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

TANK

B ack in my hotel room after dinner, I spread the data I’d collected across the desk and opened my laptop.

Dragon’s “good night” outside our rooms still echoed in my head, along with the way she’d paused, key card in hand, before disappearing inside.

I forced myself to focus on the numbers streaming across my screen instead of wondering what might have happened if I’d stepped closer.

Shifting into work mode, I followed up on a hunch I’d had earlier. After reviewing the defense-contractor records, I knew I was onto something. There were unusual irregularities around the Titan incident dates, but the source remained unclear.

My phone buzzed with a message from Dragon. Found something in the financial systems. Can we discuss on the flight tomorrow?

I stared at the text longer than necessary before responding. Absolutely. I have findings to share too.

The three dots appeared, disappeared, then reappeared before her reply came through. Good. See you at 0600.

Straight to the point, no unnecessary words. I needed to follow her lead on that.

I spent another hour documenting the data. What emerged was troubling—this wasn’t random criminal activity. The coordination suggested an organized financial theft rather than opportunistic fraud.

The private jet’s cabin felt smaller on the return flight the next morning, though nothing had changed except the tension between Dragon and me as we discussed our findings.

“Before you get into what you have, I need to show you something,” I said, pulling up the financial data on my tablet.

“What am I looking at?” Dragon leaned closer to examine the charts, and I caught that light floral scent that had been distracting me since yesterday.

“These irregularities around the incident dates show clear trends, but I can’t determine the source yet,” I said, highlighting the correlations. “The organization suggests structured funding, but we need more data to understand who’s behind it.”

Her expression sharpened with interest. “What you found supports what I mentioned in my text to you last night,” she said. “Someone’s orchestrating these fund diversions systematically.”

“Exactly. The evidence suggests this is more than isolated incidents,” I said, studying her reaction. “We might be looking at organized theft.”

Dragon rested against her seat. “We need to see if this holds at Apex.”

The remainder of the flight passed quickly, with each of us diving deep into our work.

When the helicopter touched down at Canada Lake, the September weather felt crisp, with early fall colors just beginning to show around Kane Mountain.

The Adirondack landscape looked spectacular in the afternoon light, making it hard to believe we were dealing with serious national security threats in such a peaceful setting.

Dragon headed toward her camp at Whisper Point while I made my way to mine at Granite Ridge. Once I dropped my bag inside my door, I had about twenty minutes before the briefing we’d scheduled before we left JFK.

Instead of processing my findings, I found myself thinking about Dragon’s quiet competence during our trip, the way she’d handled the contractor interviews with such professionalism.

Jesus —I shook my head. I needed to focus on the job, not on how her presence seemed to fill every room she entered.

My phone buzzed with a text from Admiral. Briefing moved to conference room in fifteen minutes instead of thirty.

Copy that, I responded, grabbing my laptop and notes.

When I arrived at the command center, Alice was already there with Admiral, looking green around the gills, as they say. Dragon slipped in right behind me, carrying two steaming cups.

“Here,” she said quietly, setting crackers and tea in front of Alice. “This might help.”

She looked up gratefully. “Thank you. I was trying to hide it, but apparently, I’m not as subtle as I thought.”

“No need to hide anything. We’re all here to help any way we can. Morning sickness bad?” Dragon asked.

Alice nodded. “All-day sickness is more accurate. Admiral’s been hovering like I’m made of glass.”

“I do not hover,” Admiral protested, though his protective glance toward his wife suggested otherwise.

Dragon smiled. “Of course not. You just happen to be in the same room as Alice at all times purely by coincidence.”

“Exactly,” Admiral said with mock seriousness, which made Alice laugh despite her discomfort. He cleared his throat. “Let’s get started. What did you find in California?”

“The irregularities I mentioned earlier appear to be part of a larger scheme,” Dragon said, saving me from having to repeat everything we’d already discussed on the plane. “We should see if the same trends appear at Apex.”

Admiral rested his forearms on the table. “How do we prove the connection?”

“I can investigate them while Dragon and Alice review the fund diversion methods,” I suggested.

“Make it happen,” Admiral said.

“We should visit Apex Aerospace in Fort Worth tomorrow to see if we find the same discrepancies we discovered at Titan,” I added.

“Atticus, make the arrangements,” said Admiral, pushing away from the table.

“Roger that, sir,” Atticus responded.

“I’ll leave you to your work,” Admiral said, standing. “Alice, don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I won’t,” Alice assured him.

After Admiral left, the four of us got back to work. Dragon pulled her chair closer to Alice’s work area.

“Ready to dive into those fund diversion methods?” Dragon asked.

“Let’s do it,” Alice said, looking more energetic now that the ginger tea was helping.

I watched Dragon settle in beside Alice before heading over to my area.

Atticus approached and cleared his throat. “Tank, got a minute?”

“Sure.”

“I heard you found something interesting with the data,” he said when I followed him to his desk. “Want me to run the same review on Apex?”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

“On it.” He pulled up the data, then leaned closer. “And, Tank? You might want to ease up on the hypervigilance. You’ve looked in Dragon’s direction fourteen times in the same number of minutes.”

“Fuck off,” I muttered.

Atticus chuckled. “Seriously, though, you’re wound tighter than a spring. What’s next? Are you going to start timing how long she stirs her coffee? Taking notes on which direction she turns when she walks?”

“I can compartmentalize just fine,” I said, more sharply than intended.

“Tank, my friend, yesterday, I watched you stare at her for thirty seconds because she tucked her hair behind her ear. Thirty seconds. I timed it.”

“That’s not?—”

“And then, when she looked up and caught you staring, you pretended to be fascinated by the coffee machine. The coffee machine, Tank. You spent five minutes examining a machine you’ve used every day for a year.”

Atticus held up his hands when I started to protest.

“Look, I’m just saying maybe you should try actually talking to her about something other than financial irregularities. Like, I don’t know, does she prefer mountains or beaches? What’s her favorite color? Does she think pineapple belongs on pizza?”

“Why would I ask her about pineapple on pizza?”

“Because it’s a conversation starter, you walnut. And it reveals character. People who like pineapple on pizza are either really adventurous or completely untrustworthy. There’s no middle ground.”

I stared at him. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Is it, though? Is it, really?” Atticus grinned. “I bet Dragon’s anti-pineapple. She’s got that whole ‘proper way to do things’ vibe. Probably thinks it would be an affront to Italian culture.”

Despite myself, I found my lips twitching. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m a genius. There’s a difference.” He turned back to his screen. “Now, let’s get back to these reports before you start analyzing the way she holds her pen.”

Over the next hour, Atticus and I dove deeper into the data. While he pulled records from other defense contractors, I started working on something that had been nagging at me—the timing.

“Look at this,” I said, pulling up a new report I’d been working on. “The irregularities don’t happen randomly around the incidents. There’s a specific sequence.”

Atticus leaned over to look at my screen. “What kind of sequence?”

“Small amounts start flowing out exactly nine days before each incident becomes public. Not eight days, not ten days. Nine days. Every time.”

“That’s oddly specific.”

“Right? And it’s not the timing alone. The amounts follow a sequence too. It starts small, builds to a peak on day three, then tapers off. Like someone’s following a script.”

Atticus whistled low. “That suggests whoever’s doing this has very specific intelligence about when these incidents will happen.”

“Or they’re controlling them.”

“Speaking of Dragon,” Atticus said suddenly, glancing across the room, where she was working with Alice. “You know she’s probably going to figure out you’re staring soon, right? She’s got that whole situational-awareness thing down.”

I appreciated Atticus’ presence. He was one of the few people who could get away with giving me grief about Dragon, because he did it without malice. During our Air Force days, he’d been the guy who could lighten the mood during the worst situations.

“I’m not staring.”

“Tank, you’re practically boring holes through the back of her head with your eyes. If staring were an Olympic sport, you’d have more gold medals than Michael Phelps.”

Despite myself, I found this funnier than Atticus’ usual commentary. “You’re ridiculous,” I repeated.

“And you’re smitten. At least admit it to yourself.”

Before I could respond, Dragon’s voice carried across the room. “Tank, you should see this.”

I walked over to see Alice had pulled up a series of transaction logs.

“Look at these authorization codes,” Dragon said, pointing to the screen. “They appear legitimate, but they’re being used to authorize transfers that the original requesters never initiated. Someone’s found a way to make theft look like legitimate government transactions.”

“The authorization system breach is just the entry point,” I said, exchanging glances with Atticus. “Look at these transaction patterns—they’re not random.”

“You’re right,” Dragon said, leaning closer to examine the data. “There’s a specific methodology here. Small amounts first, then larger transfers once they confirmed the system wouldn’t flag them.”

Alice looked up from her screen. “I’m seeing something else troubling. The timing gets shorter with each theft.”

“They’re getting more confident,” Dragon said grimly. “Or they’re working under a deadline.”

“We need to map out potential future targets,” I said. “See if we can predict who they’ll hit next.”

Alice pressed a hand to her stomach with a grimace. “I can cross-reference defense contractors with similar vulnerabilities, but this data is making me nauseous—and that’s saying something, given my current condition.”

“Want some more tea?” Dragon offered.

“No. I think I need to call it a day. This pregnancy is kicking my butt.”

“Go rest,” I said. “We can continue this tomorrow.”

After Alice gathered her things and left, Dragon began packing up her materials as well.

“When we’re at Apex tomorrow, we need to look for escalation patterns,” she said. “If they refined their methods after Titan. We should be prepared for more sophisticated countermeasures.”

“Good progress today,” I said as she closed her laptop.

Her eyes met mine briefly, then she looked away. “Thanks, Tank.”

Atticus leaned forward. “Be sure to keep your focus on the investigation instead of how Dragon’s eyes change color in the light.”

I felt heat creep up my neck when she raised her head. Had he meant for her to hear him? “Atticus has an overactive imagination.”

“Among other things.” When I picked up on the amusement in her voice, I decided he could live another day.

Admiral returned to check on our progress. “Anything else we need to cover before we call it a night?”

“We’re all set for Fort Worth tomorrow,” I confirmed. “Same timeline as the Titan visit.”

“What time do we leave?” Dragon asked as we walked toward the exit together.

“Zero seven hundred departure?”

“That will be fine. I should get some rest too. We have another long day ahead of us,” she said.

Our footsteps crunched on fallen needles on the path to Whisper Point that wound through tall pines.

“Atticus wasn’t entirely wrong earlier,” I said as we approached her camp.

Dragon glanced at me. “About what?”

“About my, um, situational-awareness issues when you’re around.”

She stopped walking. “Tank?—”

“I’m just saying I’m aware of it too. And I’m working on it.”

For a moment, something shifted in her eyes—not amusement, but not annoyance either. “Good to know.”

“Sleep well,” I said.

“You too.”

We stopped at her door, and for a moment, the facade slipped. Dragon’s eyes met mine with an intensity that drew me in.

“Tank—” she began, then stopped herself. “Good night.”

“Good night, Dragon.”

I waited until her door closed before heading to Granite Ridge. Inside, I poured two fingers of bourbon and settled on the porch, staring out at the water that reflected the last light of the evening.

The brief exchange outside her door played through my mind. For once, I’d been direct about the effect she had on me instead of pretending it didn’t exist. Her reaction suggested she wasn’t entirely opposed to the acknowledgment.

However, while I needed to do better at compartmentalizing, I also needed to acknowledge that Dragon was becoming important to me in ways that went beyond the job. The question was whether she’d ever trust me enough to let me matter to her.