Burned (Vanessa Pierson series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

blink.
    “It’s a troubling pattern,” he said. After seconds that felt like minutes, the DDO turned his attention away from Vanessa and back to Jack to say, “But thank God you two are safe and both in one piece.”
    “Thank you, sir,” Jack said; he had manners to go with his Texasdrawl, and Vanessa echoed his formal response. She still felt the bulletlike intensity of the DDO’s eyes, could almost smell his signature cologne—Clive Christian 1872—to her the scent of power and control. She was simultaneously in awe and wary of him.
    In stark contrast, she pictured Chris Arvanitis, with his eternal buzz cut and his silver-rimmed glasses, somewhere in Athens at midday; no doubt slightly rumpled in his usual white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, and dark slacks—a look not unlike that of waiters and busboys at better establishments. Probably smelling faintly of Old Spice, burnt coffee, long hours, and hard work.
    She would need his backing on just about everything that would be decided over the next twelve to twenty-four hours. Since leaving the jet boat a little more than ninety minutes ago, she’d framed her next steps: work every asset and every possible lead to find Farid Hasser—and get his intel on the missing nuclear prototype.
    “Do we have Chris linked in on this yet?” she asked, eyes on the DDO.
    “Working on that link to Athens right now,” Hays called out from behind his laptop.
    “Get him on as soon as you can,” the DDO said. “Until you do, let’s use our time—even as we are aware we can’t guarantee complete discretion in these circumstances.”
    Meaning that when they spoke they were speaking to the French as well. Even though Hays had neutralized one bug, no one assumed that the safe house was bug-free.
    The DDO said, “I’ve just finished speaking with the director of DCRI, Michel Bonnay, who is being cooperative, considering that
our
operation endangered one of their most prized national treasures.”
    Vanessa was well aware that the DDO had served as COS Paris some years before. He knew the joys and frustrations of working with the French.
    “They have a decontamination unit on-site just in case,” the DDOcontinued. “We’re offering personnel and resources in exchange for shared data on the second device, the RDD, as that data comes in. You will have to do your job with full awareness that the French need to feel they are lead on this. That calls for a certain amount of delicacy . . .”
    Vanessa nodded and Jack said, “Absolutely.”
    “Can one of you bring me up to speed?”
    As Jack quickly recapped the sequence of events over the past few hours for the DDO, Vanessa heard the distinctive bleep of an incoming message on her laptop. She’d left it open and almost within reach on the end table next to the couch. She eased herself down to sitting and clicked her keyboard.
    A message from Chris in Greece, sent less than a minute earlier:
Shit so sorry put u on this. U ok?
     
    He’d assigned her this op against his better judgment and only because Farid had insisted he meet with Vanessa when he made contact ten days earlier.
    Vanessa tapped out a rapid-fire one-finger e-mail back to Chris:
I’m on to stay now!
     
    The silence in the room registered and Vanessa blinked up at the monitor. With the DDO’s eyes burning through her, she took a shallow breath and met his laser gaze. “Of course, sir, delicacy . . . that’s a given.”
    “I hope so.” He sounded completely unconvinced. “And perhaps you can give us your full attention now?”
    She nodded, feeling like she had been caught passing a note in seventh grade.
    “Because we’re on French soil, they will be heading up the jointCIA-DCRI response effort—specifically, Team Viper will be headed by their director of ops, Marcel Fournier. I know everyone involved will grant him full cooperation.”
    For an instant, Vanessa’s spirits flagged. Fournier—the man she’d almost assaulted on the boat—would be