Chapter Fifteen
Phoenix
I walked into the waiting elevator and hit the call button for the garage level.
Right before the doors closed, November stepped in after me.
Laptop in one hand, cell in another, messenger bag over his shoulder, leather jacket draped over the bag, he glanced at the phone before shoving it into his pocket.
Then his hand hit the keyboard, and he spoke up. “Cypher’s getting better.”
“He is.” Cypher wasn’t quite on November’s level yet, one of the many reasons why I wanted access to AES, but he was close. I also wanted to merge Cypher’s and November’s skills. If Cypher didn’t piss off November, they’d be more lethal than an entire SEAL Team.
November typed. “You proposed a joint venture.”
“I did.”
His hand paused. Then he swiped across the laptop screen. “You’ve been busy.”
I glanced at the hacker. “So have you.”
He didn’t comment for a beat. Then he let me know why he’d followed me onto the elevator. “Ghost was working for you.”
For me, with me. I didn’t deny it. “We’ve collaborated.”
“You’ve done more than that.”
He was right. Behind the scenes, I’d had my hands in almost every Op AES had undertaken. “How long have you known?”
“That you were alive?” the hacker clarified.
“Yes.”
“A while.”
“What tipped you off?” It wasn’t a question. It was a test. Same as Ghost, I’d left the CIA after being recruited. Not same as him, they hadn’t quit me. Having your destiny predetermined by a Vice Admiral father and the Commander in Chief would’ve been flattering to any SOF operator.
I wasn’t any operator.
And this conversation wasn’t happenstance any more than my covert monitoring of AES’s operations since Alpha started the company.
“A series of occurrences. Ones I initially attributed to Ghost,” November admitted, typing.
The elevator hit the garage level, but the doors didn’t open. “Such as?”
“The Heesen. Originally sailed under the name The Contender. She was raided after the first owner was killed. The Feds rescued the trafficked women, but before they could seize the yacht, it disappeared. A year later, a retrofitted sixty-five-meter Heesen was spotted in the Mediterranean.” November glanced up from his laptop. “Now she’s here, anchored off shore.”
That she was. “One yacht, and you figured out I wasn’t in Arlington?”
“One mega yacht with a shell corporation listed as the owner and seven, interchangeably used, ports of registry.”
“Large leap from the Paragon to here.”
“Not a leap. A trail,” he corrected, focusing back on his laptop. “You’ve had several since I joined AES. Still working on one.”
I knew the hacker had been watching me. Same as I’d been watching him. “Which one?”
“The third part of your plan.” November looked up. “You want Ghost’s satellites.”
I did. Some, Ghost had stolen, some he’d bought.
Main advantage, they were the only privately owned, unregulated, working satellites.
I wasn’t surprised November had figured it out.
“And the first two parts of my so-called plan?” If he knew both, I’d not only know I’d fucked up, but November’s life would hang in the balance.
“Combining the resources of AES and Paragon Operations.” November quickly swiped across his laptop, then shut it before securing it in his messenger bag.
I held my fucking breath.
The doors opened, and a hacker who’d breached the NSA when he was barely legal looked up. “And a woman.”
November would live to see another day.
Following the hacker as he stepped off the elevator, I scanned the garage, the row of AES Range Rovers, and two motorcycles. Then I tested the loyalty of the former Cyberspace Operations Officer. “Why didn’t you tell Alpha?”
Aiming for an older Streetfighter that was beat to hell, November unshouldered his messenger bag and placed it next to a helmet that was resting on the seat of the Ducati. “Why didn’t you?”
I tipped my chin at the Streetfighter. “How many times have you dropped that bike?”
“None.” November grabbed his leather. “Tell Alpha why you’re really here.” He zipped up his jacket, then reshouldered his bag.
“Or?”
He straddled the bike. “Or I’ll tell him who the woman was that disembarked the Paragon at the port in Tenerife.”
Showing neither my anger nor interest that he’d looked into my little trespasser or might know something I didn’t, I kept my tone this side of disinterested. “What makes you think he’ll care?”
November put on his helmet, flipped up the visor, then secured the chin strap. “He’ll care who she’s related to.” Starting up the bike, he revved the engine.
Then he threw me a final glance, flipped down the visor, and took off.
The elevator dinged behind me.