Chapter Eighteen #2
“You married the best woman.” She turned to Andre. “Food is a good idea, though. Otherwise, Echo unit’s members will have pitiful growling stomachs before long, distracting us all.”
“You’re not wrong. Elias, you know our food preferences. Order a variety of things on the menu. You can’t go wrong here.”
“Don’t forget dessert,” Noah said.
Violet rolled her eyes. “You, my love, have a serious sweet tooth.”
“Of course. Why do you think I married you?”
Oh, boy. Riley looked at Andre. If they married, she would have the chance to enjoy private jokes with him, too.
Whoa. She needed to slow her roll. Even though Andre loved her, that didn’t mean he wanted to marry her. He never mentioned the word marriage. A girl could dream, though.
Andre glanced over at her, eyebrow raised in silent inquiry.
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Baring her soul in front of their teammates wasn’t on the agenda this morning.
Divulging her past to them and admitting she had lied to her best friends for the past two years by keeping her CIA past to herself was bad enough.
In addition, the teams would discuss the deaths of Angie Dodd Whitmore and her family. She mouthed, “Later.”
Although he looked skeptical, Andre agreed with a slight nod.
When she tore her gaze from his, Riley glanced at her teammates and found Teagan watching her with amusement and curiosity in her eyes. Oh, no. Her heart sank. Once on the trail of information, Teagan was relentless, pursuing it until she unearthed every secret.
She was toast. The truth coming out was only a matter of time now.
Riley half-listened to Elias placing an enormous order with room service, her attention focusing inward. Was Veronica right? Did the attacks on her and the deaths of the Whitmore family lead back to Obsidian Storm?
Shuddering, she prayed the other operative was wrong because the most evil people she had ever encountered during her years with The Company filled Obsidian Storm, and that was saying something.
Frowning, she thrust her hands through her hair. How was this possible, though? She thought she had brought down the terrorist organization years ago. Had she missed someone, or perhaps one terrorist had rebuilt the group?
How? Riley had completed her part of the mission. She had assassinated Garcia as instructed, including at the exact time she was ordered to carry out the mission. Apparently, Angie was assigned another part of the mission and had been successful in completing the assignment.
She had always appreciated the compartmentalized segments of her missions and only knowing her small part in the whole.
Now, however, that method of handling her was frustrating and could well be dangerous to her, her teammates, and Andre.
This was bad on so many levels that Riley didn’t know where to begin.
“All right.” Seth looked at Andre’s team. “Dinner will be delivered in 40 minutes. You have that long to bring us up to date. Andre, what should we know?”
“More than the information we’ve got.”
“Then let’s go with what you have, and we’ll find out the rest. Go.”
“We found Riley’s mentor from Homestead, the homeless camp.”
Violet and Rayne exchanged glances. “Good. I want a word with that woman.” Rayne’s eyes blazed, and her hands fisted.
Violet frowned. “Get in line.
“There’s no line.” Riley closed her eyes briefly. “She’s dead. Angie and her entire family are dead.”
“Oh, Riley, I’m so sorry. Do we know how they died?”
“Handgun with a silencer. They were murdered at the hospital.”
Teagan whistled. “Bold move on the killer’s part. A lot of risk in assassinating someone in that manner inside a building occupied by many people.”
Iona lips curved. “We ought to know.”
“Same for us.” Seth’s forehead furrowed. “Go on, Andre.”
He explained the connection between Riley, Angie and The CIA and waited.
“Wait a minute.” Violet scowled. “Are you telling us you were with The Company, Riley?”
She gave a slight nod and waited for the explosion. Her teammates exchanged glances, then focused on her.
Rayne’s expression showed her relief. “Thank goodness you came to us.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Riley held up her hand. “Hold on a minute. Andre tells you I was with the CIA and your only response is that?”
Iona’s eyebrows soared. “You expected something different?”
“Well, yes. I thought you’d yell at me and maybe ask Maddox to send me to another team.”
Teagan grinned. “Disappointed, aren’t you? Look, we all have pasts we don’t want to talk about.” She sobered. “You already know my past was ugly without me sharing the details. The same is true for the rest of us, Riley. Who are we to judge?”
“But I worked for the CIA. The rest of you were military or law enforcement. I was neither.”
“The CIA does some good work.” Violet wrapped her hand around Noah’s. “I don’t want to work for them, but my guess is they recruited you when you were young and had no one to ask if that was a wise move.”
Relief swamped her. Thank goodness for her teammates. “I was still in college, majoring in computer science.”
“Like I said, young and vulnerable. The Company recruited you for your computer skills?”
“Everybody wants a hacker.” Once in a while, even Brent pressed her to switch to tech support for the black ops teams. Riley always turned him down because she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Artemis. They were her family.
“We’re glad you realized the truth and joined the right side.”
“Let’s get back on task,” Noah said. “Before you left, The Company assigned you and Angie to the same mission. Regardless of whether the operation is classified, you must talk to us.”
Seth nodded. “Start at the beginning, Riley. Who recruited you?”
“Nathan Berkley. He contacted me when I was a sophomore. He was drinking a cup of coffee at the coffee shop I favored when I did schoolwork. We struck up a conversation about computers and the dark web. After a few minutes, we exchanged email addresses, and he left the shop.”
“He kept in touch with you?”
She nodded. “About once a month, he’d email about some new theory he’d heard about computers or hacking. I thought little about it. Frankly, I was too busy to concern myself with some old guy who was as crazy about computers as I was.”
Iona frowned. “How old was Nathan?”
Her lips twitched at the corners. “In his late thirties.”
Andre folded his arms across his chest. “That is not old.”
“To a teenager, that’s ancient.”
Grant flinched. “Ouch. Tell us ancient ones how you really feel. When did Berkley make his move?”
“During my last semester of college. He said he had a job opening for a computer expert with my qualifications. I was beyond excited about the possibility of a job in my field.”
“Did he tell you who his employer was?”
She shook her head. “He said they were important people who saw great value in me and my skills.” Riley groaned. “I was such an idiot for not insisting he give me the name of the company where he worked.”
“You were too relieved to have a guaranteed steady income,” Iona said. “I don’t blame you since you only had yourself to depend on.”
“Ignorance doesn’t excuse my foolishness. I learned from that experience, though. I questioned Zane and Brent in great detail to make sure I didn’t repeat the same mistake.” She looked at Andre. “Do you want me to tell everyone about the terrorist group called Obsidian Storm?”
Seth stiffened. “Obsidian Storm? Tell me she’s joking, Andre.”
“Sorry. I can’t.”
He groaned. “Holy smoke. I thought they were gone for good.”
“Wait.” Riley stared at Echo’s leader. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
“Echo unit was sent after Obsidian Storm to clean house. We wiped them out.”
“We thought we did.” Andre grimaced. “Looks like we were wrong.”
Noah shook his head. “When we left their compound, no one was left alive. We followed our orders to the letter.”
Grant gave a slight nod. “But that mission left a nasty taste in our mouths.”
“He’s right.” Andre wrapped his arm around Riley’s shoulders. “I remember feeling like we had just completed someone else’s agenda besides the Army’s.”
The room fell silent as everyone stared at them. Riley stiffened. Oh, man. “What’s wrong?”
Smiles formed on several faces. Elias chuckled. “Not a thing.”
Andre glared at his teammates. “Knock it off, guys.”
Grant looked from one to the other. “What’s going on here, Andre?”
“Riley is mine,” he said flatly as though daring them to argue with him. “I love her. If you have anything to say about it, we’ll be having a long, painful conversation, after which you can go to the hospital for stitches.”
Laughter filled the room, followed by congratulations from everyone. Seth grinned. “It’s about time you wised up.”
“Took you long enough.” Grant shook his head. “You’re pathetic, buddy.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Andre scowled. “Can we get back on task, please?”
“Afraid we’ll scare her off?”
His hold on her tightened. “You won’t.”
“He’s right.” Seth held up his hand. “We need to get back on topic. The fun can wait until later. Riley, when were you in the Chihuahua Province for the Obsidian Storm operation?”
“That was my first mission for the CIA.” She glanced at Grant.
“After that mission, I had a foul taste in my mouth, too. I realized then that I couldn’t follow my handler’s instructions without question anymore.
I knew something was off the further into the mission I got, but I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
I was in Delgado on May 5, and I remember because it was Cinco de Mayo and everyone was celebrating.
They were drunk as skunks, which made my mission easier. ”
Andre and his teammates exchanged grim glances. “What time did you leave the compound, Riley?” Andre asked.
Why did they want to know so many details? “Midnight. Why?”
Andre groaned. “I don’t believe this.”
“You should.” Seth shook his head, his disgust plain to see.
“I don’t understand.” Riley turned to Andre. “What’s going on?”
“Our unit was in the Obsidian Storm compound an hour after you left. We missed each other by an hour.”
Oh, man. That could mean only one thing. “We’re both targets of Obsidian Storm.”