Code Name: Admiral (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (K19 Sentinel Cyber #1)

14. Admiral

14

ADMIRAL

W hen Alice and I returned to the main room, the first thing I did was ask Tank to get the Butlers on the line.

“Roger that,” he said. A few minutes later, he handed me the satphone, saying Doc was on standby and his wife was with him.

“Hello, and thanks for agreeing to talk with me,” I began.

“Always, Admiral, you know this,” said Merrigan.

“Appreciated. I need some help.” I paused. This was going to be harder than I anticipated. “In exchange, I’m leaving the bureau, and if it’s still on the table, I’m interested in discussing a job offer.”

“Hold up a minute,” said Doc. “You can ask for our help without feeling as though you need to give us something in return.”

“I know. To be honest, I’m resigning from the FBI, regardless.”

“What’s going on, Pershing?” Merrigan asked.

I took a deep breath, weighing how much to reveal. “We’ve uncovered evidence of compromised operations. Multiple cases involving the Castellanos appear to have been blown before they began.”

“And you suspect FBI involvement?”

“According to Tex Keegan, he’s confirmed a mole.”

There was a long pause on the other end. “How high up do you think it goes?” Doc asked carefully.

“If he and I are both right and there’s intel being leaked in order to protect the Castellanos, then I’d say it would have to be someone with top-secret clearance. Along with that, it would have to be a person whose actions aren’t closely scrutinized.”

“How can we help?” Merrigan asked.

“Intel also suggests that Alessandro Castellano is on the hunt for not just Alice Gordon but for me as well in retaliation for Bobby Kane’s death.”

“Our condolences, Pershing,” said Merrigan.

“I appreciate it.”

“Hold on a sec,” said Doc. “Who killed Bobby?”

“According to Tank, Vito Tarese. Working theory is Vincent Castellano called the hit.”

“The Ghost? Interesting,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

“So you need backup,” said Merrigan. “How much?”

“Grit arranged backup from five bureau agents. Given our suspicions, I’d like to release them. And, in answer to your question, as many as you can spare.”

“How soon?” Doc asked.

“As soon as possible. As you know, Alice Gordon is here, and she’s making progress tracking the source of the leaks. But if whoever it is realizes we’re onto them…”

“Understood. Diesel will coordinate with the team currently in the vicinity. While he’s doing that, we’ll get another crew on their way. Give me an hour.”

My eyes widened. “Seriously? That soon?”

“We’ve got an investigation in progress not far from where you are. I’ll arrange helicopter transport.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. Thank you.”

“You got it,” said Doc. “And when this is over, you let us know if you’re serious about joining the K19 family. If you decide you’re not ready, we won’t hold you to it.”

“There’s something else I need to ask you about.”

“Shoot.”

“Why were you so willing to loan Tank and Blackjack to the bureau?”

“We received similar intel from the DOJ, Admiral.”

“I guess it makes sense that you wouldn’t inform me.” I shook my head. “Sorry, that was out of line.”

“Until today, neither Tank nor Blackjack knew exactly why they were there other than to aid in the investigation into Sarah Gordon’s death. If at any time we believed you needed to know about a potential mole, you and they would’ve been read in.”

It made sense, considering I worked for the bureau and not K19. “Do you have any suspects?”

“Not yet. The intel is new. The potential list, however, isn’t that long.”

Something else occurred to me. “Has the DOJ considered it might be within their ranks?”

Doc chuckled. “Our mandate was to find a potential leak within the bureau. However, you should know better than to think we’d stop there.”

“Senate intelligence should be considered as well.”

“I know Doc said we wouldn’t put pressure on you to leave the FBI and partner with K19, but, Admiral, I’ll be more forthright. You belong with us,” said Merrigan.

“I appreciate it, and believe me, I’m strongly considering it.”

“What about Ms. Gordon?” she asked.

“Alice would be more of an asset than I would.”

“It isn’t either or, Pershing. To be frank, we want you both.”

“Again, I appreciate it.”

“Keep us briefed,” said Doc.

“Roger that, sir.” I thanked them both again and ended the call.

When I returned to the main room, I returned Tank’s phone, then found Alice at her workstation. She looked up when I approached.

“Any progress?” I asked.

“Maybe. I’ve isolated a pattern in the communication protocols. Whoever is leaking information is using a sophisticated encryption method, but there are traces. Like fingerprints.”

I leaned over her shoulder, studying what was on the screen in front of her even though it meant almost nothing to me. “Can you track them?”

She hesitated. “Working on it. But…”

“What?”

“The encryption. It’s not something a street-level hacker would use. This is government-grade stuff.”

The implications made my stomach turn. “Meaning whoever it is has access to high-level bureau data resources.”

“Exactly.” She pulled up another screen. “Look at these timestamps. The leaks always happen within hours of sensitive information being uploaded to the FBI’s secure servers.”

It was as I suspected when Doc asked how high up this went.

“We’re not looking for a low-level agent, Pershing.”

“Understood.” There weren’t very many people within the FBI who would have the kind of access Alice was suggesting. Adding in the Department of Justice as well as senate intelligence grew the list but only slightly.

While she continued working her hacker magic, my intention was to get with Diesel and Tank to develop an action plan for the teams K19 was sending our way. That would include developing a list of suspects. “By the way, K19’s sending backup. They should arrive within the hour.”

Alice nodded, not looking away from her screens. “Good. Because whoever this is, they’re going to realize we’re looking soon. And when they do, we need to be ready.”

“We will be,” I assured her, though my gut churned with worry. We were poking a very big bear, and when it struck back, it would strike hard.

However, we had no choice. Sarah’s murder and the suspected corruption within the bureau or even higher than that, along with the Castellanos, were all connected. I sensed that, within the web of what Alice was discovering, there was evidence so significant that whoever was working with the crime family would want to eliminate all potential threats. Just like they had Sarah.

“Incoming,” said Tank, looking at his phone.

“Grit?” I asked.

“Affirmative.”

I stood and walked over to the front door, meeting him when he came in.

“Admiral.” He nodded grimly.

“Come with me.” I led him to the camp’s lower level so we could speak privately.

“Tank filled me in on the basics. How deep does this go?”

I studied him, weighing my words carefully before I spoke. “Deep enough that we’re taking the investigation off official channels.”

“You don’t trust the bureau?” His expression was unreadable.

“Right now, I don’t trust anyone I can’t verify personally.” I met his gaze. “We’ve confirmed multiple operations against the Castellanos were compromised. All from high-level sources.”

Grit was silent for a long moment. “You realize what you’re suggesting?”

“I do. That’s why K19’s sending backup.”

“Where does that leave me?”

“That depends on you.” I kept my tone neutral. “But whatever’s coming, it’s bigger than any of us.”

His hand moved to the back of his neck. “I’m in. Tell me how you want me to proceed.”

“For now? Just know we’re pursuing this independently. The fewer people who know the details, the better.”

He nodded slowly, accepting the implicit message that he wasn’t being fully briefed. “Fair enough. I should get back to Federal Plaza. Keep up appearances.”

“Wait.” Something in his tone made me pause. “What appearances?”

“Someone needs to be your eyes inside. Might as well be me.” He pulled out his phone, showing me a message. “Meeting called for zero eight hundred tomorrow. All assistant directors and above.”

“They know we’re onto something,”

“Exactly. Which means I need to be there, looking appropriately concerned.”

I studied him. “You’re taking a hell of a risk.”

“Sarah Gordon was one of ours,” he said simply. “We owe it to her to see this through.”

It was exactly what a loyal bureau man would say. It was also exactly what someone trying to monitor our investigation would say.

“Just be careful what you report back,” I warned. “To anyone.”

His eyes met mine. Message received.

“Keep your comms open,” I added.

“I’ll brief you myself on whatever happens at the meeting and beyond it. And, Admiral, when this breaks open—and it will—I want to be there. For Sarah.”

I nodded noncommittally. Time would tell whose side Grit was really on.

“Take your team with you.”

“Understood.”

I watched Grit’s car disappear down the drive, already composing a message to Tank: Track his every movement.

Roger that.

I stalked into the bedroom, needing to process everything that had happened in the last hour.

“Hey,” I heard Alice say. “Are you okay?”

When I shook my head, she shut the door behind her, approached, and put her arms around me. I was glad she didn’t ask what was wrong since I wasn’t ready to talk. Too many things were swirling through my head for me to even put enough words together to explain.

I closed my eyes, breathing in her scent and wishing I could shut the rest of the world out. I didn’t want to think or talk about the Castellanos, my cousin, her sister, or that there was a traitor to the country I’d pledged to protect and serve within the FBI—maybe even higher up than that.

Alice raised her head from where it rested on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. When I opened my mouth to speak, she cut me off by bringing her lips to mine.

Our kiss deepened, and for a moment, I let myself get lost in it. In her. The world narrowed to just us like I’d wanted it to—her soft lips, her hands gripping my shirt, the way her body fit so perfectly with mine. For a few precious seconds, there was no conspiracy, no corruption, no looming threats. Just Alice.

An alert from her monitoring system shattered the moment.

“Argh,” she muttered against my lips before pulling away. “I need to?—”

“Go ahead.”

I followed her out to the main room and watched as her fingers flew across her keyboard. Seconds later, lines and lines of data appeared on the screen. I stood behind her. “Talk to me.”

“I’ve been running a pattern analysis on FBI communications over the past five years.”

“And?”

She pulled up what looked like a complex web of data points, each one representing a communication pathway. “The red nodes are confirmed connections to Castellano holdings or shell companies. The blue are bureau operations that were compromised.”

My chest tightened as I realized the implications of what she said, combined with what I was looking at.

“Every time the bureau got close to an indictment, there was a disconnect.” Her fingers danced across the keys, expanding the timeline. “This goes back almost seven years. I could keep going if you want me to.”

“What’s your gut telling you?” I asked.

“That it goes back far longer.”

“Then, yes.”

She nodded and got back to work, and I noticed Tank motioning to me.

“What’s up?” I asked, joining him in the kitchen.

“I wanted you to know I tracked Grit on his way up here.”

“Good thinking.”

“He rented a car at the Albany airport after flying in from the city. I expect that’s how he’ll get back.”

“Copy that.”

“I’m tracking the five guys he sent as backup too.”

“Keep me posted if anything suspicious turns up with them.”

“Will do, boss.” He scratched his chin. “I’ve been thinking about something.”

“What’s that?”

“Why didn’t Sarah bring Alice in a long time ago? I mean, with her skills, she could’ve taken those fuckers down before…” His voice trailed off, but I knew what he meant.

“I don’t know, Tank, except to say, maybe she was protecting her.”

“Make sense.”

I thought about the letter she’d left and wondered if Alice had read it yet. Maybe there was a clue as to why Sarah hadn’t wanted her sister involved.

“Hear that?” Tank asked.

“Incoming,” I said as the distinctive thump grew louder.

He and I went out to the porch and watched the helicopter land in an open field on my property. Six people jumped out, then the chopper spun up again and flew away.

“Do you know this team?” I asked Tank.

“Affirmative.”

“I’m Admiral Kane,” I said when the six reached the porch.

“Hey, guys,” said Diesel, walking up behind them. “Thanks for getting here so quickly. The others are on their way. As soon as they arrive, I’ll brief you on where we’re at.”

“Come on in,” I said, motioning everyone to follow.

As soon as I walked in the door, Alice raised her head and looked at me with scrunched eyes.

“Excuse me,” I said to the group before walking over and sitting beside her. “What’s going on?”

“I found something else.”

“Do we need to speak privately?”

When she nodded, I led her into the bedroom where we’d been earlier.

“Talk to me,” I said after I’d closed the door behind us.

She pulled something from her back pocket and unfolded it.

“Sarah’s letter?” I asked.

“I think she knew who the mole was.” Her voice cracked. “Either that, or she was getting really close.” She motioned to the paper she was holding. “I’d let you read it, but it’s in code and won’t mean anything to you. The important part is that it says where I can find the evidence she was compiling.”

“Do you think it’s still there? Meaning, it hasn’t been wiped?”

“It’s there. I’m certain of it.”

I cocked my head.

“It’s on one of my drives.”

“Do you want to do this now?” I asked.

“I do, but there’s a crowd out there presently, and I’m used to working alone.”

“I can ask Diesel to brief his team in the boathouse. In fact, it might be a good idea if they made that their base of operation. There’s plenty of room for them to bunk there too.”

“That would help.”

I pulled out my phone and sent him a message. Within a couple of minutes, he responded, saying they were on their way out. When I heard the front door close, Alice and I returned to the empty room.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?”

She smiled up at me. “No, you can stay.”

I sat beside her, watching as she decrypted several files.

“Damn, Sarah.”

“What?” I asked.

“She was tracking money movements through the Castellanos’ legitimate businesses.” Alice pulled up a series of transactions. “The pattern is similar to what I found with indictments. What Sarah discovered is large sums moving through their construction companies and real-estate holdings.”

“To pay off the mole.”

“That’s my guess. The last trace she ran was the day before she died.”

There was a knock at the door, it opened, and Diesel walked in. “I wanted you to know the team’s setting up a secure communications center in the boathouse. Also, Bryar’s on her way over with dinner, if that’s okay.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Alice nod.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I told him, checking the time. I hadn’t even noticed it getting dark, and it was now past six.

“Oh, Tank wanted me to ask if there’s any movement from Staten Island.”

“Nothing yet,” Alice answered. “They’re probably busy trying to figure out why their system is buggy all of a sudden.” She winked.

I raised a brow. “What are you up to?”

She glanced up at me and smiled. “The Castellanos aren’t the only ones who can plant false intelligence. Let’s see how they like chasing shadows.”

“Be careful,” I warned. “We don’t want to force their hand.”

“Trust me.” Her fingers flew faster. “By the time I’m done, they’ll be looking everywhere except here.”

Diesel cleared his throat. “Doc’s asking for an update on what you need long-term.”

“Tell him we’re setting up for an extended operation,” I responded. “This isn’t something we can rush.”

“Roger that. I’ll have Tank coordinate with the advance team on rotating security details.”

After he left, Alice leaned against her chair. “Sarah left breadcrumbs,” she said quietly. “All this time, I thought she was just my somewhat flaky big sister, but she was leaving a trail. For me.”

“She knew you’d find it.”

“But why not just tell me?”

“Maybe she planned to once she knew who the mole was.”

“This was her insurance policy in case they came after her, so all her work wasn’t in vain.”

“Let’s make sure it wasn’t. In order to do that, we need to build the case slowly, make it airtight. No loopholes.”

“Together?” she asked.

“Always together, Alice.” I stood and pulled her into my arms.

“Look, it’s snowing,” she said, pointing to the window. “It looks so much prettier here than it does at home.”

I thought about that for a minute. Alice’s home was the city. The place where the Castellanos were plotting their next move.

The longing I felt earlier, to hide away with Alice, to keep the world at bay, shamed me. I was not that man. I’d never been. For as long as I could remember, I’d been bound by a sense of duty I’d never once turned my back on. And never before had I felt the level of responsibility I did now, today.

I would lay down my life for Alice Gordon, to keep her safe, protected, and alive. When we came out the other side of this, as I knew deep in my soul we would, I’d ask her to spend her life with me, to be my partner, my friend, my lover, and my wife. Would she agree? Could she ever love me the way I already loved her?

“What are you thinking about?” she whispered.

“You. Always you.”