Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“The boys have everything packed and ready to go,” Liam said after spotting Jessica still at work on her computer in the command center later that Tuesday morning. “Can’t you work while we drive?”
Jessica looked up at him. Dark circles beneath her eyes, two lines darting between her brows. The woman was a machine, but she was a tired one.
“He’s right, babe. If we’re going to catch the flight out of Dover, we should’ve hit the road ten minutes ago.” Asher swirled a finger in the air, directing her to wrap it up and move out.
“Yeah, well, I think I found something interesting.”
“What do you have?” Liam leaned into the doorframe and eyed her, but he was anxious to get back to the SUV where Elaina and Emily were waiting for him. Their Suburban had two built-in TV monitors, and he’d put one on for Elaina to watch during the trip.
After waiting and waiting for Jessica and Asher to leave the bunker, he’d won the short straw to go find them—Wyatt had worried they were “shagging” as he liked to call it.
“Can you give us the rundown while we walk?” He checked his wristwatch. “Those Air Force boys aren’t going to wait on a bunch of supposed civilians.”
He had no idea what the president told the commanding officer on the flight as to why a CIA officer, nine former Teamguys, one lawyer, and a kid, were catching a ride with them, but as long as they bought the story, that was all that mattered.
“Yeah, okay.” Jessica pulled her hair into a messy bun and tucked her laptop under her arm once she was on her feet.
Asher’s hand settled on the small of her back as they walked past Liam and into the hall.
“I’ve been going through the guest list. Looking at the main sponsors for the gala to try and see if our buyer might be connected to the event somehow,” she said, a touch of excitement in her tone like she was onto something.
They climbed a set of stairs leading to the exit and Liam locked up before they returned to the land of oxygen and open spaces. He sucked in a breath of the fresh outside air, and the smell of honeysuckle hit him.
“What’d you find out?” He slid on his shades, the late morning sun beating down on his face.
“The main sponsor for this year’s gala was Weston Tech.
They design microprocessors, next-generation software and such for the U.S.
and the U.K. All their products are geared toward intelligence and defense.
Computer chips for drones and satellites.
” Jessica stopped walking to face Asher and Liam.
“Early January they won a three-billion-dollar contract with NORAD in a bidding war.”
“You said they were the main sponsor. What happened?” Liam squared his shoulders, his back muscles pinching together.
“Weston Tech pulled out in April after their factory in Bristol, England, was burned to the ground.” She grabbed her shades off the top of her head and put them on. “This wasn’t the first fire, either. Their largest factory in Nottingham went up in flames in February.”
“Arson?” Asher asked.
“The police couldn’t find evidence of foul play, but the company took a major financial hit, and their stock plummeted.
They could even lose their defense contract with England.
” Jessica tipped her face in the direction of the sunlight as if she were Supergirl drawing energy from the light to recharge.
She was more often than not the team’s personal hero, though.
“So, after the Bristol fire they bowed out?” Liam glimpsed Emily out of the corner of his eye.
Her back was turned, and she must’ve been talking to Elaina. She was so good with her. A natural. She’d make a great mom someday, and damn if he wished it could be him to . . .
He shook his head, realizing the danger of such thoughts, and he reset his focus to the mission. “Would anyone benefit from setting those fires?”
“Glad you asked.” Jessica handed Liam her phone.
“Blackburn Technologies. I need to do some research on them because they’re a relatively new player in the defense arena, but not only did they fill in as the platinum sponsor when Weston bailed, they competed with them for the NORAD and British defense contracts. ”
“Competed but lost.” Liam scrolled through the Blackburn company website. “Looks like they’re an infant in terms of company years. No way would the U.S. hand over a bid like that to a newbie.”
“How many other factories does Weston Tech have?” Asher asked.
“Only one left in Manchester,” she said. “Five in the U.S.”
Liam handed her phone back, glimpsing Wyatt sticking his arm out the window of his Chevy Tahoe, motioning them to get a move on.
But his mind was spinning with ideas now, and . . . “What if this Blackburn company plans on destroying the Manchester factory, too? And then gearing up to make a move against Weston Tech in the U.S. next?”
“The contract in England’s worth seven hundred million,” Jessica said. “Couple that with the three billion from NORAD, and yeah, I’d say that puts someone at Blackburn Technologies on a very short list of suspects.”
“It’d be crazy,” Liam muttered, “but it’s the kind of crazy that would make sense as to why someone’s after Elaina.”
“But if they took over as the main sponsor in April, that’s before Hans made his trip to Chile,” Asher pointed out. “Before Hans even knew about Elaina.”
“Maybe The Golden Minds Gala had been their target date all along since they knew Hans would be there,” Liam suggested.
“That brings us back to the issue of why didn’t they grab him in Chile while they had the chance,” Jessica said with a sigh. “Unless our suspect wanted to be at the gala for another reason.”
“Build up their rep and name brand?” Liam asked. “Street cred for the work they’re doing?”
“Weston Tech falls short again, and Blackburn Technologies saves the day,” Asher added. “That means they’d probably have a backup plan to try and force Hans to do what they want.”
“Or maybe they had a different plan, but when they learned of Elaina they opted to hit Hans where it’d hurt more,” Liam grumbled.
Asher jerked his thumb toward the SUVs loaded with their equipment and crew. “But, um, we’ll be flying economy if we don’t get our asses on the road.”
“Right. See you at the base.”
“Liam, wait.” Jessica wrapped her hand around his forearm. “What are we telling Elaina about her dad?”
“She deserves the truth.” Whether Elaina wanted to hear it or not, he supposed.
She let go of him and gave a gentle nod.
He headed to the Suburban and hopped behind the wheel. “Sorry, Jessica was discussing a theory.”
“Oh?” Emily turned around in her seat and strapped in.
“How are you doing back there?” he asked Elaina.
“Watching Teen Titans. I love it!” She giggled a few seconds later at something from the show, and his heart doubled in size.
“You buckled?” He checked his rearview mirror to make sure since she must’ve been too engrossed in the show to hear his question.
“So,” Emily began, her voice low, “what’d Jessica have to say?”
“Working on the suspect list and motives,” he said, not wanting to get too into the details with Elaina in the back seat.
“Do you think this mystery buyer will be at the gala?” Emily asked.
“It’s looking that way.”
“Revenge, money, or power.” She untucked her necklace from her white tee and clutched the charm. “In my experience from the courtroom, those are the main three motivators.”
“In my experience, too.” He checked on Elaina again in the mirror. She was squinting while watching the screen, so he dropped his and Emily’s visors down to block some of the sunlight that infiltrated their windshield.
“Thank you,” a tiny whisper came from the back seat.
“You’re welcome, honey.” He had to wrestle the words out as he thought about both Emily and Elaina.
Two people he never saw coming . . . and now they were two people he had no idea how he’d ever be able to watch walk away when the time came.