Chapter Twenty-One
NO. WAY. RILEY glowered at Andre. “This isn’t your mess. It’s mine. I should do the interrogation with Nathan.”
“No.”
Fury rolled over her. Where did he get off telling her what she could and couldn’t do? “That’s it? Just no?”
“Look, Berkley still has power over you.”
“I don’t work for The Company anymore. I can handle it, Andre.”
“This has nothing to do with your skill and everything to do with your pre-programmed response to Berkley.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You spent so much time taking missions from him that your programmed response is to believe whatever Berkley tells you.”
Riley opened her mouth to argue the point and realized she couldn’t. Andre was right. She took Berkley’s word as truth, even when he’d lied to her since the first day she’d met him. She blew out a breath. “You’re right.”
Everyone remained silent for a beat. “I am?” Andre looked dazed.
She wasn’t that bad, was she? “I didn’t realize it before now, but I would believe anything Nathan told me.” Some interrogator she would be, biased for the person in custody. “I trusted him, and I shouldn’t have.”
More silence, then, “I believe you would get the truth from Berkley. However, the process would take a long time. We’ll learn the truth faster if I do it.
Berkley doesn’t know what to expect from me.
Although he knows I used to be a Ranger, we don’t tell our training methods.
Having to deal with me will keep him off balance and get us answers sooner. ”
“All of us can’t go with you.” Seth’s expression was thoughtful. “When we finish discussing Riley’s list of people, we’ll decide who accompanies you on this field trip, Andre.”
Elias shook his head. “Before we do anything else, we need to find Berkley. No need to create a plan if he’s out of the country.”
He wasn’t wrong. Of all the things she’d considered, Riley hadn’t thought about the possibility of Berkley being in a place where Fortress couldn’t get to him. Just the thought of having to wait until he returned was maddening.
“I’ll find out where he is, and we’ll go from there.” Andre turned back to his sheets of paper. “Berkley’s second in command is Sam Cowan. He was the backup guy to whom Riley reported if Berkley wasn’t available.”
Seth looked at her. “Opinions of him?”
“Competent and creepy.” Weird combination, but an accurate assessment. She always felt as though she needed a shower after dealing with Sam.
“Explain.”
“I always felt he knew more than he let on while he left me in the dark.”
Grant frowned. “Dangerous and stupid.”
“Other impressions?” Seth’s eyes glittered.
Anger, she realized. Seth was furious on her account.
Reminding herself to focus, she thought back through the years she was with The Company and realized the feeling of dirt and grime when she dealt with Sam had never changed.
“I don’t think he had a family. At least, I hope he didn’t.
Based on passing comments, Sam thought he was God’s greatest gift to women and pursued them relentlessly. ”
Andre frowned. “Including you?”
“He hit on every woman he came in contact with, including me.”
He turned to Rayne. “I might let you come along when we track down Cowan. He doesn’t respect women much.”
“I’ll be glad to teach him a few manners.”
“So will I.” Teagan’s hands clenched.
“Let’s find him first.” Seth kissed her lightly, then turned his attention to Andre. “Have more to share?”
“I need current locations for Berkley and Cowan. We’ll put together a plan once we have the information.”
“Next up, Grant.”
“I researched Sam Cowan. Your instincts were right, Riley. Cowan isn’t married, but he has a reputation as a ladies’ man. He also has a rep for not dating a woman more than once. He’s treating the women around him as an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
Violet sighed. “That’s sad. He missed out on getting to know some very fine women by using that tactic.”
Riley frowned. “How do you know?”
“He passed up you and Angie. How much intelligence does he have if he did that?”
Teagan studied her. “Did you go out with Cowan, Riley?”
“No.” Disgust filled her. “He wasn’t my type.”
Andre turned to Grant. “What else do you have on Cowan?”
“He had a sketchy history before he joined the CIA.”
“The Company redacted his history like the military did ours?”
“Someone did. I’m curious why someone did that.”
“Zane keeps our files locked down,” Riley reminded them. “In black ops, you don’t want a trail about you to lead anywhere.”
“Maybe.” Andre turned back to Grant. “Anything else interesting?”
He shook his head. “I have an address for him.” Grant grimaced. “It’s in D.C. like we thought. No guarantee he’s in residence at the moment, though.”
Riley agreed with Grant. She wasn’t a fan of the nation’s capital, either. She preferred living in the small town of Hartman, just outside of Nashville. “Before we make flight arrangements, let me see if I can ping his cell phone to check his location.”
“Do the same for Berkley.” Seth turned to Elias. “Let’s have it.”
“I looked into Eduardo Garcia and his family thanks to Riley’s help.”
“And?”
“Garcia is most definitely dead. He was found in his office, slumped over his desk. Autopsy results show he died from curare poisoning.”
Violet’s mouth gaped. “Nasty stuff.”
“Obsidian Storm was rabidly loyal to their leader and vowed to find the person responsible for his death. They’ve never given up the hunt for the killer.”
Seth stiffened. “You’re sure Obsidian Storm still exists?”
“They do. I poked around in the Fortress database, too, and discovered Storm leadership sent several second-tier soldiers underground for protection during our Special Forces raid. Eduardo Garcia’s son Javier assumed leadership of the Obsidian Storm remnant on the day his father died with the help of an advisor. And that’s all I have for the moment.”
“Noah?”
“Violet and I looked into Rico Mendoza. Rico is definitely dead as well. Andre took him out with one shot to the heart and one to the head. Second-tier soldiers sent his son Diego to the underground bunker after we killed his father. He and Javier were already friends. However, they bonded as teenagers over the deaths of their fathers and vowed revenge. Both boys spent their entire teenage years training for leadership. They took over last year and have been looking for the people who killed their fathers ever since.”
Teagan stared. “That can’t be their entire purpose. Don’t they want wives and families?”
“Not so far. In fact, they treat women like Sam Cowan, useful for one night, then they’re expendable.”
Iona sighed. “That’s a sad way to treat people.”
“It’s a sad way to live,” Noah said. “I also checked the Fortress databases. Diego is evil, just like his father. The Storm’s second-tier soldiers trained those boys well to lead Obsidian Storm. They’re known for their cruelty.”
“Did you confirm the location of Obsidian Storm?”
“After we destroyed their compound, the group moved to another part of the Chihuahua Province.”
Seth eyed his partner. “Do they have an agenda besides killing us?”
Noah’s mouth curved wryly. “Their slogan is Death to America. What does that tell you?”
“Does anyone know what their plan is?”
“Not yet. Your turn, Seth. Who did you investigate and what did you find out?”
“Teagan and I looked into Matias Aldana. He’s the head of the second-tier soldiers and responsible for training Javier and Diego. He’s also a mastermind of terror tactics and hates America. His mother came to America to visit her sister, who had married a citizen and lived in Nashville.”
“Oh, man.” Elias scowled. “This story won’t have a happy ending, will it?”
“Nope. Rosita, Matias’ aunt, and Lucia, his mother, went to a movie in the Green Hills area.
They stopped at a jewelry store. While they were there, two masked gunmen pushed their way in and robbed the store.
They got away with almost $1,000,000 worth of jewelry.
The robbers demanded the jewelry worn by the sisters.
When they refused to give up their wedding rings, the robbers shot them. Both died at the scene.”
“And that’s what led to the Storm’s mantra,” Teagan said. “Based on what we read, the members of Obsidian Storm are very interested in weaponized viruses.”
Riley froze. “No.” That had to be wrong. If not, the US was in trouble, and that trouble could spread to the rest of the world.
“Riley?” Andre studied her. “Do you know something about that?”
“That’s the reason Berkley sent me to take out Garcia. He was the driving force behind weaponizing viruses for use against the US. After the operation was over, Berkley and Cowan told me the threat was as dead as Garcia.”
Seth scowled. “They lied. Those plans were put on hold, not scrapped.”
“What virus were they working to weaponize?” Violet asked.
“The good old flu.”
The medic’s face went pale. “Oh, no.”
Noah looked puzzled. “What’s the big deal about that? We take flu shots every year.”
“This is different. Do you know how many people died from the Spanish Flu in 1918? Fifty to one hundred million people died worldwide. In the US alone, 675,000 people died. When you weaponize the flu, you don’t have a flu shot to lessen the effect of the virus because it’s a super flu.
If Obsidian Storm can weaponize the flu, we’ll see another pandemic worldwide, and millions will die. We have to stop them.”
“Slow down, baby.” Noah gathered Violet into his arms. “We understand what you’re saying.”
Elias rubbed the back of his neck. “The most important piece of information we need is the location of the lab. Obsidian Storm must have a lab to work on the flu virus. We can’t stop them if we don’t know the location of the lab.”
Seth turned to Riley. “Can you find the lab?”
“Maybe.” Riley might speed up the search with one phone call. She set aside her computer and stood. “I’ll be back.”
She opened the French door, stepped onto the balcony, and pulled out her phone.
A moment later, a deep male voice said, “Murphy.”