“It’s good to hear you say it, Victoria.”
“It is good to hear me say it,” she replied.
“So you, what, started working for the CIA?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Ironic in that the FBI engaged me to be a mole againstyouwhile you were a mole against everyone you were working with.”
“I do not believe that your FBI knows of any of this.”
“And the sale of your business?”
“That was necessary because it placed Connor Lord squarely in the bullseye. The CIA wants him for many reasons, they told me. He can bring down many major figures.”
“The FBI told me the same thing.”
“His purchase of my organization was the first time he actually took over any overt criminal enterprise. That was why I dangled it like a carrot and then made sure he would accept my terms. The CIA told me that if we managed to pull this off, it will be one of the most important operations they have ever been party to.”
“If Lord is this master chess player and genius, why do you think he agreed to take over your operation? He must be aware of the risks.”
“He is also a narcissist, which can be a weakness of enormous degree. He feigns contentment lurking behind the scenes, but Lord has always thirsted for more power, and the opportunity to be center stage. And I used that against him. And I hope that it also will be his undoing.” She paused and studied him. “So that is why I could tell you nothing. I am so very sorry.”
“I understand.”
“Lord told me that the FBI had recruited you, in your position at Sybaritic, to spy on me and the Temples. How he found out, I do not know. He wanted you taken care of. Not killed. He wanted something more so that the FBI would no longer work with or trust you, and indeed might abandon their investigation entirely. That is why I did what I did with your daughter. It was the only thing I could think of. After Maggie was taken and her AI-altered image appeared online, I was supposed to capture and then torture you to make you tell me what you had disclosed to the authorities. But I had no interest in that, and you managed to elude me and the police. And afterward, while I made noises about trying to find you and kept imploring Rhett Temple to do the same, it was all window dressing to placate Lord. I. . .I had done enough harm to you.”
“But then you sent Lynn Ryder over and made a big push to locate me.”
“I became desperate. I needed to know what you had told the FBI. You see, it had occurred to me that if they brought down my business before Lord was attached to it, everything I had worked for with the CIA would be ruined. I just wanted to take you out of the equation until I could complete the transaction with Lord. I of course had no inkling you were right there the whole time.”
“And those men being sent to my wife’s home? Would they have killed her even though you said not to? They came into the house with knives out and looked ready to murder her.”
“I ordered Lynn to have those men abduct your wife, that is all. As soon as I did, however, I regretted it. You see, those men did not work directly for me. They worked for Lord.” She looked away. “I. . .I should have thought it through more, but I suppose I panicked. I had so little time to make a decision. It. . .it was. . .a poor choice. And if I failed, the CIA would, of course, have disclaimed all knowledge of our arrangement. I would be in prison for the rest of my life, and Lord would be free to continue to wreak havoc.”
“Rhett finally figured out my real identity,” said Nash.
Steers looked at him pensively. “That does surprise and intrigue me. How was he able to accomplish what I could not?”
“A perfect storm of clues, mistakes on my part, and lucky deductions on his, unfortunately. But I struck a deal with him. You see, I also know that he murdered his father, so I had that to hold over him, too.”
“He killed his father? I did not think he had that in him.”
“I didn’t either. But Rhett is cagier than most people think. Ironically, it wasn’t the FBI who told me your mother’s real name was Dai Lu. It was Rhett. He overheard some of your associates talking about it.”
“I see.”
“Your mother was actually using my knowledge of her real name as leverage. And when she told you I knew her Chinese name? You had me drive you out to Hiroko’s resting place, at gunpoint.”
“I was not planning to kill you, just find out who you were really working for and then let the CIA deal with it. But when you told me you were Walter Nash?” She shook her head. “I have truthfully never been more surprised in my life. Even more so than when I found out my mother was not a prisoner in Myanmar.”
“I still don’t understand how Maggie is alive. They found her remains. Bones, teeth.”
“They foundsomeremains, but they were not hers.”
“But they ran tests. DNA doesn’t lie.”
“The CIA made certain the tests would come back as a positive match. The ring and strands of hair that were also found we took from Maggie to leave with the bones and teeth to further substantiate that those were her remains. She has been in safekeeping with your U.S. Marshals all this time. Things have been explained to her. She knows that you are alive, and also what you have been doing.”