20. Jasmin #2
I would not cry. I would not cry in front of this man.
The fuck I wouldn’t. The tears came. It took a few moments before I could speak again.
“Thank you for that. My family thinks we should have a memorial service. We do not have a body to bury.” I sucked in a breath.
If I was going to tell anyone, a stranger was best. My team already thought I had gone off the deep end.
“It doesn’t feel right. Something in my gut is telling me that…
” I trailed off, not knowing how to put my feelings into words. I already sounded crazy enough.
“What is your gut telling you, darling?” He gentled his voice and his eyes were full of understanding.
“I just don’t know how to explain it. Maybe I cannot accept he is dead. Maybe I am just crazy, but deep in my gut something tells me this is all wrong. I need answers first.”
There I said it. Now he could tell my uncle I needed to be committed to the loony bin.
“Then find the answers.”
“What?”
“Mrs. Parker, if your intuition is telling you that something is wrong, then do not ignore it. Get the answers you need. They may not be the answers you dream to have, but you need them nonetheless.”
I drank my coffee and thought about what he said. He was right, just like Drew had done; this man had given me the words I needed to hear to get my ass back on straight.
“You’re right. Thank you. If you don’t mind, I am going to take my coffee and get to work.”
“Good day, young lady.”
The team was staying at the White House.
Oddly enough, I was staying in the ‘Lincoln bedroom’.
Yes, there is indeed a bedroom named the Lincoln in the private living quarters.
It was beautiful and it was kind of my uncle to allow us time here, but I wanted to go home to my town house and be around my things.
Zane wanted me here, protected, until we had a lead on the mole in the CIA.
And if I was here, my team was here. They all had my back and refused to leave me even after I begged them to.
Even Drew stayed. I talked to Julie and she threatened to slash the tires on my bike if I even mentioned Drew going home to her.
For a small little subbie thing, she sure was scary.
I had no doubt she would make good on her threat.
I made my way through the central hallway toward the Treaty room. My uncle was allowing us to use his private study as an office.
I sat at the desk with a blank piece of paper in front of me, tapping my pen against the desk.
What do we know? Sonreír hired Deepweb336 to hack the CIA records.
Deepweb’s brother, Timothy Clark, was paid to reinsert redacted information into a report for me to find.
Why would Deepweb hack the database if his brother was on the inside and on the take?
Who actually ordered the information to be recovered and Deepweb to be taken out?
The more I thought about what I knew, the more questions I had.
My phone vibrated on the desk. I slid the lock open and entered my code.
G2579: The information you have requested has been sent to your tablet. Password of the day will open.
Garrett had finally texted me back. Thank fuck. I was going crazy needing answers. I picked up my tablet and opened the file. Shit and Damn, two hundred and thirty pages. It bit my ass having to ask for help but it would go so much faster if I could get the team to help filter all this intel.
I was just about to text Zane when my phone vibrated again. The caller ID read BLACK.
“Black, everyone ok?” I glanced at the clock, 6:05 AM in DC meant it was 3:05 AM in California. Zane walked in the door, obviously surprised to see me already working. I motioned for him to shut the door. “I am putting you on speaker. Viper is in the room with me. We are private otherwise.”
“Viper, Nightstalker, we did some recon of the explosion site like you asked. Ghost was right. There are tunnels under the house.” I looked up at Zane.
He started clenching his jaw when he heard his brother’s call sign.
Oh shit! Black continued, “I will send you the map I drew while we were down there. The tunnel collapsed four hundred and ten yards south of the compound. Coordinates will be with the map.” Black stopped and took a breath.
“Jasmin, you and I go way back. I do not want to give you false hope. There was blood in the tunnel; we swabbed it for a DNA match. Ghost’s record was wiped clean so it might take some time… ”
“Fuck that, it’s him. I know it’s him. I can feel it, Black.”
“Shit, Jasmin, if you are putting together an op, you call me. I have plenty of leave. My Commander will approve any request when I tell him it is for Ghost. No marker.”
Hell, yeah, Black was in on the op if I needed him, and I would not owe him a marker for his help. Said a lot about Lincoln that Captain Black would put his career and life on the line for him.
“Copy that. You get some shut eye and I will be in touch in a few hours.”
Zane stared at me, his face pinched, the vein in his neck was visibly throbbing. Oh, hell no, he was not going to lose his shit on me.
“Zane, I say this with the greatest respect and love for you, but I know I am right. Lincoln knew that shit was FUBAR before the explosion. He asked about Micro Doppler images. He had a feeling there were tunnels under that compound.” I knew my next words would piss Zane off even more.
“I am going to find Lincoln, whether you approve or not. I do not give the first fuck what anyone thinks. I know you all think I am fucking crazy not accepting that Lincoln is dead, but, Zane, I know. I know that something is not right. I feel it deep down in my soul. I know he is your brother. I know I am asking a lot of you. I need your help on this, but just know either way I am doing it. I am going to bring my husband home. ”
“MOTHER FUCKING SHIT” Zane roared. I swear I felt the whole room shake. Leo rushed in the room along with three secret service agents. Guns drawn.
Shit and Damn. Just what we needed. Bloodshed in the Treaty room. The agents scanned the room for any threats and Leo just stared at me. All my guys were doing that lately. Just watching me. I loved them for caring but I was starting to feel like some lab rat in a cage.
“Stand down.” My uncle demanded. He stood tall behind the wall of agents. “My niece is not a threat to me, neither is her team.”
“Sir.”
“Now.”
Oh, shit, my uncle looked pissed.
“Get the team together, I’ll clear the situation room.” I stood with my mouth agape, surprised by my uncle’s demand. “Close your mouth. Jasmin. I knew it was only a matter of time before you snapped out of it and figured out a way to rescue your husband.”
Zane let out a slew of curse words and followed the president. I shot off a text to the team and told them where to meet us. I sent the file that Garrett sent me to the printer and waited for what seemed like fifty years for all the pages to print .
With my report in hand, I ran down the hall and down the back stairs. I slowed to a fast walk once I made the main level of the White House. Luckily, I had remembered to grab my badge, so I easily maneuvered past security.
I pushed my way into the situation room. All conversation stopped and every man looked at me. Whelp, I already looked like a raving lunatic, so I might as well just let it all hang out.
“I called in a marker and asked Black to go back to Sonreir’s compound to see if Lincoln’s hunch was right, that there were tunnels under the house.
Turns out Linc was right. The tunnel collapsed four hundred and ten yards south of the house.
Black should be emailing a map and coordinates any minute.
I also asked Garrett to look into the Clark brothers. Something does not make sense there.
If Timothy Clark was the one that left classified information about Lincoln and Zane being brothers in my work up, Sonreír was playing a long game.
That was over six years ago. I have that report here.
” I lifted my hand, shaking the papers. “I also asked for all known addresses for Sonreír and all his aliases.”
I stopped, waiting for my team to chastise me and tell me I had to just let Linc go. It never came .
“Give me the Sonreír aliases and locations,” Leo said, holding out his hand.
I dropped the stack of papers and sorted through them, giving him what he asked for.
“Pass me the Louis Clark file. Let’s see what this Deepweb asswipe was up to,” Eric said.
“I’ll take Timothy Clark,” Colin said, grabbing his pile of papers.
“Holy shit, did Garrett seriously get the director’s personal files? I’ll take those.” Jax lit up when he saw the director’s name.
A tear slid down my cheek, just one single tear. This was the last tear I was going to shed. I had my family at my back and I was going to find my husband.