Chapter Eighteen
TEARS BURNED RILEY’S eyes. No, it couldn’t be true. Angie went to the hospital for stitches with most of her family going along.
She froze. Oh, no. Dread twisted her gut into a knot. “What about her husband and children? Are they safe?”
Brent grimaced. “They’re gone, too.”
“But Diana was at a friend’s house when Angie was shot. She shouldn’t have been at the hospital.”
“Angie called Diana’s friend’s father and asked him to drive her to the hospital. She wanted her family together in one place.”
“How, Brent?” Her voice cracked. “How could this happen in a busy hospital?” Stupid question.
She knew how these things went. The cops believed the danger was past and wouldn’t post a guard inside and outside the treatment room.
If her family couldn’t be in the exam room, they’d have been in the waiting room.
“The killer shot them with a Sig fitted with a silencer. The Whitmore family were the only occupants of the waiting room.”
Andre frowned. “A bold move with a substantial risk of someone walking in on you and raising the alarm.”
“A desperate move,” Brent said. He shifted his gaze to Riley. “Someone wants you. Do you have any idea why?”
“No, sir, I don’t.”
He scowled. “Think. This isn’t a mental exercise.”
“Back off, sir.” Andre’s hands fisted
“Quiet, Marsh. Riley, your life is at stake, and so is Andre’s. If you don’t come up with the answer fast enough, you could lose your team as well. Is that what you want?”
“No, sir.”
“What’s going on, sir?” Iona stared at the phone screen. “You know more than you’ve shared.”
Riley studied her boss’s face. Iona was right. What she saw in his eyes wasn’t just anger, though there was plenty of that. No, she saw fear, something she’d never seen before in the Fortress CEO.
Despite the grief swamping her in waves, Riley forced herself to focus. “You found a connection between me, Angie, and the killer. What is it? Who is it?”
He shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not? If it’s a person, I’ll tear his life apart. Brent, I can’t fight what I don’t know. Help me.”
“It’s not a person, Riley. It’s a mission.
That’s all I could get, and believe me, I called in favors to learn more.
No dice. No name mentioned, just that a past mission assigned to you and Angie is the reason for this vendetta.
Zane is searching the dark web, but our best source of information is you.
If you and your team have any hope of stopping this, you must remember fast.”
Riley growled. “I didn’t know Angie was with the CIA. To my knowledge, I never worked on a mission with her.”
“Then I suggest you make a list of the missions you worked and the missions your friend worked and compare the two. Maddox out.”
She stared at the blank screen, speechless. What was that? She’d never heard of her boss reacting that way to anything, even the most stressful situations imaginable. He always acted as though he had ice in his veins. What was so bad about this situation that Brent Maddox lost his temper?
Andre squeezed her shoulder. “First, we talk to the rest of our teammates about what’s been happening. Perhaps they’ll have an idea to help us unravel this mess.”
Elias frowned. “Do you think Seth knows anything about this?”
“Seems like he knows people in every branch of the government and the military.”
“Wait a minute.” Iona stared down at her hands for a moment. “Didn’t one of the black ops team leaders marry a woman with a CIA background?”
Riley’s eyes widened. “You’re right. Adam Walker. I’d forgotten about him.” She glanced at Andre. “Do you remember his wife’s name?”
“Oh, yeah. Veronica Miles. Her skills in the field remind me of yours.”
Oh, man. Her cheeks burned. Andre had a way with words. “Can we trust her?”
“She’s an operative, Riley.” Elias folded his arms across his chest. “Fortress runs its employees through the gauntlet before training them and sending them into the field.”
What was he getting at? “That doesn’t help me decide whether she can be trusted.”
“One of the Fortress operatives went missing on an undercover assignment,” Andre said. “Veronica heard about it while she was in the field and risked her own life to get the information to Fortress so they could organize a rescue.”
Elias picked up the story. “Later, while she was on an undercover mission, the enemy captured Veronica, and Adam returned the favor by rescuing her.”
Now she remembered hearing about the couple. “They went through a lot before they met and fell in love.”
“And she accepted Maddox’s invitation to join Adam’s black ops team.”
“Would Zane give us Veronica’s contact information? She may have information that could help me solve this puzzle and get justice for Angie and her family.”
Iona grabbed her phone and made a call.
Seconds later, Zane said, “Murphy.”
“It’s Iona. You’re on speaker with Elias, Riley, and Andre.”
“What do you need?”
“Contact information for Veronica Miles Walker.”
After a few seconds of silence, he said, “Oh, yeah. That might get us somewhere. Should have thought of her myself. Hold.” Soon, he was back.
“I just sent you a text with Veronica’s phone number.
I called Veronica first and received permission to share the information.
She and Adam and their team are in a hot zone so the window of opportunity is small.
If you want to talk to her, she has about ten minutes.
After that, she’ll be out of touch for a while. ”
“Copy that. Thanks, Zane.”
“Yep. Later.”
Riley snatched up her phone and tapped in the number.
One ring. Two. A woman answered. “You must be Riley Sloan.”
“Yes, ma’am. You’re on speaker with my team, Iona, Elias, and Andre.”
“Understood. Skip the ‘ma’am’ please. Makes me feel old. How can I help?”
“In the past few days, three men kidnapped me, and I escaped, then two more men attempted to kidnap me and failed. If we’re correct in our assumptions, someone tried to shoot me earlier this afternoon.”
“Sorry to hear that, but what does your trouble have to do with me?”
“I used to work for The Company. I recently found out that the woman who helped me survive being homeless also worked for the CIA. Maddox called in favors and got nowhere except he found out this has something to do with a mission that Angie and I worked. Veronica, I didn’t know Angie was with the CIA, and I never saw her during this mission. ”
“Angie.” Veronica sounded thoughtful. “Are you talking about Angie Dodd?”
“Now Angie Whitmore, and yes, I am. Did you know her?”
The other operative was silent for a moment. “She’s dead?”
Tears burned her eyes. “Yes, along with her entire family.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I enjoyed working with Angie on various ops. Tell me how I can help you.”
“Do you remember an op that Angie and I worked together, one that had repercussions back at The Company, maybe affecting one or two people or a particular team or division?”
Veronica gave a huff of laughter. “Don’t ask for much, do you? You know, Riley, the only mission I can think of that meets your list of qualifications is Operation Black Veil.”
Riley froze. “How did you know about that operation? It was supposed to be off the grid.” This wasn’t good. Had the mission details leaked?
She blinked. The terrorist group had been destroyed. Hadn’t it?
“Angie told me late one night when she’d had too much to drink.”
Her mouth gaped. Angie was drunk? She’d never seen her old friend drink any alcohol in the two years that she’d lived in Homestead.
What had driven her to pick up a bottle and drown her sorrows in liquor, then talk about a mission?
“Is this mess happening because Angie spilled classified information?”
“Doubtful. You said they came after you three times in the past few days. Did Angie mention anyone targeting her?”
Riley’s heart sank. “No. Angie felt eyes on her, but no one made a move. Maybe they made the move on me first and planned to target Angie later.”
“That’s something you’ll have to decide. Who was your handler for this mission?”
The same man who had been her handler for every operation. “Nathan Berkley.”
“You should look into him as well as Obsidian Storm.”
Beside her, Andre stiffened. “I’ll do that. Anyone else I should put on the list?”
“Berkley’s second in command, Sam Cowan. There was something shifty about him whenever we crossed paths.” She paused. “I have to go. Good luck, Riley. I hope you’ll tell me how this problem turns out sometime.”
“Of course. Thanks for your help, Veronica.”
“It was little enough. You would have figured it out on your own. I may have shortened the timeline, but you did the hard work.”
“Be safe.”
“Same to you. Watch your back, my friend.” And she was gone.
Silence filled the room until Andre broke it a minute later. “Obsidian Storm?”
“You know who they are?”
“The CIA wasn’t the only group interested in the activities of Obsidian Storm.”
Her gaze shifted from Andre to Elias and back again. “The military, too?”
“They were a threat to the safety of American citizens. Someone higher than us sent our unit to stop the threat.”
Iona’s eyebrows rose. “When?”
Elias frowned. “Why does it matter?”
“Indulge me.”
He rubbed his face with his hands. “I can’t remember. Can you, Andre?”
A head shake. “I know it was during our last year with the Rangers.”
A knock on the door interrupted their discussion.
“I’ve got it.” Elias palmed his Sig and checked the peephole. “It’s Seth.” He opened the door and motioned for the rest of their teammates to come inside the suite.
Seth glanced around. “Looks like you started the party without us.”
“We haven’t gotten far,” Andre said. “No food yet. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.” Grant smiled.
The operatives laughed. Leave it to Grant to be the comedic relief in a tense discussion.
Rayne kissed her husband’s cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll make sure you don’t waste away to nothing.”
“I knew I had married a good woman.”