Page 93 of Storm Warning

Andre nudged Riley toward the suite and followed her inside.

Iona handed Riley her laptop. “Thought you’d want this.”

She nodded and clicked on the secure Fortress web browser. A moment later, Brent Maddox’s face appeared on the screen.

His somber expression tipped Andre off that something was very wrong. Whatever it was, must have happened recently because Seth and the rest of their teams didn’t know about it.

“Riley, I have some bad news.”

She stiffened. “What is it, sir?”

He hesitated, something Andre had never seen him do. After a momentary pause, Brent sighed. “Look, there’s no easy way to say this, but your friend Angie is dead.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TEARS BURNED RILEY’Seyes. No, it couldn’t be true. Angie went to the hospital for stitches with most of her family going along.

She froze. Oh, no. Dread twisted her gut into a knot. “What about her husband and children? Are they safe?”

Brent grimaced. “They’re gone, too.”

“But Diana was at a friend’s house when Angie was shot. She shouldn’t have been at the hospital.”

“Angie called Diana’s friend’s father and asked him to drive her to the hospital. She wanted her family together in one place.”

“How, Brent?” Her voice cracked. “How could this happen in a busy hospital?” Stupid question. She knew how these things went. The cops believed the danger was past and wouldn’t post a guard inside and outside the treatment room. If her family couldn’t be in the exam room, they’d have been in the waiting room.

“The killer shot them with a Sig fitted with a silencer. The Whitmore family were the only occupants of the waiting room.”

Andre frowned. “A bold move with a substantial risk of someone walking in on you and raising the alarm.”

“A desperate move,” Brent said. He shifted his gaze to Riley. “Someone wants you. Do you have any idea why?”

“No, sir, I don’t.”

He scowled. “Think. This isn’t a mental exercise.”

“Back off, sir.” Andre’s hands fisted

“Quiet, Marsh. Riley, your life is at stake, and so is Andre’s. If you don’t come up with the answer fast enough, you could lose your team as well. Is that what you want?”

“No, sir.”

“What’s going on, sir?” Iona stared at the phone screen. “You know more than you’ve shared.”

Riley studied her boss’s face. Iona was right. What she saw in his eyes wasn’t just anger, though there was plenty of that. No, she saw fear, something she’d never seen before in the Fortress CEO.

Despite the grief swamping her in waves, Riley forced herself to focus. “You found a connection between me, Angie, and the killer. What is it? Who is it?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not? If it’s a person, I’ll tear his life apart. Brent, I can’t fight what I don’t know. Help me.”

“It’s not a person, Riley. It’s a mission. That’s all I could get, and believe me, I called in favors to learn more. No dice. No name mentioned, just that a past mission assigned to you and Angie is the reason for this vendetta. Zane is searching the dark web, but our best source of information is you. If you and your team have any hope of stopping this, you must remember fast.”

Riley growled. “I didn’t know Angie was with the CIA. To my knowledge, I never worked on a mission with her.”

“Then I suggest you make a list of the missions you worked and the missions your friend worked and compare the two. Maddox out.”