Chapter 11
Author's Note: I enjoyed writing this chapter as news that Annie is Rebecca unfolded for Ryan. I have a few more chapters in mind for this fanfic and will also try to end it in the next couple of weeks before leaving town. Please let me know what you think! Enjoy!
After landing and refueling in foggy San Francisco, Jim and Fitz took over flying the next leg to Honolulu so Ryan and Dex could get some rest. Ryan quickly inhaled a turkey and avocado club sandwich chased down with a Dr. Pepper before he retrieved his bag and took a seat.
During this time, Annie was still clueless as she prepared for her day. California was three hours behind D.C. and Hawaii was another two hours behind the West Coast of the country.
"Why don't you take a cat nap while you still have the chance, whatever's waiting for us in Azerbaijan probably requires you to be rested," said Dex who took out his eye mask and reclined his chair fully.
"You've grown soft in the private sector. That's my fault as your boss," joked Ryan laughing for the first time that day. Normally, Ryan McQuaid always had a witty remark. He was a positive and glass half full guy. The many lines on his handsome face indicated he was a man who enjoyed laughing and found humor in everything.
"What's up the with satin shades? Seriously?"
"You don't have two kids under three disturbing your shut eye at your house," quipped Dex. "I catch my zzz's when I can, this here is a vacation compared to taking care of those yahoos," said Dex with a wickedly handsome smile. In truth, it was harder for him to leave his family these days. His wife was always understanding, but with the new addition the added stress of worrying about him made it tough to say good-bye.
Ryan chuckled while shaking his head and said, "Sweet dreams." He loved seeing his men happy at home. Many had gone on to marry and start families. Sometimes it made him long for one of his own, but right now his company was his family and he put his all into building a solid reputation and a network of reliable assets and happy clients.
Ryan settled into his chair and desk near the cockpit and looked out the window as the plane took off. Ryan finally opened his bag to review their plan once on the ground in Azerbaijan. He planned on setting up surveillance on the clinic and poking around in the area where Mueller supposedly lived. They would need to split up and two of his men would rent a truck and unload their equipment. He and the translator would approach the clinic to ask the doctor questions. Ryan would plant listening devices while there.
Underneath the maps and satellite images of the medical clinic and nearby areas was a file on Rebecca Laconte Steele as well as Nathan Mueller. Out of tiredness and the need for a change of pace from studying the terrain and roads, Ryan picked up the first file on the stack, it was labeled "Rebecca Laconte Steele". He opened up the file and a familiar face starred back at him. The first page of the file showed a blown up copy of Rebecca Laconte Steele's Hawaii Driver's License. Right there on 8.5 by 11 Xerox paper was Annie Walker's face looking straight at him.
~By this time, Lieutenant Miller picked up Annie at her home and has read her in while driving her to the University where she had two classes that morning.
Ryan's shoulders tensed, his jawline tightened and he clenched his teeth. He was starring at photos of Annie Walker. The next page was another full 8.5 by 11 copy of her University of Hawaii I.D. badge. Ryan's wheels were spinning and he flipped through the rest of the file and scanned the pages listing ops Annie provided translations for. . . He replayed the conversation he had with the JSOC team and Joan Campbell. Judging from the expiration date of the driver's license, he figured she had been living in Hawaii since she ditched him in Venezuela. All this time, she was across the country and an ocean away. . . what the fuck Walker? When he woke up to the phone call, it was like the past called him. AND NOW THIS. Dozens of thoughts came to him. . . he wasn't a man who liked to be blindsided.
Ryan ran his fingers through his hair and clamped down his jaw on his molars, he picked up his sat phone and called his old buddy, Lt. Miller.
~Miller received the call while he's with Annie, filling her in on the mission.
"Listen to me, consider Steele a flight risk and I can't afford that," said Ryan.
"Excuse me Commander?"
"She and I go back and she's not to be trusted, do not let her leave your sight, you got that?" blasted Ryan.
"Whoa, relax, I'm starring at her right now and what are you talking about?"
"I know her and she is skilled at escape and evasion," said Ryan.
"You're saying she's some sort of criminal?"
Ryan's rational side wanted to take over, Annie wasn't a criminal. Was it crime to leave your lover without a trace? No, no crime was committed, but it was a shitty thing to do and he's never forgiven her for it.
"Just know that the woman you know, isn't who she says she is," said Ryan.
"I've known her about a year and a half and she's about to teach two classes, I don't think she's going anywhere," said Miller.
"How did she react when you read her in on the mission?"
There was a pause.
"Well ,she said she couldn't do it because she isn't trained for this and to find someone else, then she received a phone call," said Miller.
"Just make sure she stays there until I am on the ground, she's skilled, don't take anything she says at face value and don't underestimate her!" ordered Ryan.
Next Ryan called another friend from his Navy SEAL days who was on his payroll through his FLINT group. His friend Luiz Gonzalez happened to live on Oahu. An avalanche of emotions tumbled down, but his mind was still sharp and he needed to keep Annie Walker from running. He also wanted an advantage and asked Gonzalez to gather as much information on Rebeccal Laconte Steele as he could in the short time before Ryan's plane would hit the runway in Honolulu.
"I want eyes and ears on her until I am face to face. Get to her home and her workplace. I'll be on the ground in less than six hours and I want to know where she is when I land," said Ryan to his friend.
"Who is she?"
"Someone who can't be trusted, she was a fucking spook for Langley and probably still is," said Ryan.
"If you can put a tap on her phones and a tracker on her car."
"You got it," said Luiz.
"And," Ryan hesistated.
"Find out if she's close to anyone on that island."
"What do you mean? Contacts? Cut-outs?"
He didn't want to answer, "Yeah, anyone she's close to."
/
Phone Call to Joan Campbell
"Hello Ryan," said Joan expecting an angry Ryan on the other end.
"Rebecca LaConte Steele, name ring a bell?" Ryan spat harshly.
Joan exhaled loudly and before she could get in a word, Ryan continued, fueled by anger, resentment and the crushing disappointment in knowing people he trusted lied to him.
"And guess what, she's married to a man who looks like Jorge Garcia, except he's Thomas Steele," said Ryan angrily. "Two years ago I asked for honesty and all I got were fucking lies," spat Ryan.
"Did Langley have anything to do with her disappearing?" Ryan asked, not that it mattered. It appeared that she made her choice and it wasn't him. It was her work and he didn't get it, he never said she had to leave her job. Of course he dogged on the CIA and joked about how it was better working for him, but he never had any expectations of her to stop working for Langley.
Ryan thought that would be the only answer where he could possibly make sense of why she left. Betrayal was something he experienced before with people he trusted with his company and his life. . . When he realized that Caitlyn Cook, Allan Langer, and Borz Altan all lied to him for Belenko, he was angrier than he had ever been his entire life. Being angry at the enemy when it was group of jihadists or a dictator was different than the primal anger and raw pain he felt knowing that people close to him sought to destroy him. The knot in the stomach knowing that Annie Walker resurfaced was hard to categorize.
"You've moved on, have you not? Laura is a lovely person," said Joan stirring him out of his thoughts.
"You people don't care about the consequences of your lies do you? Damn it! You didn't answer my question!"
"She wasn't under any orders from Langley. Ryan, you've been happy the last couple of months. Keep that in mind." Joan's practical and sisterly advice meant nothing to Ryan in that moment.
"Yeah, I have moved on, but now I need her for this op, and I'm on my way her place. I'm guessing you've warned her and she won't be there," said Ryan sarcastically.
"Can you put your past aside and focus on the mission at hand?"
"That ship has sailed, I don't give two fucks about the past, I just need to know I can trust her to do a job and Annie Walker has no credibility in my book."
"She's the best translator for this job as everyone has astutely pointed out. You know how dedicated she is to her job," said Joan trying to calm Ryan down.
"Yeah, I know, her work is all she cares about," said Ryan. She was dedicated to her job, the Annie Walker he knew put her work above all else.
Joan sighed, "I just spoke to her."
Ryan was silent on the other end. He was still an entire ocean away from Hawaii. "What did you tell her? Does she know it's me coming to pick her up?"
"She does."
"Damn it Joan, you've given her time to disappear," shouted Ryan as sweat dotted his back and forehead.
"I told her it was Mueller and that got her attention, she's not going anywhere but to Azerbaijan with you, she wants to get to the bottom of it and she's requested all the intel we have, she's in, so don't worry. Put aside your feelings," ordered Joan.
"Feelings? I don't feel anything," said Ryan hanging up.
As soon as the phone slammed down, Ryan swept the stack of files on his desk off the table along with a mug startling Dex from his slumber.
"What the hell?" asked Dex as he picked up the papers strewn all over the aisle of the plane. Recognition hit him as he looked at the papers he picked up.
"Holy Shit," said Dex when he picked up a paper with a copy of a driver's license and University ID badge. He understood why Ryan flew off the handle.
