The Ghost and the Phoenix

Part Seventeen

**TW - DV and SA reference

Moments after the chopper had left, a black SUV came barrelling towards the main building on base. Screeching to a halt, König jumped out of the vehicle, striding towards Price's office.

The team were running through tasking for the next few days, when the door flew open and König entered.

'Colonel!' Price jumped up from his desk. 'What's...'

'We've found your mole and who he answers to.' König replied, slapping a photo down on the desk.

'That fucking bastard!' Price growled.

Simon snatched the photo off the desk. Sergeant Wade was standing next to Vladimir Marakov. It looked like they were in deep conversation with another man whose back was to the camera.

Before he could react, König placed another photo down.

'He had help.'

This photo was taken a little later. Marakov was smiling, shaking Jackson's hand, whose face was now clearly in frame.

........

'Time to wake up.'

Jackson patted Mel's face as she began to come to.

'I think you gave her too much.' Wade's whiny voice came from somewhere in the blurred edges of Mel's vision.

Mel struggled to lift her head, her body feeling heavy. She was having trouble getting her eyes to focus, which wasn't helped by the dimly lit room she was in.

'Jackson?' her voice barely above a whisper.

'Welcome back Cap.' he knelt down in front of her, lifting her chin up so she was looking at him. 'About time you re-joined us.'

'Where am I. Where's Wagner?' she asked him, glancing around the room as her mind fought through the fog.

From what Mel could see, they were in some sort of basement with a compacted dirt floor. A single light bulb hung overhead, allowing her to see that the room was empty, save a small bag on a wooden table and the chair she was sitting on.

Mel went to stand up but found her wrists tied securely to the armrests. Panic surged through her body, pushing the last of the fog from her head.

'Jackson. What the hell?' she demanded, struggling against the restraints. 'Where's Wagner!'

Jackson walked over to the table and begin removing items from the bag. In a matter of minutes he had set up what looked like a small tripod on the table and was in the process of connecting a phone to it.

'Wagner's dead. As for what's going on? It's quiet simple actually.' Jackson smirked as he entered a number into the phone. 'I'm taking early retirement.' He turned to face her. 'And you're my payday.'

'But you're my best friend! We've known each other for years.'

'Every man has a price.' Jackson told her, hitting send on the phone. He waited as it connected, Price's face appearing on the screen. 'Wade made me an offer too good to refuse.' Jackson smiled. 'Marakov has deep pockets, wouldn't you agree Sir?'

Price yelled angrily down the phone but nothing could be heard.

'Don't waste your breath Captain.' Jackson spoke to the screen. 'The volume's turned down, so we can't hear you.' he walked behind Mel, resting his chin on her shoulder. 'But hopefully you can hear and see everything on this end. Would hate you to miss the show.'

Mel jerked her shoulder, knocking his chin away. Jackson just chuckled before dragging Mel and the chair closer to the table.

'Who the fuck is Marakov and what's he want with me?' Mel continued to pull on the ties.