Chapter 4
Chapter Four
“She didn’t leave the lab all evening,” Seth said to the men gathered in the SCIF attached to the range. To all outward appearances, it was simply a storage room. But this was where all the secret planning and communication happened. Where they got their orders and discussed the mission.
“But our connection is toast now,” Kane said.
“For the moment. The building’s IT hub was damaged, so there’s currently no signal. I won’t know for sure until it’s back online. Then the cables either connect again or not.”
Ghost shoved a hand through his hair and blew out a forceful breath. “The fire seems to have started in the ventilation shaft nearest the two labs. That makes it deliberate.”
“Could Ms. Crowell be the target?” Blaze asked.
Seth frowned. “Maybe. Or maybe she wanted it to look that way.”
Chance shook his head. “Dude, I know you’ve settled on her being a suspect for sharing top-secret information about the Athena Project, but just because she speaks Polish and Russian doesn’t mean she’s the one. We don’t even know if the Poles or Russians are the ones behind the threat to Athena. She almost didn’t get out of that lab alive. What would be the point in nearly killing herself and potentially shutting down the project before it goes live?”
Seth grumbled. “I’m considering all the options.”
“Wilhelm Olkowicz and Cyril Dyka are really Abram Fedorov and Dima Smirnov,” Ghost said, dropping a new bomb in the group as he looked up from the screen in front of him. “Just got that information. Russian nationals who have Polish families and roots in Poland. Both are older than they look. They passed for engineering students at UAH, but Fedorov is thirty-two and Smirnov is thirty-five.”
“Olkowicz and Dyka have no connection with Caroline. But I have to check the Russian names,” Seth said. “And I’m not set on her being the leak, Wraith. I just think we can’t ignore the most obvious connection because she’s sad and pretty.”
“Sad and pretty?” Kane said, arching an eyebrow. “Interesting observation.”
Seth wanted to jump up and prowl the room. His skin was suddenly itchy, like if he sat still another moment he’d want to peel it off. “And you didn’t notice?”
Kane grinned. “I noticed. I’m just surprised you did.”
“Why would you be? She’s female and I’m not dead. Yet.”
“True. But you’re pretty much the only one of us who hasn’t hooked up or been on a date since we moved to Alabama. Thought you’d sworn a celibacy oath or something.”
“Dude, just because you have to hump everything that crosses your path doesn’t mean the rest of us do.”
The guys snickered. Kane rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You people are just jealous that I get all the tail.”
“Hardly,” Blaze laughed. “But you go ahead and tell yourself that if it makes you happy.”
Kane shrugged. “It does, so I will.”
The meeting went on for another fifteen minutes before they broke up and headed back out to the range before it opened for the day. Seth prepared to do research on Fedorov and Smirnov’s potential connections to Caroline Crowell while Kane and Ethan got ready to leave for a security consultation in Research Park. News of One Shot’s work at Griffin Research Labs had made the rounds, and they were in demand. Since the money was good and the cover for their mission excellent, they took the jobs.
Though the command and control system software in development at GRL was their current target, it wasn’t the only component of the Athena Project being worked on in Huntsville, nor the sole potential target for hostiles. Huntsville was target rich for those who wanted to harm the US, which unfortunately meant Ghost Ops would be needed there for the foreseeable future.
“See you after lunch,” Ethan said as they headed out the door.
“Later,” Chance said.
“Who’s got the church security training at thirteen hundred?” Ghost asked as he perused the schedule.
“It’s me today,” Blaze said. “That’s Emma’s parents’ church. I said I’d be available for it.”
“Then Seth and Chance are range officers this afternoon, correct?”
“Yep,” Seth said, looking up from his screen. “I’ve got the ladies’ class at seventeen hundred, too.”
He didn’t mind teaching personal security and gun safety to civilians, though he certainly wasn’t anyone’s favorite instructor. He didn’t believe in idle chitchat, and some people—women usually, though sometimes men too—always wanted to engage him in conversation. When he didn’t reciprocate the nonsense, they left him alone.
Daphne breezed into the break room, her red hair pulled into a ponytail, skinny jeans hugging her curves. Seth noticed and appreciated, but he had no urge to ask her out. Though maybe he should just so he could watch Kane twist himself into a pretzel pretending it was no big deal.
On the other hand, none of them wanted to give Daphne a reason to leave. She ran the range and class schedule with efficiency and speed. He appreciated that about her. And he liked her because she didn’t try to engage him in idle conversation.
“Got a customer out front asking for Kane,” Daphne said. “A woman.”
“Uh-oh,” Chance replied. “Does she look pissed off?”
Daphne grinned. “No. She said she met him when he did a security review of her workplace recently. She didn’t say what she wants, but I don’t think he’s managed to piss her off yet. Pretty sure she’s here about a class or something.”
“Kane just left. He won’t be back until this afternoon,” Ghost replied. Then he jerked his chin at Seth. “See if you can help her.”
Seth closed the laptop, grumbling inside. He’d rather go down the rabbit hole of online networks than talk to some woman with a lady boner for Kane, but when the boss said go, he went. “On it.”
Seth strode to the door where Daphne stood. They walked together to the front of the building, and he asked her about the car situation because he thought maybe he should.
She shook her head. “Honestly, I think I’m going to buy Warren’s beater he’s been letting me use. I don’t have time to wait for Kane to finally decide something’s a good deal, and the beater drives just fine for what I want.”
“Kane’s a perfectionist. He wants you to get the most for your money.”
Daphne sighed. “I know, but he’s so darn annoying about it. I agreed to let him help me because he said he’d worked on cars a lot, but nothing is good enough when we go to look.”
Seth was pretty sure he knew why, but he wasn’t telling Daphne that Kane just wanted an excuse to spend time with her. “Tell him you’re buying Warren’s car if he doesn’t give you the green light on something else.”
“You think I should?”
“Definitely.”
That’d light a fire under Kane for sure.
Daphne sighed again. “Fine. But he’s going to be a pompous ass about it.”
Seth laughed. “No doubt.”
They reached the front of the building that housed the store and range entry. A woman with brown hair that fell to the middle of her back stood looking out the window, her arms wrapped around her body, her shoulders hunched. She turned at their entrance, and Seth nearly stopped in his tracks.
Somehow, he managed to keep walking toward her, wondering what the hell she was doing here.
Caroline Crowell gazed at him with wide green eyes in a pale face. A look of dismay crossed her features as she darted a look at Daphne. Seth tried not to let that bother him, but a hot feeling lodged in his chest and wouldn’t abate.
He stretched out a hand, reminding himself to smile. “Hi, I’m Seth. Kane isn’t here right now, but maybe I can help you.”
She looked wary as she took his hand for a brief shake. Her skin was cold to the touch, and he had an urge to wrap her hand in his to warm it. But she pulled away quickly, stuffing her hand against her body again.
“I, um. We’ve met. I’m Callie. I work at Griffin Research Labs. You guys were there a couple of weeks ago.”
“That’s right.” He didn’t know why he was pretending he didn’t remember her, but it seemed a good approach since she clearly preferred Kane to him. Why else ask for his teammate?
The idea that maybe Kane had flirted with her made that hot feeling in his chest bloom. Not that he wanted to flirt with her. He didn’t trust her. But Kane didn’t need to be hitting on her either. No getting involved with the suspects, for fuck’s sake.
“What can we help you with, Callie?”
Nice as pie. That’s what Emma and Rory would say. He loved Southern sayings, and that was a pretty good one. Who didn’t like pie?
She looked hesitant as she pushed her hair behind her ear.
“Why don’t we go into the conference room to talk?”
It took her a moment, but she nodded.
They had a couple of rooms where they ran slideshows for the classes they taught. He led her to one of those, opened the door, and motioned her in. She still didn’t take her arms from around her body. She was wearing a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a white T-shirt with a pair of tennis shoes. A small brown purse was slung across her body, so she had her hands free. She looked small and vulnerable, and he stamped down on the kernel of empathy that flared inside.
He closed the door behind him, and her eyes widened a fraction.
“Would you like me to leave it open?”
She appeared to drag in a breath. Then she shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
Her voice was hoarse. She started to cough, covering her mouth with one hand. He didn’t like the way that sounded. If she’d set the fire, she’d nearly gotten herself killed by staying in the lab. Not very bright of her.
“Would you like some water?”
She nodded, and he turned to open the door and ask Daphne if she could bring a bottle. Then he motioned to the table and Callie dropped into the seat nearest the end. Daphne returned with the water and Seth took it over to Callie, twisting the cap off for her. He sat in the end seat, close but not as close as the chair beside her.
“Thanks,” she said after she took a drink. Her voice was still hoarse, but she seemed to have the coughing under control. She did the hair push thing again. “There was a fire at the lab last night. I was there when it happened. Trapped in the lab while smoke filled the room. That’s where the cough is from.”
“We just heard about the fire. Was anyone hurt?”
She shook her head. “Just some smoke inhalation. I caught the worst of it, but I’ll be okay. There were two other researchers in the building and the janitorial crew. Everyone got out safely.”
He filed that away to look into later. “That’s a good thing.”
She lifted her chin a fraction. “It is. B-but I think it’s my fault. That it happened, I mean.”
He studied her. “Why do you think that? Were you careless with a candle or something?”
“You’re making fun of me.”
“I’m not. But I don’t see how it’s your fault unless you started it.”
“I didn’t.”
He told himself to be patient, to let the story unfold. She was here to talk, and that was good. “What do you want from us? How can we help?”
She leaned back against the chair, twisting the water bottle in her fingers. “I think someone set the fire deliberately. Because of me.” Her gaze dropped to the table. “Because they want something from me.”
His neck prickled as the fine hairs stood up. It was either a good thing she was here, or she knew who they were and she was fucking with them. Not as likely, but he didn’t dismiss any possibility.
“What do they want?”
Her green eyes held a mixture of fear and anger. “I can’t tell you that. GRL works on many different projects, some of them sensitive and proprietary. This person wants information about a, um, government project.”
Bingo. “So why not tell your boss? Or go to the FBI? Why us?”
“Because I can’t. He’ll know, and he’ll do something.” She sucked in a breath, her eyes misting over. “I can’t let him hurt Nikki. My little sister.”
Seth pulled a couple of tissues from the box nearby and handed them to her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, dabbing her eyes. When she was done, she sat up tall, flexing her jaw. It was like watching a tire suddenly reach critical mass. One minute she was soft and flexible, the next strong and firm. “He’s been patient so far, but his patience is running out. That’s what last night was about.”
He wondered if she realized she’d gone from they to he over the past few sentences. It was an interesting slip. He filed it away.
“Can you tell me who this person is?”
She stared at him a moment. Emotions flashed across her face. Worry, desperation, hope.
Then came fear. That one was strongest.
She shoved her way to her feet, her eyes suddenly wild. “I need to go. This was a mistake. Sorry to bother you.”
She rushed toward the door, but he beat her there, barring the way. She collided with his chest, and he reached out to steady her. He didn’t think she was faking her fear, but anything was possible.
People were complicated.
“Easy, honey. Nobody’s going to hurt you here.”
She trembled, her body shaking beneath his hands. “I need to go. I shouldn’t be here.”
Seth didn’t want to feel anything, but that damned empathy flared again. She was truly scared.
“You came to us for a reason,” he said softly. “We can help you. If you don’t want to tell me who this man is that has you so scared, you don’t have to. But don’t walk out of here when you’re afraid he’s going to hurt you or your sister.”
The tension in her body eased a fraction. Not enough, but he’d count it a victory. She was listening to him, thinking. He needed to convince her fast.
“Let me call my guys to come hear what you have to say, okay? We’re experts in personal security. We’ll listen and we’ll make a plan. If you still want to leave after that, you can, no questions asked.”
He said the words, but there was no way he was letting her leave when she was as scared as she was. He’d thought she might have come here to lie to them, to ferret them out, but in his experience most people weren’t actually that good at acting. Not when it wasn’t their profession.
This woman was truly frightened. She might know more than she was sharing, and she might be there on orders from someone with bad intentions, but he had to go with his gut right now and get her to stay.
She dragged in a breath, coughed again long and low. He took that as surrender and walked her over to ease her down into a chair, set the water in front of her, and texted Ghost.
Caroline Crowell is here, and she says someone tried to kill her.
The reply was instant.
Be right there.