went down. My mother was with him."
Luther remembered hearing of the tragedy on the news about three years back. He floundered for consoling words. "That must have been rough," he offered lamely. "Both of them at once."
She glanced down at her scraped-up palms.
"So you're saying your father knew a lot of people," Luther guessed. "And maybe one of them is the Individual?"
"Maybe," she said with a shake of her head. "But why was I abducted and shipped off to Cuba, of all places?"
"For protection?" Luther hazarded.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "I was starved and isolated. The general intended to rape me. I wouldn't exactly call that safe."
That gave him pause. "Valentino says General Pinzon is a revolutionary. The Individual's supplying him weapons for a coup."
"There won't be any coup," she said quietly. "The general's dead. I killed him."
His mind stumbled over the unexpected confession. But then he recalled hearing an agitated cry last night about something being dead. "What happened?" he asked, thinking that she had nerves of steel to sit there and talk about it calmly.
Her arms stole across her chest. "He came into my cell and all I could think about was getting through the door." She shrugged, and for a split second he glimpsed the terror she'd been feeling. "I miscalculated my aim and force."
Luther glanced at Westy, who was staring at Hannah with his mouth open. "Remind me not to piss her off, sir," he said with feeling.
Luther could feel his neck growing stiff. "I'm sure you did what you had to do," he comforted. Remembering the way she'd clung to him last night, he knew she wasn't as impervious to the trauma as she appeared to be. No doubt about it, Hannah was a complex woman. "Let's talk about the notebook," he suggested. "Do you know what happened to it?"
"It was hidden in my car when that couple caught up to me."
"Do you think it's still in your car now?"
"Wherever my car is."
"It's at Quantico. Tanya Obradovitch used your ID and drove into the base to throw the authorities off track."
She threw her hands up. "How could the Individual have known where I was headed?" she wondered aloud.
"Maybe your phone was bugged," Luther suggested. "Maybe Lovitt alerted him. Where in your car did you hide the notebook?" he persisted.
"In a cubby under the console. It's not the only copy, though. There's another available at my office."
Hot damn! Luther felt his tension subside. If all went well, they'd soon have the evidence they needed to shred Lovitt's reputation to pieces.
He smiled at her approvingly. "Now we're getting somewhere," he said. "Here's the plan. Valentino's content to let us keep you for a while, but we need to change the way you look. I know it's a hassle, but like I said, you're Jaguar's best witness."
"It's not a hassle," Hannah reassured him, her green eyes narrowing. "Nothing would please me more than to send your commander to jail. He killed my colleague, remember?"
Ernest Forrester, the first DIA officer. That was one more person close to Hannah that had died. "I remember," he said. "You're sure Lovitt killed him?"
"You tell me. Going by the notebook he left behind, Ernie was one step away from exposing your commander. He died in a hit-and-run. No one ever came forward."
"Okay. So let's find the notebook," Luther said, including Westy in his remark. "You all set, Chief?"
Westy shot to his feet. "Yes, sir."
"Head on over to the MAC terminal, would you? See if Valentino has cleared us to get Miss Geary on board."
"Done." Westy shot him a salute and disappeared.
Hannah's quick smile made Luther's innards cartwheel. She was gorgeous, brave, and brilliant in a way that rocked his equilibrium. Her courage amazed him. But Hannah was as different from the uncomplicated woman he intended to marry as the CIA was from the DIA. For that reason, he'd be stupid to let his attraction run the show. Hannah was a teammate on a common mission. Anything more was simply impractical.
Chapter
Glimpses of Louisa (v2.1)