Author's Note: Sorry this is a short chapter but it's to push this story toward its end. Thanks to Starfire201 (no kidding!) and Riptide2 for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing but Crystal. "Where I Come From" is by Montgomery Gentry
~The Thunder Rolls~
In the end it took two calls and a twenty minute conversation in what sounded like angry Russian for Crystal to get what she wanted. She hung up and dropped the cheap plastic cell phone to the floor, staring contemplatively at the wall in front of her. "Well?" Monroe demanded impatiently.
"Hmm," she said absently, glancing up at him. A strand of her wavy brown hair fell into her face and she brushed it away with the back of one hand.
"I don't have all day," Monroe snapped. Ordinarily Jazz would have thought Crystal was trying to play them but she didn't look focused enough to manage that.
"I found out who's after Bourne," she said, still staring blankly at the wall. "But you're not going to believe it. I don't even believe it really."
"Tell me," Monroe insisted.
Crystal glanced away from the wall and looked Monroe straight in the eyes. "Treadstone." Dead silence. The others in the room gaped at the girl.
"But that's not possible." Nicolette Parsons had just been led into the room along with Joshua Webb. Both had been brought in by Monroe's team along with Crystal but neither one had needed medical attention. "Treadstone was shut down ages ago," Nikki continued. "The heads of Treadstone, later known as Blackbriar, were all killed."
"My source insists," Crystal said with a shrug. "And the other won't answer the phone meaning he switched everything."
"Or someone caught up with him," Webb said. Crystal gave him a sharp nod.
"Treadstone," Nikki breathed, shaking her head. She closed her eyes for a moment and when they opened again they were filled with determination. "Where are we going?"
"Russia," Crystal replied.
"From Russia with love," one of the younger agents quipped and Crystal surprised everyone by giving him a genuine smile.
"You'd better believe it!"