“I can’t really talk because it’s kind of crazy around here right now. The studio is panicking because they want to sell us and our movie as a couple. We don’t have much time to fix this since it’s coming out this weekend.”
“Well, again I’m sorry. Do they think it’ll hurt ticket sales?”
“It’s no need for you to be sorry, Jessie. I’m always being linked to somebody. This story seems a little meatier because I’m dating my co-star. Who knows if it will hurt ticket sales?”
“If you like I can have our legal team issue a statement disputing the claims?”
“I never comment on my personal life and I won’t start now. My team is working on it, so you and I don’t have to. They’re planning some high-profile public outings to prove all is fine with us.”
“Have you talked to Brigitte? Is she okay with everything?”
“She was a little upset, but after I reassured her that we are just friends, she calmed down.”
It still hurt Jessie that all she would ever be to Brian was a friend.
“Jessie…did you hear me?”
“I’m sorry I must have blanked out for a sec. I missed that last part. What did you say?”
“You left pretty abruptly and Téa had to fly in for work. Is everything alright on your end?”
“We’re working through a very sensitive situation, but I’m hopeful it will be.”
Jake sent Jessie a text while she was talking to Brian. It simply read:
“Hurry up!”
“Brian, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. I’ve got to get moving and I’ll talk with you soon.”
They said their goodbyes and Jessie disconnected the call.
Chapter 18
Téa had been in her office for the past nine hours. It wasn’t really an office but more like a laboratory. She had laptops, computers, super computers, and all kinds of gadgets sitting on counters and tables everywhere. To the naked eye the room looked like a mess, but Téa knew exactly where everything was kept.
She’d finally found a crumb in Dr. Sheitz’s computer. Whoever tried to kill the contents of his hard drive was almost successful, but they left just enough for Téa to chew on. Thank goodness everything at some point was put in the Cloud. She was able to link onto an IP address of someone who’d been phishing his system. Of course it bounced to several phony addresses, but after working some of her magic, she was finally able to locate its origins. Now, it was her turn to do some phishing.
Téa came upon some information that she couldn’t believe she was seeing. It made her sit up in her chair. “Oh shit. Jessie needs to see this right away.” She called Jessie on their secured line, “Jessie you need to come over here like…now!”
Jessie had been in the bunker working with Jake and Gray when she got Téa’s call. She couldn’t imagine what she’d found that would make her call her on the secured line within headquarters.
“Guys, keep working on that. Our satellite should be able to pick up any movement in that compound. Téa needs me, so I’ll be back in a bit.”
Jessie walked into Téa’s office, “What’s up that you needed to use the secured line?”
Téa hopped off of the stool she was sitting on and motioned for Jessie to sit there, “Take a look at that.”
Jessie looked at the screen then back to Téa, “What the hell is this? Are you sure that information is authentic?
“Yes. I am very sure.”
Why was Dr. Sheitz being phished by the Council? And he wasn’t in Tanzania, he was in Pakistan.
“I’m trying to decode these documents. This is a pretty sophisticated encryption. This isn’t the work of a security company that was hired by a hedge fund billionaire. I can break it but it might take some time.”
“Keep working on it and give Jake these coordinates. Dr. Sheitz is probably there. Let him know that this has been elevated from a level two to a class seven and plan accordingly. Also, call the tower to let them know to get the other plane ready. Call me as soon as it is ready. It looks like I’m going back to Mongolia. Mr. Wellington has some more questions to answer.”
“Can’t you just call Kyoshe?”
“It doesn’t exactly work like that. I’ll send word for her to contact me, but I might be able to get more answers from Wellington before I can get them from her.”
*****
Jessie walked to her other office in the bunker to change. Fully armed guards were stationed at multiple intervals throughout this wing of the compound. As she passed them in the hallway, everyone stood to attention. The guards outside her office door made sure to salute.
Jessie changed into her all-black tactical gear and grabbed her bag of munitions. She opened it to make sure she had enough magazines for her Sub 2000 Rifle and Kel-Tec PLR 16. She then strapped her Kel-Tec 9’s to her inner jacket and ankle. She quickly threw her hair into a ponytail and put on her black military hat. Just as she finished getting her things together, she got the call that the plane was ready.
There was an airstrip on the MEGA-AX1 headquarters property. Deep underneath the beautiful offices was a bunker that could withstand a nuclear, chemical, and biological attack. MEGA-AX1 was a private military facility outfitted with the best technology money couldn’t buy. The facility was run completely on a special technology that required recycled oxygen. It housed a small fleet of fighter planes and other military vehicles that used the same technology. An electronic disturbance would have no effect on anything in the compound. If Armageddon came today, anyone lucky enough to be in the confines of M-AX1 could survive at least another two to five years.
M-AX1 employed almost twenty-five of the best trained assassins and mercenaries and twenty support staff. They were the most sought after private Black-Ops firm in the world. A person couldn’t just call information
