Page 11 of Ground Zero (Lantern Beach Blackout: Detonation #3)

B ack 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 His access to Blackout’s systems had been revoked, but that didn’t mean he was completely locked out.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 really had gone rogue.

Eventually, Maverick would have to answer those calls. He’d have to face his friends and look them in the eye, knowing one of them might be trying to destroy him.

But not now.

Right now, he needed to focus on staying alive and proving his innocence.

The computer screen flickered as he finally found a way past the first layer of security. A small victory, but it was a start.

He had some serious work to do, and a mental timer ticked in his head.

Blackout headquarters was exactly what Sheridan had expected from a private military contracting firm—a professional-looking campus with a large building at the center, designed to project both competence and intimidation.

The facilities—which included a helicopter landing pad and an obstacle training course—sat on the Pamlico Sound.

The main building’s tinted windows gave nothing away about the operations conducted inside.

She showed her credentials to the security guard, drove through the gate, and parked. A man met her outside and escorted her to a conference room on the first floor.

A moment later, the door opened, and three men entered.

“Agent Mendez.” The first man was tall and broad-shouldered with the confident bearing that screamed military leadership. “I’m Ty Chambers, and this is Colton Locke. We’re the cofounders of Blackout. And this is Jake Laudner, team leader for Adams’s unit.”

Sheridan shook hands with each man, studying their faces.

Chambers had the weathered look of someone who’d seen combat. Locke had intelligent eyes that seemed to soak in every detail about her. Laudner appeared the most shaken by recent events—his jaw was tight with stress lines around his eyes.

Someone else appeared in the door—a blonde in a police uniform.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she breezed inside and took a seat at the table. “I’m Lantern Beach Police Chief Cassidy Chambers. I was invited to sit in on the meeting in case there’s anything I need to know that might affect my community.”

“Understandable,” Sheridan said and introduced herself.

She actually found having another woman present to be calming.

“As you probably know, the rest of your team left, following another lead,” Ty started. “You’ve been left in charge here and are acting as our liaison?”

“That’s correct. Cook will be joining us on the phone, from what I understand.”

“He’s already on the line. We appreciate the FBI’s cooperation in this matter,” Ty said as they all took seats around the polished conference table. “As you can imagine, this situation with Adams has been . . . difficult for all of us.”

“I’m sure it has.” Sheridan kept her voice neutral, professional.

“As a precaution we’ve locked him out of our system,” Ty continued. “We have some privacy concerns, and we decided it was better to be safe.”

She nodded, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that all three men were watching her more intently than the situation warranted. Like they were looking for something specific in her reactions.

Maybe it was just paranoia.

Maybe it wasn’t.

“Any new developments in the case?” Colton asked.

Sheridan’s mind flashed to the messages she’d found on Maverick’s computer. The evidence that painted him as a traitor.

Something held her back from mentioning what she’d seen.

For now.

“Everything we’ve uncovered points back to Adams,” she said instead. “But there have been some . . . complications.”

Assistant Director Cook’s voice came from the speakerphone in the center of the table. “Agent Mendez, bring them up to speed on this morning’s events.”

Sheridan took a breath, choosing her words carefully.

“Adams escaped during an attempted arrest. But that’s not the most concerning part.

” She looked at each man in turn. “Four men claiming to be FBI Cyber Crimes arrived when I was trying to apprehend Adams. They had weapons drawn and appeared ready to eliminate your colleague rather than transport him.”

Deafening silence filled the room.

“Eliminate him?” Jake leaned forward. “Are you saying someone tried to kill Maverick?”

“I’m saying four armed men who weren’t FBI agents knew exactly why I’m here on Lantern Beach and who I was looking to apprehend. I think they followed me straight to Adams.”

“We had reports of that happening,” Chief Chambers confirmed.

Sheridan watched everyone’s reactions carefully. “Adams managed to run into the water toward a boat anchored near the shore. He swam out, jumped onboard, and raced away.”

She’d come up with that story. Witnesses on the beach could dispute it, but she hoped she still had some time before that happened.

“A boat?” Ty frowned. “Adams doesn’t own a boat.”

“Then someone helped him,” Cook said through the speaker. “No other FBI teams were deployed to Lantern Beach this morning—other than the team that arrived at Blackout with Mendez. Whoever those men were, they weren’t ours.”

That was what she’d thought. But that also presented another interesting possibility.

Real FBI agents were looking for Adams. Fake FBI agents were also looking for him.

She’d thrown out the story that someone different in a boat had picked him up.

The picture she’d painted made it look like Maverick had a lot of different enemies working against him . . . which just might make all of this even more complicated.