Page 56 of Baby Take Me Home

I looked around the room. “Unauthorized? I don’t understand.”

Cynthia leaned across the conference table and touched my hand. “We’re about to support an investigative journalist in outing a sitting senator, one who is on the Subcommittee that oversees this covert agency, and we don’t have any legally obtained evidence of probable cause to do it.” She glanced around the table. “The team will have to go rogue to execute this operation.”

TJ turned toward X. “On that note...”

X nodded. “If you need anything that I might be able to provide,” she made eye contact with each HEAT team member, “reach out to me through back channels.” TJ held out his hand and she shook it, then laid her second hand on top of his. “It’s been a privilege. I’ll see you on the other side.”

Her words chilled me, but no one else flinched. I clasped my hands in front of me and watched her leave.

“Jensen,” TJ said.

The tech team leader opened his laptop and typed on the keyboard. The large screen at the front of the room came to life, showing a slide that said “Operation Sinking Ship.”

“Really, Jensen?” Mai said.

“He’s not wrong,” Martin replied.

TJ stood off to the side of the screen. “There’s one more order of business before we get started. I’m with Ashlee on this, but I want to make it clear that not a single one of you is required to participate in this operation. In fact, doing so could mean the end of your time at HEAT, maybe even in this business.”

Another chill ran down my spine while I waited to see if there would be any takers, and pondered what it would mean for my story, my safety, and my future if there weren’t.

“Gates of hell,” Samantha said, and TJ nodded as though he understood her meaning. “I’m in,” she said, and now I understood as well.

Martin and Cynthia said, “I’m in,” in unison, followed by the remaining four.

I blinked back tears. TJ laid his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “All right,” he said. “Let’s make our plan. We can’t have HEAT backup, but at least a few of us can call in favors for some off-the-books support.”

“You know Derek and Chase will do it,” Cynthia said. “I’ll call Derek after our meeting. I’m sure they’ll be on a plane this afternoon and in the building by this evening.”

TJ nodded and Jason typed up the notes into a blank slide.

“I have two buddies I can call,” Martin said.

“And there’s Evan,” Samantha said. “Chicago PD owes him some vacation time and his captain will be happy to get him out of her hair for a while.” She glanced at me. “My significant other, a former Army Ranger.”

I was feeling safer already as the team expanded before my eyes.

“We’ll have plenty of tech backup,” Jason volunteered.

TJ frowned. “I want you to be very careful where you let your hacker friends wander around in our systems.”

Jason grinned. “Don’t worry, boss, they’re all cleared. Two from the NSA and one from the CIA. They’d love to get their hands on some of the stuff we do. They’d probably pay me.” TJ raised his eyebrow and Jason added, “Of course, I wouldn’t charge them.”

As they talked, I could see their ease with each other and their excitement for embarking on a new mission together. If they were fazed by X’s somber mood and TJ’s warning of their potential career suicide, they were hiding it well.

“On to the timeline,” TJ said five minutes later. “Ashlee, how long will it take to turn your notes and that recording into a story?”

I silently ran rough calculations. I already had bits and pieces written, some in my head and some in the files on the secret server Jason had hacked. I’d need to get my hands on Aiden’s notes, which were secured in a bank box under the name of his husband’s sister. After I’d pulled together the entire story, I would send it to Jayne, who would give it to copy editors and fact-checkers. I’d need to reach out to sources and suspects alike for comments. The Sun’s lawyers would have to give their blessing.

“Going full tilt, I’d say a week,” I answered.

“That won’t work.” TJ leaned forward with his palms on the conference table. “Unless anyone has an idea for derailing the Subcommittee’s emergency meeting on Monday, at which point they’ll defund HEAT, we’ll lose access to everything from the secure networks to the tranq guns.”

“They wouldn’t still do that after seeing Kovac and the first chunk of the Carbonados go down, would they?” I asked.

“They would and they will with Calder leading the charge,” Kate said. “He’s already reaching out to his allies on the committee, and his aides are working their counterparts on the other members’ staffs.”

TJ crossed his arms over his chest. “And we know that how?”