Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Riley huffed. “I’ll get the proof. Since I know where to look, I’ll dig deep into both Berkley and Cowan.
Knowing the target is half the battle. Now I can hack their lives and find the connections.
I don’t care if Obsidian Storm works offline.
Someone always spills too much information, and that information makes its way to the Internet. I’ll find it and take them down.”
“Priority is the location of that lab. Once we destroy it, we can hunt down those responsible for this fiasco. Anything else you need to tell me about Cowan, Riley?”
“I also noticed with every encounter that he grew more arrogant and bolder, more blatant when he made a pass at me. Those passes included offers of growing extravagance of dates each time he asked me out, then he put me down when I refused.”
“More money. Information he didn’t need.” Andre looked at Seth. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“He’s on the take or he’s in bed with Obsidian Storm.”
Andre nodded. “It makes the most sense. We just need proof.”
“My money’s on Riley.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Seth.”
Andre checked his phone again. “Take the next exit on the right, Seth. We’re ten miles from Cowan’s rental condo.”
Seth glanced at him, a smile curving his lips. “Most people just pay for a hotel room for a night or two and leave.”
“If he’s in bed with Obsidian Storm, this might be where he connects with the Storm.”
“Why in this city? Why not Los Angeles or New York City?”
“Think about it. Nashville, Tennessee is a crossroads for the country. Every major interstate runs through our city.”
“So he could easily arrange a meeting with his contact. All right. Let’s capture our quarry and take him back to the hotel.
We’ll have to find a creative way to get him out of our hotel, though.
People will be stirring by the time we’re finished with him.
” He glanced at Andre. “Might be best to question him at the condo.”
“Maybe. Depends on the setup.” He grimaced. “I’ll let you explain to the others why we changed the plan in mid-stream and left them out of it.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“That’s why they pay you the big bucks, my friend.”
“You know, I think you should look for new running shoes.”
Andre chuckled. “Noted, sir. Turn left at the next corner.”
Soon, they parked on a quiet street a block behind Cowan’s condo. Nothing stirred except the leaves on the trees as a breeze disturbed them.
Good. This was the setup they needed. If things remained the same, the small team should be able to spirit Cowan out of the condo with no one being the wiser.
The real question was whether Cowan traveled with a security detail.
If he did, the Fortress team would have to deal with them after taking care of the alarm system.
The second half of their team joined them. Seth glanced at Andre. “Contact Zane. Tell him we’re ready.”
“Yes, sir.” He made the call. Zane answered on the first ring. “We’re ready, Z.”
“Copy that. Hold.” A moment later, his voice sounded in the earpieces of the operatives. “Linked communication established.”
Seth tapped his comm device. “Copy. Thanks for getting up so early, Z.”
He chuckled. “My son is up earlier than you, so I was already awake.”
Echo’s team leader turned to the operatives and gave instructions.
“Questions?” When there were none, he said, “Let’s move.
Andre and Riley, Elias and Iona, pair up and act like you’re just returning from a very late date.
Violet and I will have to be more circumspect in our behavior.
” His smile was smug. “Teagan doesn’t like it when another woman puts her hands on me.
She might make an exception for Violet, but I’d rather not find out. ”
“Good move.” Iona moved into position beside Elias. “She wasn’t shy about staking her claim to you. She’ll defend her rights with vigor.”
“I know, and I love it.” He sobered. “I love her with everything in me. You know what that’s about, don’t you, Andre?”
Andre wrapped his arm around Riley’s shoulders.
“I do. That’s why we need to catch-and-carry Cowan and question him.
I suspect Obsidian Storm is ready to make a move on the US, and that’s why Garcia and Mendoza are pushing to get rid of us.
We’re a symbol of the wrong done to their fathers, and they plan to use us as a catalyst to start their germ war on our country. ”
“I’m not a fan of using germs, warfare or not.” Elias shuddered. “Those creepy, crawly things you can’t see getting inside you and making you sick. Yuck!”
Zane chuckled. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
Seth’s lips curved. “Same here. Time to roll. Z, we need schematics of the condo if you can scrounge them up in the next two or three minutes.”
“Already ahead of you. It’s in your work email.”
“Tell the boss I said you deserve a raise.” Seth paused. “Look at the schematics. From what I see, the building has two entrances or exits, one in the front and one in the back.”
“Back entrance is the most viable,” Elias said. “I checked the satellite view Zane sent. Cowan’s street is filled with condos like his. Chances are good someone will be awake and looking out the window.”
“Hard to explain to the cops why we’re armed to the teeth.
” Andre shrugged. Too bad about that. He’d liked to have carried more weapons on this small mission, but he held back for that reason.
Hard to explain why you’re carrying a rifle at o’dark thirty in the morning in a peaceful neighborhood.
The self-defense argument wouldn’t hold water here.
Riley expanded the view on her phone screen. “The owner of the building has a fence around his property.”
Seth looked over his shoulder at her. “What kind?”
“Chain-link. Our mini-cutters should handle the job easily.”
“Security system?”
“Yes,” Zane said. “Ah. It’s one of ours. I can take care of the security system from here.”
Excellent. That meant less exposure time for the operatives. “Any chance you have a satellite in place that uses thermal imagery?”
“Hold.” In less than a minute, he said, “You’re in luck, Andre. One of ours is in the right position for the next two minutes. Sending you the live images now.”
Andre clicked on the link Zane sent and studied the images. He rolled his eyes when he saw two active figures in one bed. The other figures in the condo must be Cowan’s security team. Did anyone think it strange for a low man in The Company’s chain of command to receive a security detail?
He watched the security team for the remaining time the satellite could provide a picture and copied the screen.
“Sorry,” Zane said. “That’s all I could get. We’ll have another satellite I can hijack in 30 minutes if you can wait.”
Seth shook his head. “Not a good idea, Z. This looks like a working-class neighborhood, which means people will wake up and move around in an hour. We hope to be out of here by then.”
“Copy that.”
The operatives walked through a neighbor’s unfenced backyard to reach the stand of trees at the back of their target condo. They paused at the edge of the trees and studied the backyard, searching for security cameras.
Andre found the two cameras and plotted a path to the bathroom window on the first floor of the condo, the only path that landed in the cameras’ blind spots. Now, if the security detail stayed at their posts, the Fortress operatives would be golden.
Also, based on the lack of light from the windows, the lights were off throughout the place. Perfect for his team. Not so much for Cowan. For a guy sharp enough to deal with Obsidian Storm, he was foolish with his own safety.
His security detail should have caught the blind spots in the cameras’ view and done something about it. Instead, they let it go. If those four men were guarding him or Riley, he’d fire them immediately. There was no excuse for missing a security fault that obvious.
Seth glanced at Andre. “Do you see a path to get to the bathroom?”
“I’ve got it.”
He glanced at the team. “Wait until Andre is inside the bathroom before you move, one person at a time. We do this fast and quiet, then get out.” Seth nodded at Andre, who took off across the yard at a fast clip.
Andre waited a few seconds to be sure no one had seen him and sounded the alarm, but all was quiet inside the condominium, just the way he wanted it.
He checked the bathroom window. Locked. He studied the hardware for a few seconds, then went to work on the window. Twenty seconds later, the mechanism shifted to an unlocked position.
Andre slowly raised the window a couple of inches, testing to see if the window squeaked when raised. It didn’t. Excellent. He looked at Seth and signaled that he was ready to climb into the bathroom.
When Seth gave him permission to move, Andre raised the window the rest of the way, grasped the bottom of the frame with both hands, hoisted himself up and over, and slid into the room. Empty. Good. He hoped it stayed that way while the rest of his teammates joined him. “In position.”
“Copy. Riley, go.”
A moment later, Riley slid over the frame and into the bathroom. Soon, she and Andre were joined by the rest of the team.
Seth opened the door a crack. After a moment, he signaled for Elias to go to the living room with Iona and take down the guard on watch at the front window. Next, he sent Riley after the target in the kitchen.
Although Andre wanted to go with her to watch her back, he held back his protest. Riley could handle anything thrown at her. With her training, she had more skill than the man she’d go up against. Because he couldn’t help it, Andre squeezed her hand for a second, then released her.
Next, Seth looked at Andre. “Front corner room. One guard. Go.”
He studied the hallway again through the crack. Nothing. No movement. No sound or sign that anyone realized Fortress was in the house.
After a beat, Andre slipped into the hallway and made his way to the room where his target stood watch. He grasped the knob, twisted slowly, and opened the door enough to see the room.
His target hadn’t moved an inch. Either he was disciplined or asleep on his feet.
Andre was betting on the former. The lights were off in this room, giving him cover to work.
He’d have to be fast and silent, but the setup helped him.
This room was a small den. There couldn’t be more than twelve feet separating him from his quarry.
He opened the door wide enough to slip inside the room and closed the door. Careful not to brush the wall, Andre worked toward his target. He stopped inches from the guard.
In seconds, his quarry was on the ground and unconscious from a sleeper hold. He took a few seconds to secure his hands and ankles with zip ties and slap a piece of duct tape over his mouth to keep him quiet.
That done, he tapped his comm device. “Target one is down.”
Seconds later, his teammates reported their success in securing the other guards. “Time to go after the big prize,” Seth murmured. “Stick with the plan. Andre, Riley, meet me outside the target’s door.”
Andre slipped into the hallway and waited for Seth and Riley.
When she walked into the hall and toward him, his gaze took her in from head to toe, relief flooding him when he didn’t see signs of blood.
He didn’t doubt her skills, but he worried just the same.
No matter how well you planned an op, things always went wrong.
Seth slipped from the room where the fourth guard had stood watch and joined them. “Ready?”
They nodded. Andre and Seth stood on either side of the door. Seth signaled Andre to proceed with the plan.
He grasped the knob and twisted. The knob turned easily under his hand. Andre frowned. As paranoid as Cowan appeared to be, that made little sense. He glanced at Seth and nodded.
His leader motioned for him to proceed. Andre pushed the door open and slipped inside the darkened room. Sounds of rustling under the covers showed Cowan and his flavor of the night were distracted.
Following Seth’s hand signals, he walked in silence to the left side of the bed while Seth approached the right side. When both men were set, they grasped the covers and yanked them off.
A dark-haired woman squealed. Cowan cursed and reached under his pillow.
Seth pinned his wrist to the mattress. “Naughty, naughty, Cowan. You know that’s against the rules.”
More cursing from their target.
Andre clamped a hand over the woman’s mouth since she’d decided unwisely that this was a perfect time to scream. He glanced at Riley, who reached inside a vest pocket to retrieve her duct tape. After peeling a strip long enough to cover the woman’s mouth, she tore it off and nodded at Andre.
He shifted his hold to both of the woman’s arms as Riley slapped the tape over her mouth. Together, they cinched her wrists and ankles together and dropped a blanket over her unclothed body.
“What do you want?” Cowan spat out. Then he noticed Riley. “You. What are you doing here?”
“I should ask you that question. But I already know the answer.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He glared at Elias, who slipped into the room, taking a position at the foot of the bed. “Great. Another hoodlum I’ll have arrested and tossed in prison.”
Elias chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t think so, Cowan. We need to chat.”
“If you think I’ll cave like a girl and tell you what you want to know, you’re more stupid than I thought.” Again, his gaze shifted to Riley. “You’re with them?” Contempt filled his eyes. “We trained you to have more discernment than this. Makes me wonder how good your intel was.”
Seth flicked a glance at Andre, who nodded.
He searched the dresser drawers until he found a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Andre tossed both at Cowan. “Get dressed or we’ll take you just as you are.” His smile was more a baring of his teeth. “Might be a little cool in your birthday suit. Choose wisely, old man.”
Seth and Elias aimed their weapons at Cowan. Seth motioned for him to get busy. “You have one minute.”
“You’ll pay for this.”
“Not as much as you will.” Andre glared at him. “I guarantee it.”
For the first time, fear crept into the other man’s eyes.
Good. He should be afraid. Cowan had a lot to answer for, especially for throwing Riley to the wolves.
His gut said Cowan was the one responsible for leaking intel to Obsidian Storm, including the name of the agent who killed Eduardo Garcia.
Obsidian Storm’s leadership got lucky when Andre fell in love with Riley. Two targets in one place.
So, just how involved was Cowan with an organization determined to use a deadly germ against the United States?