Page 38 of Believe
“Oh, that’s easy, Uncle Geoff. It was the angels.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“How did our soldiers do?” asked Nine.
“They all made it home in time for delivery but in the chaos it was discovered that they had a traitor,” said Code.
“A traitor? On the team?” asked Gaspar.
“We’re not sure yet if it was on the team or part of the base group. Someone wasn’t delivering messages to the strike teams. We’re trying to trace it through all the lines, although I have to say base command has been highly cooperative with us.”
“That’s at least a little bit of good news,” frowned Alec. “Damn. I hate when we hear shit like this. As someone who was tortured because of a traitor, it makes me ill and brings up memories I’d care to not have.”
“Good morning,” said Tara walking into the office.
“Good morning, Tara. How are you settling into the cabin?” asked Miller.
“Cabin? That’s a lodge,” she laughed. “I’m not sure what kind of home you’re used to but that place is amazing. And thank you for helping me find a needy family for my home.”
“Of course, you’re very welcome. What can we do for you?” asked Angel.
“Well, Kari and Code, it is Code right?” Code laughed, nodding his head. “Sorry, just an unusual name. Anyway, they asked me to review some of the correspondence between the team that you all rescued and their base command. As a paralegal this was a big part of what I did at the law office, reviewing testimony, communication files, text messages, that sort of thing.”
“Text messages? There shouldn’t have been text messages,” said Code.
“There was,” she said nodding. She put the sheet on the table and pointed to several highlighted lines. “They’re sort of buried in the e-mails. Someone was using the e-mail to divert to their phone, which then sent the e-mail into a text, if that makes sense. I’m not the expert but I think when you do that it makes it easier for someone to hack into the system.”
“You are an expert,” smirked Code. “I can’t believe we missed that.”
“Well, it’s pretty simple so you were probably looking for something more complicated,” she said, blushing. “Anyway, the diversions happened with this man. Corporal Jorge Jaguari. I did some digging and found out he was born in Mexico City but lived in Venezuela for fifteen years. He received his citizenship by volunteering for the Army.”
“Well done, Tara,” smiled Miller. “Well done.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. “Oh. Um, can I ask you a question?”
“Anything,” they said in unison, chuckling at themselves.
“Hawke. He’s very nice and I know he’s single. I’m just curious. Why?”
“Why? Why is he single?” asked Gaspar.
“Yes. I mean, he’s smart and funny, and he’s a great listener. He seems to be very observant. He’s asked me to dinner but I’m very cautious about having dinner with someone I work with and, well, there’s Gideon. I’m careful about who I expose him to.”
Nine nodded his head, smirking at the others.
“Tara, Hawke is one of the best operatives we have. He went through something fairly traumatic as a young man. He should tell you that story. What I can tell you is there is no one that would protect you and Gideon better than Hawke. He’s a good man and deserves a happily ever after.”
“I can’t believe you just said that,” laughed Gaspar. “You sound like my mother.”
“Is your mother alive?” asked Tara.
“Uh, no. And, yes.”
“No and yes? How is that possible?” she asked.
“Tara, this place is different,” said Alec. “My family has lived here for generations and the secrets of this land are only now being revealed to us. Our parents, they were, are different. One of the gifts they gave all of us was the ability to see, speak to, and touch ghosts.”
Tara laughed at them, then sobered when she saw their serious expressions.