“we brought you all here to do something that frankly you’re probably not accustomed to doing, and I’m not comfortable asking.”
Well, shit, way to start.
“We need you to follow a select handful of FBI agents from the Counterintelligence Division of the Bureau.” Natasha passed out the gray file folders, ensuring everyone at the table received one. “Three, possibly more, confidential sources have gone off the grid. Any in the wrong hands would greatly threaten our national security.”
Natasha circled back around the table once the folders had been handed out and stood off to her father’s right. A.J. had to assume she was working harder than normal to remain business-like in the presence of her father, to prove she belonged in the room despite the fact she was marrying Echo One in July.
“So, are we assuming an FBI agent,” Wyatt began while pointing at the folder he’d been given, “is behind the disappearance of the sources?” He set a hand on the folder instead of opening it, eyes on his fiancée. “Why isn’t the FBI handling this internally? Or, I don’t know, one of those fancy internal government agencies sent in to deal with leaks like this?”
A.J. was with Wyatt on this.
“The agent on the newly formed task force is only asking for an assist as a precautionary measure. He also doesn’t want to tip off any agents to the fact that the FBI is onto the possible leak,” Natasha answered.
“If there’s a traitor in the Counterintelligence Division, we want to tie them to who they’re working with,” the admiral pointed out.
“And given our past experience with government corruption and betrayal, we didn’t want to hand off this case to just anyone else.” Natasha folded her arms. “So, as much as I hate requesting you to spy on agents, we need to find out what is going on. Clear the agents’ names.”
“Or find the traitor,” A.J. muttered under his breath.
Natasha gave a tight nod. “The Bureau cross-checked every badge and ID code to see which agents or analysts accessed the case files connected to the missing sources in the last few months. But no one outside the particular unit within the Counterintelligence Division, or the connected field offices working with them, opened the files related to the missing sources.”
“That doesn’t mean someone didn’t find a way around the system to get to the sources,” Harper commented. “But I’m assuming the names you’ve provided for us to surveil are on the Counterintelligence Division’s task force?”
“Unless something changes, yes, those are the names we have for now,” Natasha said. “We’d like to rule them out first.”
“What kind of sources are we talking about?” A.J. cocked his head. “What do they have in common?”
“You mentioned cases, plural. You saying these sources were connected to different cases?” Roman spoke up for the first time since Admiral Chandler arrived with Natasha.
“Yes, the three sources are attached to different cases,” Natasha clarified, “which is why we’re ruling out the FBI field offices for now since it was only Headquarters that had access to all three names and their locational details. But the section chief in charge of the Counterintelligence Division has concerns about one of his sources down in Atlanta, so he’s en route there now to check on him.”
“Since when does a section chief go out into the field to check on a source?” Harper asked.
“The source is an Iranian the Feds managed to turn. He now spies on Iran for the FBI and CIA,” the admiral explained.
Roman set his hands on the folder, eyes downcast as if working through the problem. “Three, maybe four, sources all go off-the-grid at the same time. Yeah, that raises some red flags.”
“Spying on spies whose job is to spy on spies. Hmmm.” Chris raised a brow.
“Sounds illegal-ish,” A.J. shot back.
“I think the ‘ish’ makes it slightly less illegal,” Chris said, no hint of a joke in his tone.
Harper cleared her throat and tipped her head in the direction of the admiral as a reminder he was in the room during their back-and-forth quips.
“It’s okay,” the admiral responded. “I remember my days in the service. Sometimes humor is the only way to make it through the tough times.”
And A.J. liked the man even more. “So, do we have access to the case files related to the missing sources as well?”
Natasha pointed to the folders. “We figured you might want to take a look at everything, so yes, that information has been provided.”
“The assets we’ve confirmed to be MIA are connected