They needed to close the case. Preferably before helost all focus because he’d spent far too much time with Megan.
After that, who knew?
Hank lifted his chin and then walked away. Adrian hadbeen dismissed. Again.
He couldn’t help feeling like the underling, whichwas exactly what he was. Hank acted one way with his staff, and acompletely different way with Megan. And yet, under the surface, hewas suspicious of her.
Adrian didn’t know what to think. He knew what hisgut said and what his heart wanted to believe. But following thatcould cost him the next step of his career—everything he’d beenworking on for years.
Long before Megan came into his life.
“Adrian!”
He turned to see her stride toward him, and calledout, “What is it?”
“Phone.” She waved for himto meet her, and they got into the SUV. Front seats this time. Thekeys were in the ignition.
“Okay, Remy,” she said. “Tell Adrian what you justtold me.”
“I ran some calculations. Looked for links betweeneveryone involved so far and tried to figure out the likelihoodthat all this was as a result of those connections. Then based onwhat I found, I did some digging. The kind an FBI agent isn’t goingto look past.”
“I won’t arrest you,” he said. “Not if it gets us aresult.”
He wasn’t about to lose the chance to get throughthis without it all going badly. They needed to find Zimmerman andthe blackmailer, and he needed Megan to stick with him long enoughfor law enforcement to find ElCuervo. For whatever reason, the Venezuelan was interestedin her.
“Oh, goodie.”
“Remy.” Megan said her name as a chastisement.
“Sorry. I’m just having trouble finding Shadrach andit’s bothering me a lot. But this was a good distraction.”
Adrian frowned at the idea that she thought this wassome kind of intellectual exercise. They were talking aboutpeople’s lives—and a potential terroristthreat.
Megan shook her head.
Remy said, “So the highest probability for aconnection is that El Cuervois linked to Zimmerman, which you know from his computer. What youdon’t know is that I found a link between the Venezuelan andSenator Sadler. And Bradley and Rachel’sparents. And Megan’s father. And a scientist namedBrent Caulder, and Steve Preston. There are more people on thelist, but those are the ones you know.”
Megan stiffened at the mention of her boss. Hittingtoo close to home?
“It goes back to the eighties and a militaryoperation in Venezuela.”
“Was the FBI involved?”
“Yep. And the state department,” Remy said. “I have awhole list of people who were part of this. Top of the list isGeneral Eric Thomas, US Army retired.”
“Sounds familiar,” Adrian said.
Megan nodded. “The dead General from the thinktank.”
Remy continued, “So much of this stuff is redacted.It’s going to take a whole lot more digging to get to the detailsof what actually happened. But what I know so far is that everyonewho’s been targeted by the blackmailer is linked by one commondenominator. That operation in Venezuela.”
Chapter14
Megan could hardly believe Remy had found it—theanswer they’d been looking for all along. She gripped the phone sohard it seemed like it would shatter in her hand at any moment.
Even Adrian looked like he couldn’t quite believewhat was happening.
Remy continued, “What I can tell you right now wasthat it was a black ops mission, and the signature on theauthorization page is the general who died at that think tankbombing a couple of days ago.” She paused. “It’s connected,right?”
“Yes,” Adrian told her. “It wasn’t a bombing, despitethe information that was released. It was a sonic weapon.”
“I figured as much from the damage,” Remy said. “Itdoesn’t even look close to the kind of destruction an explosionwould do.”
He said, “Anyone else on there we should knowabout?”
Megan’s stomach rolled over for the millionth time inthe past few days. Remy said, “If we’re looking at possible targetsfor who might be next, I have a couple of names as suggestions thatI’ll send over to Megan’s phone. I’lllist them in order of probability, as well as last knownlocation.”
“If you do that,” Adrian said, “then won’t theblackmailer know precisely what we know?”
“Not the way I send emails, he won’t.”
“This guy has breached security over and overthroughout this whole thing.”
“Sure. But now I’m in on it,” Remy said.
Megan chuckled.
Remy said, “One of these days I’m going to run acrosssomething I can’t crack, or someone who is better than me. Whenthat happens I’ll be sure to go back to bio-medical research.”
Megan winced. “I’m not sure I’m okay with that idea.”If the woman could hack anything, including genetics, it could leadto all kinds of breakthroughs, but that also meant she’d have adeadly virus or some brand new potential nerve agent on her hands.The federal agent in Megan wouldn’t settle for that as a future possibility.
Remy chuckled. “Then pray it never happens.”
Apparently done with their conversation, Adrian said,“So you’ll send us those names over email?”
“Already done. Should be on your phone now,Megan.”
She shifted the screen to check for notifications.“Yep, it came through.”
“Alrighty. Stay safe.”
The line went dead.
Adrian said, “I’m not sure I want to know how you mether.”
Megan swiped through to the email. “Suffice it tosay, she’s saved my life more than once.”
“Good.”
Before she started reading, she said, “I didn’tescape from El Cuervo’s guys.I was rescued. By the people Remy works with. Or for.”
She’d never understood that distinction. Remy waspart of a team the same way Megan was part of Double Down. Though,their team was comprised of an entirely different crop ofpeople.
“Rescued?”
Megan nodded. “Somehow Steve knows them, and I knewhim from an operation back in the day. When he heard I wasmissing, he made a call. It’s why I chose Double Down.” She paused.“Remy’s team is so far under the radar, they don’t even want anyoneknowing they were there. Let alone what they were doing. So I madeup the story of my escape.”
“Wow.” He shook his head. “That certainly answers afew questions.”
“Concerned about the inconsistencies in my story?”She cocked her head to the side. “Sorry I’m not a better liar.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to be a good liar.”
“It was when I was undercover.” She
