Her gaze dropped to her feet. Inside her head, the pieces snapped.

She’d been aware that the Broker’s death had come as some form of coup within that underbelly world, and that the aftermath had been a bloodbath in which the assassins themselves had shortened the list considerably by killing each other. Same briefing, new actor meant the details that had launched the op were the same, but the original assassin was either dead or had gone to ground.

Jacques Lefevre, the man they hunted now, was the replacement.

That put sense to why headquarters had known his seat number before they’d known his name, but a whole lot else still needed answers.

She said, “Who is he?”

Hayes said, “We don’t know.”

She didn’t believe for a minute that headquarters was working entirely dark. “There’s always something,” she said.

He said, “You’ve heard of Karen McFadden?”

She forced the neurons to connect, drew up the memories.

The name had shown up in Christopher Holden’s files as last known target.

“I’ve heard the name,” she said. “I don’t know who or what it is.”

“McFadden was deep cover in a clandestine op out of Moscow at the tail end of the Cold War,” Hayes said. “Officially, she was rolled up by the KGB. Unofficially, file’s still open. Her handler was a double, triple who-really-knows, and you’ve already heard of him. We’re working from his list. Intel we’re pulling says she’s the one who unplugged him. For as long as there’ve been rumors about McFadden, there’ve also been rumors she had a child. The chatter we’re picking up points in that direction. You can infer the rest and deduce the urgency.”

She could, yes.

She’d seen a strong operative skill set and a man capable of slipping back into the United States unnoticed, which made him a true threat if a political assassination was in play. But this little slice of history didn’t explain why him, why now.

And it didn’t explain target’s accomplice-slash-sibling.

Or how Christopher Holden factored in.

Or why target seemed ambivalent to their presence.

And for all that mess, the assassination theory seemed a little too tidy and complete, but she had limited time and Hayes had limited patience, and what worried her most was getting lured into assassin-on-assassin cross fire, the way her team had been lured to Republic Square in Prague. Or, worse, having her team played against Emilia Flynn. She needed the lines clearly delineated or needed more access.

She said as much to Hayes.

Hayes said, “All four Tea Team, KIA.”