“Positive. I traced the communications. He had access to everything—your covcom, the compact, the safe house location. He’s been feeding information to someone. I don’t know who yet, but I will.”
“Where is he?”
“In the wind. He disappeared about six hours ago.”
Omar looked at Marielle. She’d gone pale.
“The compact,” she said quietly. “He would have known the moment it went offline. He would have known we were at the cottage.”
“And he would have known about the Marseille extraction,” Trent added.
“What about the team in the apartment. They’re in on it, too?” Jake demanded.
“They never went. Got a call when they were at Dulles that the mission was scrapped and were told you authorized forty-eight hours of R&R for their trouble.”
“Let me guess,” Jake said tightly. “McCloud called them.”
“Bingo. When will you be back?”
“We can’t take a commercial flight,” Jake explained. “Can you arrange a charter?”
“On it,” Ryan said. “And Jake? Chelsea said next time, maybe listen the Marielle and Liv.” He hung up laughing.
“Evergreen advice,” Marielle smirked.
They sat in the beautiful bar, surrounded by beautiful people, and contemplated the magnitude of the betrayal.
Finally Jake said, “I’m gonna stretch my legs. Let’s meet out front in thirty. Ryan works fast.”
“Then what? Once we get back home?” Marielle asked. “After I figure out who Cal was working for. Because I will.”
“I know you will. After that? We burn it all down.”
Jake walked away.
Marielle stood on the terrace of the Plaza Athénée next to Omar, shoulders touching, looking down at the city.
Jake was still on his walkabout. Trent and Olivia had slipped away, no doubt to catch up in private. She and Omar agreed they could use some fresh air.
The terrace was quiet, just a few other guests scattered at tables, and the sounds of Paris drifting up—traffic, voices, the distant chime of church bells.
“We have a date to keep,” Omar said quietly.
She looked up at him. “I believe you promised to take me on a real one.”
“The Plaza Athénée isn’t a real date?” He swept his arms wide.
She bristled. “Under the circumstance? Mais non.”
He laughed. “Easy, Elle. I’m joking.”
She felt her cheeks grow warm. “Oh.”
He turned her gently to face him. “We will have a proper date. Once this is over.”
Her heart thumped as she stared up at him. “Once this is over, we’re going to have to figure out how to do this. Us. The job. All of it.”
“I know.”