Chapter 7
Delta Team conference room
A few hours later…
A sudden, unattractive yawn had Jagger’s mouth opening wide as his fellow teammates and the members of Echo Team began trickling into the room. He paid them little attention, however.
A nod here. A tip of his chin there.
His real focus was on the woman who’d been avoiding him like the plague.
The car ride from Talia’s hotel to here had been awkward at best. During the drive, Jagger had made several attempts to start up a casual conversation.
His comments, questions, and general musings had been met with the bare minimum in return. And unless he was mistaken—and Jagger rarely missed a thing—Talia had made it her morning mission to avoid looking him in the eyes.
Dressed in jeans, boots, and a dark green, cable knit sweater, the ponytailed brunette looked as beautiful as ever. Even with the visible tension in her shoulders and neck and the slight strain pulling at her serious face.
Dark, bruising shadows marred the skin beneath her eyes. Jagger’s chest tightened with suspicions that she’d barely slept a wink.
You and me both, darlin’.
His own night amounted to a series of countless tosses and frustrated turns. He’d spent hours reliving the events at the port, including the moment when Talia was hit.
Over and over again, Jagger’s subconscious mind created an unwanted, step-by-step replay. Except, in last night’s dreams—which were actually terrifying nightmares—Talia had bled out right there, in his arms.
“Okay, gentlemen.” The sexy Homeland agent started the meeting.
Turning to Gwen, she added a tip of her head with a respectful, “and lady,” before addressing the room as a whole.
“I know it was a short night, and you all want to get this over with as soon as possible. Trust me, I’m right there with you.
So let’s try to get through this with as little side chatter as possible, yeah? ”
Those around him mumbled their sleepy agreements, but Jagger remained silent. A beat later, Talia led them through the previous night’s mission. Step by excruciating step.
Their arrival. The time it took to trek from their vehicles to the spot where they’d waited in the trees. Liam documented every detail as it was given so Talia could pass it along to the powers that be.
Speaking of the confounding beauty…
“The takedowns of the first eight tangos were, for all intents and purposes, textbook procedure.” Her pointed gaze scanned the room.
“We’ll go over those in a minute, but I just want to put the obvious out there.
The problem we will most likely run into is whether our side initiating gunfire at the boat was a justified call. ”
“It was the only call.” Jimmy’s voice sounded rough as his hardened gaze turned Talia’s way.
Easy, there, Baxter.
Jagger had been in the hot seat plenty of times, himself. But that was no excuse for being rude to the woman simply for doing her job.
“What about the cameras?” Jagger tore his focus from Jimmy to face Liam directly. “You get the footage from the port yet? That’ll clear everything up.”
He sincerely hoped the recordings from last night’s raid would prove Jimmy was a man of his word. After all, the man had been hand-picked for the job.
Just like Jagger and every other operative who worked for Jake McQueen.
“The program to break the system’s encryption is running as we speak.
” Liam nodded in return. “The security on that section of the doc was top-of-the-line. Not much of a surprise, given the business Sanchez was attempting to conduct there. Whoever designed it is good, but as you can guess, I’m better.
” A quick wink. “Oh, and I’m also running my facial rec software simultaneously to hopefully confirm the identities of the ten who were brought in alive. ”
“Homeland’s not handling that part?” Gwen’s gaze quickly swung from Talia to Liam. “No offense. I just figured, you know…” She shrugged. “Seeing as how those guys are part of the government, and all…”
Liam chuckled with a genuine, “No offense taken. And sure, the guys at Homeland could get the job done. But my program’s better than the one they have.” He motioned toward Talia. “Just ask her.”
“Liam’s right.” Talia didn’t pull any punches, even when it came to her own team’s level of expertise and resources. “My team will get there, but this way, we can act on the data faster, which will bring us to our ultimate goal sooner, rather than later.”
“The ultimate goal being to take down Sanchez’s entire gun-smuggling operation,” Gwen surmised.
“Correct.”
“You know…” Liam spoke directly to Talia while scooting himself up closer to the table. “If your director would quit shooting me low-ball offers, I’d happily consider sharing my brilliant design.”
“Wait, you designed the program?” Blake sounded impressed.
Liam grinned. “If you want, when we’re finished here, we can run over to my office, and I’ll give you the rundown.”
“Sounds good.” Blake nodded. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Sharing it with a fellow R.I.S.C. man’s one thing. Giving it up freely to the government?” The man scoffed. “Not a chance.”
Several chuckles filled the room before a natural lull in conversation ensued. A few seconds later, the silence was broken when Jimmy added his final say on the matter.
“I don’t care who gets the footage first.” He looked around the room before returning his attention to Talia. “Us or Homeland, it isn’t going to matter. That footage will prove it was a justified shoot.”
Jagger hoped like hell that’s exactly what they found when Liam’s program gained access to the port’s security feed. Otherwise, Jimmy’s run as an Echo Team operative would be the shortest in R.I.S.C. history.
“I’m sure you’re right, Baxter.” Talia humored the defensive man. “But until that time, all we can do is finish this debrief, and then my team and I will take it from there.
They got down to business, going through the parts of the mission they hadn’t yet scrutinized. By the time they were done, Jagger was hungry as hell, and in need of another dose of caffeine.
Several comments about looking forward to their next joint op were made, along with a round of handshakes between both teams. A moment later, the members of Delta and Echo began filtering out into the hall.
Jagger hung back, waiting patiently for Talia and Christian to finish their hushed conversation. When the two shook hands, he knew he was clear to intervene.
He held off until Christian left the room to approach the compelling woman.
“You hungry?” he asked, sidling up beside her as she gathered her things. “’Cause I’m starving, and I figured…since you’re leaving to head back to D.C. and all…” Good lord, man, spit it out, already. “Well, I thought maybe I could treat you to a quick lunch before you go. You know…as partners.”
Smooth, Brooks. Really fucking smooth.
Talia’s big eyes blinked with genuine surprise. “Oh, uh…” She swallowed. “I appreciate the offer, but I—”
“Say no more.” Jagger lifted his palm to effectively halt the would-be rejection she was about to drop. “It’s cool. Really. I totally get it if you don’t want to—”
“No, it’s not that. I just…” Talia glanced at her watch. “I’m expected back at Homeland for some important meetings later this afternoon, and I’ve got less than three hours until boarding. Otherwise…” Her sexy voice trailed.
Damn. Jagger had hoped they’d have more time to…he wasn’t sure what, exactly. Get to know each other better, maybe? Share a few random, personal facts between them over a salad and a burger, perhaps?
Something more than a handshake with a quick, “See you when I see you”.
But apparently his impromptu plan wasn’t written in the stars, so instead of making himself look like even more of a fool than he already had, Jagger simply nodded his head and smiled.
“Understood. And seriously, no worries. It was just a thought. But hey, you ever need another non-Homeland partner, you’ve got my number.”
Talia started to rush past him, but stopped mid-stride. With a slow, almost hesitant step backward, she brought those golden eyes to his one final time.
“Thanks, Jag. For the offer of lunch and…” Her delicate throat worked an audible swallow. “Thanks again, for last night. You were a solid partner to have in the field.”
“Do I detect a hint of surprise in your voice?”
“Not surprise.” She gave a sincere shake of her head. “More like gratitude. You had my back at the port and then again…after. And, as much as I hate to admit it, you were right not to let me get behind the wheel.”
“Ah, darlin’.” Before he could think too hard about what he was doing, Jagger reached up and tucked a few strands of dark hair gently behind her ear. “It was never about bein’ right. I just needed to make sure you were okay.”
Something shifted in her gaze. A flash of vulnerability he was sure she hadn’t meant to reveal. But then Talia blinked, and poof!
It was gone.
“Thanks again.” A soft whisper as she slowly stepped out of his reach. “And who knows? If things work out the next time I’m in town, maybe I’ll even let you buy me that lunch.”
“It’s a date.” Jagger’s hand fell back to his side.
His fingertips still burned from the innocent touch.
“Take care of yourself, Jagger.”
“You, too, Agent Foster.”
He was rewarded with the tiniest of smiles as she turned and walked out of the room. A long moment later, Jagger was still standing there, lost in thought about a woman who’d never be his, when Liam appeared in the doorway.
“Good. You’re still here.” He rushed into the room with his trusty tablet clutched in his hands.
“Yep.” Jagger mentally shook off the disappointment Talia’s departure had caused. “I’m still here.” And she’s gone. “Why? What’s up?”
“I got the security footage, and I thought…” Liam glanced around the room. “Damn. I was hoping Talia would still be here, too.”
You and me both, brother.
“I take it you found something?” He stepped toward his teammate and friend.
“You could say that.” The comment was low and mumbled. But then, “I finally got the security footage, as well as the facial rec info.”
“That’s good news…right?”
The guy had sure rushed in here like he’d had something good to share.
But Liam shrugged. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On the one hand, it’s impossible to tell whether Baxter’s shot was justified. But on the other…”
“Spit it out, Liam.”
“What you think of the news also depends on whether our Homeland handler knew one of her former CIA teammates was on Sanchez’s payroll.” He flipped the tablet around so Jagger could see the screen.
What the—
He took the electronic device out of Liam’s hands. Jagger studied the screen, which had been divided into two separate windows.
The left half showed a photo of a man he didn’t know. Short, dark hair. Straight nose. Square jaw. Hard, intent eyes that stared straight ahead.
Filling the right half of the screen was a scrollable data dump of intel on the man in the picture…
Keith Sinclair. Former Army Ranger turned—
“This guy was CIA?” Jagger’s eyes flew up to Liam’s.
“Not only was Sinclair an agent for the secretive alphabet agency, he was also part of the same covert group headed-up by our very own Talia. Question is, does she know her former spook buddy flipped sides and was now working for the same bastard behind the guns we helped seize last night?”
It would be one hell of a coincidence if she didn’t.
“I don’t remember Sinclair’s name being on the list of targets we were given.”
“Because it wasn’t.” Liam took the tablet back, holding it loosely at one side. “Trust me, I triple checked. The name Keith Sinclair isn’t in any of the intel that we were given. So either Talia’s team made a mistake, or—”
“The omission was intentional.”
But why?
That’s what he was trying hard to understand. What would Talia gain by hiding the fact that she knows one of the guys from the port?
“She could’ve just been embarrassed.” Liam gave one shoulder a shrug. “I mean, would you want anyone knowing you used to hang with a traitorous POS like Sinclair?”
No, he probably wouldn’t.
“There’s also another explanation.” Liam continued in a different direction. “She could be working the whole double-agent angle.”
Talia as a traitor? The thought alone left Jagger’s gut churning.
Was it possible he’d let his physical attraction for Talia cloud his stellar judgement? His God-given knack for reading someone’s true character had almost always been spot-on.
If he’d somehow missed the signs that the team’s mouthwatering Homeland handler was in bed with a guy like Sanchez, that meant they’d all just been royally played.
But to what end?
“Send me that footage, as well as the data on Keith Sinclair.” Jagger rounded his friend and headed for the conference room door. “And get me everything you can find on Foster.”
“Foster?” Liam hurried to catch up with him. “Wait, you want me to dig into the background of a Homeland Security agent who also happens to be our team’s official government handler?”
“I want to know if our team’s handler is someone we can trust.”
“Well, gee, when you put it that way…” The other man’s voice trailed off from behind.
“Tell Hunt I’m taking the rest of the day off. And do me a favor and make sure the jet’s fueled and ready to fly.”
“Fly?” Liam followed Jagger through the office’s otherwise-empty lobby. “Where the hell are you going?”
Jagger approached the door with a pause in his step and a low, determined grin. “With any luck, I’m going to personally escort Agent Foster back to D.C.” Which reminded him, “I need one more favor.”
Liam huffed out a breath, throwing his hands out to the sides. “Oh, sure. I mean, at this point, you may as well just add it to the list.”
Good to see we’re on the same page.
“Is there any way you could access the airport’s digital flight display?
Nothing that would actually mess up any actual air traffic or cause any sort of massive hysteria.
Maybe a simple, untraceable glitch causing the system to alert passengers of a minor hiccup with one of the scheduled flights. Temporarily, of course.”
Liam studied him closely, as if he were trying to read Jagger’s mind. “You want me to make it look like Talia’s flight is running late or something?”
Well, damn.
Maybe the guy really could read minds.
“Can you do it?” Jagger asked, referring to the innocent-ish glitch he’d requested.
Liam both looked and sounded slightly offended by the question. “Of course, I can do it. I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s a felony, but yeah. I can do it.”
Wouldn’t be the first time the man had broken the law for a good cause.
“Thanks. Oh, and, uh…” Jagger reached for the knob and opened the team’s main office door. “Probably best to keep the felonious part of this little plan between the two of us.”
“Don’t worry, brother.” His teammate’s smile brought with it a sense of mischief. “Plausible deniability’s my middle name.”