Page 76 of Chain Reaction

“We’re fine.” Jake paused in front of his desk, Raven beside him. “What’s going on here?”

Ty’s expression looked tight with exhaustion. “We’re investigating. We’ve talked to everyone here under the guise of asking if they saw anything regarding the bomb. But we’re also looking for any signs of deception.”

“Do you have any idea who did this or what their motives might be?” Jake asked.

Ty ran a hand over his face before turning back to them. “At first we thought maybe they wanted to send a message. To let us know we weren’t untouchable.”

“But you don’t think so anymore?” Raven asked.

“Maybe that was part of it.” Ty paused and glanced at Raven as if trying to figure out if he could trust her or not. Finally, he said, “But the truth of the matter is that our communication systems were breached during the attack.”

Jake’s eyes widened at the revelation. “What?”

Ty nodded, his gaze somber. “It’s true. We’re unsure of the extent of what information was taken. But we believe our contacts were accessed as well as information on some classified missions we participated in.”

Jake had the impression Ty didn’t want to say anything more specific in front of Raven. He understood that. Some matters were classified.

Jake crossed his arms. “What is going on? Why would someone want that information?”

“That’s what we need to figure out.”

CHAPTER 36

Raven considered going with Jake back to the bomb site. But her specialty was historical artifacts, so she knew she wouldn’t be much help. Instead, she stayed at the headquarters.

There was something she needed to do anyway, and this would be the perfect opportunity.

Ty had given her permission to use an extra office at Blackout. He showed her which hallway to use to get to the exit door in case she needed him for some reason.

As she sat at the empty desk with the white walls around her, she pulled out her phone, set it on top of the metal desk, and stared at it.

She knew what she needed to do—she just didn’t want to.

She hadn’t talked to her dad in nine months. Even at Christmas, he hadn’t texted her to say happy holidays. But she hadn’t texted him either, so she supposed it went both ways.

He’d called her the next day instead.

Since he’d gotten remarried to a woman with a large family, he’d changed. He’d told Raven he’d gotten caught up with his new family’s Christmas celebration and had forgotten to call.

He’d been apologetic. But his action had spoken volumes.

Her dad wanted to put the tragedy of Raven’s mom’s death behind him—and that included putting Raven behind him. He’d started fresh and didn’t want reminders of his pain. At least, that was her perception.

Raven had spent Christmas alone. Part of that was her own choosing. Friends had invited her over. She even had some distant relatives she could have called.

But she’d chosen to stay alone in her hurt.

Not to feel sorry for herself. But to try and heal.

Her throat tightened at the memories.

She stared at her cell phone. As the saying went, she needed to bite the bullet.

She drew a deep breath before dialing his number. It was just past ten in Syria, but her father didn’t usually go to bed until eleven. At least, that was the way he had been.

As the phone started to ring, her doubt that he would answer grew.

But after the fourth ring, someone picked up.