“But I thought—” she stopped and sighed. “Someone was attacking us, right? I wasn’t imagining that, was I?”
“No, you were under siege,” Wood said. “We were sending a team over to pick you up anyway because we thought the facility had been compromised.”
“Based on what?”
“Based on some chatter we picked up.”
“From Al Fatihin?”
Wood shook his head. “There’s another far more dangerous group we’ve been monitoring—and only a handful of my most trusted agents know about it.”
“Obsidian?”
He nodded. “We’re still trying to figure out who’s involved, how they’re connected, and what their end game is. I’m thinking you might know something.”
“You should talk to Blunt about that.”
“I intend to once he wakes up. But honestly, that’s not why you’re here. We need your help to find these bastards and get the president back.”
Alex nodded subtly. “Get me some water and some aspirin to help with the headache, and point me to a computer terminal.”
“Just follow me.” Wood gestured toward the hallway.
Alex wanted to call Hawk and let him know that she was okay, but she couldn’t. Not with everything that was going on.
As they hustled toward the department of analysts, Alex tried to suppress the painful memories of the last time she was here. She was toting a box of all her office possessions and hanging her head as colleagues shot glances at her and whispered to one another. The walk of shame shook her confidence and made her seem toxic to her former co-workers. Instead of receiving calls to check on her, most of them let her know that they would not be communicating with her anymore. While she had only been fired, the entire episode felt like a funeral—and it was her own.
“He’s gone now,” Wood said as he turned and looked at Alex.
“Who?”
“Your old boss. He was fired six months ago. And I’d hire you back in a heartbeat if I could pry you away from Blunt. I know that’ll never happen, but if you ever want a new challenge—”
She forced a smile. “I appreciate the gesture, sir. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over what happened here.”
“I understand, but I just thought you’d like to know that the current leadership here at the agency doesn’t feel the way the old one did regarding your skillset.”
“That’s kind of you to say.”
Wood stopped in front of the entrance to the analyst area and held the door open for Alex, ushering her inside.
“I’ll get you set up over here,” he said.
Alex’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She scanned the message from Hawk. When she finished reading it, she sat down in her chair and typed a response.
“Do you need someone to catch you up to speed on where everything is?” Wood asked as he leaned on the desk.
She shot him a sideways glance. “I’ve spent so much time in this system over the past couple of years, it’s like I never left.”
Wood nodded. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Just that water and aspirin.”
She hammered away on the keyboard for a few seconds to get herself set up before calling Hawk.
“Where are you?” she asked in a hushed tone.
“Oh, thank God you’re okay,” Hawk said. “We’re at the headquarters now, and this place looks like a war zone. Where are you?”
“I’m at Langley.”
“Langley? What are you doing there? And why did it take so long for you to return my calls? I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“I can explain everything later, but Randy Wood just set me up with a terminal and full access to the CIA’s servers. So, I’m catching up on what’s going on. We need to find the president. But while I’m working, tell me more about this Electro 451.”
Hawk explained how it worked and gave Alex all the parameters she needed to start her search.
“This might take me a few minutes, but I should be able to narrow this down pretty quickly, especially if everything goes out again.”
“That’s the thing,” Hawk said. “I think everything just came back online.”
After a couple minutes, she clapped her hands together and then pumped her fists.
“Gotcha,” she yelled.
Wood ran over to her. “What’d you find?”
"Al Fatihin was using this new technology from Colton Industries that allowed them to interfere with closed-circuit television feeds. According to Colton, the device creates a five-mile radius, allowing us to identify its location with a few waypoints."
“So you have the address?”
She nodded.
“Give it to me, and I’ll get a team over there right away.”
“That’d take too long,” she said. “But Hawk and Black are only a mile away.”
“Let me at least send backup.”
Alex scribbled down the address on a piece of paper and handed it to Wood.
“Excellent,” Wood said. “I’ll send a team there now. But I’m coming right back. I want a real-time report on what they find.”
* * *
HAWK AND BLACK ROARED toward the location of the warehouse Alex had identified. They swerved in and out of traffic, cutting off several vehicles and narrowly missing another.
As Hawk neared the facility, he killed his lights and slowed down.
“I don’t see any movement,” he said. “Do you?”
“Nothing,” Black said. “Are you sure this is the right address?”
Hawk checked his phone. “Yep, this is the one Alex texted me.”
“Let’s go have a look.”
After putting in their coms, Hawk and Black drew their weapons and crept toward the edge of the building. There was a large sign on the window with all the contact details for leasing. Hawk yanked the door handle, and it was locked.
“Let’s go around the side,” he said.
The facility was two stories and constructed of cinder blocks with very few windows.
“Alex, what business was in here before it went vacant?” Hawk asked over the coms.
“It manufactured boat engine parts for a couple different companies.”
“Can you look at the schematics and tell me what we’d be heading into here?” Hawk asked.
“Just give me a second.”
Alex's fingers flew over the keyboard as she dug up the records on file. "Okay, got it. There are just
