Page 20 of Avenging Jessie (Black Swan Division Thrillers #3)

Twenty

Spence

The apartment was quiet except for the faint hum of distant cars carrying early commuters and the muted click of his left index finger on the trackpad.

Jessie was curled on the couch across from him, one knee hooked over the blanket, hair mussed from sleep.

She’d kicked the quilt half off somewhere between their lovemaking and now, leaving it tangled around her legs.

An hour ago, she’d been warm in his arms, her breathing ragged against his ear. Now she was still, chest rising and falling in slow rhythm, lashes resting on bruised cheekbones. She looked peaceful.

He wished he could make it last.

Shifting in the chair, the cushion springs creaked under his weight. His right wrist continued to ache, wrapped tight in bandages and tucked against his chest. Hen-pecking with his left hand was slow, sloppy work, but he’d take that over sitting here doing nothing.

His screen was a mess of open tabs—encrypted news feeds, dark web boards, back-channel chatter. He was hunting for any hint about the Data Center North fire.

So far, nothing concrete. Local media were referring to it as an “industrial incident.” One outlet mentioned “possible arson” but had no details. No mention of Hastings. No mention of a firefight.

Spence wasn’t na?ve enough to think that meant they were in the clear. Silence just meant whoever was cleaning it up was doing a damn good job.

Hastings? Brewer?

He glanced at Jessie again. She’d survived things most operatives wouldn’t walk away from. Still, every instinct in him wanted to keep her like this—out of the line of fire, breathing easy.

Neither of them was built for easy.

Three knocks came at the door. A pause. Two more.

Spence’s head jerked toward the entrance. His hand stilled on the keys.

Jessie stirred, muttering something in her sleep.

The knock came again—three, pause, two—sharper and more deliberate.

His pulse kicked. It was a code.

He’d sent instructions hours ago in a scrambled text to Tessa and Tommy, along with the facts of their situation. Abandoned target. Safe house secure. Meet there.

If they were here, it was faster than he’d expected.

Jessie’s eyes cracked open, blinking against the dim light. “Spence—?”

He raised a finger to his lips and slid out of the chair without a sound. The hardwood floor creaked under his weight, so he hugged the wall, keeping his movements controlled.

His gun was in hand. The injury slowed some things, but not that. Any decent agent could shoot with either. The cold steel felt almost comforting in his palm as he moved toward the door.

The shadows in the hallway outside the peephole shifted.

Could be them. Could also be someone who’d been able to intercept the message. He unlatched the deadbolt, keeping the chain engaged. “Yeah?”

A low voice came back, calm, steady. “I brought the sugar you ordered.”

Tessa’s voice. He’d know that tone anywhere—dry, faintly amused, but with an edge that said she was ready for trouble.

He slid the chain free and opened the door. Tessa and Tommy slipped inside like they’d done it a thousand times. Both were dressed in dark jackets, cargo pants with full pockets, and boots scuffed from travel. Tommy carried a duffel that could easily have been stuffed with gear or explosives.

Jessie sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “You made good time.”

“Didn’t exactly stop for sightseeing,” Tessa said. “Now tell us what the hell happened.”

Tessa didn’t bother taking off her coat before she claimed the arm of the couch. Tommy dropped his duffel beside the coffee table and crouched to unzip it. Inside, Spence caught a glimpse of weapons, extra comms gear, and a portable jammer. Always prepared.

Jessie got up and hugged him. He gripped her back, hard.

She yawned again and plopped down on the cushion, raising a bare foot to brace it on the table.

“We tailed Hastings to a private data center. He had a crew of hackers in the basement—kids. One of them breached the FBI’s internal database while I watched. But Hastings was after the CIA.”

Tommy’s head snapped up. “Langley?”

“That’s what it looks like,” Spence said. “I dropped a virus in their system. Wiped everything they had before they could do any harm. But it’s possible Hastings got away. I can’t confirm his death.”

Tessa swore under her breath. “And Brewer?”

“No sign of him,” Jessie said. “It appears that Hastings has his own agenda, and it may be tangled with Brewer’s, but Brewer may not know anything about it, either.”

Tessa made a face that showed she was mildly impressed.

The vibration in Spence’s pocket got all of their attentions. He pulled out his phone with his good hand, saw the encrypted incoming call, and gave a sharp nod. “It’s Dec.”

He hit the speaker. “Go.”

“We’re in Munich,” Declan’s voice came, battle-worn and impatient over the static. “Location?”

Jessie shot Spence a questioning look, but he didn’t hesitate. “Dropping you a pin now. ETA?”

A pause. “Five minutes.”

Exactly four and a half minutes later, the knock came—different rhythm this time, quick and light. Spence opened up and ushered in Meg and Dec, cool, humid air following them.

Acknowledgments were made quickly. Meg pulled off her gloves as she crossed to the table. “As soon as we landed, I got an encrypted message. I think it was from Flynn.”

Jessie straightened. “What did it say?”

“That the Brewer lookalike I saw in D.C. is the real deal.”

Spence’s gut tightened. “That can’t be right. I’m sure he’s here.”

Jessie nodded in agreement. “If he’s planning something for the summit, he’ll want to be there to watch it happen. That’s how he operates.” She glanced at the cuckoo clock. “And we’re running out of time to stop it.”

That’s when it hit Spence like a flashbulb.

“He’s done it before,” he said, almost to himself. “He throws up a flare in one place and hits the real target somewhere else.”

“What are you talking about?” Dec grunted.

Jessie went rigid and snapped her fingers. “That’s exactly it. Brewer wants us to believe he’s here so he can get all of us here. Meanwhile, he’s also managed to get rid of Flynn.” She glanced at each of them in turn. “Hastings isn’t the only one going after the CIA. That’s Brewer’s real target.”

The room went silent.

“Shit,” Tommy said under his breath.

Tessa scrubbed her hands through her hair. “That can’t be right. He wants to take over the world.”

“He has a grudge against the Agency that could sink the Titanic,” Jessie countered. “Hastings, too. Together, they’re a formidable pair. Deadly. If they get revenge on the CIA, think of what else they can do.”

Dec paced and swore. “Brewer’s good, you have to give it to him. He’s completely fooled us, making us believe he’s trying to take over the world, when the only thing he really wants is—”

“To destroy Langley,” Meg finished for him.

Jessie leaned her elbows on her knees. “Not the only thing. He still wants to ruin the world and then come in like a savior to rescue it, but I’d bet money that taking down the CIA is the first step.”

“And now, we’re all here,” Meg said, “when we need to be in Virginia.”

Tessa rubbed her face with her hands. “That bastard. That goddamn bastard! How did he do it? How did he fool us yet again?”

Spence leaned forward, laying his bad wrist on his knee. “Because he didn’t just feed us bad intel—he made us want to believe it. Berlin was always the loud target. Langley’s been the quiet one. We took the bait.”

Jessie crossed her arms, chin tucked low in thought. “If he gets inside Langley, it’s not just names and missions. It’s black files, embedded assets, deep cover ops—everything. Every country we have a footprint in is compromised.”

“And every operative in them, dead,” Tessa added grimly.

Dec stopped pacing and turned toward Spence. “Then we can’t waste another second. We need to figure out where and how he’s going to hit Langley, and we need to do it before he even boots up his system.”

Tommy nodded toward Spence’s laptop. “What do you need?”

“Access,” Spence said. “And time. Both of which are in short supply.” He looked around the room. “I can get us on a plane back to the States in an hour, maybe two. It may not be soon enough, but it’s all we can do.”

Meg shook her head. “Too risky. We’re probably on the no-fly lists. Dec and I came over on a private plane, thanks to a connection of mine, but there’s no round-trip option.”

“You forget that I had a life before I joined the CIA.” Spence pecked at his keyboard again. “I’ve got a friend who’s got a friend who happens to be a pirate. One who runs a lot of contraband across the Atlantic in his planes.”

“What’s it gonna cost?” Declan asked.

“More than we’re willing to pay, but we don’t have a choice.” He opened an encrypted email server.

Jessie rushed to his side and batted away his left hand. “Let me do it. Just tell me what to say.”

So he did.

“What about the summit?” Tessa asked. “I told my friend to notify those in charge, but he said they get threats like this all the time. They’ll take precautions,”—she made air quotes—“but they won’t call it off.”

Meg stepped closer to the desk, her voice in mission mode. “Typical. They’d never have summits otherwise, though. There’s nothing we can do for them at this point, unless we blow up the drone warehouse.”

Dec pointed between himself and Meg. “So why don’t we?”

One brow quirked at him. “Just the two of us?”

He nodded. “Tessa, Tommy—you two work with Spence and Jessie on Langley. If Brewer’s got an entry point, you need to find it before he does while you’re getting your asses back to D.C.”

Jessie’s jaw worked, clearly hating the division of labor but knowing they didn’t have time to argue. “What if we’re wrong?”

Spence looked up at her, eyes sharp but unreadable. “I know it feels like we’re chasing our tails, but we’ll get him, J.”

She gave a short nod. “I promise to listen this time.”

That earned another questioning look from Meg. “This time?”

“Not important,” Spence said. His mail beeped. “This is my guy. I’ve secured us transport back to the States for a healthy sum of money and some very expensive rum. We leave Munich in an hour.”

“Question,” Tommy said, already grabbing his bag. “If Brewer’s target is Langley, and the summit is just a smokescreen, then why is Hastings here? Why isn’t he in D.C. already?”

Spence answered without hesitation. “Because Hastings doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Brewer. He’s here to hedge his bets. That means he’s holding something back. Something we can use.”

“Or he’s setting us up,” Tessa said flatly.

“That too,” Spence admitted. “Which is why we plan for every angle. No rushing in blind.” He didn’t look at Jessie, but knew she was taking that as a personal dig.

Dec’s phone buzzed. He checked the message, then looked around the room. “We’ve got a three-hour window before the Berlin summit officially starts. Whatever we’re going to do, we need to move now.”

“Langley’s got no idea what’s coming. But we do,” Spence said. “Let’s make it count. We find Hastings, we find Brewer. And then, we end this.”