totally shut down, making him appear cold and remote. A stranger.
“Nat, I’ve lost everything and everyone I’ve ever cared about. My entire family, my friends, you. Can’t you see that Corbett’s all I have left? I don’t want to lose him, too.”
“He loves you like a son, Sean. You won’t lose him.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong. If he were to find out that I once conspired against him, he’d never forgive—or forget. I know him better than you do.”
“I’ve known Corbett since I was a little girl,” she protested. “He and my father grew up together. You know that.”
“Maybe he considers you family. But me …” He crossed his arms and shook his head. “He has a strong sense of honor. You’ve never seen him when he feels someone has betrayed him. I have.”
“Do you really think he’d view this as a betrayal? You did nothing.”
“No, but I intended to. With him, intent is all that matters.” Hands clenched into fists, he took a step toward her and stopped. The agony in his eyes tore at her heart. “Give me your word, Natalie. Give me your word you won’t tell him.”
She nearly choked. He knew when she promised something, she meant it. It took every ounce of self-restraint she possessed not to point out he wasn’t in a position to ask favors of her. Instead, she told him the truth, as she always had in the past. “I don’t plan on telling him. That’s something you’ve got to deal with on your own. I won’t make it easy for you.”
Relief flashed across his handsome face. “Good. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, Sean.” She dug out her phone, turning it over in her hand. “You’re the one who has to live with yourself, not me.”
Again a shadow filled his eyes and she knew he was remembering. Holding her breath, waiting for something—something intangible, something she couldn’t put a name to if she tried, she ached. Looking at him, she couldn’t help but remember, too.
How much she’d loved this man. How much he’d loved her—or so she’d once believed. His eyes were dark with pain. Tired eyes. Beloved eyes. Still.
Ruthlessly, she pushed the thought away and opened her cell phone.
“Now who are you calling?”
“Auggie again.” She frowned. “He never called back. I’m a bit worried. I wonder if he’s heard about my father.”
This time Auggie answered on the fourth ring. “Nat! How good to hear from you. I’m sorry I never returned your call. Things have been a bit crazy. The bad guys are planning something big and I’ve been trying to get information on it.”
“I know what it is.” She took a deep breath. “Aug, they’ve got my father.”
He didn’t understand. “What? Who’s got your father?”
“We think it’s the Hungarian.”
“The Hungarian?” Auggie’s surprise came clear over the phone. “That doesn’t make sense. Why on earth would the Hungarian want your father?”
“We think he wants to use Dad as bait.”
“Bait for what?” Auggie sounded grim. As though he meant to wade into the mess, find the Hungarian, and pull him out by the scruff of his fat neck.
Natalie sighed. “That stupid code. The one I copied. And Sean. They want Sean.”
“Why? Sean’s no threat to them, is he? And you never deciphered their code, so it’s worthless.” He paused. “Or did you?”
“No, I haven’t. Not yet.”
“Then why would they want it? Especially if it’s their own code?”
“Maybe it’s not their code.”
“What?” Auggie asked.
She looked at Sean, remembering their conversation. “If these two pieces of code do belong to someone else, maybe the Hungarian wants to decipher them before we do.”
“Let me see if I can find out anything. I’ll call you back.” Auggie hung up.
Sean looked at her, considering. “Where did you get your code?”
“One of our agents brought it in. I don’t know where she got it.”
“Can you ask her? This could be important.”
“She’s dead. She got assigned to work on my team, which, as you know, was a death sentence.”
Lightly he touched her shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Try and think. Maybe she might have talked about something minor, something that could give us a hint how she came by that coded message.”
Natalie tried to remember if Sonia had mentioned where the code had come from. “Nothing comes to mind.”
“Maybe it’ll come to you.” When he took his hand from her skin, she felt bereft. “In the meantime, I need to call Corbett and see if he can tell me how he came by his coded message.”
While Sean talked to Corbett, Natalie wandered the small room, trying to think. So far she hadn’t been successful in deciphering an entire word or phrase—she’d been too busy trying to establish an alphabet.
Maybe she’d been going about it the wrong way. Perhaps she needed to treat the coded message as if it were a treasure map.
Wearing circles in the carpet, she paced while she pondered.
“Nat?” Gradually, she became aware of Sean calling her name. She blinked and turned to face him, keeping her expression neutral.
“Corbett’s going to research how his man intercepted the code. Unfortunately, that particular agent is also dead, but should have left detailed records. He’ll get back to us as soon as he knows.”
“Good. In the meantime, I’ve got to break the code.” She grabbed the laptop, opening it and powering it up.
Dimly conscious of Sean gathering his things and leaving to get some breakfast, she brought up the code file. Soon, she was lost in the lines of text, trying to decipher a pattern.
Sean brought her food—coffee and muffins in the morning then later fish and chips. Waving her thanks, she ate absentmindedly, tasting little, unable to shake the feeling that she was on the edge of a major breakthrough.
She worked on the laptop while Sean slept, the tall lamp over the uncomfortable hotel chair her only light. Though urgency drove her, breaking code had always excited her. She suspected this was the reason she was considered one of the best in the world. True, the Lazlo Group had several who were experts, but she’d been at the top of the SIS heap.
Eventually, the letters swam and she blinked. Time to give her eyes a rest. Ten minutes—no more. Then she’d be back at it, even if she had to work straight through the night.
She
