“Daniel?” Quinn prompted.
“We’re about halfway between the Pyrenees and Toulouse. We stopped at a little hotel for the night and we’re continuing on to Toulouse tomorrow.” He didn’t need to go into detail about how he’d been about to nail Edward in the car. There had been no way they were going to survive around two-plus hours on the road.
“Toulouse?” Quinn repeated and Daniel couldn’t blame him for the sound of heavy disbelief in his voice.
Daniel sighed. He quickly filled him in on everything that had happened, leaving out the sightseeing and sex—that last part was between him and Edward.
“Are you shitting me?” Quinn asked after several beats of silence. “Because I’ve had a few long days here, and my patience isn’t what it normally would be.”
He pictured his coworker sitting at his desk with his messy black hair, silly T-shirts, and glasses, making his homesickness even worse. Quinn was one of the people he liked most at his job. He’d become a true friend. “No, I’m not. I’ve been pulled into something, and I could use your help.”
“I can’t believe they’re using you like this. How is that even possible?”
“I look almost exactly like the dead agent, Quinn. Enough to have me questioning my parents and trust me, they are the most normal parents you can imagine. It’s crazy.”
“Crazy is an understatement,” Quinn mumbled, but when he spoke again, it was with his usual enthusiasm. “How can I help?”
“I have no idea. Maybe research information on a Kevin Jones. That’s the name the agent used in Bermuda. Wait, I have his passport number from his hotel.” He left the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief to see Edward still out on the balcony with his back to the room. He quickly searched for the passport and carried it into the bathroom. He read off the number. “He had reservations at The Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda and then Ohla Barcelona in Barcelona starting on June fourth. Other than that, I’m working with Edward Raines, but I know that’s a fake name. All I know is, he works for the CIA. I met with a woman who called herself Mrs. Han in Barcelona at La Plassohla. Edward says she’s a spy for North Korea. Today, someone tried to run us off the road in the Pyrenees Mountains.”
“Holy shit, Daniel! What have you gotten yourself into?”
“A huge, fucking mess is what.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“You need to ditch this Edward and come home.”
“I can’t. I agreed to help. This bad agent—the one whose passport I gave you—was selling some kind of secrets to other governments.” He stared into the mirror, noticing a faint red mark on his neck from Edward’s mouth. And there went the flush in his cheeks. He couldn’t believe he’d had sex with the guy again, but he felt so drawn to him.
“So, you feel compelled to help your country.” It wasn’t a question but more of an understanding statement.
He turned away from his reflection. “Something like that. Maybe protect myself as well. If these other agents are mistaking me for this rogue agent, how do I know someone else won’t do the same when I don’t have someone like Edward watching my back? Do you think you can help me? Maybe see if this Jones guy had hotel reservations or plane tickets for anywhere else coming up. Maybe…” Daniel winced, hating to even mention it. “Maybe check the dark web. See if there are any contracts out on this guy.”
“Fuck, Daniel. You mean a contract out on a guy who looks a lot like you.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. Definitely an unsettling thought.
“To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m going to be able to dig up. I can do a search on the names and that number, but you’re dealing with pseudonyms and well…the fucking CIA. I doubt I find anything for you. All I’ll probably do is send up some huge, fucking red flags.”
“Damn. I was thinking what I had would be too obscure, but I still hoped. I’ll call back when I can come up with any more information.”
“Call back anyway, so I know you’re okay.”
He smiled at the note of worry in his friend’s voice. “I also wanted at least one person to know where I am should anything go wrong. I want someone to be able to tell my family that I didn’t just disappear off the face of the earth.”
“I’m glad you called me, then. You okay with me sharing this information with Rowe?”
Rowe Ward was Daniel’s boss at Ward Security and knowing how much he liked to be in the know, Daniel nodded, then realized what he was doing and smiled. “Yeah, fill him in. I don’t know when I’m coming back.”
Quinn suddenly laughed. “You know this is the kind of bullshit he would get into, right?”