A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry for the long wait, real life got in the way. (Hate it when that happens).
Chapter 9: Murder
When Sydney and Jack walked into JTF headquarters, they were not the least surprised to find Robert Lindsey ranting at Dixon about the CIA's incompetence in front of everyone. "You authorized a mission without informing your NSC liaison, you didn't even bother telling her after the fact, and you got nothing. Your agents retrieved a blank disk, Cosovich got away, and you don't even have a clue who was buying the disk."
Dixon somehow managed to remain calm. "All of our intel indicated that the disk was genuine. Cosovich escaped only after he was in NSC custody. I didn't inform Ms. Reed beforehand because there wasn't time, and when I tried to tell her afterward, I couldn't find her. I later found out that she was in a locked conference room with her husband for two hours. Working on important NSC business, I'm sure." Everyone in the room started turning red as they struggled to contain their laughter. Several developed severe coughing fits. Vaughn and Lauren chose exactly that moment to return from lunch, and no doubt wondered why everyone turned to stare at them.
Fortunately, Lindsey interrupted before anyone actually started laughing. "There's still the matter of the buyer." He turned from Dixon to glare pointedly at Jack and Sydney. "Which two agents did you send on this mission, Mr. Dixon? Was it perhaps the Agents Bristow?"
Dixon looked puzzled. "Sydney was on the mission, along with Agent Brown."
"Ah, of course." Lindsey spoke up so that everyone in the room couldn't help but hear him. He was clearly enjoying every second of this. "And as we all know, there is one terrorist that Sydney and Jack Bristow have no interest in apprehending."
"I don't understand, sir," Dixon said.
"Fortunately, the NSC was able to get more information than the CIA. We found video footage of the buyer entering Cosovich's home on his security system. The buyer was Irina Derevko."
There was silence for a moment. Sydney tried to look shocked.
Dixon cleared his throat. "Agent Bristow has always shown that she is more than willing to apprehend Derevko. Besides, she didn't even see the buyer last night. Agent Brown caught only a glimpse of her."
"I don't believe I've met Agent Brown," Lindsey said.
"She's new," Dixon said. "I don't see her; she must not be back from lunch yet."
Vaughn spoke up. "She was in the elevator with us. She looked kind of sick; she headed in the direction of the restrooms."
Lindsey nodded. He glared at Sydney again while speaking to Lauren. "Ms. Reed, would you go see what's going on with Agent Brown, since I obviously cannot go in the women's restroom? Miss Bristow, I'll speak to you in Agent Dixon's office."
***
Upon entering the restroom, Lauren heard the unmistakable sound of someone vomiting. She knocked on the door of the only closed stall. "Agent Brown? It's Lauren Reed. Are you all right?"
"No," came a voice from inside the stall. "Must have been lemons in the special," Lauren heard her mutter.
"Lemons?" Lauren asked.
"They make me sick," Kate answered. Lauren heard her vomiting again.
"Um, can I get you anything?"
"A soda would be nice. Something brown," Kate said when she was finished.
"I'll be right back." The trip to the vending machine took Lauren right past Dixon's office; Lindsey saw her go by and was waiting for her when she returned with a Coke.
"How is Agent Brown?"
"She's really sick," Lauren answered. "I was getting her a soda. I don't think you want to talk to her today, sir."
Lindsey raised his eyebrows. "Fine. Tell her to go home, and I'll speak to her tomorrow."
Dixon was coming down the hall and overheard Lindsey. "Which of my agents were you sending home, Director?" He was more than a little angry at Lindsey, but knew better than to show it.
"Brown. She's sick." Lindsey turned away. Lauren looked at Dixon and shrugged, and they both walked away.
Back in Dixon's office, Lindsey looked at Sydney. She sighed inwardly. She had already told him the story she and Kate had made up three times. She wondered if he had read her file and knew about her time as a double agent; if he did, he would surely realize that he wouldn't get her to change her story whether it was true or not.
"Agent Bristow, I may not be able to prove it at the moment, but I'm sure you knew that your mother was the buyer, and that you let her go. The moment I have any kind of evidence, rest assured that you will shortly find yourself in the same cell your father recently occupied. Is that understood?"
Sydney could think of several replies to that question, none of which were helpful. She clenched her hands into fists and thought, He'll talk to Kate tomorrow, our stories will match, and he'll go back to Washington. Just play nice. She unclenched her fists and managed to say, without any overt hostility, "I understand perfectly."
"Good. Go away."
For once, Sydney followed Lindsey's order gladly.
***
The final credits rolled for I Love Lucy, and Kate switched off the hotel room TV. Her vomiting had ceased after an hour or two, and now she was fine. It was 1 a.m.; it was time. She rolled off the bed and put on a pair of sneakers, to go with the basic jeans and sweater she was wearing. Her newly discovered father and sister almost certainly wouldn't approve of what she was about to do, she thought as she double-knotted the shoes. Her mother would understand.
She left her room, went to the elevator, and went up four floors. Her earlier hacking job into the CIA computer network had shown her that, wonder of wonders, she and Lindsey were staying in the same hotel. She knocked on his door, loud enough that he would hear it if awake but soft enough that it was unlikely to wake him if he was asleep. "Come in," he called. He looked up when she entered, and his eyes widened in shock. "Tatiana. I thought you were dead."
She smiled, quickly taking in the plain manila envelope lying on the bed and the two shot glasses and bottle of whiskey on the table. Her timing couldn't have been more perfect. "You should know better than to believe rumors like that in this business, Bob. What have you got?"
As she had expected, he assumed she was still working for the Covenant and that she was the contact he was supposed to make tonight. "Where's the money?" he asked.
When she'd seen him this afternoon, Kate had hardly been able to believe it. This idiot was the one causing all the trouble for the CIA? He had no idea what the rules of the espionage game were. She'd seen him meet with Kresniev several times, and she knew Kresniev thought he was important, but she'd never been able to figure out why until today. And he'd kept trying to get her into bed with him, despite the fact that he was old enough to be her father. Now she was glad that she'd followed Kresniev's orders to play along instead of telling him off. "If your intel's good, maybe I'll show you where I've got the money," she said in her most seductive voice, smiling sweetly at him.
He smiled at her, his lascivious thoughts showing plainly on his face. "It's all in there, baby," he said, pointing to the envelope.
She moved forward and picked up the envelope with her right hand, then used it to mask her left as she pulled out the surgical scalpel that was hidden up her sleeve. Dropping the envelope, she quickly moved around behind Lindsey and slit his throat. She pushed him away from her; he twisted and looked up at her. "Why?" he choked out.
She shrugged. "You messed with my family." She stood and watched until his open eyes glazed over. Then she unlatched the door of the hotel room before hiding in the bathroom.
She didn't have long to wait. Pretty soon Lindsey's real Covenant contact was at the door. He knocked, then pushed it open when he didn't get a response. Moments later, he was dead as well. She recognized him; another old lecher who'd tried to get into her pants.
Kate checked herself over and was pleased to see that she'd managed to avoid getting any blood on herself. She placed the bloody scalpel on top of the envelope and left. Back in her own room, she removed the thin, practically invisible gloves she had been wearing, then changed into pajamas and soon fell into a sound sleep.
Next: Lauren Reed has a really bad day.