Free The Virtuosic Spy 01 - Deceptive Cadence by Kathryn Guare

or else find some other miserable bastard for this nonsense. There’s a limit to what I’m prepared to swallow, and we’ve bloody well reached it.”
    “I understand,” Frank said. “Your reaction is predictable and justified, which I expect is why I hesitated in sharing the information with you. The fact is, much as it distresses me, I cannot have him removed from this assignment. He has a unique qualification that makes it quite impossible.”
    “A unique qualification! Jesus and Mary, can you tell me at all what that might be? What sort of intelligence work does a heroin habit qualify you for these days?”
    “I can explain that to you in a minute, but I first wanted to—”
    “Explain it now!” Conor shouted. “I’m not listening to anything else you’ve got to say until—”
    “He knows your brother.”
    It took several seconds for the statement to catch up with his brain. When it did, he felt as though a pair of clammy hands had suddenly gripped the back of his neck.
    “He knows my brother? He knows Thomas? ” He swallowed hard. “What are you saying to me?”
    Frank raised his hands to forestall another eruption and quickly continued. “Not as a customer. I’m not saying that. There’s absolutely no evidence of anything of that kind, but they have crossed paths a number of times. Let’s not forget the main point here, Conor. Thomas did not go to India on holiday to visit the temples. He and Curtis Sedgwick travel in similar circles. They know the same people, and, as I’ve learned this afternoon, Sedgwick was the original source in Mumbai who confirmed that Thomas was there, and he was the officer MI6 hired to manage the agent we sent over. Although that endeavor was ineffective and counterproductive, there are legitimate grounds for viewing him as the most promising conduit to your brother.”
    “Unbelievable.” Conor shot a hostile glance at Frank as he paced around the suite. “It’s all been calculated, assessed and decided, has it? Quite the pack of clever puppet masters you are, and the rest of us just waiting on your pleasure, wondering what string you’ll yank on next.”
    “Listen to me,” Frank said with a resigned sigh. “He lies beyond my authority, but my authority where you are concerned is a different matter. If your concerns are overwhelming, I will release you. You would remain bound by the Official Secrets Act, of course, but your obligation to this mission would be removed. It is all I can offer.”
    Silently now, Conor continued to pace, struggling to retain the intensity of his self-righteous rage. It was pure and honest and represented what might be his last opportunity for rebellion, not just against the last ten weeks, but also against the last five years he’d spent paying the consequences for choices made by others.
    Try as he might, he couldn’t make it last. The rage evaporated as he finally admitted it was neither pure nor honest. He had been offered a choice. He’d thrown down the challenge to a tug of war and the rope had gone slack in his hands. He dropped back into his chair and regarded the silver- headed figure with a mixture of admiration and resentment.
    “You are so very good at this game, aren’t you, Frank? Do you still get that ticklish thrill every time you win, or does it wear off after a while?”
    Frank accepted the victory and the backhanded compliment with a bow of his head, but his answering smile was forced, and brief. “It does wear off, son. More quickly than you can imagine.”

7

    HE TRIED TO STAY RELAXED AS HE JOINED HIS FELLOW travelers in a switchback crawl through the airport security line the next morning, the passport for his alias dampening in his hand. After passing through without incident twenty minutes later, Conor found Frank waiting for him on the other side.
    “You might have taken me round by the back door as well,” he complained mildly. “Seems like I’m not getting many perks out of this gig. Economy class