Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) - Karen Rose Page 0,128

two undercover agents who will also apply. You can cross your fingers and toes for them if you like. In the meantime, we want a virus that can be embedded in their résumés. When they’re reviewed by Sunnyside’s HR person, I want that virus to take over that person’s computer. Even if we can’t see the entire network, we can see employee records and we can follow the hiring process.”

Goddammit, Liza. He couldn’t believe she’d gone over his head like that. He took a second to ensure he’d be appropriately respectful when he spoke. “When do you need the virus?”

“One hour.”

“What the f—?” He drew another breath. Started to say it was impossible. Then realized it was perfectly possible. And a good idea. For the other two applicants. Not for Liza.

But it appeared that he’d been both outmaneuvered and overruled. “I’ll provide you with the embedded code in one hour with instructions on how to add it into the résumé documents.”

“Thank you, Agent Hunter,” Raeburn said formally. “We’ll have all three résumés ready to be uploaded into Sunnyside’s application form on receipt of your e-mail.”

“Yes, sir. I assume shutting down Sunnyside’s network, thus requiring them to call in IT support, is also still a goal.”

“You assume correctly,” Raeburn replied. “I want the résumé viruses first. We’ve already developed identities and backgrounds for the two undercover nursing assistant applicants. We’ll have the same for an ‘IT support team’ sometime tomorrow. It’s possible that Sunnyside won’t hire any of our applicants. It’s possible that none of them will even be called in for an interview. However, if one of ours is hired, we still want support for them inside the facility.”

“Any decent IT team will be able to fix the problem in an afternoon,” Tom said. “If one of ours does get the nursing assistant job, he or she won’t have support for very long.”

“Then they’ll find a way to further sabotage Sunnyside’s network, requiring a longer presence,” Raeburn replied coolly.

Tom swallowed a sigh of resignation. “Then I’ll get right to it.”

“Thank you, Agent Hunter,” Molina said quietly. “Agent Raeburn, you’re free to hang up. I’d like to speak with Agent Hunter alone, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Raeburn said. “Call me if you learn anything new, Hunter.”

Molina waited until Raeburn had ended his connection. “You know,” she said, “I talked to Liza’s former commanding officer.”

“You mean, in the army?” Tom asked, startled at the topic change. “When?”

“The first time was before she and Mercy visited Ephraim Burton’s mother in that nursing home. I wanted to be sure that she wasn’t a security risk and that she had the skills we required.”

Tom knew he shouldn’t have been surprised. Molina had accepted Liza’s involvement, had allowed her to know about Eden, had permitted her proximity to Mercy. He’d thought at the time that Molina simply valued his opinion and approved Liza’s involvement on his say-so. How naive was I? How arrogant?

“What did he say?” he asked, a little subdued. “Her former CO, I mean?”

“He said that we couldn’t have picked anyone better suited to shoulder the responsibility. That she was levelheaded in a crisis, that she employed diplomacy when dealing with delicate situations, and that she could shoot her way out when diplomacy was no longer an option. He said she was one of the finest soldiers that he’d ever had the privilege to command. And that her nursing skills were exemplary. Combat surgeons credited her with saving lives because she stabilized field wounds so well. Patients who might have otherwise died didn’t.”

Pride swelled in his chest. He hadn’t known any of that. She hadn’t told him.

You didn’t ask.

God, I’m an asshole.

“You said the first time. Did you call him again?”

“Yes, after she started visiting me at home when I was recuperating.”

“When she did your laundry and cooked for you?”

“Yes. And sat with me, just chatting.”

“Why did you call him a second time? And what did he say?”

“I called him because I had concerns regarding her intentions. She was in my home, after all. He told me that Liza has a nearly limitless need to help and that it’s genuine. You know about the attack on her mission, right? The one where members of her unit were killed?”

“She told me about it.”

“Did she tell you that she saved the lives of four soldiers and five villagers that day, after they’d been shot? That doesn’t include the lives that might have been lost had she not grabbed her rifle and started shooting the