Page 39 of Laura's Truth
“How did you learn that?”
“Because Hackett hired me to kill him.”
“He’s eliminating everyone tied to that day?”
“I think so.”
She studied him, more than a little shocked he was trusting her completely. Gone was the studied, charming ease and in its place was a palpable intensity. No wonder he made her promise to stay put tonight. With anyone else, she might’ve broken her word, but not this time, not when he was doing all the giving. She clapped a hand over her mouth when the laughter bubbled out of her. “My God. Hackett has no idea he hired the former Officer Garner—another survivor—to do the wet work.”
Drew nodded. “That sums it up. I would’ve been able to walk right up to Hackett and he wouldn’t have known me. In fact, knowing his target and the, umm, professional reputation I crafted, he would’ve felt absolutely safe with me. Won’t it be funny if he pays assassin-me to eliminate survivor-me?”
“Who is the original target?”
“Damian Aziz.”
She swallowed as the ramifications of that rolled through her. A voice of peace in Iraq, and a man of great influence, if Aziz was killed on American soil, it would undermine any and all of the recent progress there. “What the hell was Aziz doing at that meet?”
“That’s water under the bridge now.”
“Is that some unwritten CIA code for no comment?”
“Pretty much.” He sighed. “It really doesn’t matter, but if it eases your mind, he and I were both there in good faith, with good intentions until Hackett screwed us over. Even back then, Aziz’s influence was on the rise. His survival was public and his personal security has been infallible ever since.”
She thought of the official photos, the scars along his neck and the side of his face that had been minimized with expert treatment. “Have you told him Hackett planned the fiasco?”
Drew shook his head. “For our mutual safety, I haven’t gone anywhere near Aziz until now.”
“Hard to believe Hackett would hire someone he doesn’t know for something so important to him.”
He rolled his shoulders back, his spine going ramrod straight. “The killer he hired is reputable. And I’d delivered for him on another job.”
Laura’s ability to understand what Drew wasn’t saying didn’t make the conversation more comfortable. Just the opposite. “You’ve assassinated for Hackett before?”
“He’s paid me on three different occasions,” he said with a casual hitch of his shoulders. “One was a kidnapping.”
She felt the spike of a headache starting behind her left eye. “Sit down. I’m tired of straining my neck to maintain eye contact.”
“Consider yourself a human lie detector?”
“I’m good enough to read you. Your lies don’t show in your eyes.”
“Really?”
“Oh, that isn’t news to you. Just sit down and tell me about these jobs.”
“The first was a simple smash and grab kind of thing. That was the last time I was stateside. Then the kidnapping, happily resolved by the way, and then he wanted to plug a leak inside his system.”
“A leak you created, right?”
“Assets are important,” Drew said, a smirk on his lips. “I didn’t kill the guy, just helped him relocate.”
“I see.” No, there was nothing simple about anything involving Drew Garner.
“I was supposed to make contact this morning. I’d planned to turn that contact into a renegotiation, preferably by way of a capture. When I missed the meeting, it sent Hackett off the rails and he ordered that crew to kidnap you. Too many players from that first day for his comfort.”
“Great. I accessed the files on you when Ross called me a couple days ago.”
“Pretty obvious Hackett got wind of that.”