Page 54 of Ground Zero

When Maverick saw the look in her gaze, he knew this wouldn’t be a fun conversation.

CHAPTER 30

Maverick watched as Sheridan grew more irritated.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Take it easy . . .” Maverick raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. “I needed to talk to you.”

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry. I didn’t want to call out when you were on the phone with your boss.” He studied her face, noting the stress lines around her eyes. “How did it go at Blackout?”

Instead of answering, she crossed her arms and glared at him, clearly not done with their previous conversation. “I went next door looking for you. You were gone. No note, no message, nothing.”

In different circumstances, he might be amused by her outburst. But there was nothing funny about this situation. “The house next door is compromised.”

“Wait.” A knot formed on her brow. “What do you mean that house is compromised?”

“I couldn’t stay there.” Maverick moved closer, keeping his movements slow and non-threatening. “This morning after you left, two agents searched both houses. They almost found me.”

The anger in her gaze flickered like a candle about to go dark. The emotion was replaced by concern. “What do you mean there were two men? Were they agents?”

“That’s the million-dollar question. They looked like FBI, moved like FBI, but . . .” He paused, remembering the overheard conversation. “One of them mentioned Ground Zero. Said the operation was too important to compromise.”

Sheridan’s face went pale. “That means either the FBI is more compromised than we thought, or those weren’t real federal agents.”

“There’s more. I recognized one of their voices, but I can’t place it.” Maverick ran a hand through his hair. “It’s someone I’ve worked with before, Sheridan. I’m sure of it. Someone I’ve spoken with, probably on the phone, but whose face I’ve never seen.”

She was quiet for a long moment, and he saw her processing this information alongside whatever she’d discovered during her visit to headquarters.

She muttered something under her breath and shook her head, dropping a paper bag on the coffee table. “So they’ve checked out both of these cottages. Are we even safe here right now?”

“Probably not for long. What did you find out at Blackout?” he quietly asked again.

Sheridan reached into her pocket and pulled out a USB drive. “This was hidden in your desk drawer. And Maverick . . . what’s on it doesn’t look good for you.”

Maverick looked at the USB drive in Sheridan’s outstretched hand, his stomach already sinking.

Whatever was on this device had been hidden in his desk—planted there by someone with access to his office, someone who wanted him to take the fall for Ground Zero.

“Show me,” he said quietly.

Sheridan moved to the kitchen table where Maverick had left the laptop. She sat and inserted the drive.

Maverick watched the folders populate on the screen.

His blood turned colder with each file name that appeared.

NAVAL_STATION_ACCESS_CODES.txt

FBI_PERSONNEL_FILES.zip

SIGMA_CONTACT_PROTOCOLS.doc

PAYMENT_CONFIRMATION.pdf

“Open the payment file,” she told him.