The Athena Project

CHAPTER 58

DENVER

Dean Pence put his hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Okay,” he said. “Are you ready for this?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

“I’ll see you up there, then.”

Ben looked down at the map Vicki had drawn for him. He’d only been to Arapaho National Forrest a handful of times and definitely never to the area where she was leading him.

Shouldering his pack, he began walking. The fact that he wasn’t looking forward to what was about to happen probably had a lot to do with his slower-than-normal pace.

He’d made the biggest mistake of his career, but now he was going to try to make it right. Once the arrest happened, he knew that what he had done might be used as a way to embarrass the FBI, but those chips would have to fall wherever they fell. He had an opportunity to do the right thing, the professional thing, and that was what he was going to do.

Focusing on the trail, Matthews kept climbing. He had resolved to get his act together once this case was over. Despite his mistakes, he saw himself as a decent person who deserved a shot at happiness in life. He just needed to find the right woman.

The idea of finding the right woman, though, made him think of Vicki Suffolk, and he forced the image from his head. Picturing her naked was not a good idea, not with what he was about to do.

He covered the rest of the distance by focusing on his graduation ceremony and how proud his parents had been when he had joined the FBI. When he saw the dilapidated cabin up ahead through the trees, he stepped off the trail, took a breath, and got himself ready.

This is it, he said as he adjusted his pack. He didn’t want it to have come to this, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He was already committed.

Walking across the open space, over the carpet of pine needles, he arrived at the threshold of the cabin and pushed open the door. Vicki Suffolk was waiting for him.

She was sitting on a blanket in the middle of the room with a picnic laid out. The minute he saw her, he knew there was no turning back and his heart began to beat that much faster.

“You found me,” she exclaimed, a smile spreading across her face.

“You led me right to you,” he replied.

She looked at him as he held up the map.

Vicki laughed. “I’m glad to see you have no problem following directions. Did you bring back the listening devices?”

Ben pulled the three phones from the outer pocket of his backpack and walked them over to her. His assignment was almost complete.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Vicki. I didn’t come for a picnic.”

“Well, what did you come for then?” she asked, leaning back seductively on the blanket.

“Not that either,” he replied. “I’m here to arrest you for espionage.”

“Arrest me?” Victoria Suffolk said. “Ben, what are you talking about?”

“It’s over, Vicki,” he said, showing her his FBI credentials. “Get up.”

“Ben, let’s talk about this.”

Matthews pulled out his Glock and pointed it at her. “Victoria Suffolk, you’re under arrest.”

The young FBI agent moved in to subdue her, and when he did, he was shot twice through the window with a suppressed weapon.

Vicki screamed as Matthews fell backward, both rounds having hit him square in the chest.

“You were supposed to kill him,” said her handler as he stepped through the window into the cabin. “Not sleep with him once more for old times’ sake.”

“What are you doing here?” Vicki demanded.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to go through with it,” he replied as he kicked Ben’s gun to the side.

“You didn’t even give me a chance.”

“I saw all I needed to see,” he said, gesturing to her picnic.

“Peter,” she replied. “You’re jealous.”

“Shut up and help me drag him outside.”

“I would think a big, strong Russian like you could handle something like this all by yourself.”

He looked at her with contempt. “I’m not Russian, you idiot.”

“But you told me-” she stammered.

“I told you what I needed to tell you to recruit you.”

“So we’re not working for the Russians?”

The man laughed. “No, we’re not. Now help me carry him outside.”

“Not until you tell me what this is all about,” she insisted.

He shook his head. “We’re working for a man named Armen Abressian.”

“Who the hell is Armen Abressian?”

“He’s the man who paid us to pinpoint something very special beneath Denver International Airport.”

Suffolk fixed him with an icy glare. “Is your name even Peter Marcus?”

“No, it’s not,” said Ben as he suddenly rolled over and raised a second Glock that had been hidden beneath his shirt. “His name is Dean Pence.”

The elder FBI agent had his pistol in his hand, but he didn’t point it at Matthews. “Let me guess,” he said. “You had a bulletproof vest in your backpack.”

Ben tapped his chest and nodded. “And on top of everything else, you just added attempted murder of a federal officer.”

Pence laughed. “Probably the least of my problems. How’d you know? How’d you figure it all out?”

“I didn’t know anything,” said Matthews. “At least not until I went to Mumford. That’s when I learned that she had no idea what we were doing. You never spoke with her or anyone else at the Bureau.”

His partner shook his head. “You’re weak, Ben. You couldn’t live with it, could you? You had to unburden yourself and admit your indiscretions.”

“I had to do the right thing.”

“Anybody else would have just enjoyed the sex and kept his mouth shut,” said Pence. “You’re a fool.”

“Drop your weapon, Dean,” Ben ordered.

“And then what? We rot in cells for the rest of our lives? Nobody’s going to conduct an exchange for us. That’s not how the people we work for operate. In fact, we’ll probably be dead before any trial even starts.”

“Don’t be stupid, Dean. Drop your weapon,” Matthews repeated.

“I’m sorry, Ben.”

There was a flash of movement to Ben’s left as Vicki Suffolk dove for her weapon. As she drew it, Matthews was left with no choice. He pulled his trigger twice and watched as she slumped over.

When he spun to re-engage Pence, the elder FBI agent had already reached the cabin door.

Ben heard Carole Mumford yell from outside for him to drop his weapon and then watched, with a twinge of regret, as Pence charged the heavily armed FBI team that was waiting for him and their bullets began to fly.