Epilogue
Marshall Kelley scanned the room.It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the need to celebrate—they’d stopped the defense bill from passing, albeit with a fair bit of blurring the lines and some help from a friend in literally the highest place—but he couldn’t help worrying about what kind of target President Coulter had painted on his back by harpooning the defense bill.
But for now, the team at Black Tower deserved a moment to enjoy the victory. Which was presumably why Miranda had arranged for the swankiest restaurant in Old Town Alexandria to reserve the entire upper level for them. Tonight, if the Reserved sign at the bottom of the stairs was to be believed, they were STB Consulting enjoying their quarterly sales meeting.
Maybe the analysts and office staff could be believed as stiff-necked consulting types. But a closer look at most of the guys in the room would tip anyone off that they were far more than a business firm. No beer bellies or golf tans in this “sales meeting.” But Marshall knew that most people didn’t see the things he did. Everyone at this restaurant would see exactly what they expected to see. Just another small business letting off steam on the company dime.
Ross and Andi McClain were in a small conversation with Flint and his wife, Jessica. Cole Kensington interrupted them with a hearty handshake to Flint before pulling Joey under his arm with a grin. Marshall hadn’t wanted to like the pharmaceutical billionaire any more than the rest of the team, but Kensington had eventually earned his respect. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to be on Joey’s bad side. Her “pranks” could end with a person spending months untangling technical knots in their office or hard drive.
Will Gilbert, their resident lone wolf, had even brought Hannah with him. Of course, Tank still wasn’t letting Kaylie and Lia out of his sight. Not that he could blame him. Seeing Tank fall so hard for the single mom had been unexpected, but Marshall would never begrudge his friend the happiness he’d found. Which left Marshall leaning here at the edge of the bar, trying not to let Jackson get under his skin.
“Mom called me this morning.”
Marshall grunted instead of replying. Mom never called Marshall, but that was because he called her dutifully once per week. Jackson never called her, so she broke down and called him once a month.
“She said she ran into Norah last week. She’s working at Summit Capital.”
Marshall narrowed his eyes, glancing only slightly at his brother before looking away. He didn’t want to talk about Norah, but that was exactly why Jackson was bringing her up with that smirk on his face. Jackson had one elbow on the bar, leaning casually against it as though he didn’t have a care in the world.
Connor and Landon stepped up next to them, rescuing Marshall from whatever torture Jackson was aiming for by bringing up Marshall’s ex-girlfriend.
“Hey, guys. Buy you a drink?” Jackson greeted their squadmates with a lift of his glass.
Marshall rolled his eyes. “It’s an open bar, doofus.”
Jackson’s playful smile grew. “That’s obviously why I offered.”
The bartender brought them their orders. Connor grabbed the drink and turned around to survey the room. “You know, I’ve been at Black Tower for two years, and I think this is the first party I’ve been to.”
Marshall immediately began to protest. Black Tower had all kinds of gatherings. But then he realized that they’d cancelled the Christmas party last year, busy dealing with the hostages at the commune in Nevada. And they usually had a 4th of July barbecue at Flint’s house, but Jessica went into labor the night before the last one. No one minded missing out on ribs and steak when it meant welcoming baby Ariana to the world.
“I guess we’ve been a little busy,” he admitted.
“Always so busy saving the world,” Landon said. There was an edge to his voice that had Marshall tensing slightly. What was that about?
Before he could ask a carefully chosen question to understand Landon’s attitude better, Joey came over to their group, having left Kensington behind with their boss.
“Speaking of saving the world...” Marshall said, just loud enough for Joey to hear as she approached.
“Someone has to do the hard work while the rest of you run around and pew pew everything in sight.” She made guns out of her fingers to emphasize the childish sound effects.
Marshall grinned, despite the ribbing. Joey loved to make fun of the tactical side of operations. She preferred her sneaky backdoor tech and intelligence. But they all knew that neither would be able to complete the missions without the other.
“Marshall, can I talk to you a sec?”
Jackson feigned offense. “Don’t you want to talk to me, Joey? I know I’m your favorite.”
Joey rolled her eyes, and Marshall whacked the back of his brother’s head as he stepped away. “What’s up?”
Joey’s curly blonde hair was pulled back behind a thick, knotted piece of fabric, and she adjusted it slightly. Was it nerves?
“I found out why Morris Foods wanted to buy PrimoPak foods,” she said.
Marshall didn’t let a hint of his surprise or curiosity show on his face. She watched him closely and then frowned at him. When it was clear she was pausing for dramatic effect, he gave an overly dramatic gasp. “What is it? I must know,” he embellished.
Joey rolled her eyes. “You steal all my fun. You know that right?”
Marshall shrugged. “Jackson calls me a fun-sucker.”
Joey laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Okay, fine. Even though you stole the fun of my announcement, I’ll tell you anyway. I found a contract buried in the PrimoPak servers. A government contract.”
Marshall narrowed his eyes.
“PrimoPak has a small government contract to provide 20% of the annual purchase of MREs through one of their subsidiaries. But there is a wartime stipulation. If the US deploys forces, PrimoPak gets the surge production to cover the additional MREs needed. Five million extra cases per year.”
Marshall whistled low. “That’s…”
“Four hundred million dollars at eighty bucks per case.” Joey shook her head. “Morris Foods bought the struggling company for pennies on the dollar, knowing that the war Syndicate is aiming for will funnel money straight from DC into their pockets at huge levels.”
They already suspected that the Syndicate was aiming to pull the United States into some sort of global conflict. But this helped explain just why others had allied with the organization. If you knew war was inevitable? You could make a fortune with the right investments at the right time.
And Senator Morris and her husband were war profiteers. Along with every single person in the Syndicate web.
“We need to re-evaluate every sector. Who has the most to gain from war? They’re our targets.”
Joey nodded, then looked back at the room. The sound of laughter and conversation ebbed around their little bubble of intense concentration. “Not tonight, though.”
The distinct clink of silverware on a glass rang through the room. Marshall found Tank standing in the center, looking more confident with the attention on him than Marshall had ever seen him. Tank was still trying to quiet the group, most notably Jackson and the other two he’d left behind at the bar.
“I’ve got something to say,” Tank thundered. His eyes widened slightly and he lowered his gaze toward Lia. She just beamed up at him, completely unfrightened by the large man’s volume.
Marshall glanced back at Joey. “Not tonight,” he confirmed. Tonight, he’d celebrate with his team and watch the seemingly emotionless Tank make some sort of declaration of love to the woman he’d fallen for.
But come Monday? They still had work to do.