56. Gwen
Gwen
The storm hasn’t let up. Rain hammers the hangar roof in relentless sheets, wind whining through. The two jets sit side by side, lights low, and the engines quiet.
I thought it’d be a good idea to leave the plane, get some fresh air and share what I know out here, but I’m walking back that thought and my arse right into the cabin.
Once I settle on the couch, I offer a quick, “Sorry I changed my mind.” Been known to do that a time or two in the last week alone. Nobody blinks an eye when it happens again.
Natasha is next to me, her own rig open and out. Across from us, Easton and Dad sit, silently keeping eyes on us as if we might collide head-on with danger and then vanish if they turn away.
“You were saying?” Carter prompts, hanging back by the galley with Gray.
I rotate my screen toward the room. “Julian must’ve finished the firmware ghost ping.”
“And that means?” Carter squares his stance, his bad mood still lingering, which is totally fair considering a woman he called a kinda-friend betrayed him.
“Julian built a beacon below the operating system at the firmware level. If his rig boots in an environment that doesn’t match its hardware fingerprint—cloned or mirrored—it assumes compromise and fires a hidden signal.
Not a normal transmission, either. It disguises itself as electrical noise riding inside other emissions. ”
Natasha joins in and translates for me. “What she means is, if anyone tries to clone his rig, Gwen’s sent his location like an emergency signal. They didn’t turn it on like they did with Gwen’s in London, they tried to clone it.”
“So they have no idea we can see them.” I shouldn’t be smiling, but I am. Because Julian’s a bloody genius, and we’ll be able to save his life because of it. “He also hardened the system so it can’t be cloned quickly. Even someone as skilled as Jezebel will need hours to break through.”
Before I can share more, the hatch opens. Cold air and the noise of the storm rushes in, ushering Gideon along with it. His gray coat is soaked, and his inky-black hair rain-slicked. “Tell me you found my brother.”
“He’s a little over an hour outside the city,” I cut to it fast. “Sending coordinates to your mobile now.”
Relief flickers across his hard features as he digs his mobile from his coat pocket and studies the screen. “I know this site. Cold War listening station. Supposed to be abandoned.”
“Signal scatter indicates reinforced concrete and RF shielding, so that makes sense.” I nod. “We’re dealing with an underground structure that someone powered back up. Likely one of The Collective’s older bunkers Molly knew about. She probably repurposed it when they were taken out.”
Carter turns to the side, eyes on Gideon. “Thermal drones an option?”
Gideon shakes his head no. “Shielding will block aerial reads.”
“Can you get me the schematics?” Carter asks, facing me again.
“Already pulling them now,” Natasha says before I can, and rotates her display. “Surface admin building, generator sheds, primary underground access should be here if they weren’t moved. Lots of sublevel cable tunnels that’ll be a nightmare.”
“But I’m sure the place has been reoutfitted,” I note.
“We’ll have to breach by ground,” Carter says steadily. “They don’t know we’re still alive yet, and they have no clue we’re coming. That’s our advantage.”
“I need to be close by when you breach.” I raise a hand before Dad or Easton can break a blood vessel. “Nearby, not part of the op.”
“She’s right.” Thank you, Natasha, for having my six on this. “If Julian’s beacon was able to get out, signal can get in. We can work the same pathway and support comms.”
“But you have to be within range,” Dad says in understanding, leaning forward to prop his elbows on his jean-clad thighs.
“How many bodies do you have for this?” Gideon asks, gaze on Carter.
Carter lists everyone off. Himself, Constantine, Gray, Sebastian, Griffin, Jesse, Jack, Mason, and Nash. Then he pauses and looks at Easton.
“I’ll be staying with my wife and daughter.” Dad eyes Easton. “You’re good to spin up.”
Easton slips his gaze from Dad to me, then over to Carter before nodding his OK.
“With my people, that makes sixteen in total,” Gideon says.
Easton and Zoey took fifteen on their own on the island. Based on the way his jaw shifts, he’s remembering that, too. He rests a hand over his heart and stares at me. “We’re going to save him, I promise.”
And I believe him.
No doubt in my mind.
“We need to kit up and roll out.” Gideon’s already on the move before anyone can agree.
Easton stands and offers me my coat. Always taking care of me. I give him a smile of gratitude, and then once I’m zipped up, I tuck Jerry under my arm, and we exit the jet.
With Hollis and Reed out there waiting for us, it’s déjà vu of that op in the fall—a similar storm, in the same country, and practically the same crew.
I say my hello to Reed, then Hollis and her and Gideon’s half brother, Tristan. I’m not sure why I didn’t think he would be here given it’s Julian’s life on the line—guess it’s because his existence is more secretive than Julian’s being alive is.
“We’re cleared to roll out without any vehicle check.” Gideon stands between his sister and Tristan while holstering a 9mm at his side. “I take it you’re covering our footprints here by nuking the footage?”
“Of course,” I say with a nod as the rest of Falcon packs our weapons into the awaiting convoy transport, which Gideon must have arranged.
Not even two minutes later, I’m wedged in the back seat between Easton and Natasha, my rig braced against my knees as the vehicle tears down a road outside Heathrow. Dad’s up front in the passenger seat, half turned, rifle across his lap as Carter drives our SUV.
“We’re not relying on standard radios underground, and our mesh units are live,” I explain. “Each operator’s comm device will become a relay node once you infil. The signals will hop from person to person instead of trying to punch through concrete.”
We thankfully already had these new devices, but we’ve yet to deploy them.
“So even underground, we keep line of sight digitally,” Easton says, his hand settling on my knee, and that simple touch manages to steady me like always.
“Exactly. Your ATAK units broadcast position and telemetry across the mesh.” I have no idea why it makes me feel better to explain the nitty-gritty details, but it does.
Like saying it all out loud reminds me that we’re not going in blind.
“Movement plus signal strength changes will help me map the interior in real time.”
“Which is why you need to be close by,” Dad grumbles. “Doesn’t RF shielding block all that, though?”
I zoom in on Julian’s ghost beacon pattern still whispering across my screen. Faint, but steady. “Shielding isn’t perfect. Especially not retrofitted Cold War concrete. There are always seams. Grounding lines, old cable runs, power bleeds.”
“So, we’re not punching through the wall, we’re slipping through the cracks.” Natasha piggybacks on my explanation. She always does a better job at speaking more plainly about this stuff than I do.
“I don’t need to recreate anything. Our mesh network handles internal comms.” I rotate the overlay into view. “Julian already proved there’s outward leakage. I’m going to anchor to his signal and bridge into your mesh telemetry. Outside to inside.”
“Are you saying you’ll be able to point us to exactly where Julian’s laptop is down in that bunker?” Easton asks.
I glance at him, his handsome features still visible in the darkness. “Yes,” I breathe out. “Julian didn’t just leave a trail; he left a glowing red door.”