Sarah stopped and looked out across the water. Low on the horizon, the lingering sun held twilight at bay, but night would soon fall. She glared at Kelly. “I thought we agreed not to insult my intelligence?”
“Sorry?”
“Yes, you are.” Sarah turned on her heel and continued to walk. Kelly caught up in a few strides. “With incidents of augmentation on the rise, Hayes wouldn’t dare close the only agency with any experience dealing with them. Not with an election looming.”
Kelly shrugged. “You could be right. But even if she doesn’t dismantle the entire outfit, there’s no way she’ll appoint anyone with any connection to the place as Mercer’s successor. So, it doesn’t matter to you either way.”
“I have faith in your ability to convince her of my merits.”
Kelly snagged her by the arm, turning her to face him. “And why would I do that?”
Sarah grinned at him. “Because you feel I’m the best suited for the job.”
“You got anything else?”
Her grin faded with the sun. “Remember, you asked for this.” Sarah handed him a HoloSphere. “There’s a file on here that’ll interest you. You might want to upload it to your Viz, though.” She eyed his secret service detail through the gloom. “Prying eyes and all.”
Kelly held the device in his palm a moment before he set the file to play on his Viz. His color turned ashen as he watched. Sarah recognized a married man caught having sex with a woman other than his wife. She watched his fingers turn white as his grip on the device tightened.
His baleful gaze fell upon her. “You fucking bitch. Where did you get this?”
“Like you said, Harrison, I’m in covert ops.”
With barely restrained fury, Kelly asked, “What are you going to do with it?”
“Me?” Sarah looked innocent. “I’m not going to do anything with it.”
Kelly shook his head. “I’m supposed to believe that?”
“Why would I want to hurt you, Harrison? You’re helping me. So long as you do, you have no worries. Of course, if you decide to stand in my way . . . I’ll have to see if your wife is more cooperative.”
Kelly’s arms twitched. “You manipulative bitch. I’m the Chief of Staff. Do you think you can get away with blackmailing me?”
Sarah dropped any pretense of nicety. She stepped close enough to smell his desperation. “Don’t think of it as blackmail—think of it as motivation.”
Kelly thrust a finger in her face. “You stay the fuck away from my wife! I’m warning you.”
Sarah chuckled as she pushed his finger aside. “Don’t embarrass yourself, Harrison. We both know the man on that file is in no position to threaten anyone. So, if you want to keep dipping the wick behind your wife’s back, you know what you have to do.”
Kelly sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “It won’t work. I’ll never be able to convince Hayes to appoint you—even if you manage to oust Mercer.”
“I have faith in you, Harrison.” Sarah patted his shoulder and turned away. She called over her shoulder, “You must have a silver tongue to convince the woman on that file to do the things she did. Don’t sell yourself short, I have every confidence you’ll find a way.”
Water lapped against the hull as the speedboat shot forward. It bucked against the calm waves. Sarah kept her face turned away from the spray and watched the lights of Baltimore grow smaller with each passing minute.
Her destination rose on the horizon and took her breath away. Having been born into the poverty of northern Alabama, The Brave more resembled a small island than a ship. To see such wealth in the hands of one man made her palms sweat.
The whine of the engine lessened as they approached the stern of the yacht. One of her bodyguards tossed a mooring line aboard the vessel and they docked without fanfare. She boarded The Brave and looked up at the sheltered exterior deck where she knew Holt waited for her. Without humor, she mounted the stairs.
Sarah entered the aft deck where Tiberius Holt stood to greet her. “Ms. Moore. Glad you could make it.”
She frowned at him. Her eyes roamed over the opulent surroundings before they settled on Holt. She asked, “There a reason we couldn’t have done this on dry land?” She waved at the surrounding luxury. “Aside from your need to show off.”
Holt pressed his lips together in a thin smile. He took a seat and said, “I felt we needed absolute privacy for this conversation. I could’ve invited you to Union City, but given this meeting was my request, it seemed proper for me to come to you. And we might have met in your office, but I didn’t imagine the Operations Director for the Department of Supernatural Affairs wished to host me in her top-secret headquarters. So, here we are. This yacht is swept twice daily for bugs and is totally secure.”
Sarah sneered at him, her lip curled with disdain. Holt continued to smile. “Yes, I know quite a bit about your role with the DSA.”
Sarah strolled over to the bar and lifted an ornate bottle of scotch. She read the label of the Bowmore 1957 bottle and glanced at Holt as she opened the expensive bottle. Pouring herself a shot, she said, “I’d be careful what you know, Tiberius.” Sarah sniffed the glass and took a drink. “Knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”
Holt chuckled. “I’d be careful who you threaten, Ms. Moore. I invited you here so we could be allies. Don’t make the mistake of turning me into an enemy.”
Sarah finished her drink. She set the empty glass on the maple bar and took a seat across from Holt. “How do you imagine us being allies?” Sarah settled her serious gaze upon him. “If you really know what I do with the DSA, what role do you imagine you could play in that?”
Holt finished the rest of his brandy and set the glass aside. Steepling his fingers, he asked, “How long has the DSA been hunting augments? Several years now if I don’t miss my guess. And, in all that time, what progress do you really have to show?”
Sarah bristled at the question. She opened her mouth but Holt stood and lifted a finger to silence her. He walked toward the bar and said, “Indulge me, if you will. What if I could give you the man in charge? The source of all the new augments flooding this country.” He stared at her from behind the bar. “I think that would be worth something to you.”
Sarah leaned forward in her seat and propped and elbow on her knee. “It sounds like a fairy tale to me.”
Holt’s smile broadened. “No fairy tale, Ms. Moore. Align with me, and I shall deliver his location to you.”
“If you had such information, and didn’t divulge it, you know I could arrest you for obstruction.”
Holt raised a glass to her. “You could. But then you’d need to explain your being here tonight. I think my way is cleaner, don’t you? You get his location, make your arrests, and undoubtedly advance your career.”
Sarah pursed her lips. The suggestion of career advancement had her full attention, but she didn’t get where she was in life without being cautious. “In exchange for what?”
“Not much at all.” Holt returned to his chair and said, “All I ask is return transport for my guy and his cargo.”
“Your guy?” Sarah leaned back with a chuckle. “Your guy wouldn’t have anything to do with the Raptors the Air Force shot down in the No-man's-land, would he?” Holt remained quiet and Sarah knew she guessed right. “So the source of the augments is in old California.”
“Maybe,” Holt said. “It’s a big place, though, and only I know where.”
“And the cargo?”
“Is not your concern. Do we have a deal, Ms. Moore?”
Sarah mulled it over. If he’s correct about the source of the augments, this would be a huge win for me. It might even catapult me to the Directorship without Kelly’s aid. It won’t be easy to keep Mercer out of it, but it’s not impossible either. This could be my shot. She nodded. “We have a deal. Give me the location, and I’ll deploy an HK squad tomorrow.”
Holt beamed. “Excellent.” He handed her a micro drive and said, “You’ll find the coordinates on there.”<
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They shook hands and Sarah departed. When she reached the door, Holt called out to her. “One last thing. Do you know how expensive that bottle you opened is?”
Sarah cocked an eyebrow. “Of course,” she said. “And I don’t even like scotch.”
Sarah watched the elevator doors slide open. Situated four stories below ground, the Citadel represented the beating heart of the DSA. Operatives trained here on the latest weaponry gained the skills to hunt and survive encounters with the augmented.
The massive area—three hundred yards in length—was broken into several smaller training zones, each equipped for its own specialty. Sarah stalked the corridors, headed for the war room one hundred and fifty yards from the bank of elevators. A check of security logs before descending told her Jake Moss was here. And he was alone.
She approached the war room and watched Moss through a panel of translucent SmartScreen glass. Designed as a state-of-the-art danger room, the thirty-square-foot area was fitted with multiple immersive computer environment chips to allow for virtual reality interaction. Sarah waved her hand, and a panel appeared in the glass. She tapped a few keys and heard the clang of steel against kavendium armor from within the room.
Moss squared off against a solid projection of an augment sanctioned a year earlier. Lash had possessed augmented vision and a penchant for using chains as weapons. Sarah watched Moss block another strike and roll away from his charging adversary. Regaining his feet, Moss got his sword up just in time. Lash wrapped a chain around the blade and ripped it from his hands.
Sarah hummed with interest. How will he counter the attack now?
Moss ducked the chain swung at his head and rolled forward. He kicked Lash in the knee and sent him sprawling to the ground before regaining distance from him. Back to his feet, Moss got his arm up in time to block another strike. The chain wrapped around his forearm and Sarah saw him grimace—his kavendium armor the only thing saving him from a broken arm.
Moss pulled the chain forward, knocking Lash off balance. His assailant fell toward him and Moss landed a roundhouse to his chin. He struck another blow to Lash’s cheek, and the chain fell from his grasp. Moss stepped back to work the chain free of his arm as Lash scrambled across the floor to retrieve another chain.
They circled each other, locked in mortal combat. Lash twirled the chain in his hand, the steel end sparking where it struck the floor. Moss swung his own chain overhead. Lash attacked with a vile sneer. His chain whipped out, catching Moss on the shoulder. Even with the body armor, Sarah knew he felt that one.
Moss twisted out of range of another blow and countered with a strike of his own. His chain struck Lash on the back of his legs, toppling him to the floor. Moss pressed the advantage. He landed a vicious blow to Lash’s throat, the chain wrapping around his neck as Lash tried to roll away.
Sarah knew it wouldn’t be long now. She decided to throw a wrench into the simulation and swiped through her options on the panel. A wicked grin curved her lips.
She watched Moss stagger as the projected ground split and fell away. He found himself on a narrow walkway across deep water. His eyes found her a moment before the threat she inserted made its presence known. From his left, the water exploded upward as Reken leapt from the sea. A rumored augment down south, they had yet to encounter her in the field.
Reken landed in front of Moss on the walkway. Her neoprene suit dripped on the wooden slats as she adjusted her hold on a long silver trident. A snarl passed her lips as she rushed Moss. The narrow walkway afforded him little room to maneuver. She thrust her trident down, narrowly missing him as he sidestepped the strike. His chain struck the trident with a resounding clang before he yanked on it and sent both weapons into the water.
Reken backhanded him. Moss reeled from the blow but kept his feet. She screamed a banshee wail and wrapped claw-like fingers around his throat. Sarah watched her top agent fumble the maneuver like a rookie as Reken winded up on top of Moss. He flailed his arms but his fingers kept slipping off her wet suit. Moss reached up for her hair, but Reken rose higher above him.
Sarah smiled. She watched his ploy work. As Reken rose, her weight came off him and allowed Moss to shift and toss her off the walkway. He immediately gasped for air.
The splash had not died down before Reken appeared on the other side and dragged Moss into the drink. Having been tagged, the simulation ended, and the projections vanished. Seated on the reflective tile of the war room, Moss glared at Sarah. She stepped away from the SmartScreen to wait for him to exit.
The door slid open with a quiet hiss and Moss asked, “You have a reason for being here this late, other than messing with my simulation?”
“You need to expect the unexpected in the field.” Sarah caught his withering gaze and said, “We need to talk.”
Moss stripped his body armor off and dropped it with a thud to the floor. “You here with a mission?”
Sarah answered, “I’m here with the mission.” She noted the hunger in his eyes and said, “I have a location on the source of augmentations.”
Moss used a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow as he asked, “Where?”
“San Duhamel,” Sarah answered. “In the No-man's-land. Target is Jason Crowley. I need your squad prepped and ready to deploy.”
“We’re always ready.” Moss grimaced. “With respect, though, why are we not just firebombing the target? We kill this Crowley, and we end the war, right?”
Sarah shook her head. “This mission is a capture, not a kill.”
Moss lifted his eyebrows. “The Director signed off on that?”
Sarah turned away and paced a small circle. “Mercer knows nothing of this, and we’re going to keep it that way. Loop in only those you know will stay quiet.”
Moss looked confused. “This isn’t your style. An off-book Op is risky. If it goes sideways . . .”
Sarah stared at him. “I’m trusting you to keep that from happening. What are the chances of my top operative freezing again and still being my top operative? We need a win here because the reward is more than worth the risk.”
Moss rubbed at his scalp. “I still think bombing is the safer route for everyone involved. Crowley, dead or captured, still means no new augments. You succeed either way, so why not play it safe?”
“Because it’s not the deal I made with Holt for his intel on Crowley.”
“Tiberius Holt?” Moss shook his head. “What does he have to do with any of this?”
Sarah shrugged. “I didn’t ask, and he didn’t say. He gave up the location for transport for his guy and some cargo so that’s what we’ll provide. I’m not ready to make an enemy of him yet.”
Moss jerked his chin at her. “Yet?”
Sarah left the area. Without looking back she said, “His involvement in this at all doesn’t sit right with me. He’s up to something. But, that’s a tomorrow problem and we have enough to worry about today. Get your squad ready—the sooner we have Crowley in custody, the sooner we can get some long overdue answers.”
The house settled and breathed as only a home at two in the morning can. Sarah set her bag on the cabinet in the entryway and noticed the shimmering glow of a HoloSphere projection at the end of the hall.
Drawn to the light, she recognized Sky Network projected on her wall. A running headline along the bottom told of hearings on ectogenesis. Sarah gripped the HoloSphere and cancelled the projection. Her live-in nanny, Rosita, stirred from her slumber on the sofa. She woke with a start and Sarah put her at ease. “It’s okay, Rosita.”
Rosita rubbed her eyes and sat up from her slouched position. “Miss Sarah. What time is it?”
“Time for you to call it a night.” Sarah walked around the island separating her kitchen from the sitting area. She noticed the program on the counter. I forgot Aubree’s recital. I promised her I’d be there and I forgot about it.
She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and milk from the fridge. Disappointment in her voice, she asked, “How d
id Aubree’s recital go tonight?”
Rosita beamed. “Oh, Miss Sarah, you should’ve seen her. You’d be so proud. She’s quite the little dancer.”
The words, though not meant to hurt, still had that effect. Sarah gripped her glass tighter and closed her eyes a moment. “How was Aubree about . . . my missing the show?”
“Good.” Rosita stretched her arms over her head and said with a yawn, “She misses her mama.”
Sarah poured milk into her glass and sighed. “I know she does. I miss her, too.”
Rosita stood and smoothed the wrinkles from her dress. “Your work is important, Miss Sarah. Aubree knows that.”
Sarah gave her a half-smile. “She’s six, Rosita, I sometimes wonder what she knows.”
“Aubree is very bright. She understands.”
Sarah took a drink of her milk and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Thanks, Rosita. Go on to bed.” Rosita nodded and shuffled from the room. “Don’t know what I’d do without you, Rosita.” Sarah finished her milk and walked up the carpeted stairs. As always, her third and seventh steps creaked.
At the top of the landing she looked to her right and the French doors to her bedroom. Exhaustion washed over her. It had been a long night. She wanted nothing more than to crawl beneath her Egyptian cotton sheets and close her eyes to the world. But to her left, her daughter’s room beckoned.
Sarah crossed the runner that ran the length of the upstairs hall and eased Aubree’s door open. She stopped before it opened all the way to avoid the hinges squealing as she knew they would beyond halfway. Muted light from the hall turned the pink walls a dark shade of purple. She slid into the room and watched her daughter sleep face down on her mattress.
Her nightstand remained cluttered with dolls, books, and various hair pins despite Sarah telling her to clean it up this morning. A soft, rhythmic snoring rose from Aubree’s pillow and threatened to lull Sarah to sleep on her feet. She shook her head and bent over her daughter. Planting a kiss on her cheek, she ran fingers through her hair and caught sight of a white sheet on the nightstand.
Intrigued beyond her fatigue, Sarah lifted it from the detritus. In the dim light she saw a hand drawn picture with a title scrawled in her daughter’s print: What Mom does best. The picture showed Sarah in a suit coat leaving Aubree behind in front of their house. The drawn Aubree wore a heartbreaking expression. Sarah’s eyes drifted to her daughter sleeping. A catch in her throat, she replaced the picture and snuck from the room.
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