Chapter 12 #2
It was her idea, and even though Con gave the go-ahead, it was the riskiest move her career had ever seen. And after working with Interpol and the FBI, taking down trafficking rings on the dark web and even exposing corrupt leaders, that was saying something.
Hours ago, she’d sent an encrypted message to a man who could have her killed with one phone call.
At least it felt that way.
Adrian Douglas Kent—Pentagon analyst and terrorist handler.
The message she sent had been simple.
Meet with us and hand over everything you know, or I send this to the FBI. You have 24 hours.
Then she attached the wire transfers and communication logs linking Kent to Silverton. Enough to bury him in a federal prison for the rest of his miserable life.
Or make him desperate enough to eliminate the threat—her.
This was the work that got her blood pumping. It kept her going, even when all appeared to be lost. So she’d hit send, held her breath…and waited.
Now his response glowed on the screen, imprinting three little sentences on her brain.
Will meet. Tomorrow. 2100 hours.
Curling forward around the knot in her stomach, she typed a response.
Location to follow.
She sucked in a constricted breath and picked up her phone to text Dante. Not even three seconds passed before footsteps thundered through the base. In seconds, Dante, Sophie and Con barreled into the room.
Dante rushed to her side, planting a hand on the desk and thrusting his face close to the monitor. He skimmed the message between her and Kent and then jerked upright, back stiff.
“Kent agreed to meet.”
Sophie’s eyes widened a fraction, and she drifted closer to Con. He reached out and touched her elbow in the briefest show of comfort.
Elin’s stomach fluttered as she watched. After they took the Canadian into custody, Liam had grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the war room.
Liam used his touch, his presence, to calm her, just like Con did for Sophie.
He was trying to show her he still cared about her, through touches and looks and kisses and oh so much more.
She’d been so blind. Although she allowed him into her bed those times, she kept him at arm’s length. Now she saw everything through a clear lens, not the smeared view she had after finding out he hadn’t died, merely left her to suffer alone.
Through the window, she could see the sun beginning its descent, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. Beautiful and peaceful…and completely at odds with the knot of anxiety mingling with guilt in her stomach.
“Walk us through it again.” Con folded his arms with deceptively casual air. But his eyes were sharp and assessing. “From the beginning.”
Elin pulled up the file on her laptop. “The wire transfer Dante found led me to a shell company. From there, I traced it back to a Department of Defense contractor account—one with Pentagon clearance. The account holder is Adrian Douglas Kent, a mid-level analyst in the Defense Intelligence Agency.”
“Mid-level,” Sophie repeated. “So not exactly a mastermind.”
“No. Which makes sense.” Dante pulled up his own screen, displaying a web of connections. “He’s the middleman, which is exactly what Cipher looks for. Guys who take orders from above and execute them. He doesn’t make the big decisions—he just makes sure the operation flows smoothly.”
Elin’s voice came out tight. “He knows where every device is and who’s handling them.”
Con nodded slowly. “And you reached out to him, as I authorized?”
“Yesterday. I sent an encrypted message through a back channel I’d been monitoring.
” She pulled up the log. “I included evidence of his financial transactions and communication patterns. Then I gave him an ultimatum—meet with us and hand over everything he knows, or I send it all to the people who can make his life very unpleasant.”
Sophie twined her fingers in front of her. “I’m worried about how deeply you’re involved now, Elin.”
Elin met her gaze. “I painted a target on all depicting the moment I started digging.”
“At least this way, we control the engagement,” Dante added.
“Do we?” Strain lined the corners of Sophie’s beautiful, expressive eyes. “Because from where I’m sitting, this feels too neat, too clean. Kent responded in less than twenty-four hours and agreed to meet. Doesn’t it concern you that he didn’t try to negotiate or deny anything?”
“He knows he’s cornered.” Again, Con touched the back of her hand—just a stroke of his fingertips, but Elin saw Sophie relax at once, her clenched fingers loosening and her shoulders easing.
“Maybe.” Sophie didn’t sound convinced. “Or maybe he’s setting a trap.”
The words hung in the air. Elin had been thinking the same thing since the response came through. It was too easy. Too clean. A man like Kent, embedded in the intelligence community, didn’t just roll over.
“It could be a trap.” She bit down on her lip, worrying it with her teeth for a moment. “But what’s our alternative? Wait and hope he doesn’t warn his handlers? Hope the bombs don’t go live??”
“Cipher and Kent both know we’re hunting them now.”
Sophie’s jaw tightened. “How long do we have?”
“Best guess? Days. Maybe a week.” Dante’s fingers flew across his keyboard, pulling up maps with red dots scattered across multiple cities that Sophie found in that cryptogram. “If Kent already found a replacement for the Canadian handler—”
“Then we could be looking at simultaneous detonations in eleven, maybe twelve cities,” Con finished. “Casualties in the tens…twenties…possibly hundreds of thousands.”
The room fell silent. Elin stared at those red dots representing potential mass graves. New York. Chicago. Los Angeles. Seattle. Atlanta, and so many others. How many people would die if they didn’t act?
How many will die if this is a trap and we walk right into it?
She would die. And good men from the Blackout Charlie team.
Con’s voice held the weight of command. “If we don’t move, we’re gambling that we can find and stop every bomb before they go live. Those aren’t odds I like.”
“So we send someone to meet Kent.” Sophie looked at Elin.
She’d placed herself in the trenches more than once. The last time when she was supposed to hand off important intel to Liam that day.
“I’m the one he’s expecting. I’ll go.”
No one spoke.
This was going to go bad. The only question was how bad.
A step sounded behind them. Elin didn’t have to turn to know who it was. Liam’s presence was both a worry and a comfort.
“What’s going on?” His voice was rougher than usual, and when Elin finally looked at him, she saw the tension in his jaw, the way his hands flexed at his sides.
He’d been avoiding her since this morning. Or maybe she’d been avoiding him. Hard to tell when they were both doing the same dance.
Con looked to him. “Elin made contact with our Pentagon target. He’s agreed to meet.”
Liam’s sharp gaze landed on her. “When?”
“Tomorrow. Location to be determined.”
“You’re sending her in alone.”
It wasn’t a question. Elin bristled at the assumption she couldn’t handle it, but before she could respond, Con spoke up.
“With overwatch support. It’s the best option we have.”
Liam stepped into the room, and Elin felt her pulse kick up. He studied the message from Kent, and she saw the moment he came to the same conclusion Sophie had.
“It’s a trap.” His voice was flat. Final.
“A trap we’ll be ready for,” Con said.
“We don’t have a choice.” Her words came out soft, resigned.
He turned to face her fully, and the intensity in his eyes made her breath catch. “We’re not sending you into a kill zone.”
The room went quiet. Elin stared at Liam, the man she never quit loving even beyond the world’s limitations. Underneath the anger and rigid control he kept so tightly leashed, he looked like…
Like he was terrified of losing her.
And God help her, she loved him even more for it. But jumping into the fire of loving Liam after she’d already been scorched wasn’t something she was willing to do again.
But she couldn’t watch innocent people die because someone made the safe choice instead of the right choice.
“I’m going.”
“Elin—”
She held his gaze, willing him to understand. “If we don’t move, if we let this opportunity slip because we’re scared? Thousands of people, Liam. Families. Kids. Dogs. We can’t just let that happen because there’s risk.”
“You’re asking me to stand by while you walk into an ambush.” His tone sounded like he’d swallowed fire.
“I’m not asking anything.” Her statement came out sharper than she intended. She spread her hand. “I’m sorry, Liam, but this is my call. You know I’ve done it before.”
“And look how that nearly ended. If you hadn’t been late—” He cut a hand through his hair, sending it into spikes that matched his glower. “I don’t know if I could have protected you from that ambush, Elin.”
“I take full responsibility for myself. You heard Con already sanctioned a team to go as backup.”
Something flashed in his eyes—hurt, anger, frustration. She wanted to smooth that crease above his brow, but if she touched him, she didn’t trust herself to stop.
Before she could find any words, he spoke again.
“You want to walk into a trap? Fine. But I’m going in with you.” He didn’t shift his gaze from her when he addressed his CO. “Con? I’m going with her.”
Elin could feel everyone’s eyes on them, but all she could focus on was Liam and the fierce—extremely hot—protectiveness radiating from him.
Truth was, she wanted him there. Wanted to know that if this went bad—when this went bad—she wouldn’t be alone.
She loved him—so completely it had devastated her once.
She also didn’t have it in her to fight the emotions that had never faded, not even after she received that folded flag.
That didn’t mean she ever had to say them aloud, to him or anyone else.
Her love for Liam was strong, but she wasn’t going to spill her guts only to have her heart stomped on again.
They all watched Con, waiting for his response. “We can’t access Kent’s computer system remotely?”
Elin shook her head. “I have to do it on site. And I have to meet him in person to find out what’s in his head.”
His lips compressed, then he nodded. “We need to put the pressure on this guy.”
“I can make him sing.” Liam’s gritty, badass tone sent goose bumps prickling over Elin’s forearms.
“Here’s the plan.” Con’s body language demanded their complete attention. Elin straightened. “You set up the meeting after hours and away from the Pentagon. But we get you into his office before the meet. You download everything.”
“Then we’ll have more leverage to get what we want out of him,” Liam added.
She nodded with a gulp. She could do this. Now wasn’t the time for fear.
“We move tomorrow,” Con said. “Dante, I want full background on Kent. Every place he’s ever been, every person he’s ever met.
Find a good location for the meet. Sophie”—he turned to her—“you work on the tech side. I need any surveillance we can access near potential meeting sites. Elin, Mason, start running scenarios. I want options for every possible situation.”
They nodded, their differences—their past, and present too—slipping into the shadows of professionalism again.
As everyone disbanded to focus on their tasks, Elin began to move too. Liam caught her arm, his touch gentle but insistent.
“We need to talk.” He pitched his voice low. “After this. About everything, Elin.”
Her heart stuttered. “Liam—”
He broke across her. “I know you’re pissed at me. I know I fucked up this morning. But after tomorrow—” His voice dropped lower, rougher. “After the op, we talk. Really talk. No more avoiding it.”
She didn’t dare let herself hope they could bridge the bottomless gorge created by his leaving that way.
She had to work with him, though. And that had her nodding in agreement. “After tomorrow.”
If they survived.
He held her gaze for a long moment, then released her arm and walked away.
Tomorrow, she’d walk into a snake den.
With the only man she wanted right there beside her.
Hope lifted inside her, a bright flare shooting through the dark world she’d been living in for two years. If they both made it out alive…maybe, just maybe, they could fix their relationship.
Fix their forever.