The Red Herring

Chapter 31

Forty-five minutes later, Beth walked into Mike's hospital room. He was dressed and seated in a chair. "Hey," he said. "There's my girl."
Beth leaned against the wall across the room. "If I were your girl, you'd trust me."
Mike frowned. "Of course I trust you. What's wrong?"
"Paris," she replied.
Mike opened his mouth to speak when a nurse bustled in. "I have your discharge papers here. You are to follow up with the doctor next week and-"
Beth didn't hear the rest of her instructions because she had walked out of the room. She found the nearest stairwell and called the last person she would have thought she'd call. While it rang, she contemplated hanging up.
"Hey, babe," said Jim's voice.
"Hi."
"Baby, what's wrong?"
"I- Where are you?"
"At the office. I brought the kids to see my dad. Listen, I know I should have told you-"
"I don't care about that," she interrupted. "Meet me out front in about twenty minutes."
When she pulled up, she saw him lingering by the side of the building. He opened the door and got in. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Beth drove to a parking garage and pulled into a space. She turned the car off and pulled her feet up onto the seat and turned to face him. "Why didn't you tell me about Mike?"
"What did that fucker do?"
"Jim," she sighed. "Why didn't you tell me he's been CIA as long as I have?"
Jim reached out and took her hand. "It's not what it looks like. I didn't know you knew him before you two were in the FBI. I barely knew him at all. And then we left and got married. Mike was nobody as far as I was concerned. When you were missing, I came back to DC. It became more and more apparent to me that you and Mike had a history. I was jealous. Then we found you and I had my wife back and I didn't want Mike back in your life. Yes, you kept in touch with him but it wasn't like you saw him all the time. I didn't keep it from you. I guess I thought you always knew. I'm sorry you didn't know."
Beth leaned over the console and kissed him. He kissed her back and pulled her into his lap. She grabbed the sides of his face and then pulled away. "I'm sorry for everything," she said.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who's sorry. What you said in John's office about me stealing the best years of your life really struck a nerve. I did. I was obsessed with you. I had to have you and once I got you, I smothered you. I know I did that and I'm sorry."
Beth put her forehead against his. "Why can't we get this right?"
"What's that?"
"Us."
Jim held her tightly. "Because relationships are hard. Well, they are unless you're with the right person. It tells me that you and I are not right for each other. I love you with everything I have-"
"And I love you-"
"But it's like you always say, sometimes-"
"Love isn't enough. So what do we do?" she asked.
"You're back in. Our kids can't be exposed to that life. We'll go home. You'll stay here. You can see them whenever you want."
She nodded. "I guess that's best."
"So what does the Paris revelation mean for you and Mike?"
Beth shrugged. "I need the whole story."
Jim laughed. "You'll never get it."
"John gave some of it up. Not enough to make sense. My dad and Dmitry gave up some of it but I need more. You could tell me." Still straddling him, she pushed down with her hips.
Jim grunted. "No. No, I can't."
"It's just me. You know I won't tell. Please?" She kissed his neck.
"That is how you got Dmitry's secrets. It won't work on me," he said, resisting.
"Mmm," she said. "Dmitry was always so good after a confession," she tempted.
"Really, Beth?! That's my brother."
She knew what she was doing and Jim knew it too. She unbuttoned his shirt. "Just one tiny confession," she whispered in his ear.
"Baby, I can't," he whimpered.
"Just one," she said as she unbuckled his belt.
He growled and threw her into the backseat where they had the best sex they'd ever had. "It's about O'Donnell. It was his op. Some rogue Marine lost it. O'Donnell knew him."
"And?"
Jim sighed. "I don't know. O'Donnell was sent to Paris."
Beth sat up. If Ness was sent to Paris, it meant he was still a CIA agent. "So he lied to me."
"Who did? O'Donnell?"
"Yes. He told me he got fired. He needed Mike to get him a job at the FBI..."
"That's all I know. Blackbird is John's problem now." Jim clenched his jaw and she knew he wasn't going to tell her much else.
"Is Ness dead?" she asked, hopeful.
"You saw his body, babe. He's gone."
Beth sighed. That wasn't really an answer. "C'mon. I'll take you back."
When they got back to the office, Beth saw Dmitry and his dad having a conversation. She approached them and Dmitry flashed her a grin. "Beth, this is my dad!"
"I remember. Hello, James."
James hugged her. "I feel like I know you. I'm sorry Adam and you are splitting up. I would have liked to have gotten to know you better."
"Are you getting back together?" Dmitry asked suddenly.
"What? No. Why?" Beth replied.
Dmitry gave her a knowing look. "No reason. Mike is looking for you."
"I bet he is. You didn't see me," she said and ran for the elevator.
She barged into John's office and closed the door. "I have one more question. You, Dmitry, and Jim have given me enough info that I'm starting to piece this Paris op together."
John shifted in his seat. He stared at her. "What's your question?"
Beth sat down in a chair. "Why was it important to get me out of the country?"
John looked down at his desk and picked up a pen. "I told you it was part of a bigger op."
"Blackbird. Rogue Marine. Got it. That doesn't explain why Dmitry was told to grab me and take me overseas."
John's head jerked up. "Where did you get that information?"
"It's me, John. I always get to the truth eventually. Answer the question."
"You were a target. Jim needed you safe."
"Whose target?
"I answered your question. Drop it."
"Put me on the case. I already know a lot," she insisted.
"You know nothing. It's classified."
"Dovetail is solved. We got the ghost. Put me on Blackbird."
John slammed his pen down on his desk. "It's not over. Our second shooter is still out there."
"Jim's psycho ex-wife is not a problem. We'll get her."
"She is a problem! Find out who her father is and cut him a deal. Do it quickly. If you close this by the end of the week, I'll consider putting you on Blackbird. No guarantees though."
Beth went downstairs to find Peter Javan. He might know who fathered his wife's daughter. She ran into a man she vaguely recognized. "Excuse me," she said and started to step around him. He grabbed her arm.
"Are you Beth Lachlan?" he asked.
"Who's asking?" she replied.
"I'm Hank Webster."
"Hi. I'm sorry about your daughter."
"Evie? Me too. What do you know about her killer?"
Beth looked around the lobby. There were at least a dozen agents standing around. "Not here. Come with me."
They walked to a stairwell and Beth climbed a few stairs and sat down. Hank sat on a step below her and turned to face her. "So?" he asked. "I hear they found her in your home."
"The killer's real name is Meredith Emerson. She also goes by Stacy. She also goes by Monica."
He nodded. "So who is she?"
"She's the product of Peter Javan's ex-wife and as he says, 'that soviet fuck.'"
"Jesus. That complicates things."
"Complicates what?" she asked.
"You know who her dad is?" Hank asked.
Beth shook her head. "I was hoping you knew."
"It's one of two guys but I'm pretty sure which one it is," he said.
"And who is that?"
Hank sighed. "One of them is Vladimir Kirshov."
"Vladimir is dead. Who else?"
Hank looked away. "He's not in any file. We kept him out of the file on purpose."
"Sure, I get it. Why was he so special?"
"He came before the others. They recruited him when he was eight years old. His parents were sleeper agents. They came here in the fifties. He was born here. They wanted that. They wanted an American to work for them."
"Give me a name."
"He had already joined the CIA. He lobbied to join Dovetail. Said he spoke Russian fluently. Said he'd be an asset to the team. We all figured it out and he never knew we knew. We kept a close eye on him. We thought it'd be easier to take the rest of them out first. Save him for last."
"He's an agent of Dovetail?!" Beth exclaimed.
Hank nodded. "If you really dig deep, you'll see how much trouble he caused. We saw it. But it's cryptically written in the file. You're Beth Lachlan. You'd see it."
Beth smiled. She had a knack for getting to the bottom of things. "It's not my dad. It's not Javan. Can't be Blackmon. It's not you. That leaves... Oh, no fucking way."
Hank nodded. "Kovalev isn't the ghost. She's just a patsy. She was to take the fall if anyone figured it out. He's been off the grid. He's had his girl doing his dirty work. He's gonna take us out unless you stop him."
"Excuse me," Beth said as she rose to her feet. She called Tommy. "Hey, get Mike and meet me in John's office right away." She stopped at the entrance to the stairwell. "Thank you. Stay safe," she told Hank and ran for the elevator.
She ran into John's office. The three men were either seated or leaning against the wall. "We got it wrong. I got it wrong," she said breathlessly.
"Got what wrong?" John asked.
"Katerina is not the ghost. She was always meant to take the fall for it."
"Then who's the ghost?" Tommy asked.
"Mike, remember when you and I listened to that recording of Markov and Renn Avery?" Mike nodded. "Remember, she said they had someone in the CIA?"
"That's right. Do you know who?"
Beth nodded and looked at John. "You'll never guess."
"Who?" John asked.
"Doug Hatburg."