Page 10 of Code Name: Tank (K19 Sentinel Cyber #4)
TANK
T he command center was quiet when I arrived at zero eight hundred—an hour later than my usual start.
I’d needed the extra time to clear my head after another restless night.
The conversation with Dragon outside our hotel rooms in Texas had been replaying on a loop, along with the phone call I’d overheard at Whisper Point two nights ago.
Someone from her past was pulling at threads I couldn’t see, and Dragon’s sudden coldness yesterday left me wondering if I’d misread the situation between us.
Admiral stood near the window, looking out at the lake, with coffee in hand when I walked in.
“Morning, Tank.”
“Where is everybody?” By everybody, I meant Dragon, and I was sure Admiral knew it too.
“Dragon and Alice left for CIA headquarters about an hour ago. They won’t be back until late afternoon at the earliest.”
I set my coffee down. Dragon hadn’t mentioned anything about a CIA consultation yesterday, but then again, she’d barely spoken to me beyond the essential details. “Everything all right?”
“According to Alice, Dragon requested an urgent meeting with McTiernan.”
What the hell? She asked Alice to go to DC with her, and not me? I’d actually worked for the CIA. Alice never had. I was trying to figure out a way to express my displeasure to Alice’s husband , when his cell rang.
He checked the caller ID, and his expression darkened.
“Doc,” he said, accepting the call. “How are you? How’s Merrigan?”
I couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but Admiral’s responses told me enough. “Understood. How soon will you be here?” He paused. “Roger that, we’ll be ready.”
When he hung up, Admiral turned to me. “Doc and Merrigan are flying in from California. Emergency team meeting. Everyone’s attendance is mandatory. They should arrive here close to eleven hundred hours.”
Doc Butler and Merrigan Shaw weren’t just managing partners of K19 Security Solutions—they were legends. When they dropped everything to fly across the country, it meant something significant had either happened or was about to.
“I told him Alice and Dragon were on their way to DC, and he said that, while they’d prefer they be at the meeting, they don’t have time to wait.”
“Did he say what the meeting is about?” I asked.
“The investigation. But that’s all I know.”
I spent the next two hours prepping for whatever questions Doc and Merrigan might have.
At eleven hundred on the dot, I heard the distinctive sound of rotor blades approaching Canada Lake.
Through the command center’s floor-to-ceiling windows, I watched a sleek helicopter settle onto the compound’s main helipad.
Doc emerged from the helicopter first, followed by his wife.
Merrigan was a former MI6 agent who’d saved her now husband’s life after he was held hostage for several months by the Russians.
Now, they were married, with two kids. I was sure there’d been a time in both their lives when they never could’ve imagined how things turned out.
It made me wonder if I’d ever find what they had. I shook my head at the ridiculous idea that I had fleetingly thought maybe I would with Dragon.
Admiral met them at the command center’s entrance, and I stood as they walked into the main area.
“Admiral,” Doc said, clasping hands with him. “Thank you for assembling the team on short notice.”
“Tank, good to see you,” he said when I approached, shook hands, then cheek-kissed Merrigan.
“We miss you, out on the West Coast,” she said, winking. “I’m sure your family does as well.”
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, where my folks still lived. Her mention of them reminded me how much I was looking forward to their Thanksgiving visit.
Doc cleared his throat, and everyone took a seat.
“Sorry for the rush, but we don’t have much time.
We’ve been contacted by a federal handler about an ex-CIA operative in federal witness protection who claims to have information about these defense-fund thefts.
This person worked similar cases before. ”
“His handler thinks he might be able to help us,” Merrigan added. “And by that, I mean he needs to be relocated here to Kane Mountain.”
“What are the security requirements?” Admiral asked.
“The security levels on your compound exceed most federal facilities, and the remote location provides a natural isolation from potential threats. Nothing additional would be required.”
Admiral glanced over at me.
“I’m concerned about bringing in someone we don’t know,” I said. “What kind of vetting has been done on this operative?”
“Our DOJ contact vouches for him,” Doc replied. “But I understand your caution.”
“We need help with this case. If someone has information that could help us move faster, we can’t afford to pass up that opportunity,” I said, though my reservations remained.
When Admiral agreed, Merrigan excused herself. Less than an hour later, a black SUV approached the compound’s main gate.
When they reached the boathouse, a tall man emerged from the vehicle. Even from this distance, I could see him scanning the area with the same awareness most with his type of training possessed—myself included.
“Agent Pierce, welcome to K19 Sentinel Cyber,” Merrigan said when he was escorted inside. The two shook hands, then she introduced him to Doc and Admiral.
“Thank you for accommodating me on such short notice. I understand the urgency of the circumstances,” Pierce said, adding that most people called him Flint.
Admiral motioned to me. “Welcome. I’d like you to meet Patton Abrams, better known as Tank. He and Piper Drago—code name Dragon—are the co-leads on the investigation. You’ll be working directly with them.”
At the mention of Dragon’s name, I saw something flicker across his face. It wasn’t much—a momentary tightening around his eyes—but I stored it away anyway.
“Dragon is currently in a consultation at CIA headquarters, along with Alice Kane, my wife and co-leader of K19 Sentinel Cyber. They should return this afternoon, and we’ll conduct a briefing then,” Admiral said.
“In the meantime, you and Tank can get acquainted, then we’ll show you to your accommodations. ”
He thanked him, then turned to me. “No time to waste, is there?”
“You got that right. Come with me, and I’ll bring you up to speed.”
Atticus joined us as we reviewed the case details.
I kept the overview general, focusing on the organized nature of the thefts from Titan Defense and Apex Aerospace and the large amounts of money we’d uncovered.
He absorbed what I told him, but his questions felt too specific, like he already knew more than he was letting on.
When I mentioned the possibility of inside help, he leaned forward with genuine interest. “That confirms what I suspected. They’re organized about recruiting people with access to contractor funds—employees, officials, anyone with the right access.”
His knowledge seemed extensive, but his tone felt off.
“These groups operate with more sophistication than your typical financial criminals,” he continued, his eyes growing cold. “They don’t just steal funds—they attack people. Break them down until cooperation seems like the only option.”
The way he said it made my skin crawl. His voice sounded predatory.
“What kind of people?” I asked.
His eyes scrunched. “Anyone with something to lose. Family, career, reputation. Everyone has pressure points if you know where to look.”
Atticus and I exchanged worried looks. That didn’t sound like standard intel gathering—it sounded like threats.
“And you learned this how?” Atticus asked.
“Experience.” His gaze moved between us. “Sometimes, you have to use the same tactics to understand your enemy. Get inside their heads. Become them, in a way.”
The room felt colder. I’d worked with plenty of operatives, but none who talked about psychological manipulation with such obvious relish.
We took a break so he could get settled in his temporary quarters. Admiral had assigned him to Hemlock Grove. After he left, Atticus met me near the windows.
“Tank,” he said quietly, checking around to ensure we weren’t being overheard. “That guy gives me the creeps.”
I kept my voice equally low. “What do you mean?”
“The way he talks about breaking people down, finding pressure points. That’s not how good guys operate.” Atticus shook his head. “And did you see how his whole demeanor changed when Dragon’s name was mentioned?”
The observation matched my own gut feeling. Everything about him felt wrong—not just cautious or secretive. Worse.
“You don’t think he’s legit?”
“I think he’s dangerous. And I don’t like that he’s staying so close to Dragon’s camp.”
A chill ran down my spine. I hadn’t thought about the proximity, but Atticus was right. Hemlock Grove was next door to Whisper Point. “We should be careful about what information we share with him until we know more.”
Doc and Merrigan said they wished they could stick around, but they needed to return to the West Coast, then bid everyone goodbye. I walked them out to the helipad.
“How much do you know about this guy?” I asked.
“Not much,” said Merrigan with a troubled expression. “We’re taking a closer look now, but considering he’s under federal witness protection, information isn’t easy to access. Our DOJ contact asked us to trust her.”
“Understood,” I said, thanking them and wishing them safe travels but storing that information away too.
At fifteen hundred hours, Admiral made a general announcement that Alice and Dragon were on their way back and should arrive by seventeen hundred. He’d do another update then to bring them up to speed.
I saw Flint’s expression shift at the mention of Dragon’s return, and my jaw clenched. My gut was screaming that everything wasn’t on the up and up with this guy.
We took a break for dinner in the main residence, something we often did when new people were brought in.
The conversation was superficial, but I noticed how Flint’s eyes kept darting around.
More than once, Atticus and I exchanged concerned looks.
Was it that he’d been under protection from the feds for so long that being out from under it made him paranoid?
Or was there something more sinister going on?
At sixteen forty-five, I heard rotor blades approaching from the south. A few minutes later, Alice appeared in the command center entrance, looking tired from the long day of travel and her pregnancy.
“Dragon’s headed to her camp,” Alice said. “She was hoping to call it an early night.” I thought about giving her a heads-up about our visitor, but based on how awkward things had been between us, I decided to wait.
“This is my wife, Alice,” Admiral said, walking over to greet her. “And, sweetheart, this is Agent Pierce. While he gave her a brief overview of what had transpired during her and Dragon’s absence, I wondered again if I should give my partner a heads-up.
“I know Dragon was hoping to call it an early night, but I’ll ask her to come up long enough for introductions,” Alice said, looking over at me with a worried expression.
If we weren’t in a room full of people, I’d ask what it was about.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Flint watching us with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.
For the first time since his arrival, I saw genuine emotion cross his face.
Not the steely reserve he’d maintained during our discussion, but something raw—anticipation mixed with hunger, hope tempered by what looked like possessiveness.
Before I could analyze it further, the door opened, and Dragon walked into the main dining room, where we were gathered.
She took two steps, then froze.
Her expression went through a series of transformations—confusion, recognition, shock, then as if she’d seen a ghost. All the color drained from her cheeks before rushing back in a wave of fury that made her hazel eyes flash like green fire.
“Hello, Piper,” Flint said, rising from his chair with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Dragon’s hands trembled before she clenched them into fists at her sides, and I could see her forcing herself to breathe through what looked like pure rage.
What the fuck?
I glanced at Alice and saw my own concern reflected. Whatever history existed between Dragon and him, it was explosive—and dangerous. And now, I understood why my instincts had been screaming warnings about this guy from the moment he arrived.