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“But how are you going to get there? Wally?”

“I need to get there faster than Wally can drive. Besides, I hate to ask him to skip school. He gets really nervous when we do that.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

I slid the phone in my back jeans pocket. “I’m going to ask Jax to take me.”

Chapter Eleven

CANDACE KIM

Director, National Security Operations Center (NSOC)

Candace never conducted business from her personal cell phone, and certainly never from her home, but current circumstances required drastic measures, and she had a feeling she was being monitored. Not by the NSA, but by exactly the person she wanted to reach.

If she was right, there was no better time than the present to confirm it.

After a moment’s hesitation, she punched in the numbers of the cell phone of the NSA’s current director of information assurance.

After several rings, her call was answered. “Yes.”

“Hello, Slash. It’s Candace Kim.”

There was a long silence. “Candace? What’s wrong?”

“I heard you’re on an impromptu vacation.”

“Well, that’s one way of putting it. I happen to be in Brazil. It’s lucky you called when you did, because I’m in the only town nearby with reception. What’s up? This isn’t a secure line.”

“I know. It’s not on my end, either.” She took a deep breath—this would either work or it wouldn’t. “I just wanted to let you know that we haven’t had any communication from our friend since the attempted kidnapping of his daughter. He’s gone dark. I’m worried.”

There was another pause, and she knew Slash was evaluating the purpose of her unsecure call. Hopefully, he’d come to the conclusion she’d intended for him. “That’s not a surprise,” he finally said. “He suspects someone in the agency is working against him.”

Candace let out a quiet breath. Yes, she and Slash were on the same page. “I agree. I think we can only conclude it means the attempt on his daughter was an effort to silence him.”

“Are you keeping an eye on his wife?”

“We were, but our budget ran out. We’re remotely watching her communications, but other than an occasional drive-by, that’s the best we can do. I’ve heard the eldest daughter is out of the country, coincidentally in Brazil.”

“No worries on that front. She’s here on assignment at the same place I am. She’ll be protected as long as I’m here.”

“Well, that’s helpful, if unexpected, news. What do you think our next move should be?”

“We have no move at this point. The ball is in his court. We’ve done what we can. The next move is his.”

Candace liked that about Slash. Brief and to the point. “How can you be sure he’ll even make a move if he doesn’t trust us?”

“He has to trust someone. Personally, I think he already knows who he’s after and has a plan. Now, we just have to wait and see what role, if any, he wants us to play in it.”

After Candace hung up the phone, she sat back in her chair, thinking. This was a delicate situation, especially if there was an insider threat, as she suspected. But Slash had gotten the message across: until the Hidden Avenger made his move, there was nothing they could do but wait.

She looked down in surprise as her phone pinged with a text. Her heart beating fast, she pulled it up and read.

You broke faith with me.

Relief flooded her. It had worked! As suspected, Ethan had been monitoring her calls. She’d never expected him to respond so quickly but was grateful that he had.

I’m so sorry. I had no idea your daughter was in danger. She’s safe at UTOP now, and we’ve been monitoring your wife the best we can.