5pm Paris.
The safe house was in a populated part of town but away from the typical tourist locations. The operatives exited the vehicle and each grabbed a bag. Yvette headed to the door fiddling with her keys to find the right one.
Dalton pulled Amir back and paused to be sure Yvette was out of earshot. "Can you manipulate her?"
"What do you mean?"
"Seduce her."
Amir did a double take, "What?"
"We need to get a read on her and what is really going on. Find a tell so we can stay ahead of her or at least know when she is lying." The captain advised.
Yvette noticed their huddle but McG asked a question which took her attention away from the two men.
"I'm not sure it will work." Amir was honest.
"We've got to do something. You've got history with her to build on so you can read her. We need to push and keep her off balance." Dalton stepped toward the building. Amir shook his head, "We'll see."
Yvette was walking the team through the house when Amir and Dalton caught up to them, "Kitchen down the hall on the right, it's stocked if you need something to eat or drink. Upstairs rooms are just bedrooms and a balcony."
Preach took their bags upstairs to be out of the way and Dalton pulled out the secure laptop. Yvette stepped back to let the Americans set up in the open room and slipped out of sight. Amir saw her move and with a nod to Dalton followed her.
He rounded the corner to the foyer and saw her resting against the wall. Amir paused, watching her. Yvette's eyes were closed, head leaning on the wall. She took a long breath. She opened her eyes and jumped when she turned and saw him.
"I…uh, needed a minute. It's been a long day."
"It's ok." He smoothly blocked her exit, "Do you think your sister was kidnapped because of your job?"
"That's the theory. Hampton seems to agree with it." She responded.
"I have worried about my family being targeted due to my undercover assignments."
"You did tell me about your family, was it true or a cover story?"
Amir shrugged, "The truth is easier to remember than coming up with a lie. But I did worry about revealing too much. What you are facing is every operative's fear."
Yvonne winced.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it worse." He backtracked.
"You didn't."
"You don't have to pretend to be so strong. This has got to be hard. I am sorry you are dealing with this."
"Thank you." Yvette did appear to be relaxing so Amir decided to chance it.
"Do you want to talk about us?"
She blinked in surprise, "My family was just kidnapped. Now I am working with people I don't know or trust and you want me to talk about our history?"
"You trusted me once."
"Not exactly."
"Yeah you did." Amir dropped his voice trying to make her feel more comfortable.
Yvette paused before responding, "My alias trusted you."
"Your alias was very trusting." Amir recalled their time together, "I was comfortable with you."
She paused, watching him, "Me too." She admitted.
He stepped toward her, "Do you have any questions for me?"
"So many; but probably none you can answer."
"Try me."
Yvette recalled their meeting, "I thought you were the linchpin for the group. You were so confident…you convinced Ackmeed to detonate."
"That was his idea." Amir stated.
"But you didn't stop him."
"If I stopped him, there would have been others to take his place; he had to make his decision."
"And he chose to step into the shopping mall." Yvette pointed out.
The reminder felt like a knife to the heart and Amir struggled to remain expressionless. Seventeen civilian casualties, plus the boy, died when he detonated a suicide vest on a busy shopping day. Dozens more were injured but survived.
"And that's why I was pulled out. But it was hard leaving." He stepped closer to Yvette. She didn't flinch at his nearness and kept eye contact, "Leaving you. That was two years of my life."
"Mine too." Yvette admitted.
"I looked forward to spending time with you. Mostly in bed, but the simple conversations mattered." Amir treaded carefully, "They kept me going."
Yvette's eyes traveled over her companion; "My family is missing and you think I want to go down memory lane?"
"Why not?" Amir leaned toward the woman.
Yvette closed her eyes and whispered into his ear, "That's one way to pass the time."
Amir blinked at her reaction as she turned to face him. Their eyes locked. He felt like he was back in Africa. Undercover, he was alone to protect himself as he worked to be indispensable to the cell. But lonely is a hard way to live. The shooting of Zafar and the split-second decision to hold Yvette back changed his life in ways he hadn't planned on. Her tears and apparent grief at the loss of what he thought was thought to be a family member really affected him. Amir had let her get close, physically and emotionally. Through the days and months that followed in Africa, he realized that he actually enjoyed their times together. With her, he was able to relax and not worry about his cover.
Now in Paris, Amir studied her expression. She was tougher than he had expected and that was throwing him. Yvette reached for his face.
"But I'd rather find my sister." She moved around him to get back to the others.
Amir paused. Seeing her after so many years was bringing back a lot of memories and feelings. He had to get control of himself and do his job.
Dalton looked up when Yvette entered the room. Amir was a moment behind her. Dalton glanced at the American. Amir slightly shook his head.
"What do we know about the kidnapping?" Preach wondered.
"Burglar alarm went off at 6:12 pm but when the police arrived at 6:37, they found nothing. No evidence of a kidnapping…a few things out of place which just seemed to be messy housekeeping. Here is that the official police report." Yvette picked the pages off a desk.
"But there was no ransom note." Dalton clarified.
"No, to that's one reason I think it's connected to me or my job." Yvette responded.
Preach read over the papers she handed him, "How do you have this?"
"It's been what…24 hours… most departments wouldn't be releasing this report yet." McG wondered.
She shrugged, "Professional courtesy."
Dalton raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"My intelligence cover is Gendarmerie Nationale."
"What?"
"Police….investigations." She searched for the right word.
The American's computer went off and everyone turned toward it.
Dalton blocked Yvonne's view when he entered his code. Patricia appeared on the screen, "Dalton, get everyone together."
The leader looked around the room. Preach was sitting comfortably in a chair against the wall, McG next to him and Amir and Yvette were avoiding eachother. Jaz entered the room after securing the house and was hanging out in the doorway.
"All here." Dalton informed her.
Patricia did not look happy. She noticed the Frenchwoman in the order of the screen, "Yvette, I am Patricia Campbell, we spoke on the phone."
"Good to see you Director." She addressed the woman on the computer.
"Unfortunately, we now think Director Hampton is part of the kidnapping of your sister and niece, probably is the mastermind. He was in London when the kidnapping happened and flew back to the US immediately following it."
"What?" Dalton felt alarm bells go off as he glanced at Yvette. Her posture was casual, but he felt her eyes take in everything around her. The rest of the team looked at their host, waiting to see her actions.
"We are trying to find his entrance into the county but haven't located it." Noah chimed in from the American side of the conversation.
"Private flight 317 from DC arrived at the Gatwick Airport at 3:49pm." Yvette answered smoothly.
Hannah's head jerked up; she hadn't even thought to check the Gatwick Airport security tapes. Now she had work to do.
"He cleared customs at 4:03pm. Vehicle picked him up outside the airport." Yvette glanced around the others in the room before turning to the computer screen, "And when did you think I figured it out?"
"Excuse me?" Patricia's jaw dropped.
"I video conferenced Director Hampton this morning. I accused him to his face of masterminding my sister and niece's kidnapping."
Her words echoed in the room as Hampton's betrayal hit each American. They were in a foreign country, sent by a possible traitor. And their contact was the wronged Paris spy, a woman who wanted her family back…probably by any means necessary.
