Chapter 6: Betrayal
Mark Dawson left the interrogation room and motioned to the CIA doctor that had been waiting. After forty-five minutes of speaking to her, he was surprised to find himself with a growing respect for Irina Derevko. She had answered all of his questions calmly and completely, and he never got the slightest hint that she was being anything less than truthful. Although she hadn't had an X-ray, the doctor believed that her right leg was badly broken, and Dawson could tell that she was in a great deal of pain, but she had not even mentioned it. He had left the room when she had grown pale and started shaking slightly, which he recognized as symptoms of shock. He wanted to authorize a painkiller, but he needed her alert enough to talk. Only for a little while longer, though; Jack Bristow should arrive before too long, and then he would find out if the daring plan he had come up with had a chance of working.
***
"Daddy?"
Sydney had slept peacefully during the transfer to Arvin's car and the ride, but she woke now as Jack lifted her from the back seat to take her into the Sloanes' home. "Sh, sweetie, go back to sleep," he whispered.
Instead, she woke up a little further and looked around. "Where are we, Daddy?"
"You're going to stay with Aunt Emily tonight."
"Do you have to go on a trip? Where's Mommy? Put me down, I wanna walk."
Jack sighed and put his daughter down on the driveway. "I won't be gone long, Sydney. I just have to go pick up Mommy; she had some car trouble." There was no sense telling his daughter that her mother was injured, he thought; Sydney would just worry.
"Can I go with you?"
"No, Aunt Emily is looking forward to having you stay with her. We wouldn't want to disappoint you."
Emily Sloane opened the door of the house, and Sydney ran to her. "Aunt Emily!" she cried. "Do you have cookies for me?"
"Not this time, Sydney," Emily said. "I didn't know you were coming until just a little while ago. Besides, it's past your bedtime."
"I slept already. Can we play Candyland?"
"How about a movie instead?" Emily said. "Why don't you go pick one out while I talk to your father." Sydney bounced off to the living room; she knew exactly where the Sloanes kept a half-dozen children's videos for their favorite "niece". Emily turned to Jack. "I'm so sorry about Laura," she said. "Tell her I'm thinking of her. And I can watch Sydney as long as necessary."
Jack nodded. "Thank you, Emily." He gave her a hug. "We should get going."
A few minutes later, Jack realized that something was wrong when Arvin drove right past the turnoff for the hospital. "Arvin, aren't we going to the hospital?"
"Laura's not at the hospital," Sloane replied.
"What? Why not? What's going on?"
"Jack, I'm sorry to have to tell you this…" Arvin took a deep breath. "Laura's a spy. She works for the KGB."
Jack stared at his friend for a moment. "Is this some kind of joke? Because it's not funny!"
"It's not a joke, Jack. We recorded her meeting with her KGB handler tonight." They had reached CIA headquarters; Arvin parked and got out of the car. He went around to Jack's side and opened the door. Jack just sat there. "You need to come inside, Jack. Dawson wants you to hear the tape."
Reluctantly, Jack got out of the car. "So there was no accident?"
"There was a car crash. We staged it in case the KGB is watching."
They entered the building, and Jack hurried over to Dawson. "Where is she? Is she all right? Laura is not working for the KGB! Why would she do such a thing? She loves me!"
"Jack, calm down," Dawson said. He led Jack over to a chair. "Sit and listen." He played the tape of Laura's meeting with her handler that had been recorded earlier.
Jack sat in shocked silence as the tape played. When it finished, he started to cry. "How long…when did she start…"
Dawson sat down facing him. "She's always worked for the KGB. She was planted here more than ten years ago. She was ordered to get close to you."
"God…all of it…our whole marriage…was all staged?"
Dawson nodded. "I'm sorry, Jack. She's admitted to everything."
"I want to see her."
"All right." Dawson led Jack to the room outside the one in which Laura was being held. Jack moaned when he saw her through the one-way glass. She was handcuffed to a chair, cut and bruised, her right leg stuck stiffly out in front of her, staring into space. She didn't look frightened, or angry, or worried, just resigned. He sank down in a chair and put his head in his hands. The woman who had always been his rock, his safe harbor, the one that kept him sane, was a lie.
