After she showered and got dressed, they went out into the living area. By this time, Mouse was up, drinking from the coffee Dodger had made.
“Morning,” he said, his voice raspy. “You two have a good rest?”
His eyes twinkled and Dodger socked him in the arm. “Yeah. It was great.”
Mouse smiled at her. She could tell he was very close to Dodger, and she had to wonder how they met. She would have to ask him sometime.
“Ready to crack this code and secure the satellite system?” she said as they all headed toward the computer room. “Oh, the iPad,” she said. She jogged back to the room and grabbed up her jeans. She pulled out the small device and headed back to the computer room.
“Moment of truth,” Mouse said. “Set it beside the others. They should sync up.”
She pulled it out of the waterproof sleeve and set it down. There were four beeping noises, and all the screens came on.
Congratulations rolled across the screens, with confetti flying. One step closer. Now you’ll need to put your thinking caps on again. The codes are easy to break if you have been paying attention. Six spaces each, all in the same kind of sequence. Good luck.
“More riddles,” Dodger said with a scathing disgust.
Anna sighed. “We’re going to need more coffee. Let’s get to work.”
2-Stroke, his heart heavy as he stuffed his gear into his duffel, looked over to Saint’s stuff, his throat tight. Saint had been rushed to the hospital, then flown out of Prague back to San Diego to recover. The prognosis was good, but he had taken Charlotte Mueller’s death hard. They were all still reeling from the ambush, and 2-Stroke couldn’t quite get that mother’s scream out of his ears.
He hadn’t been able to get any more out of Chry. She had been called away, but she promised him and his team answers. Fast Lane was, even now, punching the bag downstairs. His rage was in every line of his body and there wasn’t any relief. As the CO, he took the responsibility and it weighed heavily on him.
The door opened and Dragon stuck his head in. “They want us in the ready room. Something’s up.”
2-Stroke dropped his stuff and went to grab up his sketch pad, but just shy of the binding, he pulled his hand away. Turning his back on it, he left the room. Once seated at the table with Fast Lane, Dragon, Striker, Pitbull, Hemingway, and Mad Max, Chry walked into the room. She sighed.
“I know you guys were standing down and ready to go home, but the brass wants you to stay. There’s intel and the possibility of taking down Darko.” She shifted and met 2-Stroke’s eyes, nothing but compassion in them. “I know this is going to be somewhat of a shock, but I’m not a DEA agent. I’m CIA. The Darko mission is real, but I’ve been undercover investigating Kelly. My office believes she’s the mole who colluded with the Paraguayan government and helped Muhammad Angar Said escape and gave away the safe house info to the cartel so they could kidnap Agent Shea Palmer. I believe she also compromised Officer Keegan, but I haven’t gotten proof yet. We’re still looking into her finances, but we believe it was for money.”
Hemingway swore softly under his breath as the shock of who Chry really was rippled through the room, 2-Stroke the most surprised of anyone.
Fast Lane slammed his fist on the table. “Son of a bitch. I had a feeling…”
“I’ve been assigned as your new liaison if that meets with your approval, Lieutenant Nixon.”
He rubbed at his forehead and gave her a curt nod.
Max sat forward. “My sister wouldn’t ever betray the US. Do you have any information on how she is?” he said, his voice full of the worry he was working to keep at bay.
“I’m sorry. I don’t. We’re looking for her, and the longer she’s gone, the worse it will be for her.” She made strong eye contact with Max, but he was a rock and gave nothing away. She sighed. “That brings me to the intel you neglected to share with me. I had to find your tracks in the computer. Is Petty Officer Oliver Graham with Anna right now?”
They sat there stoically. No one said a word.
“I understand. You feel like you can’t trust me. Okay, that’s fair. We’ll get along well, I think. Build that trust.”
“Chry’s very trustworthy,” 2-Stroke said vehemently, his voice ringing