had no idea why Erin and Elliott had yet to return to MI6 headquarters or even call Weatherford and tell him about Sawyer. But for some reason, they hadn’t, and now it was on Sawyer to explain everything.
He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to answer when movement by the door interrupted him.
“Sorry we’re late,” Erin said, walking casually into the room.
Elliott followed, scanning the room until he saw Sawyer. Their eyes locked, and Harley couldn’t help but hold her breath.
“We were dealing with some stuff,” Elliott said as he and Erin slipped into seats that allowed them to keep an eye on Sawyer as well as the briefing maps. “It took a little while to work through all of it, but we’re good now.”
Silence filled the space, and from the corner of her eye, Harley could see the confused expressions on both Weatherford’s and McKay’s faces. But no one said a word as Sawyer and his teammates continued to study each other.
“Are you sure you’re good?” Sawyer asked quietly. “This isn’t something you can do halfway. You’re either in or you’re out.”
“We’re in all the way,” Erin said firmly. “It took a while to figure it out, but in the end, it wasn’t as complicated as we thought when we remembered what was important.”
Weatherford looked even more baffled than he had before, but thankfully, Jake spoke first.
“Everyone, I’d like to introduce Dr. Tristan Jones,” he said, gesturing toward the blond man in the suit and tie. “He’s a nuclear physicist from the Office for Nuclear Regulation in London. He’s here to help us figure out how we’re going to stop Yegor.”
The man nodded awkwardly and moved a little off to the side, like he had no interest in being involved in this any more than necessary.
“And this is Brielle,” Jake added, motioning toward the Frenchwoman.
McKay and Weatherford both regarded her sharply.
“It seems we have you to thank for the information on Yegor,” Weatherford said thoughtfully, then looked at McKay. “Though I understand you had to give up a lot to procure that information.”
McKay nodded, mouth tight. Even though he hadn’t fought Jake on agreeing to a deal with Brielle, he wasn’t happy with letting her get away. Who knew? Maybe if STAT approached Brielle in the future with an offer that didn’t involve giving up her freedom, the woman might reconsider working for them.
“Indeed,” McKay said. “But I think you’ll agree it was worth the price when you hear what Brielle has to tell us.”
“Based on everything Brielle and her brother said, these are Yegor’s most likely targets,” Jake said, moving over to the map. “Gravelines Nuclear Power Station is in Nord, about twelve miles northeast of here. Penly Station is near Dieppe, about ninety miles from here.” As he spoke, he pointed out each of them. “Gravelines is the largest nuclear power plant in western Europe with six reactors. Penly is smaller, with two reactors, but is likely an easier target. Not that the number of reactors really matters. All it takes is one reactor going into meltdown to give Yegor exactly what he needs.”
Weatherford looked at Brielle again. “You claim to have been part of Yegor’s inner circle, and yet you don’t know which target he’s going to hit?”
“Yegor started planning this attack within days of me breaking him out of that Turkish prison. It’s all he ever talked about,” Brielle replied calmly, as if Weatherford hadn’t implied she was lying to them. “He originally started with a dozen possible sites, then constantly rearranged them based on perceived vulnerabilities, proximity to large cities, size of the reactors, when the fuel rods had been changed out last, wind patterns, safety systems, security forces, even local response capabilities. The list changed constantly. These two plants were at the top of his list right before the auction in Greece, which makes me think one of them is the target.”
McKay crossed his arms over his chest. “How was he able to gather so much information? Some of that has to be classified.”
Brielle shrugged. “He’s rich. Offer someone enough money and they’ll give you whatever you want. It probably didn’t hurt that Yegor is also very good at threatening people.”
“I get why he’s going after England,” Caleb said. “MI6 killed his brother. What I don’t understand is why he’s targeting France. What the hell did they ever do to him?”
Brielle met his gaze, hers assessing. “In early 2014, pro-Russia separatists took over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine