Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Saylor sat in Bodie’s office, a mug of coffee cradled between her hands.
Early morning light filtered in through the window, the slight yellow hue warming the otherwise cool space.
It had taken the fire crews a few hours to get everything under control and fully extinguished.
Nothing of the original structure had been left untouched.
They’d combed through the debris — searched for anything remotely salvageable, but nothing had survived the double hit.
Zain snuggled up beside her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders before tugging her in close. Dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “You’ve barely gotten any sleep.”
“Hard to sleep when my mind won’t stop racing.”
“I’m so sorry about your place.”
Saylor eased back and brushed her fingers across his jaw. “You realize this is the thirteenth time you’ve apologized, right? For something you had no control over. ”
The muscle in his temple jumped. “I knew it was some sort of setup. I should have guessed they’d use a boat — try something completely unorthodox.”
“How?” She placed her finger over his kissable mouth.
“That was more of a rhetorical question. You kept us all alive. Opening the door like that…” She shook her head.
“I don’t know how you reacted so fast. Kept that first missile from incinerating us on the spot.
All the shrapnel you took shielding me. I don’t care about the boathouse or my loft.
They’re just things and things can be replaced. You saved my life. Again.”
He stared at her. “Somehow that doesn’t feel like enough.”
“I still have my boats…” She inched closer. “But more importantly, I still have you.”
He smiled, slanted his mouth over hers, making her heart race more than when that first rocket had soared through the boathouse.
Eclipsing the rest of the world with the soft play of his fingers in her hair.
How he moaned when she leaned fully against him, trusting him to keep them from falling off the chairs.
He’d just worked his way down her neck, nipping at her pulse point, when Bodie cleared his throat.
Zain kissed the spot, then sighed, glancing over his shoulder at Bodie, then back to her. “I swear everyone waits until the most inopportune time to strike.”
Bodie laughed. “I’ve been standing here for a full minute. Thought you’d take the hint.”
“What can I say, brother? Saylor’s got my full attention. But since you’ve already interrupted us…”
Bodie waved them toward his office. “Considering what just happened, we should do this in my office where I know no one’s gonna eavesdrop. Everyone else is already waiting.”
Zain nodded, grabbed her hand, then guided her into Bodie’s secure room. His teammates and Greer gathered around Bodie’s desk, looking more than a bit haggard.
Kash tapped two chairs slightly off to the left, grinning when they claimed them. “Got caught kissing, again, huh.”
Zain looked at Saylor, stealing what little breath she’d managed on the short walk over, before shaking his head at Kash. “Are you keeping track for some sort of pool? Or just being an ass?”
“Both.”
Zain looked over at Jordan. “Are you sure you’re okay? That the baby’s okay?”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Trust me, we’re both fine. And no, I’m not telling you how the doctors proved it unless you want my legs wrapped around your throat as I choke the life out of you.”
Kash gave her hand a squeeze. “He’s good.”
Greer cleared her throat, leaning against Bodie’s desk as if she needed it to anchor her — prevent her from marching out and hunting down anyone who looked remotely guilty.
“I’ll start off. That partial plate brought up nearly two hundred possible matches, none of which were registered to anyone directly connected to the Vigilant .
Not that I was expecting to find any damning evidence, but it would have been nice. ”
Zain raked his fingers through his hair. “And that lead you were chasing down? ”
“I need to premise the intel, first.” She shuffled a bit, looking oddly vulnerable. “Before I left the Bureau, I was part of a number of joint task forces with the Defense Intelligence Agency. I can’t really go into any details, but I made a few reliable contacts at both the DoD and the CIA.”
Zain stiffened beside Saylor. “If this is your way of saying your contact is in the Agency, we’ll pass.”
Greer released a weary breath. “I know you’re not fans?—”
“Fans? Sean’s dead because of a couple Spooks. And Rhett…”
“Not everyone in the CIA’s corrupt, which I get, is the hard part for you to swallow.
But I worked with Nick Colter on and off for the better part of two years.
The guy was former Delta Force. Shifted over to the Agency’s National Clandestine Service until a covert mission went sideways, and he ended up with more metal in his body than bones. He’s not the type who could be bought.”
Zain glanced at her, then Chase, rolling his shoulders a few times before nodding. “Point noted. And?”
“First, he ran that chip number from the drone. It was part of a classified shipment that went missing from one of the DoD’s covert storage sites, along with all those weapons you’ve been encountering.
They’ve got their own officers looking into it, but whoever broke in knew where to strike to take out their security.
And it’s the kind of base only high-ranking officers even know exists. ”
“That sounds less than encouraging.”
“I didn’t say you were going to like what I discovered.
” She raked her fingers through her hair.
“Moving on, after that first incident at Saylor’s apartment, then the attempt at the joint property, I wondered if I could track where the vehicles had come from with satellite images.
Now, before you say anything, I know. Between the rain and the clouds and it being the middle of the night, unless someone had a dedicated feed focused on Raven’s Cliff, there probably wouldn’t be any trace of them. But… you never know if you don’t try.”
Zain sat up a bit straighter. “Did Colter actually trace them?”
“Not exactly, but between a few snapshots and a bunch of traffic cam photos he got ahold of, he was able to identify an abandoned ranger station that was the likely origin point for both trips. Which itself was suspicious enough for me to take a look.”
Greer reached behind her and grabbed an evidence bag off Bodie’s desk. “The cabin had definitely been used recently. And I found this…” She handed the bag to Chase who made the rounds with it.
Saylor stared at the charred scrap of paper, half of a faded logo stamped in the upper right corner, the letters SALV just legible beneath it. She leaned closer, tracing the swirling lines with her thumb when the image struck her.
She inhaled, snapping her gaze to Greer. “I’ve seen this logo before. It was on the side of that salvage ship.”
Greer smiled. “Yahtzee. ”
“But, the name’s missing.”
“That’s where Bodie comes in.”
Bodie twisted his monitor in order to give them all a better sightline.
“Before we get to the salvage ship, I have more intel on Eric Vasquez. As promised, I did a deeper dive on him. And I mean deep. Not quite Becca Tate-level like when she uncovered all that intel on Rook Donovan and Scythe to help out Jordan, but I know she’d be proud. ”
Bodie focused on Zain, then shifted to Saylor.
“This isn’t going to be easy for you to hear, Saylor, but bear with me.
Turns out Vasquez was a Coast Guard reservist for the past decade, which itself, isn’t news.
But about five years ago, he started applying for every extra active duty opportunity that popped up.
And I mean every one. All of which were approved.
But the odd part is that it looks as if some of the assignments were manufactured just so he could qualify. ”
Zain frowned. “If that’s true, it would take a pretty high-ranking officer to sign off on that without drawing suspicion. I don’t suppose you got a name?”
“One did crop up, but before I get to that, there’s something ever odder about Vasquez.” Bodie flashed a certificate on the screen. “It seems the man was declared dead two years, ago. A full year before he set foot on the Vigilant .”
Chase coughed. “Our dead guy’s been killed twice?”
“Lost at sea. Both times. Guess he wasn’t as lucky with bullets as he was with the ocean. But it doesn’t end there…”
He hit a button on his computer, and an image of the salvage ship appeared.
“Going back to Greer’s clue. I was able to track down the ship and the company from the logo.
Meet the Nexus . One of the largest salvage vessels on the west coast. It specializes in deep-water recovery.
It’s owned by a company called Outrigger, which looks completely benign on the surface — until you start digging.
Turns out, Outrigger didn’t exist until five years ago” He arched a brow. “That timing seem at all familiar?”
Chase laughed. “It’s when Vasquez started playing teacher’s pet at the Coast Guard.”
“And that’s not the only damning part. The registration leads back to a shell company with only one name on the docket.”
Bodie paused, staring at Zain until he clasped her hand. “It’s Keith Watson.”
A loud ringing sounded in her head, the floor tilting left and right for a few moments until Zain leaned in close.
He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “Easy, sweetheart.”
She nodded, pulling herself back before falling into a full-blown episode. “Is he also the name that you found associated with Vasquez?”
“Every extra assignment was under Watson’s command. And since I don’t believe in coincidences, I did a bit more investigating. Turns out, Watson was slated to command the Vigilant before he landed in jail.”