her.
CHAPTER 10
The next day, Nick and Selena were riding back to Washington after the morning briefing in Virginia. Traffic on 66 was heavy. Selena had been quiet ever since they'd left the Project.
"How are you doing?" he said.
"All right. I've been thinking a lot about that file." Selena stepped down on the gas and blew past a delivery truck.
"Whoa," Nick said.
"What's the matter?"
"You just missed taking off the side mirror." He glanced at the speedometer. They were doing a little over 80.
"It's still there, isn't it?" Her voice was tight.
Nick started to say something and thought better of it.
"The whole thing stinks," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"The file makes it look like dad was a traitor. He would never be a traitor. Not to his family or his country. Langley knew he was passing things to Moscow. Why didn't they stop him? You don't let someone give away secrets, once you know what they're doing. He had to be working with the blessing of the Director."
"You think he was a double?"
"Yes. I think Langley used him to pass disinformation to the Soviets."
"Why wouldn't the file say that?" Nick asked.
"I don't know. Maybe someone made a mistake and didn't want it known. Maybe there really was a traitor, someone who tipped off the Russians and covered it up by making my father look guilty. I may never know exactly what happened, but I know that the KGB killed him. If the person who did it is still alive, I want to make him pay. I want him to tell me what he knows."
"Whoever killed him was a KGB assassin. How would you find him?"
"I don't know, but I will."
Looking at her, Nick was certain of one thing. If whoever killed her family was still alive, Selena would track him down. He suspected that once she found him, his days were numbered.
"There's something I have to say," Nick said.
"What?"
"I need to know your judgment isn't being clouded by what you learned about your father."
"What do you mean?"
"It's understandable that you'd be pissed at the Russians. I don't blame you, but we may have to work with Vysotsky."
"He can't be trusted."
"The people who killed your father aren't the people we're dealing with now. "
"You don't know that," she said. "SVR is the successor to the old KGB. Some of the same people who worked for state security back then are still around. Vysotsky, for one."
"Yeah, but Vysotsky has helped us in the past."
"Are you done?" Her tone was cold.
They entered the morass of downtown traffic.
Nick felt himself getting angry. Maybe it was the sessions with the shrink. Things had been going a lot better with Selena since he'd started seeing someone to deal with his PTSD. The Afghanistan nightmare was coming less often but he still thrashed out during the night. It had made it hard to share the same bed. They'd been sleeping apart and the strain was taking its toll.
The nightmare had started after he'd been wounded by a grenade in Afghanistan. A child had thrown the grenade, a boy no more than ten or eleven years old. Nick hadn't wanted to kill him. He'd hesitated, not wanting to shoot. The hesitation had almost cost him his life.
The sessions seemed to stir up things that had nothing to do with what had happened in Afghanistan, things he didn't want to think about, like his childhood. Like thoughts about his father. His father had been a drunk, a womanizer and a bully. Carter Senior beat his wife and Nick with monotonous regularity, until the day Nick had been big enough to fight back. His sister had pulled him off before Nick killed him. His father had always left Shelley alone. She still defended him but she would never tell him why. It was one of the reasons Nick didn't get along with her.
It felt like Selena was shutting him out because she didn't want to hear what he had to say, just like his sister. It pissed him off when she did that. He took a deep breath.
"No, I'm not done. As long as I lead this team I have to know I can count 100
CHAPTER 10
The next day, Nick and Selena were riding back to Washington after the morning briefing in Virginia. Traffic on 66 was heavy. Selena had been quiet ever since they'd left the Project.
"How are you doing?" he said.
"All right. I've been thinking a lot about that file." Selena stepped down on the gas and blew past a delivery truck.
"Whoa," Nick said.
"What's the matter?"
"You just missed taking off the side mirror." He glanced at the speedometer. They were doing a little over 80.
"It's still there, isn't it?" Her voice was tight.
Nick started to say something and thought better of it.
"The whole thing stinks," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"The file makes it look like dad was a traitor. He would never be a traitor. Not to his family or his country. Langley knew he was passing things to Moscow. Why didn't they stop him? You don't let someone give away secrets, once you know what they're doing. He had to be working with the blessing of the Director."
"You think he was a double?"
"Yes. I think Langley used him to pass disinformation to the Soviets."
"Why wouldn't the file say that?" Nick asked.
"I don't know. Maybe someone made a mistake and didn't want it known. Maybe there really was a traitor, someone who tipped off the Russians and covered it up by making my father look guilty. I may never know exactly what happened, but I know that the KGB killed him. If the person who did it is still alive, I want to make him pay. I want him to tell me what he knows."
"Whoever killed him was a KGB assassin. How would you find him?"
"I don't know, but I will."
Looking at her, Nick was certain of one thing. If whoever killed her family was still alive, Selena would track him down. He suspected that once she found him, his days were numbered.
"There's something I have to say," Nick said.
"What?"
"I need to know your judgment isn't being clouded by what you learned about your father."
"What do you mean?"
"It's understandable that you'd be pissed at the Russians. I don't blame you, but we may have to work with Vysotsky."
"He can't be trusted."
"The people who killed your father aren't the people we're dealing with now. "
"You don't know that," she said. "SVR is the successor to the old KGB. Some of the same people who worked for state security back then are still around. Vysotsky, for one."
"Yeah, but Vysotsky has helped us in the past."
"Are you done?" Her tone was cold.
They entered the morass of downtown traffic.
Nick felt himself getting angry. Maybe it was the sessions with the shrink. Things had been going a lot better with Selena since he'd started seeing someone to deal with his PTSD. The Afghanistan nightmare was coming less often but he still thrashed out during the night. It had made it hard to share the same bed. They'd been sleeping apart and the strain was taking its toll.
The nightmare had started after he'd been wounded by a grenade in Afghanistan. A child had thrown the grenade, a boy no more than ten or eleven years old. Nick hadn't wanted to kill him. He'd hesitated, not wanting to shoot. The hesitation had almost cost him his life.
The sessions seemed to stir up things that had nothing to do with what had happened in Afghanistan, things he didn't want to think about, like his childhood. Like thoughts about his father. His father had been a drunk, a womanizer and a bully. Carter Senior beat his wife and Nick with monotonous regularity, until the day Nick had been big enough to fight back. His sister had pulled him off before Nick killed him. His father had always left Shelley alone. She still defended him but she would never tell him why. It was one of the reasons Nick didn't get along with her.
It felt like Selena was shutting him out because she didn't want to hear what he had to say, just like his sister. It pissed him off when she did that. He took a deep breath.
"No, I'm not done. As long as I lead this team I have to know I can count 100
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