Compact with the Devil: A Novel Read Free Page B

happen. Please sit down; we need to discuss a matter that will concern you particularly.”
    Camille sat down gracelessly, arms folded across her chest in a pout. Nikki eyed the fiftyish British woman in dislike.
    Ellen entered a moment later, talking quietly to Rosalia, Camille’s second-in-command. Rosalia was a competent woman who, in Nikki’s estimation, was picking up a lot of Camille’s slack. Mrs. M gestured for them to sit down.
    “We have decided to suspend this mission,” said Mrs. M, and Nikki sat upright in surprise.
    “But we don’t have a location on Nina Alvarez,” said Nikki. “She could be in trouble. We can’t just leave her.”
    “Shortly after your team entered the compound we received information that indicates that Mrs. Alvarez may be in CIA custody,” said Rosalia. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to confirm this until after your team had committed.”
    Nikki looked to Jane, who nodded miserably. Nikki avoided looking at Jenny and Ellen. They would discuss this later.
    “Why would the CIA be involved?” asked one of the girls.
    “Why don’t we ask Nikki’s boyfriend?” Camille said, sniping at Nikki.
    “They’re working with the DEA agents, who we know have been keeping tabs on Alvarez,” said Rosalia. “Apparently his foray into funding revolutionaries has been enough to raise his threat level.”
    “Well, that complicates matters,” said Nikki, “but I don’t trust the CIA.” Mrs. M shot her a keen look that Nikki couldn’t interpret. “They’re not going to be interested in protecting Nina. They’re only interested in her husband. We shouldn’t abandon the mission.”
    “I concur,” said Mrs. Merrivel, “which is why the mission is merely being suspended. We will use long-range surveillance to monitor the situation without engaging. We won’t abandon Mrs. Alvarez.”
    Nikki frowned. It was a compromise and she didn’t like it. She’d promised Nina that Carrie Mae would look after her. She didn’t like breaking her promise.
    “The other reason we’ve pulled the team in is that we have received news that just over thirty-six hours ago the Spanish prison of Puerto 1 experienced a prison break.”
    Camille’s arms dropped to the arms of her chair, where her fingers curled over the sides in a white-knuckled grip.
    “This has been reported by various sources, and we have independent confirmation from an agent on the ground. I also expect that the European news community will be reporting it shortly.”
    Camille made an abortive gesture, as if she wished to hurry Mrs. Merrivel along but reconsidered the wisdom of that maneuver.
    “The files in front of you contain details of the escape, but in short, two men in a helicopter landed in the prison yard and used a grenade launcher to blow out a wall of the isolation units. Four men emerged from the cells. Three were shot by guards; one managed to make it to the helicopter and was transported from the scene. This touched off a riot inside the prison that the guards and Spanish army are still trying to put down.”
    “Who?” Camille was leaning forward, eyes wide. “The man who escaped, who was he?”
    “Initial reports indicate that the escaped prisoner is Antonio Mergado Cano, the Basque separatist.”
    Camille went white, the color dropping from her face like a sheet from a work of art.
    “I have to go,” she said, standing up, two spots of red blossoming high on her cheeks.
    “Sit down, Camille,” said Mrs. M firmly.
    “I have to go. My son is touring in Europe!”
    “Kit is in no immediate danger. Sit down.”
    Camille sat down as if her knees had given out.
    “For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Cano, we have tangled with him before. He first crossed our path in 1977 as part of the Basque separatist movement, and he was also selling guns to the IRA. Mr. Cano used Carrie Mae cosmetics packaging to smuggle guns. Naturally we were a little upset about this, and thanks to Camille, he was put behind bars