Drink Me

65. BAD ASTROLOGY

BAD ASTROLOGY

Aidan opened the door, his face unreadable and sombre. Without a word, he walked back into the living room, leaving Riley to follow behind.

Caroline was standing in the kitchen, her back against the counter and her arms crossed on her chest. She looked as if she'd left in a hurry and hadn't had time to morph into her usual impeccable self.

"What's going on?" Riley asked, his serious tone matching the two faces staring back at him.

"There has been a development," Aidan started, but Caroline cut him off.

"If you can call it that," she said dryly.

Aidan ignored her remark and continued. "Our asset finally came through with a substantial piece of information," he explained. "The address of a safe house used by MI6 officers working our case."

"And?" Riley asked, and his trepidation sounded like anticipation.

"And the asset was right," Caroline concluded. "We've sent some of our men this morning to investigate but..." her words trailed off and she left Aidan to finish her sentence.

"They were all killed," the man concluded.

"Jesus," Riley commented as the events rushed back into his mind again in an overwhelming wave that had him grab the counter for comfort.

"Were we at least able to get some relevant information out of it?" he asked, greedy for anything that might have given his and Alice's identities away.

"No, nothing," Caroline replied. "When we didn't hear back as planned, we sent some backup but the police and the fire brigade were already there."

"Apparently, there has been a fire in the building," Aidan added with scepticism.

"So you couldn't get the bodies?" Riley asked, thankful for Alice's quick thinking as Aidan shook his head per no.

"And now the agencies know we have someone inside..." Riley added, hoping to get some intel or even a name.

But no one replied. Aidan and Caroline exchanged a silent look, then Aidan's eyes moved back to Riley and a stubborn expression formed on his face as he said, "Very convenient, ah?"

Riley looked at his cousin, his head tilted to the side as he read the meaning of his comment.

"Do you think it was a setup?"

"It's a possibility," Aidan replied. "I mean, we don't know how many people were at that address but we sent six of our men and none of them made it out alive."

Riley blinked to erase the blood on Alice's clothes from his mind; he rubbed his face with his hands before sitting on a high stool. His eyes met Caroline who didn't look convinced with Aidan's theory.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Why would the asset give us that address only to have some of our men killed? What's the logic behind it?" she asked, and with that went Riley's hope of blaming the mole for double agenting once and for all.

To the men's silence, she continued. "MI6 are smarter than that. If it really was a setup they would have arrested our men or at least used them for information. I just don't see it..."

"Maybe they did before they killed them?" Riley offered.

"And what? They decided to execute them anyway? They're not the mafia..." Caroline snapped, so Riley nodded in agreement. He didn't have the energy for an opinion fight that could have drawn more suspicion, especially when the woman's logic didn't falter.