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they proved their worth.
    ‘With all due respect, I think it would, sir,’ Drake replied, his tone calm and even. If Cain wanted to play hardball with him, then so be it. ‘None of the other Shepherd team leaders will take this job on. They don’t have the training or the background for it. You picked me because I helped run snatch-and-grab operations in Afghanistan. You could go outsource and use a special forces unit – say Delta or Task Force 88 – but then you’d have the problem of deniability if they were caught, and operational security if they weren’t. Whatever history this “
Maras
” has with the Agency, I’m guessing you want to keep it in-house, quiet and deniable. So that leaves you with me.
    ‘You asked for a no-bullshit assessment of the situation,’ Drake went on. ‘Well, mine is that this entire operation is a house of cards just waiting to fall over. And anyone unlucky enough to get caught up in it is either going to get killed or captured, which in this case is just as bad.’ He sighed and glanced away for a moment. ‘I’m not afraid to put my life at risk, but what I can’t and won’t do is drag a Shepherd team in without good reason.’
    Cain said nothing for the next few seconds, just sat there regarding Drake with a thoughtful expression. Drake for his own part tried to meet the older man’s inquisitive gaze without flinching, and resisted the growing urge to swallow.
    ‘Ryan, I asked you to speak plainly, so I’ll extend you the same courtesy,’ he said at last. ‘I told you that I read your dossier long before you walked in here. I know what happened to you out there, the business you got caught up in. I know you got yourself a court martial and a discharge from the military.’
    Drake could feel his jaw tightening.
    Always it came back to that. A dishonourable discharge – an embarrassment, a fiasco. It was like a black mark on his life, a penance following him everywhere he went. It would be there on every job application he ever made.
    The only people willing to take him on had been the CIA, and then only because Franklin had fought his corner with such tenacity that his own career had been put on the line. He would never forget that, just as Franklin would never forget what Drake had once done for him.
    Cain smiled a little, enjoying his discomfort. ‘What if I was to tell you I could change all that?’
    Once again he felt his heartbeat quicken. ‘How?’
    Cain shrugged, as if it was a matter of no consequence. ‘We all have favours we can call in, and I have more than most. I can have the Judge Advocate reopen your case, get your conviction overturned, your record expunged. It’ll be a blank slate. You can make a fresh start, either with the Agency or somewhere else if you want.’
    Drake said nothing. His mind was racing. Could he really do such a thing?
    Of course he could. Cain moved in circles Drake would never be part of. He could exert influence at the highest levels, strike deals, bribe or intimidate just about anyone. His power within the Agency and beyond was immense.
    Cain was offering him a chance that would never come again. A chance to clear his name. A chance at redemption.
    How could he refuse that?
    ‘I have your word on this?’ he asked quietly.
    Cain smiled. It was the smile of a chess player who knows he has won the game, long before his opponent does. ‘You come through for me, I’ll come through for you. You have my word on that.’
    Drake said nothing.
    ‘I wish I could give you more time to think things over, but we have to move fast on this one. This is your chance, Ryan. Maybe your only chance. For your sake, I suggest you take it.’
    Drake looked down at the surface of the polished table, saying nothing.
    This was his chance. His only chance.
    The choice was made before common sense had time to assert itself.
    ‘I’d need free rein on support and logistics,’ he said quietly. ‘And absolutely all the intelligence we have on this