Chapter Twenty
ANDRE WAITED FOR Riley’s response to his statement.
In a way, he was to blame for Angie’s death.
The Rangers made a splash when they took down an imminent threat to the United States.
Riley’s work probably would have been attributed to them if not for the CIA’s press conference, bragging about one of their own killing Garcia.
“You killed Mendoza?” Riley tightened her grip on his hand in silent support. “I’ve wondered for years who pulled that off.”
“It doesn’t bother you that I killed Mendoza in cold blood?”
“Does it bother you Garcia died by my hand?”
“Garcia was a threat to our country. If you hadn’t reached him first, one of us would have pulled the trigger.
” He stopped, head tilting. “By the way, how did you kill him? Our superior officers didn’t include that information in our reports or in the debriefing session when we returned to the States. ”
“The Company gave me a ring with a needle concealed inside. I activated it with my thumb. The needle delivered a dose of deadly poison that did the job in less than a minute.”
Andre stared. “Are you kidding me?” How could her employer do that to a rookie field agent? He believed her, but not the ineptness of the federal agency responsible for her safety.
“I can’t prove it, but his death was at my hand.”
“Oh, I believe you, Riley. What I’m finding it hard to believe is the CIA sent you into such a dangerous situation with only a close-quarters weapon to complete a mission with no backup.”
“Angie was nearby, and so were other agents.”
“But you didn’t know who the agency sent to provide a distraction, and you had no way to communicate with them if you got into trouble.”
“I didn’t need them.”
“A piece of luck.” He held up a hand when she protested.
“Don’t bother defending them. They hung you out to dry, babe.
If you’d been caught, Berkley would deny knowing you, walk away without looking back, and leave you to escape if you could before Obsidian Storm killed you for attempting to murder their leader. ”
Iona scowled. “That is not acceptable for any handler. Not one of my people is expendable. Why didn’t you walk away from the agency after that mission, Riley? They didn’t have your best interests at heart.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t know any better, and I thought I could handle anything the enemy dished out.
I know. You don’t have to say it. I had an inflated opinion of myself in those days and believed I could overcome any challenge.
” Riley grimaced. “I was so na?ve to believe such a thing, and I quickly learned better.”
Seth held up a hand to forestall more discussion. “We know why Riley and Andre are targets. That’s the point we’re dancing around in this discussion.”
Noah looked grim. “It’s only a matter of time before the rest of Echo comes under fire. That can’t happen, Seth. More than just our lives is at stake now.”
Grant nodded. “We should take the fight to them, not wait around for them to catch us off guard in a distracted moment.”
Violet wrinkled her nose. “What happened to diplomatic solutions?”
Elias shrugged. “There’s a time for diplomacy. We’re way past that and well into the time to fight. In fact, we’re late to the party. I think the Storm’s soldiers are stalking all of us. It’s only a matter of time before they receive orders to take us out.”
Seth frowned. “Maybe.”
“You suspect something different will happen?”
He glanced at Teagan, then at the other women of Artemis. “We’re hard to kill.”
“So is Artemis.”
“We know that, Elias, but Obsidian Storm doesn’t. They don’t know that our women are more deadly than their soldiers, and that’s to Artemis’ advantage.”
“Why does it matter? They don’t have anyone in their clutches.”
“It’s a matter of time. Our greatest strength is the women.
The Storm does not know what these women can do.
They’ll look for a way to get the women alone.
That will give them an opportunity to capture them.
From there, the Storm will use the women as leverage to force us to turn ourselves over to them. ”
Andre cringed. “They’ve been studying us for a while if that’s their game plan.”
Elias’ eyebrows rose. “Oh, yeah?”
Really? Elias knew how he felt about Riley.
He would protect her until his last breath.
If that meant turning himself over to Obsidian Storm to keep her alive at the cost of his own, he’d do it in a heartbeat.
“Are you telling us you wouldn’t do anything necessary to save Iona? If you are, I’m calling you a liar.”
The woman in question glared at the members of Echo. “Iona can take care of herself.”
“Iona is the bait for Elias.” Andre ignored her outburst. “Regardless of whether he acknowledges it, he’ll protect her with everything he has.”
“They’ll have to go through me.” Elias’ voice was low, his gaze locked on Iona. Even though her cheeks flushed, she didn’t look away from him. “And I’ll take a good number of them with me if I die.”
Andre fought a smile. Looked as though he and Riley were correct. Something was indeed brewing between Elias and Iona. Brent would cringe when he found out two more of his operatives were pairing up.
Elias turned to Seth. “What’s the plan? Do we vote on how to deal with Obsidian Storm? I know how I’ll vote.”
“This is not a democracy.”
He rolled his eyes. “So, what have you decided we should do, Oh Great Wise One?”
“What we all know must be done. We can’t charge the enemy without preparation.”
Grant studied him for a moment. “If we’re going after Obsidian Storm, we’ll need help. They’re in the Chihuahua Province, where Fortress has no friends.”
Noah gave a slight nod. “He’s right. Going after them alone is foolish. If we’re correct and they’ve rebuilt the terrorist cell, they’ll have us outnumbered.”
Elias snorted. “I don’t mind bucking the odds, but I’m not a fan of walking into a sure death. I don’t plan to attend my funeral soon.”
“We prepare as we always have,” Seth said. “We don’t skip steps because we’re eager to wipe this terrorist cell off the map and protect the ones we love. That means we need Riley’s information.” He turned toward Riley. “Do you know the names of the operatives assigned to Obsidian Storm with you?”
“Only Angie.”
“Can you find out their names?”
“Give me a few minutes.”
“We want to help, Riley, but you have to give us a direction.”
“I’ve done more than that. I put together files on a few key players in the operation.”
Noah’s brows rose. “Did you include Garcia and Mendoza?”
“Yes.”
“Their families, too?”
Riley blinked. “No.”
Iona pointed a finger at her. “We need information about the families before you do anything else.”
“Yes, ma’am. I sent the files to your Fortress email addresses. Seth and Iona can divide them up while I send you the family information and search for the rest of the key players.”
Rayne studied the paper-covered walls. “Will we need more sheets of paper on the walls?”
She nodded.
Rayne rubbed her hands. “Outstanding. I’ve got dibs on the paper detail.”
Andre booted up his laptop and checked the files Riley had uploaded. He scanned the list and zeroed in on one name. “I want Nathan Berkley.”
Seth turned to stare at him. “You sure you want to do that to yourself?”
“He’s mine. I want to know everything there is to know about a man who supposedly cared for a young woman straight out of college but threw her to the wolves on her first mission.”
“Can you be neutral? If you can’t, let someone else take that one. We need accuracy, not prejudiced opinions that give us a false picture.”
“Ouch. Tell me how you really feel.”
“Can you be neutral?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And if you couldn’t, you’d still investigate him anyway, right?”
He gave a faint smile. “Something like that.”
“Take Berkley, but don’t waste your time or mine, Marsh. If you do, you’ll pay a price during our next training session.”
Oh, man. Andre swallowed hard. His team leader wasn’t kidding. He shuddered just imagining the horrors Seth could invent.
He snorted. Seth didn’t have to be creative. All he needed to do was tack on a few extra miles to the team run. Not only would he pay, but so would his teammates, and they wouldn’t suffer in silence. “Yes, sir. I won’t let you down, Seth.”
“See that you don’t.”
His stomach knotted. Yep, his team leader wasn’t messing around.
He meant every word and threat. Still, Andre got what he wanted, a thorough analysis of Nathan Berkley.
Because he was with the CIA, Andre didn’t doubt that the information he had at his fingertips was obtained through not-so-legal means.
He didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was finding every scrap of information so he could protect Riley.
If her former handler was to blame for her current troubles, he’d have a heart-to-heart talk with the agent, and explain that if this happened again, he would have a very private visit from Andre and his friends.
Riley looked up. “I’m ready.”
Both team’s members stared at her. Andre shook his head. “I haven’t started reading your original report yet. You’re already finished?”
“It helps that I knew where to look.”
Right. But through how many layers of security did she wiggle to get that information? Nope. His woman understated things. Riley was just that good.
Andre opened the file on Berkley and settled deeper into the couch cushions to read. An hour later, he resurfaced, blinked, and glanced around the living room. All of his teammates were deep in their own research.
As Andre watched, one by one his friends finished their reading and set aside their computers.
Elias rubbed his jaw. “Coffee. I need coffee. I’d even take the swill Grant makes right now to clear the fog from my brain.”
“Hey.” Grant scowled. “I may not cook, but I can make a mean pot of coffee.”
“Mean is right.” Noah glared at Grant. “Your nasty brew could dissolve my stomach on contact.”