The Spy Who Saved Christmas by Dana Marton Read Free Book Online Page A

hesitated for only a second before she nodded. Then she stood and walked toward a hall closet. “Jen came in. She took her coat off. I put it in the closet for her.”
    “Mind if I check?”
    “Go ahead.”
    He rifled through coat pockets, even checked inside boots. Then he pulled out a large, brown purse and handed it to Eileen. “Would you look through it to make sure there’s nothing in there that shouldn’t be?”
    She did as he asked, shook her head when she was done. “Just the things I always carry.”
    “Thank you. What did she do after she came in?”
    “We had coffee.” She led the way to the kitchen. “She sat here.”
    He checked all the drawers within arm’s length. Nothing. “And then?”
    “We talked a little. She was nervous. And then she left.”
    “Are you sure?”
    Eileen nodded. But then she said, “She used the bathroom first.” She pointed down the hallway.
    He strode into the small space, looked around. A pine-scented candle burned in the window. Nothing seemed out of place. He looked in the medicine cabinet. It held the usual: makeup and pills, toothbrushes. Nothing but cleaning supplies under the sink. He picked through the garbage, even looked under the trash-can liner. Nothing. He looked under a snowman-patterned floor mat. Nothing. He opened the tank. Empty, save for water.
    Dammit.
    He needed the information on that CD. He glanced at his watch. It was close to 8:00 a.m., Sunday. He had six days until Christmas. Every instinct he had said that whatever attack Kenny’s group was planning was going to come on Christmas Day. Their communications had become more and more frequent as the holidays approached. There was a marked increase in their phone and Internet activity. The cell leader’s identity was unknown. The FBI had a list of foot soldiers, but had determined that picking any of them up would gain little information while resulting in increased security within the cell, putting them on guard. Only the men at the very top would know the exact details of the attack. They’d keep everyone else in the dark until the very last moment to prevent a leak.
    Kenny Briggs, however, had earned a promotion not that long ago, according to an informant who’d dropped off the face of the earth since his last report. Unfortunately, the FBI hadn’t been able to find him for further questioning. Neither could they find Kenny. He kept slipping through their fingers.
    Reid had been counting on Jen’s CD.
    They’d been this close before. In Hopeville they’d almost had Jimmy Sparks, another thug who’d worked his way up in the cell. But then Reid’s cover had been blown and Jimmy had disappeared. He couldn’t let that happen again.
    He was ready to turn when his eyes caught on the open toilet lid. It was decorated with a fuzzy toilet cover, held in place by a circle of elastic. He closed the lid, pulled the cover off—same snowman pattern as the bathmat.
    “Hot damn,” he whispered under his breath.
    “You found it?” Eileen’s eyes were round with surprise when he came back to her.
    “Lucky for everyone involved. I need your permission to take it, or I’ll have to call in for a warrant.”
    “You can take it.”
    Of course, he still had to have her sign a form giving him permission to take custody of the evidence. Luckily, he had just such a form in his pocket. He’d taken one to the meeting with Jen, in case she had something for him. Never got around to having her sign it for that cell phone. Which was now with Ben. Ben was a whiz with everything electronic. He could break the code and download the call history from the cell, even if it had been deleted.
    He whipped out the sheet and slid it on the counter. “Would you sign here?”
    Five minutes later, he was in his car, heading away from Philly, talking on his phone to Mark Adams, his FBI handler. “I have the CD. I need someone to meet me and pick it up. Then I’m heading back to the safe house. As soon as you have the