training exercises.
"I’m impressed. For a newbie team you’re very organized."
"Jake's training."
Mark gave a bark of laughter. "Just the sort of thing I'd have expected from him. I bet he included food and sleep as part of his training."
"He did." Walker smiled reluctantly. "He never mentioned kissing and blow jobs though."
"You're gonna have to tell him he's missing a vital part of the regimen."
Walker shook his head. "I don't think so. You can tell him that."
“I don’t think so, big guy. I’d rather keep it between us.”
Walker grunted and drove for a while. “Mark, what happened with Polikov?”
Mark took so long to answer Walker thought he’d fallen asleep, but then he sighed. “I told you it was a special mission. Lukas and Rhianna were the snipers. I was clean-up.”
“Explosives. Get rid of the evidence?”
“Yeah.”
“So what happened?”
“From our point of view, it was a textbook mission. Lukas and Rhianna took out the marks. They were high up in Polikov’s organization.”
“But not Polikov himself?”
“No. That wasn’t our objective. I disposed of the evidence and we got the hell out.”
“But now he knows it was you three and he’s gunning for revenge?”
“Maybe.” Mark didn’t sound convinced.
“But you think something different?” Walker probed because he felt Mark was holding back.
“I wonder if it’s Polikov at all. I mean, think about it, Walker. Who waits ten years to see revenge on the deaths of your lieutenants?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I need to process.”
Walker wanted to ask if he thought it was someone in the agency, but that was between him and his team.
They drove, and after a while Mark did fall asleep, soothing and scaring Walker with his occasional snore.
The sky had lightened, and dawn was on the horizon when Walker heard his phone beep. Crap! What now? He dug it out of his pocket and handed it to Mark.
"What does it say?" Walker asked.
"Fire. Blofeld. North 2. Sunset."
Dammit. He was going to have to backtrack again. Yet another safe house compromised. This was getting beyond a joke. He thought for a minute and then said, "Send this message."
"Go for it," Mark said.
"Tsunami. Bond. West 9. Sunset."
"Sent."
There was a long minute and then another beep.
"What does it say?"
"Be careful."
Walker nodded and held his hand out for the phone. Mark handed it over without another word.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Mark asked.
"Yes. We're in a lot of trouble." He wasn't going to sugarcoat it for Mark.
"I think it's time you started talking, Walker." Mark's voice was resolute and Walker knew he wasn't going to be able to pass this off.
"I think, my team thinks, we've been compromised."
Mark turned to look at him. "We?"
"The agency. Initially I thought we should be careful of people in the agency because I don't know most of them. But my team confirmed that there are forces working against us."
"And you know that how?" Mark asked harshly.
It had to be hard to know that people you called friend may now be the bad guys. Walker didn't want to have this conversation, but the situation had just gotten more serious and he needed Mark to be fully on board as a team member, not just a package.
"The last word of the code tells me who to trust and who not to trust," Walker explained. "I sent the first code to them with the end word night. That means trust no one. They returned it with night which meant they'd agreed with my assessment."
"What does sunset mean?" Mark asked.
"We are fucked," Walker said bluntly.
"Do you know who it is?"
"No. Tsunami means no clue."
"And Bond and the West 3?"
“Bond is like 007. He works on his own."
Mark made a noise of understanding. "So we’re on our own, we've got no clue who is after us, and West 3?”
"That's the location we’re supposed to head to. But you have to understand that all the other safe houses have been compromised. I’m not going to West 3. The team know that and know our communication is being monitored. I am going to take us to a place unknown by the agency. If I took you to West 3, hostiles would be there waiting for us. My team will deal with them."
Mark stared bleakly out of the window. "I can't believe anyone from the agency would try to kill me. They’re my brothers."
Walker bit inside of his lip. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have. "It's been a long time since you worked with anyone from the agency, Mark," he said. "I don't mean to insult your memories, but who do you really know from there now apart from Jake and Mitch?"
"Have you met my best friend?"
“He doesn't work at the agency now and hasn't for some time, nearly a year in fact. You might think he's still part of the agency, but he’s not. A lot of personnel have changed since then."
Mark gave out a long sigh. "In other words, I have no clue what I'm talking about."
"You’re loyal. It’s easy to see that. I know you have long and happy memories of being at the agency. Maybe I can see things from a different perspective."
"Your team isn't popular. You screwed up big-time. Do you think that your perspective might be biased too?" Mark asked harshly.
That hurt. That hurt a lot. But Mark did have a point. Walker was hardly the most impartial observer of the agency.
"I'm sorry. That was a nasty thing to say." Mark stammered through his apology.
Walker shook his head. “No, you have a point. But believe me when I say my team and I are trying to make things right. The last thing we want is for it to collapse around our ears. So we're trying to save you and our own asses."
"It’s good enough for me. What do we do now?"
"I can't keep driving up and down the interstate. I’m going to take you somewhere I know that the agency doesn't. It’s not the best of locations, but it’ll do for now. And before you ask, my team doesn't know about it either. We’re literally on our own now."
"My fate rests in the hands of a rookie team. I don't think I ever saw that coming. Well, Bond always manages to live another day, let's hope we can too," Mark muttered.