Drop Zone

by Amanda Carlson

  The newscast cut to a flashy ad about enamel-growing toothwash.

  “Mute newscast,” Mina instructed the comp.

  “This has blown up all over the boards, too,” Lee said. “Everyone’s talking about it. There’s massive speculation about what’s going to happen to the longest-running crime organization the world has ever seen.”

  Mina, Lee, and Vince sat in a conference room at headquarters, two hundred stories up from the office where approval had just been granted for Waterbury to receive Babble. Wilbert was going to be dosed immediately by a team of doctors and analysts, with a heavy guard stationed outside a secured medi-room.

  The Syndicate’s lawyers were already swarming, placing legal objections and demanding stays, all of which had been overruled by Judge Mackey.

  “Once Waterbury gets his dose, and the confessions are recorded,” Mina said, “there will be a mad scramble. High Crimes has at least twelve teams at the ready to pick up associated criminals. If Melissa Socorro thinks her interview with Norm will be explosive, wait until they find out who’s going to be boxed next. I don’t think Travis Blade himself will avoid this fallout, but he may.” She turned to Lee. “Has Harmony uncovered any more on that Plush airpen trail?”

  Kaylee and Harmony had gone somewhere secure so Harmony could keep analyzing the data on her own. Norm had given his interview to Melissa and had refused a government safe house option afterward. Instead, he had assured them he had a safe place to lie low. He had promised Mina he would check in hourly, and that was as good as they were going to get, at least for today.

  Lee shook his head in response to Mina’s question about Harmony. “Not that I know of.” He checked his cuff. “No facial recs have come back on either of those men from the vid, which is strange. If those techies run deliveries for a living, they would be picked up by surveillance at nearly every stop. Something should’ve already popped.”

  “That doesn’t bode well for them.” Mina shifted in her seat. “If someone watched that vid and reported it to their bosses, the odds are that something happened to them. Then the Syndicate hackers wiped their lives clean.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking, too.” Lee gazed over Mina’s shoulder. He was momentarily lost in thought. “When I get home, I can enter their images into an age modifier and do a sweeping face rec search on them as younger men. The images won’t be a hundred percent, but it usually works well. At least enough to get a few hits.”

  Mina knew Lee was excited to get back to his new residence. He’d had only a short time to enjoy it.

  “We’re just waiting on McAllister to excuse us,” she said. “Then you’ll be able to get back to your new awesome residence. Clearance to leave should come shortly. I don’t think we’ll receive orders to retreat to a safe house, as we’re not known to the Syndicate.” It would be McAllister’s call. But because they had stayed below the radar, that should make them relatively risk-free. At least for the moment. Waterbury had seen both her and Lee, but he likely still thought they were counselors. His residence wasn’t equipped with any tech, and he was in custody now. That meant he had no way of gathering their images or reporting them.

  At least not a way they knew of, anyway.

  Mina’s cuff buzzed. It was the sound for her mother.

  She stood. “I’m going to take this. It’s my mom. She doesn’t usually tag my cuff. I need to check in and make sure there’s no emergency.” She tapped her cuff for voice only. “Hi, Mom.” Mina walked out into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

  “Hi, honey.” Her mom sounded cheerful. “I’m sorry to bother you at work, but you haven’t replied to any of my messages today, and we’re about to eat a meal here in thirty minutes. Quinn told me you were involved in something and might not have the time, but that you also might invite Vince to join us? Your brother wasn’t exactly clear, and he’s not answering right now. If you’re still planning on that, I need to know if I should set an extra place. Or is Vince taking your place? We would love to see you both, of course. It would be great to catch up. We miss you.”

  “I miss you, too.” It’d been at least a month since she’d seen her parents. “I should be finishing up here for the day fairly soon, so there’s a chance I can make it. I won’t know until I get a formal dismissal from my boss. Don’t get your hopes up. There’s a possibility he has more work for us to do tonight.” How much should she tell her mother about the colonel-in-arms? “As for Vince, I’m actually with him right now. He’s…um…helping out the government while he’s in town. It was kind of a coincidence how things came together.” Not exactly a lie. More of a sidestep. “We worked a case today.”

  “Well, that’s nice. How fun to reconnect. Bring him along if you can. We would love to see him,” her mother said. “Even if you’re working a case, you both have to eat. If you leave again quickly, that’s fine. We understand your job parameters. We just haven’t seen you in so long. Your father and I are planning to take another trip next week. It would be nice to see you before we leave.” She chuckled good-naturedly. “I think I might’ve forgotten what your face looks like. Last time I checked, it was a pretty good face. Looks a lot like your nana Leeds.”

  Mina’s parents enjoyed traveling. Her father, Damon, made extra borrows writing about the places they visited. He had a very active social board about it that brought in substantial revenue. They weren’t fully retired, but they were close. They were gone a lot, which worked for Mina since she didn’t have a lot of time to spend with them at the moment.

  Vince stuck his head out of the door. Mina could see worry creasing his brow. She hadn’t come back yet, so he’d assumed there had been an emergency.

  She mouthed, “Everything’s fine,” before telling her mother, “I’ll ping you back in a few minutes if we can attend. If you don’t hear from me, it’s unfortunately a no. But I’ll make it up to you soon. I promise. Work has been hectic. And if you need one, I can send you a still image of my face.”

  Vince stepped out into the hallway with her, shutting the door behind him.

  Her mother said, “I’d rather see that face in person. We hope to see you both tonight. If not, let’s arrange a vid chat sometime this week.”

  “Will do,” Mina said. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  “That was about dinner tonight,” Mina told Vince. “She’s hoping we can still come by. They’re eating in about thirty.”

  “Lee just got a message that McAllister’s on his way up.”

  The tube door dinged, and McAllister stepped out. He made his way toward them. “Agent Kane, Colonel Kramer.” He bobbed his head at each of them. “Excellent work today. Babble is being administered as we speak. The doctors believe the confessions will take a while, as Waterbury has been working for the Syndicate for many years. We won’t have information on arrests made until early morning or possibly tomorrow. High Crimes is ready and waiting. They’ll be handling this case for the foreseeable future. It seems our journey here has ended for the moment, but that’s not to say we won’t continue investigating things found on that data core. With committee approval, of course.”

  “What are our orders?” Mina asked.

  Behind them, the door opened, and Lee stepped out.

  “You are all excused for the evening,” McAllister said. “Remain on high alert. If anything suspicious happens, or you detect a tail, alert me immediately and request backup. As of this moment, I believe that the Syndicate does not know who is connected to their case. Until I receive news saying otherwise, you will remain cautious, but can resume normal activities.” He turned his attention to Vince. “You are not directly under my command and are capable of making your own decisions. I would, however, recommend that the Protectorate confirm that you are in France for the immediate future. That will give you more freedom while you are here.”

  Vince inclined his head. “It’s alrea
dy been reported.” He lifted his cuff. “As of seventeen minutes ago, the French Protectorate gave confirmation to the public that my residence was broken into and that I was on base dealing with the perpetrator. Our rules on Babble are still far stricter than yours, so that’s not an option, but the investigation is being handled by very capable officers who are loyal to me. I will be going over the vid of the attempted break-in shortly. Anything that correlates to what’s going on here, you will be given a full report.”

  “I appreciate that,” McAllister said. “I will pass it on to High Crimes. Anything validating this case will be of great interest to them.” He addressed Lee. “You have my full authority to go over every centimeter of the data core. Contact Ms. Biggins and coordinate your efforts. If anything of interest comes up, contact me directly. I will be available throughout the night.” He turned to Mina and Vince. “I’ll see you both in my office tomorrow morning for a full debrief. You’re all excused.”

  He walked back to the tubes, already on a new call.

  “I’m going to ping my mom and let her know we’re on the way,” Mina said. “Lee, you’re welcome to join us at my parents’ for dinner.”

  “Ah, no, that’s okay,” Lee said. “I appreciate the invitation, though. I’m kind of excited to get back to my residence. I also want to see what Harmony has uncovered so far. We’ll probably do a holo thing so we can discuss the data core. My residence has holo capacity right in the living area.” His face was one big grin. Mina was glad to see happy Lee was back. “I’ve never been able to do that with any accuracy before. But maybe we’ll just do screens. If she’s not at her residence. She hates her screen.” He shrugged, still grinning. “But I’m excited to get home.”

  “Summon a craft to the roof,” Mina said. “But make at least three stops at various public landings to make sure you don’t have a tail. You heard what McAllister said—we stay on high alert. The Syndicate is wily. We take that seriously.”

  Lee nodded. “Will do. I’ll be careful.”

  “I know you will. Once you’re home, enact all your new security protocols.” Lee’s face lit up as he remembered he had new government upgrades. “Vince and I are going to take an underground mag-lev. We can’t land at my parents’ public hub.” She indicated Vince. “He can’t be recognized there, and we have to make sure we don’t pick up a tail ourselves.”

  The last thing Mina would ever do was put her family in jeopardy. Absolutely making sure she didn’t have a tail was her number one priority. Making sure Vince’s cover wasn’t blown was her second.

  “We’ll touch base after our meeting with McAllister tomorrow morning,” Mina told Lee. “Let me know if you find anything of significance on the data core.”

  “I will.” Lee smiled. “ Enjoy your date.”

  Mina arched a brow as her partner chuckled, enjoying her discomfort.

  “It’s not actually a date,” Mina began to protest. “It’s—”

  “Actually a date,” Vince confirmed. “And we plan to thoroughly enjoy it.”

  Chapter 23

  The mag-lev dropped them at a private, secure stop. They wove through a long hallway and up a narrow stairwell, exiting through a nondescript office building and finally out a side door.

  They had emerged a few blocks from Mina’s parents’ high-rise.

  Now came the tricky part.

  Mina glanced around as they began to walk. There was no one around. The public thoroughfare for this area was a couple blocks away. Office buildings and vacant space took up this area. There wasn’t much commerce here. That’s why it worked as a private government stop for agents entering the field secretly.

  “It’s too bad we don’t have Phineas Raphael’s blazer, hat, and sunshades,” she told Vince. “We should’ve picked up a disguise for you from Tech. But then Tech would know you were in the building. I trust them, but they’re Tech. I could’ve said it was for me—”

  Vince tugged her gently around a corner and into a narrow passageway in between buildings.

  A public grinder and recycler had been placed here, and a few bins awaited public pickup. These spaces weren’t used for much of anything anymore, but years ago, cars would’ve driven through here. The building next to it had grabbed the extra space over the years, so the passageway was only two meters wide.

  Before she could protest, he gathered her into his arms, murmuring, “I’ve been waiting for this since I saw you in Judge Mackey’s office today.”

  His lips were electric.

  So much better than pretend lips.

  Mina had forgotten all about the phantom sensations until right this very second. Leave it to a hard case to get in the way of romance.

  Before she completely gave in to the urge to wrap her arms around him and kiss him back, she whispered, “Are you sure we should do this right here? It kind of goes against my training to make out in a pass-through zone.”

  He chuckled softly, kissing her again. “No one’s around. It’s just a few kisses. It’s not like we’re planning to disrobe.” Another kiss. “Unless, of course, you think that’s a good idea—”

  Mina playfully slapped his chest. “I know you’re kidding.” She quirked her brows together. “You better be kidding.” All she got from him in return was a wicked grin. She scanned the alleyway. “I don’t see any cams, but shop owners and retailers can get tricky with placement.”

  Vince nuzzled her neck. “We aren’t around any retailers. I checked. I didn’t spot any cams either. If we keep our heads together, no one is likely to recognize us, even if there are any.” He bent down for another delicious kiss. His tongue did some exploring. It was hard not to get lost in the sensation. She and the colonel-in-arms of the French Protectorate were stealing kisses in a back alleyway. He broke away from her, a slow smile playing on his lips. “I can see you’re still worried. You have a little crease right here.” He lightly caressed a fingertip between her eyebrows. “It’s your worry crease.” He bent down and kissed it. Then he settled his nose on hers. “The sun is almost below the horizon. There’s no direct light here. If anything picks us up, it will be dark and grainy. Retailers are notoriously cheap on paying for tech. Their average software is twenty years old. And as a bonus, this is the perfect place to wait and see if anyone is following us.”

  “Okay, so you’re right.” She kissed him long and hard, feeling breathless. And joyous. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”

  “It’s my job to stay five steps ahead. It’s what I do.”

  “I feel like a naughty teenager. That’s the last time I snuck into a pass-through zone for a kiss.”

  “I do believe his name was Ryder Tims. Or was it Dev Reddy?”

  Mina looked up at him in wonder for the second time today. “You remember their names?”

  “Of course I do. At the time, I don’t think I was jealous of the romance aspect, but I was jealous of the time you gave to them. And you were not shy with your details either.” He chuckled. “I have vivid recall of your delight in kissing both of them.”

  She wound her hands up into his hair. “That was childish delight. This is something far greater than that.” She proved it to him, moaning softly. The man was an expert kisser. His lips were firm, yet soft. They moved with hers like they were coordinating a routine, his tongue slow and methodical. She was pretty sure she could do this for the rest of her life and be perfectly happy. She broke away, needing to catch her breath. “It’s not like you were innocent and kiss-free. I seem to remember an Annika something or other and a Willa. There was definitely a Willa.”

  “That would be Nakita and Lilly.” His laugh was a deep rumble. “I can see you were equally affected by my teenage trysts.”

  “It’s not my fault I don’t hold on to things like that,” she protested. “I’m not an incredibly sentimental person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. Kaylee was just giving
me crap today about not dotting my residence with precious mementos. But I do have a box of keepsakes somewhere in my utility room. I know it’s there. I just can’t remember what’s in it. I wonder what my eighteen-year-old self thought was important to hold on to.”

  He brushed an errant strand of hair away from her face. “I would love to discover what’s in there with you.” He bent down for another soft kiss. “As much as I don’t want to leave, we promised your parents we would arrive shortly. I do believe we’re at least ten minutes late already.”

  He was right. “Okay. Let’s go. Once we get close, I’m tagging Quinn. He’s coming down to let us in the side delivery door. It’s the best we’ve got.”

  They moved through several alleyways until they were across the street from her parents’ high-rise.

  She tapped her cuff. Her brother answered immediately. “Hi, sis. Are you here?”

  “Yep,” she said. “Come and let us in. Bring one of Dad’s caps, his sunshades, and that old ratty raincoat he likes.” Vince raised his eyebrows. “And a scarf. The purple and yellow one.”

  Quinn didn’t question her. “Got it. I’ll be right down.”