Page 39 of Jonas (Silver Team #4)

Lore shrugged. “Sometimes it takes a deathbed confession to get what you need.”

The smile Cash flashed Lore was frightening. “A woman after my own heart.”

“What did he have to say about the power outage and the bridges?” Theo inquired.

“He knew they were terrorist attacks before we laid out what we think Maddon’s blueprint is.

He was pissed as fuck, I didn’t come to him earlier with the intel that he had a rogue CIA officer selling secrets.

I’m sure I’ll catch more shit about that when this is over.

But eventually he’ll understand why it was better he didn’t know.

The only good thing that came out of the meeting is he agreed Gold and Blue will stand guard at the nuclear plants, and he’s pulling in eight nuclear instructors stationed in Goose Creek and Ballston Spa to monitor the plants.

They’re outsiders with experience running power plants on carriers and subs.

“He was less than thrilled when I told him his fleet was more than likely compromised. Not that it mattered, because he flatly refused to leave the White House in the event of a nuclear meltdown. He did agree to limit his exposure to only his inner circle. But that still leaves the vice president and the speaker exposed.”

“Where does that leave us?” Smith joined.

“Graham requested forty-eight hours. He wants time to think .” Zane spat the last word.

“That means we have two days to get proof Rutte is in bed with the Chinese. We have two days to find Keith Mitchell. And Shep has two days to get us intel on Bolin Chen and his brother. My buddy Mark called last night while I was meeting with POTUS. By the time I called him back he was busy. I’ll connect with him today and hopefully he’ll have an update on the Wu’s and what the fuck is going on up in Canada. ”

Forty-eight hours was not a lot of time to get dirt on people who made it top priority to keep their shit hidden.

“What about Karen White and her husband?” Derrika asked.

“Fuck those two. They’re running. With any luck, the bad guys will find them and take out their trash. We’re beyond whatever light they could shine on the situation. We need Rutte and if possible, Jun De Chen.”

Derrika nodded. “Got it.”

“First Penny Cox,” Kira started. “Forty-five. She did her undergrad in computer science at USC, then moved to Berkeley for her master’s in cybersecurity. She’s been with the NSA for fifteen years. Before that, she bounced around Fortune 500 companies, mainly banking.

“I still need to dig deeper, but from what I have now, Operation Freebird is not an op but coordinates to a farm in Sherill, Iowa. Someone turn on the monitor, I’ll show you the map.”

Theo reached for the remote and clicked on the big screen mounted on the wall. A map of farmland filled the screen.

“I will say, I’m really freaking good at my job, but it took me five minutes to find this. I had a name so it made it easier, but if the NSA meant to keep this location a secret and they’re running cybersecurity for the country, someone needs to be fired.”

“Hiding it in plain sight?” Derrika tossed out an idea.

“Could be,” Kira allowed, and backed up the view on the map.

Nothing but large farms that skirted the banks of the Mississippi River.

“Who owns the farm?” Zane barked.

“A corporation, The Vicksburg Group.”

“Motherfucker,” Zane exploded. He snatched his phone off the table and stabbed at the screen.

The man was going to need a new phone if he kept abusing the one in his hand.

“Um, is he going to tell us what’s happening?” Derrika whispered.

“Yeah. I’m gonna explain, all right, as soon as I…” Zane trailed off when someone answered the call he’d made.

“Is there a problem?” President Graham asked.

“Does Operation Freebird ring any bells?”

Graham’s tone had gone from wary to alert when he inquired, “How do you know that name?”

“A few minutes ago, I received a call from a woman named Penny Cox asking for my help. She’s NSA and right now is running to her car after stumbling on something she said she shouldn’t’ve seen.

Before she hung up, she said if she didn’t make it to me I needed to look into Operation Freebird.

I looked and came across coordinates to a farm in Iowa close to the banks of the Mississippi River.

The farm is owned by the Vicksburg Group.

Now, the Vicksburg battle was in Mississippi, not Iowa, however, the importance of the strategy was the river.

I’d say your bugout location has been burned, Mr. President.

Though, I will give credit to the architect of the plan.

Putting the president in a rural environment to hide until he can get on a boat and take a nice, long float down the Mississippi River to the Gulf where he could be smuggled onto a ship is a damn good plan.

But I’d advise you not to use that location. ”

“I want names,” Graham growled.

“I’ll give you whatever this Penny woman tells us. But I hope to fuck that inner circle of yours just got smaller, Graham.”

“You’re heard.”

“Am I? Because, again, it’s your ass on the line.

And the avenues you have to escape are shrinking.

I get you’re the captain, but you going down with the ship means you’re handing us all over to the Chinese.

Rutte has a deal in place and it might take time, but make no fucking mistake—that plan will include my grandchild speaking Chinese.

Last night you gave me forty-eight hours, now I’m giving you the same.

You have two days to convince me not to unleash my men.

Two days, Trent, then I will forcibly remove you from the White House and put you in a safehouse under guard. ”

“You’re not seriously threatening me,” Graham seethed.

“I am telling you, I will protect you by any means necessary. And if that means saving you from yourself and your conscience, you can thank me later when your country is still in one piece.”

Zane disconnected the call and released a heavy sigh.

“I think I have a lady boner,” Lore announced.

“Good to hear, because if Graham doesn’t come willingly, it’ll be you I send in to take him hostage.”

Lore actually looked like she was strategizing how she was going to infiltrate the White House. Then she confirmed it. “I’ve never thought about how I’d break into the White House. But I’m up for the challenge.”

Good God, the woman was insane.

“Erin would be a good resource. She used to sneak out of the White House,” Kira supplied.

Lore glanced at Kira. “Who’s Erin?”

“She’s married to a Red Team Operator, Colin Doyle. Her father’s Tom Anderson, the former President.”

“Maybe let’s not give Lore more intel on the team,” Zane snarked.

“I think the I-might-shoot-you-because-I-don’t-trust-you ship has sailed,” Lore returned. “And for the record, it might be me who shoots your cantankerous ass if you keep being a dick to me.”

“Cantankerous,” Zane huffed.

“Difficult. Unreasonable. Cranky.”

“Difficult, cranky, unreasonable, and sarcastic is his love language,” Kira explained, ticking off the words on her fingers as she said them.

“Maybe it’s time he tries a new one that’s less irritating.”

“Nope. This one works. Besides, I’m averse to change.”

Derrika leaned close and quietly asked, “What’s your love language?”

That was easy.

I maneuvered my mouth to her ear and whispered, “Having my beard smell like you all day.”

Derrika jolted then she busted out in a fit of laughter, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

“Has she cracked?” Lore’s question killed Derrika’s laughter.

“Doubtful,” Smith mused. “They’re probably talking about what Jonas ate for breakfast.”

In a roundabout way, Smith was correct. Not that I would confirm.

“Garrett’s calling,” Kira broadcasted. “I’ll put him on the screen.” With a few strokes on her keyboard, the map disappeared and Garrett’s face replaced the image. “You’re on the big screen. Everyone can see you but you can only see me.”

“Is Derrika in the room?”

I felt Derrika stiffen next to me. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Kira told you she found spyware on your work phone.”

“Yeah.”

“Right. I’ve been monitoring your calls and texts. No surprise the head of your department has been calling. By the way, the last call from her included an ‘I’m sorry to do this over voicemail but you leave me no choice but you’re fired.’”

“That was expected,” Derrika returned.

“Yeah. There’s also two voicemails from a Natalie Albright. The first call was just checking in asking if you were okay. Last night she called again. I think you need to listen to the message.”

“Who’s Natalie?” Zane clipped, obviously still in a bad mood.

“A woman I worked with.”

“The pretty HR coordinator who was screwing Anson Sutton,” Lore declared.

Derrika slowly swiveled in her chair to fully face Lore. “She was screwing Anson? I didn’t know that.”

“You’d have no reason to know. You weren’t investigating Anson, you were looking into the resumes and how Delcon had been infiltrated.

Though, you weren’t really; Anson was just using you as an information source so he and his buddies would be one step ahead.

Not that it did them any good seeing as they’re dead.

I, on the other hand, was investigating the board.

Anson and Natalie met once a week, different city, different hotel each time. ”

“Well, fuck a duck,” Derrika muttered. “I can’t believe I missed that.”

“Eh. It happens. It’s easy to get tunnel vision when you’re given set mission parameters.” Lore let her off the hook.

Lore was right, it was easy to get tunnel vision. I just hoped that wasn’t what was happening now with the Chinese.

“May I hear the message?”

Garrett glanced at something to his right, then a woman’s voice came on.

“Hey, Amy, it’s Natalie. I need to talk to you.

Something’s happening here. I don’t know what it is, but everyone’s on edge.

” Her voice dropped to a whisper and there was a wobble when she continued.

“Anson’s dead, so is Lou. That’s insane, right?

I think it has something to do with those government contracts.

And I found something a few months ago. I didn’t know who to tell, but some of the resumes for campus security are identical.

Like everything is the same down to the references.

God, I hope you’re okay. Please call me, Amy, I’m scared. ”

“I need to call her,” Derrika declared.

“And say what?” Zane asked.

“It’s not me who needs to say anything. She might know something that will help us.”

“Lore?” Zane called.

“Oh, sure, now you want my input,” she bitched.

“I never interacted with Natalie so I didn’t get a good read on her.

All I know about her is she regularly met with Anson.

There could’ve been some pillow talk that could be useful if Derrika can get it out of her.

But if she can’t, send me in and I’ll get it. ”

“What makes you think she’ll talk to you if she won’t talk to me?”

“She’ll talk to me because I’ll start the conversation with pliers in my hand and the first question she doesn’t answer will result in her losing a fingernail.”

Derrika made a hilariously disgusted face but still she returned, “I can pull off a fingernail.”

Lies.

“Girl, you don’t pull off a fingernail, you rip it off.”

Derrika’s nose scrunched.

“How about we dial back the torture talk and set up a meeting?” Theo suggested.

“Personally, I was enjoying the torture talk,” Cash interjected. “There’s something sexy about a woman debating the proper way to mutilate and relieve someone of their fingernails.”

“There’s something seriously wrong with you,” Nebraska pointed out.

Cash’s smile conveyed he took no offense.

“Don’t I know it,” he chortled. “Those people at CPS did a bang-up job raising me. If their goal was to create morally bankrupt and fucked-up kids, they certainly excelled in their creation.”

Derrika’s hand went to my thigh. Her fingers curled in to the point of pain. Before she could say something, I shook my head but my eyes were glued on Lore.

That was when I saw it. Not the desperation Derrika said she’d seen. But the real Stella came out for a fraction of a second—empathy and concern filled her eyes. Then it was gone.

Derrika squeezed my leg. When I glanced over at her, she had a brow raised and an ‘I told you so’ expression.

I shook my head.

Whatever Lore’s damage was, it had scarred her in a way that I didn’t think anyone could heal. My gaze slid to Cash. He, too, had internal demons that if he didn’t keep a tight hold on, would destroy him and anyone in his vicinity.

I hoped for his sake, that control never slipped.