At the time, Archer had been psyched. Especially when Ryder had allowed him to use his CIA contacts to aid with the planning. Now it seemed like one major-ass setup.
“I was in Istanbul at the time,” Eve went on. “But when I caught wind of what was happening, I called to make sure you were still alive. Not to gloat like you thought.”
“It didn’t sound like you were just checking to see if I was alive.”
She frowned up at him. “We’re talking about a spy organization, Archer. We spy on others, but we sure the hell spy on each other. I’m living proof of that. I didn’t know who might be listening on some back channel, so I pretended not to care. I couldn’t care, because if I did, who knows how many others might have been compromised. I also couldn’t let them know—”
She closed her mouth, and Zane found himself waiting for more. “Know what?”
She clenched her jaw and looked away. Irritation, anger, and something else lingered in her gaze. Something he couldn’t read but that caused his pulse to beat even faster. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Know that I’m an idiot. That’s all.”
That wasn’t all, though. There was something else. Something she wasn’t saying.
Zane opened his mouth to ask, but the ping from Miller’s cell phone cut him off.
Eve’s wide-eyed gaze immediately shot to Miller, who was already pulling the phone from his pocket. “Is it about my sister?” She pushed out of the chair. “Did they find her?”
Miller frowned as he stared down at the screen. “She didn’t show up for work two days ago. She’s been listed as officially missing. No signs of foul play at her house, though.”
“Oh God.” Eve closed her eyes and turned away.
Zane’s stomach churned, and contradicting thoughts raced through his mind.
“There’s more,” Miller said, shoving the phone back in his pocket.
“More what?” Eve swiveled back to face him.
Miller crossed the room, picked up the remote from the coffee table, and flipped on the TV. A young female reporter’s face filled the screen. Followed by a not-too-recent picture of Zane.
In the photo, his hair was short and neatly trimmed, and he was wearing a white button-down and black blazer. An ID badge hung off his jacket pocket.
“Oh shit,” Eve whispered.
“While no group has yet claimed responsibility for yesterday’s bombing in Seattle, sources confirm this man, Zane Archer, also wanted in connection with the tragedy, is a former case officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. Archer left the State Department a year and a half ago under questionable circumstances.”
Eve whipped toward Miller. “Give me your phone.” When he only stared at her, she said in a frantic voice, “I need your phone now.”
“Who are you planning to call?” he asked skeptically, reaching for his cell.
“My supervisor. Someone leaked Archer’s CIA photo to the press.”
Zane’s mind was a swirl of contradicting information, but Eve’s anxiety got through. “Wolfe,” he said, more for himself than her. “Take a breath.”
She yanked the cell from Miller’s hand and started dialing. “I’ll take a breath when I figure out what the fuck is going on.” Into the phone she said, “Yes, I need you to patch me through to 1-5-7-8-4.” She hesitated, then muttered, “My security clearance is . . .”
She wandered into the kitchen with Miller’s phone, and Zane let her go, knowing she couldn’t get far, too rattled to think straight. At some point, Miller had hit mute on the TV, but all Zane could do was stare at the younger image of himself on the screen, a stupid rookie who thought he’d been making things better in the world when he’d only been making them worse.
Now it felt like the world had just been blown to shit and he was in the center of the fallout. With Eve’s words from the warehouse continuing to ring in his ears.
I loved you, you son of a bitch. I loved you . . .
“Dude. You okay?”
Miller’s hand slapping against Zane’s shoulder shocked him out of his trance. “What?”
“I asked if you were okay. You look like shit.”
Zane felt like shit. He rubbed a hand down his face. “Yeah.” Dropping his hand, he looked toward the kitchen. He could hear Eve’s low voice but couldn’t make out any of her words. “Do you believe her?”
Miller shrugged and dropped into a chair. “I don’t not believe her, if that helps. She could totally be telling the truth. I mean, her story makes sense.”
Perspiration dotted the back of Zane’s neck. Yeah, it made sense to him too. What didn’t make sense was why he was being tagged in this mess and not her.
“Why don’t you tell me how you found her yesterday and what you’ve been up to since,” Miller said. “Maybe then I can figure out how to help you. Because the Feds aren’t the only ones who have a hard-on for you, buddy. Ryder’s got one too, and that’s not exactly a good thing.”
Zane rested his hands on his hips. Yeah, he bet Ryder had it in for him. Before Eve could come back into the room, he launched into how he’d tracked her to Seattle and caught up with her just before that bomb went off. Then he relayed what had happened since.
Miller crossed his hands over his chest, kicked out his legs, and shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling. “God Almighty, but you know how to screw up a wet dream, don’t you? What the fuck were you planning on doing with her, man?”
Frustration welled in Zane’s stomach. He punched the Off button on the TV and began pacing. “I don’t know. I wanted to find out what she’d been up to. And I guess I wanted to scare her a little.”
Miller chuckled. “Looks to me like you all you did is piss her off. That woman does not like you. And if what she told us is true, then with good reason.”
Zane stopped in the middle of the floor and looked toward the kitchen. Eve was quiet now, but he knew she was still in there. How, he wasn’t sure. He just . . . felt her.
His heart beat faster, and a tingling spread across his neck and down his spine, then wrapped itself around his abdomen until it tightened every muscle in his torso.
“Life is tough,” Miller muttered. “But it’s tougher when you’re stupid.”
Zane’s gaze snapped Miller’s way, and Miller grinned. “John Wayne. Smart man. You could learn a thing or two from the Duke.”
Zane frowned and was just about to tell Miller what he could do with his smart-mouthed advice when Eve stepped back in the room. Her face was pale, her hands were shaking against the phone, and a dazed look reflected in her normally clear and confident eyes.
“Eve?” Concern immediately spread icy fingers through Zane’s chest. “What’s wrong?”
“I . . . I couldn’t get through. My security clearance has been . . . revoked.”
“Shit.” Miller pushed to his feet. “They’ve linked you two together already. If they were waiting for you to call in—”
“No,” she said quickly. “They won’t be able to track me. I . . . I cut the call before that could happen.” She lowered herself onto the couch. “I need to get in touch with my supervisor and figure out what’s going on. But first I need to find my sister.”
“You’re not getting anywhere near downtown Seattle with all of this going on,” Miller said. “The entire city’s looking for Archer, and security cams on the ferry will link the two of you together soon enough. You two need to get the hell out of the Pacific Northwest, like fast.”
Surprise trickled through Zane. “I thought Ryder sent you here to bring me in.”
“He did.” Miller tugged keys from the front pocket of his jeans. “Call me crazy, but I hate to see a dumb shit take the fall for something he didn’t do. Especially when the government’s behind it.” He looked toward Eve. “I’ll find your sister. You two just get the hell out of Dodge and figure out who’s behind this, because if you don’t, it’s going to link back to Aegis, and that’ll just fuck things up for all of us.”