Rules of Vengeance Read Free Page B

identities. All carried foreign passports. Shorter operations ran to six months. More complex ones could last two years or more. Prior to posting abroad, every effort was made to construct a meticulously documented legend. In the event that an operative was caught or exposed, the United States would deny any association with the individual and would make no effort to secure his or her release.
    “And what am I supposed to do?” Jonathan asked. “Stay here in the mountains for the next twenty years?”
    “Go on with your life. Pretend I’m dead. Forget about me.”
    Jonathan set down his cup of tea. “I can’t do that,” he said.
    “You don’t have a choice.”
    He took her hand in his. “You’re wrong. I do have a choice and so do you. We can leave here together. We can go back to Africa or to Indonesia or… oh, hell, I don’t know… but we can go somewhere. Somewhere far away where they won’t think of looking.”
    “No such place exists,” whispered Emma. “The world’s grown much too small. There aren’t any far-flung corners anymore where one can just draw the curtains and disappear. They’ve all been discovered and have webcams and someone waiting to build a five-star resort. Don’t you see, Jonathan? If there were any way that we could stay together, I’d jump at it. I don’t want to leave you either. Last week, when I disappeared down that crevasse, you didn’t just lose me. I lost you, too. I wasn’t sure whether I’d ever see you again. You’ve got to believe me. We haven’t any other option but to split up. Not if we want to stay alive.”
    “But—”
    “No buts. That’s just the way it has to be.”
    Jonathan began to protest and Emma put a finger to his lips. “Listen to me. Whatever happens, you mustn’t contact me until I say it’s all right. No matter how much you miss me, no matter how certain you are that no one’s been watching you and that everything is safe, you mustn’t think of it. I know it will be hard, but you have to trust me.”
    “And if I do?”
    “They’ll know. They’ll get to me first.”
    Ten days earlier, Jonathan and Emma had come to Switzerland for a long overdue vacation. Experienced mountaineers, they had decided to climb the Furka, a peak situated midway between the villages of Arosa and Davos. The climb ended in disaster when a violent storm caught them on the mountain and Emma fell while descending a steep incline. Jonathan had come off the mountain believing his wife dead. The next day he received a letter addressed to her. Its contents unlocked a door to her secret past. He might have ignored it, but that wouldn’t have been his way. On general principle, he avoided the easier path. Instead he delved into Emma’s hidden world, anxious to discover the truth she’d kept hidden since the day they had met.
    His search had ended on a hilltop outside of Zurich, with four men dead and Emma wounded.
    That was three days ago.
    Jonathan squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. He couldn’t deny the affection in her touch. But was it love? Or was it rote?
    Suddenly she was up, making a circuit of the hut. “You’ve got enough provisions for a week. Stay put. Nobody knows about this place. When you leave, act as if I’m dead and gone. That’s just the way it is. Get that through your head. Use your American passport. Go back to work. Take whatever assignment they give you.”
    “And Division? You don’t think they’ll mind?”
    “Like I said, they’ll be watching. But you needn’t worry. You’re an amateur. They won’t bother you.”
    “And if they do?”
    Emma stopped, her shoulders tensing. The answer was evident. “It’s me they want.”
    “So when will I see you again?”
    “Hard to say. I’ve got to see if I can make things safe.”
    “And if you can’t?”
    Emma stared at him, a sad smile turning her lips downward. It was her code for “Don’t ask any more questions.”
    “You’ve got to give me more than that,” he