Page 30 of Code Name: Tank (K19 Sentinel Cyber #4)

TANK

T en days after her surgery, I found myself outside the command center entrance when Piper insisted on attending the post-mission debrief despite my protests. She was favoring her injured side, but her color had returned, and the fierce determination in her eyes told me arguing would be pointless.

“I’m fine, Tank,” she’d said when I suggested she rest instead. “I need to be there for this. We solved this case together, and we’re going to close it together.”

Admiral had called the formal hot wash for fourteen hundred hours, explaining that we’d have federal representatives joining us to provide an update.

The whole thing felt oddly anticlimactic after everything we’d been through, but I supposed paperwork and debriefs were the reality of federal operations.

“Ready for this?” I asked as we entered the command center together.

“More than ready. I want answers.” Piper replied, touching my arm for support.

Admiral was standing near the main display screens, Alice beside him, and Atticus had positioned himself near the windows, tablet in hand.

The space had been configured into a conference room setting rather than the individual work areas it normally was, with chairs situated around tables that had been pushed together.

“Before we begin,” Admiral announced, “I want everyone to know that Brenna Austen from the Department of Justice will be joining us to provide clarification on the federal procedures and case resolution. After what happened with the communication protocols during the investigation, the DOJ wants to ensure we have complete transparency moving forward.”

“That’s good,” Piper muttered. “I’ve been wondering what had occurred on their end, especially with her sudden leave during the investigation.”

“Agreed,” I added. “It’ll be good to understand the bigger picture.”

“Also, Treasury is sending Secretary Hartwell’s replacement.” Alice paused, her expression softening as she looked at Piper. “Dragon, I’m sorry about James. I know how much he meant to you.”

Piper’s shudder was my cue to move closer, my shoulder brushing hers. She’d been processing Hartwell’s death over the past week, and I could see the grief she was still working through.

“Thank you,” Piper said quietly.

Admiral walked toward the back of the room when the command center door opened and an unfamiliar woman entered.

“Who’s that?” Kodiak murmured quietly, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Everyone, this is Assistant Deputy Treasury Secretary Emma Sinclair,” Admiral said. “She’s moving in to manage Treasury’s response to the case and the security reforms we’ll be implementing.”

As she shook hands with Admiral and moved to greet the rest of the team, I noticed Kodiak sit up straighter, his attention focused entirely on the newcomer.

“That’s Treasury’s new point person,” I replied under my breath, glancing at him with amusement.

Kodiak was usually the epitome of professional focus during briefings, but Ms. Sinclair had clearly caught his attention.

“Want me to take notes so you can read what you missed later?”

Kodiak’s glare at me lasted no more than a split second before he returned his gaze to the dark-haired woman.

“Fuck off,” he whispered from the side of his mouth.

“We have a few minutes before we get started. Brenna Austen from the DOJ should be arriving shortly.”

I stood when Emma Sinclair approached Piper and me.

“Agent Abrams, I’ve read your analysis reports. Exceptional work tracking those financial patterns.”

“Thank you, ma’am. And please, call me Tank.”

“Of course, Tank. And call me Emma.”

When she greeted Piper, her expression grew more serious.

“Agent Drago, I want you to know how sorry I am about Secretary Hartwell’s death. Whatever his final circumstances, his colleagues spoke of his mentorship and the positive impact he had on agents like yourself.”

Piper’s composure flickered. “Thank you.”

I reached for her hand under the table, squeezing her fingers. Her grip was tight with tension.

Emma nodded with sympathy.

“We’re committed to ensuring the security failures that led to this situation never happen again.”

The door opened again, and Brenna walked in, her auburn hair shorter than I remembered and her expression more serious than during our previous interactions.

“I look forward to speaking with you more after the briefing,” Emma said, looking between Piper and me before taking her seat.

“Admiral, thank you for accommodating this debrief,” Brenna said as she approached the front of the room. “I know the timeline has been unconventional, but there were operational reasons why we had to wait.”

Alice activated the main displays, connecting the secure video link that would bring Tex into the briefing. Within moments, he appeared on screen.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Tex said, scanning the group.

“Let’s begin with what we discovered, then address any questions. But, before I go on,” Brenna said, “I need to explain something about my management of this case.”

She glanced around the room.

“My administrative leave wasn’t due to a family emergency. I went undercover while we conducted a search-and-rescue op.”

The silence that followed was profound. Piper tensed beside me.

“Search and rescue?” Admiral asked.

Before Brenna could respond, footsteps in the corridor announced another arrival. The door opened, and Cory Pierce entered the command center.

He looked better than when we’d last seen him—recovered from whatever the Zaristani had used to sedate him.

He was clean-shaven and wearing a crisp button-down shirt and dark slacks.

But more than his physical appearance, there was a clarity in his demeanor that had been missing during his time with K19 Sentinel Cyber.

Piper’s breath caught, and her entire body went rigid. I shifted to position myself between her and Flint.

“Hello, everyone,” he said, his gaze finding hers. “I apologize for the deception, but mission security required maintaining my cover.”

Brenna gestured for Flint to take a seat.

“Agent Pierce has been working with the DOJ on a long-term investigation into foreign financial operations targeting US defense systems. The Prague mission three years ago uncovered evidence of coordinated thefts.”

Flint nodded. “I found indicators of systematic theft backed by Zaristani intelligence. When I tried to look deeper, they put a bounty on my head. Going into witness protection was the only way to survive.”

“But you kept working the case,” said Alice.

“I had to. The ramifications of what they were doing were too great to ignore.” His expression turned grim. “When Secretary Hartwell approached the DOJ about bringing in K19 Sentinel Cyber, it raised questions, given it was unusual.”

“What did you discover?” Emma asked.

“Ultimately, that Hartwell was being blackmailed.”

Flint’s voice carried deep regret.

“The Zaristani had been leveraging old financial irregularities against him for years, then escalated to threatening his family when he tried to resist.”

“He still did it,” Piper said, her voice controlled but strained. “He still authorized those thefts. Millions of dollars meant for defense systems.”

Flint nodded. “He did. He told me he tried to find other ways, but when they threatened his wife and children…” He paused. “He brought in K19, hoping you’d expose the Zaristani connection without revealing his involvement. He was trying to find a way out that wouldn’t get his family killed.”

His eyes met Piper’s. “And he was trying to protect you.”

“Before you disappeared, you said you had evidence,” she said, her voice steady despite the emotion I could hear underneath.

“I was close to proving the Zaristani connection, but I needed to get away from the compound to gather the final pieces. Brenna arranged for extraction, but we were ambushed en route.”

Brenna leaned forward. “That’s when I went dark.”

“At the cabin,” Flint said, “I learned the whole truth. Hartwell was trapped in an impossible situation, but one where he’d already committed serious crimes.

The massive theft that happened during the rescue was the Zaristani’s exit strategy.

They planned to kill us both once the money was safely transferred. ”

The room fell silent as the implications sank in.

“James died trying to protect me,” Piper whispered. “But he also betrayed his oath. Put American soldiers at risk.”

The words came out flat and emotionless.

“He did,” Flint confirmed. “He chose your safety over his own survival.”

I watched Piper struggle with this new understanding of Hartwell’s final actions.

“The encrypted message with coordinates,” Admiral said, “that was you?”

“The way it came about is complicated, but I managed to secure Hartwell’s device at what turned out to be close to the last minute. I sent our location before the guards found and destroyed it.”

“What happens now?” I asked.

“The Zaristani cell is neutralized,” Emma said. “We’re implementing new authorization protocols, and Treasury is conducting a full review of the security procedures.”

Admiral looked around the room.

“Any other questions about the case resolution?”

Tex’s voice came through the speakers.

“What about the defense contractors?”

“Fully secure,” Emma confirmed. “The stolen funds are being traced and recovered.”

As the federal representatives began gathering their materials, Admiral called for a final recognition.

“Exceptional work by everyone,” he said. “You ended a major threat to national security that might have gone on for years.”

Emma approached our group as the meeting concluded.

“Tank, Piper, your work was exemplary. Treasury hopes to maintain coordination with K19 for future matters.”

“We’d welcome that,” Admiral replied.

As people began filing out, Kodiak positioned himself near Emma, who was reviewing something on her tablet.

“Ma’am,” he said, “if you have questions about compound security protocols, I’d be happy to provide additional briefing.”

She looked up with interest.

“That’s very considerate, Agent Emeric. I may take you up on that.”

I nudged Piper gently. “Looks like someone made an impression.”

Her smile was small but genuine—the first I’d seen since the meeting began. “Good for him.”

As the command center emptied, Flint approached us one final time.

“Piper,” he said, “I’m sorry about Hartwell. I know what he meant to you, and I know how difficult this must be.”

“He chose me over his own survival in the end. But he also chose his family over his country for years before that.” Her voice was controlled, but I could see the pain in her eyes. “I don’t know how to reconcile those two things.”

“Maybe you don’t have to,” Flint said. “People make terrible choices when they’re desperate.”

“And terrible choices have consequences,” she replied. “Even when we understand why they were made.”

I studied Flint, remembering something that had bothered me.

“When you first arrived, you talked about how these groups break people down, find their pressure points. You sounded like you knew their methods intimately. You were talking about Hartwell, weren’t you?”

His expression grew somber. “I wasn’t certain that it was him yet, but my gut told me he was involved.

I spent three years studying the Zaristani, Tank.

Learning how they operate, how they identify targets, and how they apply leverage.

Exactly as they did with James.” He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders as if, by doing so, he could release his lingering tension.

“I had to understand their psychology to build a case against them. Sometimes, that meant getting inside their heads in ways that… I’ll just say I wish I could wipe it from my brain. ”

“The Zaristani are evil,” said Piper. “They hate America and everything we stand for.”

“I’m sorry for everything, Dragon.”

“Thank you,” Piper said to him. “I appreciate what you tried to do, even if, at the time, I didn’t understand it.”

After Flint answered the group’s remaining questions, he left with Brenna, and Piper and I found ourselves alone when the rest of the team filed out behind them.

I pulled my chair closer to hers. “How are you feeling?” I asked, studying her face.

“Angry,” she said, then paused. “And sad. And confused.”

I reached up to cup her cheek.

“You’re allowed to feel all of those things at once, darlin’. Love doesn’t disappear just because someone disappoints us.”

“He wasn’t a good man, Tank. All the time I spent vilifying Flint, I should’ve seen James for who he really was,” she said, her voice raw. “I missed the signs…”

“Everyone did,” I finished.

“Except Flint,” she said with a half smile.

“Ready to get out of here? I believe I owe you a vacation on a beach somewhere.”

“Now? Right before Christmas? Your mother would have your head.”

“I chuckled. “You’ve got that right. Maybe right after New Year’s. By then, you should also be cleared to travel. It’ll be just you and me, darlin’. No rush, no pressure.”

As we walked toward the exit together, I realized that, rather than closing a case, we were opening the door to everything we’d been afraid to hope for. And for the first time since I’d met Piper Drago, the future looked exactly as bright as it should.