Chapter 7Sark sat in the corner of the less-than-private cell. He could see the guard on the other side of the Plexiglas that separated him from freedom. He wondered to himself how Allison was faring. She'd said she didn't think she could maintain her cover much longer, but Sark had never figured that he'd be the one in jail.

He hated being in here, but he had been captured fair and square. He heard a tone and the sound of the gates being opened. A bald man stood in front of him. "Open the door," the man said. The guard complied, and then entered, handcuffing Sark and forcibly pulling on his arm, leading him somewhere. Sark didn't know where he was going, but he was pretty sure he knew what was going to happen when he got there.

Jack led Irina onto the plane. Calling Kendall, he reported that Irina was in custody. "Good," Kendall responded, "We're taking Sark in for questioning."

Allison continued explaining the plan that she'd been told about when she agreed to this assignment to Cole.

"So what exactly is Sloane's plan?"

"He wanted to get access to Il Dire. Now that he has, I don't know what's going to happen next. I do have some good news, though. When Sydney called me yesterday to console me over Tippin's death, she told me that she is pregnant."

"Excellent," Cole said with a smile. "Now all we have to do is wait nine months."

Monterrey, Mexico

Lauren Reed sat across from Arvin Sloane. She had a rough draft of the pardon agreement typed up, and she had been instructed not to print it off unless Sloane provided enough intelligence to lead to the takedown of at least three terrorist agencies.

"The last group, ARG, is led by Kabul Bin Oden. Their base of operations is in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is constantly surrounded by three bodyguards."

"And how do you know this?"

"We've made deals regarding the sale of weapons."

"Do you know the security code to get into the base?"

"Yes. The code is 1-3-2-5-4-7-0-6-9-8."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Be careful."

"I won't be on the mission. I'm not field rated."

"You're father is Senator Reed, isn't he?"

"Yes, but I don't see how that's relevant."

"Oh, it's not. I was just curious."

Lauren walked away and called the NSC with the information that Sloane had just told her.

"We'll try to verify it."

"Good. I'll wait to hear from you," Lauren said hanging up. Then, looking around, she dialed Cole's number. She told him what she had just told the NSC, and then ended by saying, "They're going to try to verify this information. If they find it true, then Sloane will be out of our way."

"Understood."

"Good. I have to get back to work."

Sark was thrown into a chair. Two anonymous agents handcuffed him down while a few other agents got him ready for the functional-imaging test. The machine hummed to life.

"What is your name?"

"Julian Michael Sark."

"True," the man said to the bald man that had escorted him in. Sark smiled secretly to himself.

This will be fun he thought. If I can fool this machine about my name, then I can fool it about anything else.

"What is your date of birth?"

"June 14, 1980," Sark stated.

"Who do you work for?"

"Irina Derevko and Arvin Sloane," Sark said.

"How did your allegiance to Mr. Sloane begin?"

"I was instructed by Irina Derevko to set up a hit on him in order to be an apparent rescuer. It was then that I gained his trust and joined SD-6. When SD-6 was taken down, I joined the strategic alliance between Derevko and Sloane."

"Who is the second double?"

"Allison Georgia Doren."

"And who did Ms. Doren get doubled to look like?"

"Francine Calfo."

"Why her?"

"We needed someone with access to intelligence. Using her relationship with Mr. Tippin, Ms. Doren was able to assist in our agenda."

"Do you see this right here?" Coroner Terry asked Sydney.

"Yes."

"This appears to be markings from where a knife entered his abdominal cavity."

"So Will was stabbed?"

"Yes, but that wasn't what led to his death."

"And what led to his death?"

"This," Coroner Terry said, pointing to the hole in Will skull. "A single close-range gunshot to the forehead. Instantaneous death."

"Do you have any leads?"

"We're assuming that it's the second double, but we don't know who that is."

Sydney's phone rang. "Agent Bristow here. It is Francie? I'll be right down there."

Hanging up, Sydney looked at Coroner Terry. "Is there anything else you need to show me?"

"No. Go ahead. Leave." Sydney nodded, turned, and left.

Bill phoned his fellow agent from his early days in the KGB. "Derevko's been compromised. It's possible that she may reveal the truth about the past in order to secure leniency from the courts. We need to be prepared for any potential move by the CIA."

"Understood," the man at the other end stated.

"We need to contact the other seven agents."

"Agreed," the voice said, and then the line went dead.

Sark's interrogation lasted for another three hours, with Sydney watching. Vaughn joined after an hour. Shaking his head, Vaughn watched with Sydney as Sark told about his past, not realizing that the past that he was describing belonged to his first victim, Julian Michael Sark.

Lauren listened as her contact from the NSC told her that Sloane's intelligence had been correct for the first terrorist group, and that the leader was now in custody. "One down, two to go," Lauren reported to Sloane, who silently nodded.

Allison and Anna headed out for the local bar. "So what do you want to do when Agent Bristow has her baby?" Anna asked Allison.

"We will get it. Then we will kill the lovebirds."

Hurrying into the head office, the Chinese agent handed his boss a piece of paper. Reading it, he looked at the agent who brought it in. Thanking the agent, he barked into his phone, "Get me Jong Wu. Tell him it's about the Rambaldi baby."

Nadia Santos walked into her superior's office. "We just received word from a reliable source that the Rambaldi baby has been conceived. When it is born, it is imperative that we get it. Failure is not an option."

"Understood."

The plane touched down at LAX. Jack and the Air Marshall walked off the plane with Irina between them. Ignoring several puzzled looks from people in the airport, they led Irina to an unmarked van, in which she was secured.

The van pulled away from the airport, Jack said into the radio, "This is Agent Bristow. We're on our way."

…TBC…