Page 58 of The Team

“Not until I have proof.”

King scrutinised him for a tense moment, also understanding Rhett’s lack of trust extended to him. “And you want my phone?”

“It’s secure, is it not? And encrypted.”

“Yes.”

“And your laptop,” Rhett added. “You have more clearance than me.”

“They could technically trace it,” King said. “Hell, from what I know, they probably already are.”

Rhett assumed that much, but he trusted Yunho to be able to work his tech-magic. Rhett just needed a connection.

Rhett shrugged. “And for plausible deniability, I’m going to need you to go take a piss and stretch your legs for two minutes.”

King almost smirked. “Plausible deniability?”

“You went to take a piss, and when you came back, you found me sitting suspiciously at your desk but could not determine if your computer had been accessed.”

King’s lips twitched, and he gave a small nod before he took his cane and let out a groan. “Yeah,” he said, wincing as he stood. “Damn leg. Shoulda had them cut the damn thing off.” He shuffled out from his seat, bearing his weight unevenly until he could get proper support from his cane, and it was clear that he was inpain. “Might just stretch it a bit. Uh, remind me when I get back to clear the call history in my phone. I forgot to do it after I spoke to your friend.” He put his phone on the desk, unlocked.

Rhett gave a nod. “Sure thing.”

He watched him leave before turning the laptop around and taking King’s phone. He found his call log, seeing no other number but Yunho’s. He pressed Call.

Yunho answered on the second ring. His voice smooth and unsurprised. “Director King.”

“Captain Ouston,” Rhett corrected him.

“Oh,” Yunho said. Now he was surprised, and it amused Rhett a little that he could one-up him. “Is everything okay? You are an hour outside of Bosnia. Why are you calling from King’s number?” Then he answered his own question. “Because you don’t want certain people to know.”

“Affirmative. I have a phone and I need you to access it,” Rhett said quietly. “It’s in Chinese. Jay said he couldn’t see much on it. There are a few texts to a woman, maybe? I’m not sure if there’s something else. There are no call logs, no anything, but maybe he wiped it. Maybe it’s a code, I don’t know.”

Yunho’s tapping at a keyboard paused. “Yin or Chen?”

“Yin.”

“I want you to know, I’ve found nothing else on him. His military record is exemplary. You said you trusted him, and I can see why.”

Rhett scrubbed a hand over his face. “He had a phone on him,” Rhett whispered. “Trust or not, that’s a huge fucking breach. But...”

“But what?”

“His reaction,” Rhett murmured. “Something’s not right. I don’t know what it is.”

“You have the phone?”

“And King’s laptop. And not much time.”

“Plug the phone in for me,” Yunho said.

Rhett did that and he heard Yunho’s tapping at his keyboard. After a moment, he hummed. “Hmm. There isn’t anything... texts to a... a Jun-mei...”

More tapping.

“I’ll need some time to find out more on her, but the phone is a burner. Otherwise empty. It also has an anti-interception function, a scrambling shield common to the Chinese military. It might mean little to you, Captain, because no, he shouldn’t have had it on him. But that phone is neither a beacon nor a weapon; it gives no signature at all. He used it only to contact this one person who...”

He paused. More tapping.