The Whole Truth (A. Shaw 1)

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked a thousand times.”

“You won’t see me naked tonight. Go!”

He left and she joined him a few minutes later, a long dressing gown wrapped around her. She remained barefoot. They sat at the small table overlooking the street at which she and Frank had sat.

“So explain,” she said tersely.

“Frank Wells is my superior at the organization I told you about.”

“Yes. Where you work at a desk job? How is that going, by the way? Any interesting work come across your nice, safe desk job?”

Shaw stared down at the floor. “The work I do is highly dangerous. There’s hardly ever a time when I go into a mission where I’m sure I’ll come out alive. That’s the truth.”

Anna let out a noticeable moan but then caught herself. “And you do this out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Seven years ago I shot Frank Wells in the head in Istanbul. He pulled a gun on me. I thought he was going to kill me. When I realized who he was I took him to a hospital. Otherwise he’d be dead. He probably forgot to mention that part.”

“He said he was trying to arrest you for some criminal activity.”

“That’s his story, but it doesn’t make it true.”

Anna sat back and pulled the robe closer around her. “So what is your version? What were you doing when you shot him?”

“I can’t tell you. Only that I’m not what Frank thought I was. But I couldn’t really prove it.”

She stared at him incredulously. “So I’m just supposed to take your word for it? You don’t have a good track record for veracity.”

Shaw mulled this over for a few moments. “Okay, but this can go no further, Anna. Seriously. No further.” She quickly nodded, her face strained. “I was in Istanbul that day to find out who was trying to frame me for working with a very violent drug cartel operating out of Tajikistan. I was a freelancer back then. I worked for the Americans, the French, the Israelis, among others, and none of it criminal.”

“Who would try to frame you?” Anna said, but her tone was more conciliatory now.

“There were lots of potential suspects. The work I did had put a dent in a lot of the bad guys’ activities. And I guess Frank’s organization got involved, became convinced I had gone bad, and were going to take me in. I thought Frank was one of the guys who’d framed me. I believed they’d laid a trap in Turkey and he was there to finish the job. So I shot him before he shot me.”

“Why would you later agree to work for Frank if you weren’t in the wrong?”

“Let’s put it this way. If it had gone to court I would have probably never seen the light of day. I had no proof, and the frame job was pretty convincing. Working for Frank isn’t exactly easy, but it seemed better than the alternative. And I think Frank and his people suspected I’d been set up, but instead of investigating further to establish my innocence they used it as an excuse to make me work for them, fine people that they are.”

“So why did your own people shoot at you in Scotland?”

“Who told you that?” he said sharply.

“Perhaps it was Frank.”

“Don’t lie to me, Anna.”

“That is a fine one, coming from you.”

“I’ve never really lied to you. I just didn’t tell you everything.”

“A distinction that is beyond absurd,” she retorted.

Shaw looked angry for a moment and then his face cleared. “You’re right, it is. Anyway, they’d agreed that I’d work for them for five years, and if I survived, I was a free man. As of right now I’ve stayed on for nearly six just to make sure.”

“Why would you work for these horrible people for an extra year? It makes no sense.”

“I did it because I wanted to be sure they’d let me go. I had to be sure because, well, because of a very important reason. I’d worked for them for nearly three years when I made that decision.”

“And when exactly did you decide to work for them for an extra year?”