Book 6: End Game
Chapter 1 -- Beginning of the End
Jack looked straight ahead. That’s what they told him to do. Don’t even look at the military guard standing by the doors. Just look ahead. Jack asked about his daughter. Where was she? Was she okay? Never got an answer from the strangers around him. All anyone told Jack was that when he got transferred, he was to look forward do not make eye contact with anyone, just look forward with his head up. As a career CIA officer, Jack understood that he had to face this without a hint of emotion, without a hint of shame. He wasn’t allowed that. There were real lives lost and torn apart, no one would care at all about his feelings.
The doors opened and Jack kept his head up and walked in. He followed the guards in front of him to his seat behind the small table. He couldn’t help but let his eyes scan the courtroom he entered and look at the people who filled the galley. They were all there, he thought. If not his whole team, then most of them. They gathered to see him walk in with his head up, facing forward, and his hands at his side. That’s how he was told to walk. That was the way to face this with dignity. That was all he had left, the shred of dignity that somehow he found in himself.
As he walked down the center aisle, he almost chuckled. He caught himself before he did, people would see it and misread it. But it seemed strange to him that at this moment, the only thing he could think about was who got his suit. He couldn’t think of a single question or thought other than who gave his counsel his suit. After six months in solitary, he didn’t fit in it like he used to. At first he tried to keep in shape. He did push ups and sit ups trying to keep some muscle tone. He ran in place. But soon, his diet wouldn’t allow him to keep up any kind of regimen. Prison food, once a day. It was dropped off and shoved in a mini-door on the door to his cell.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jane Ragers. He wanted to go over and apologize to her, but he was instructed not to even look in that direction. They were sitting around her, comforting her, and staring at him. He should have been there too, he and…. He can’t turn his head, and he can’t think about Laura or what ever her name is. Damn it Laura. How could you do this? He can’t show emotion. He’s not allowed. What’s left of his pride won’t let him, even if his counsel didn’t explicitly tell him not to show emotion. He just wants to see his daughter. His child, that’s all he wants.
He sat down in his seat and felt as a guard took his handcuffs off. As he tried to rub out the soreness that his wrists should feel, he turned his head slightly to look at the other side of the room. They weren’t all there. Grady, Devlin and Sloane weren’t there. How did this happen? Grady promised that he would make sure nothing like this ever happened. They checked her, they ran background checks. Repeatedly. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Seven months. Seven months ago Grady and Devlin knocked on his door. Arvin and Emily were over for, something. Emily liked making those visits because she thought Sydney needed a maternal figure. Grady and Devlin asked Jack outside. Even seven months ago nothing they said made sense. All he remembered about that night was wanting to punch Grady and scream something about how could he take the woman he loved away again. How could Grady and Devlin and the CIA and whoever the hell else besmirch her character? She was dead, why couldn’t they let her rest in peace. It was less than two months before that that Laura died. But that night, Grady was talking, saying things that didn’t make sense. And Jack couldn’t yell, he couldn’t do anything. Somewhere, somewhere in his head or heart, somewhere deep inside, he knew it was true. Did he always know?
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“Thank you Comrade Derevko for being so patient during our inquiries. We promise that we have but a few more questions for you.”
Irina smiled a smile that felt fake. She only spent just over a decade in America, but she felt like it was a lifetime. Since being back in Russia she realized that she really missed certain parts of American life. Once she confirmed that she was pregnant again, she really missed being able to see a doctor regularly. Luckily this child was far less active than Sydney was. She hoped that meant that the delivery would be easier as well. She couldn’t imagine a more difficult labor than Sydney’s. “If you ever come near me again I’ll take you down with a deer rifle.” That’s what she told Jack in the hospital, but that didn’t last long. Anytime Sydney would let them...
She had to put those thoughts away. She went to America to serve her country and now she would finally reap the rewards. She couldn’t allow herself to count the cost of what she thought she wanted or to think about how long it’s been since she actually wanted it. She would finally ascend the KGB ladder. That’s why she did it. That’s why she took on a life over there. That’s why she was in America, to rise in the KGB, to serve her country. And now her life there is over and the one here, the one that she deserved is about to begin. For a second she thought about Jack and how proud he always was when she would tell him about something she earned at work. This was the same thing, and actually even better. She would get a new rank, not just a new class. She would get to be called by a different title and wear a new piece of jewelry. Irina remembered Jack putting a necklace around her neck last year for her birthday. She thought about his hands, his breath on her skin. Him singing happy birthday, once with Sydney and once in private.
She had to concentrate. Just a few more questions. She’ll get her own command, that’s what Alexei said she should expect. She’s going to command her own team of soldiers. She guessed that soon they’d have her teach her comrades how to infiltrate America the way she did, but for now, she looked forward to being out in the field and remembering why she did all this. It would have to wait until the baby was born, but it would happen soon. The baby’s due soon. She’ll have to figure out who can watch him or her while she’s gone. Jane Ragers, Emily Sloane and Maria Grady aren’t available to her with this one. And if they knew what she did, they wouldn’t make themselves available to her again. She covered her tracks, they’ll help Jack with Sydney. They’ll be Sydney’s surrogate family and Jack will take care of her. Maybe he’ll get an admin rating and stay home. He’ll hate it, but he’ll be safe and he’ll keep Sydney safe.
“Comrade Derevko, we have only one more set of questions for you. They are in regards to the 12 CIA agents we ordered you to kill.”
“Da.”
Irina hoped that she didn’t betray her real fear. The truth was she didn’t kill most of them, she faked their deaths so that they could work for her and her sisters in translating the Rambaldi text that Elena ended up with. Irina did it because she wanted to know what he sister was up to. She cornered the first one and had a knife at his throat and cut him strategically so that when she took pictures it would look like he was attacked by a specific group that the KGB didn’t want to be bothered with. Later, she planted a bug in that incision so she could hear her sister and the work that he was doing. Once he got patched up and sent to Elena, Irina found a dead body and burned it, placing the CIA agent’s teeth in it for dental records. In most cases this worked. There were some agents that she did have to kill, and there were others who did not get a bug. But for the 12 she was assigned to kill, 8 went to serve her sister, and ultimately her.
“We just received some pictures that we thought you might be able to explain to us.” Irina looked through the pictures and saw the 8 officers she saved with Elena. “You sold out your own country to help your sister. We are quite disappointed in you Comrade Derevko. Now you have two options, you can either provide us with the location of your sister and other proofs of your loyalty, or you will go to Kashmir as a traitor. You see, Comrade, we have been aware of your sister’s and your father’s hunt for the secrets of Milo Rambaldi. As long as they were not interfering with the agenda of our great country, we did not care. However, our attention has moved from the works of Rambaldi and the Derevko family’s obsession has been in direct contradiction of our orders to drop the search. Your sister has made herself our enemy. Now, you can either prove your loyalty to your country or you can serve time as a traitor, just like your precious Agent Bristow is in America.”
When Irina heard Jack’s name she had to train her features not to respond. How could they have gone after Jack?
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“Grady, you need to be in that courtroom and you know it. There’s nothing you can do here anymore.”
“I don’t want to go. I either support my best friend or I sit with the team. No matter what I do I’m betraying someone. If I can find a way to clear Jack, everyone wins.”
“You’ve been going through these files for eight months, one more day isn’t going to make a difference. Maybe hearing the testimony will jog something for you.”
Grady thought for a second and nodded his head. “And what will you be doing while I’m there?”
Devlin said, “I’m an administrator. I have administrative stuff to do. You’re a team leader, you need to get your team to rally around one of their own.”
“I don’t know how to do it. And I can’t help feeling responsible. I promised him that I would know if she was a commie, and I didn’t. I convinced him to pursue her.”
“Hank, there’s lots of blame to go around. But what we need to remember and rally everyone around is that she killed those 13 agents. She infiltrated our office and team. She’s the only guilty one. The rest of us are innocent.”
“Why don’t I feel innocent?” Grady walked out of the office.
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Jack sat ramrod straight in his chair as he felt a hand shake him on his shoulder. He moved his eyes to look at his counsel who looked behind him then nodded his head. Jack turned so that his back was to Jane and his team. He saw Sloane sitting behind the barrier between him and the galley.
“Jack. You’re looking well, better than I expected. I’m glad that you got the suit I brought you.”
“Arvin! Do you know how Sydney is? Where she is?”
“Sydney’s fine. She’s staying at our house. We got her her own nanny and Emily says she’s having the time of her life. Sometimes Emily will come home early and the two of them make cookies. Now, Jack, how are you?”
Jack couldn’t concentrate on the question. He thought for a second, trying to figure out what Arvin even just said to him. “Ice cream.”
Sloane shot him a surprised look. “What? Do you want me to get you something from the vending machine?”
Jack shook his head. “No. Sydney. She likes ice cream. It was something we did… After she broke her leg and the fire, Laur--, we took her out for ice cream. She said it made her feel better. You have to make sure that Sydney has lots of ice cream. She’ll want some ice cream.”
Sloane nodded his head in understanding. “Ice cream, I’ll make sure that we have some. Is there a particular flavor she likes? You know I bet Emily or the nanny knows already. Is there anything you want me to tell her? A message or anything?”
Jack shook his head. “I’m on trial for killing 13 CIA officers and providing a known traitor with sensitive government intelligence. I don’t know how to explain that to her. By the end of this trial, my daughter will be an orphan. Her mom was killed in a car crash, and hopefully she will never know that her dad was killed by a firing squad for being a traitor. Can you make sure that she never learns why I died? I have some papers, a project I was working on.”
Before Jack could finish, they heard the bailiff yell out, “All rise.”
As the courtroom stood and heard the bailiff say a bunch of things that Jack didn’t think anyone really paid attention to while a group of men walked into the courtroom. From behind him, Jack heard the door open one more time. He knew he shouldn’t, but he turned and looked. He saw Grady walk through the door and stop. Grady looked at Jack, making eye contact. He sadly put his head down and walked to join the rest of the team. Jack felt Arvin pat his shoulder and squeeze.
