Page 21 of Ground Zero

She’d found no tracking devices, suspicious wires, or packages.

She should feel relief. Instead, her muscles remained coiled.

As she climbed into the driver’s seat, Sheridan couldn’t shake the feeling that Maverick had been right to be cautious.

The drive to Blackout headquarters gave her time to think. To think about the messages she’d found on that computer. About the way Maverick had reacted when those fake agents started shooting. About the genuine pain in his voice when they’d mentioned his parents.

Was there really a mole on her team? On his?

The possibility made her stomach churn. She’d worked with some of her colleagues for years. She’d trusted them with her life. Some of them had been at Danny’s funeral, had offered their condolences, had promised to help her find his killer.

If one of them was responsible for Danny’s death . . .

Sheridan gripped the steering wheel tighter.

She needed to find out the truth. Not just for Maverick’s sake, but for Danny’s.

And for her own peace of mind.

She had no idea what kind of situation she was walking into at Blackout.

But she was praying for the best—and for wisdom to know how to maneuver it all.

Her faith in God was the only thing that had helped her survive Danny’s death.

And it would be the only thing that helped her survive now as well.

CHAPTER 11

Back at the fishing cottage, Maverick settled in front of the computer with grim determination. His access to Blackout’s systems had been revoked, but that didn’t mean he was completely locked out.

He’d built enough backdoors and workarounds to give himself options. The question was whether he could access them without triggering security alerts that would lead his colleagues—or their enemies—straight to him.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he probed the network defenses he’d helped design. Looking for weaknesses. Testing forgotten pathways.

Who would have revoked his access? The decision would have required authorization from someone high up the chain of command. Someone who either believed he was guilty, or someone who needed him to look guilty.

Was it someone on his team? Jake? Atlas? Hudson? Kyle?

He didn’t want to think it was any of them.

Yet he also knew they were the most likely suspects. They each had intimate knowledge of operations, of their missions.

And his team seemed to be the one targeted time and time again by Sigma.

The thought that one of his teammates might be a traitor made him physically sick. These people weren’t just colleagues.

They were family.

They’d saved each other’s lives, shared their deepest fears, trusted each other with state secrets.

If one of them had betrayed that trust . . .

His phone buzzed again. Then again.

He glanced at the screen and saw a string of missed calls and texts from Ty, Colton, and Jake Laudner—his team leader. They were all worried about him and wondering where he was.

And probably scared he reallyhadgone rogue.