Calculated Entrapment

by K. T. Lee

  “Operations officer.”

  Stefanie leaned forward. “Sorry, what?”

  Joey grinned. “A grumpy operations officer with a stick up his butt. And I’m glad I don’t scare you. I was trying to be friendly.” He stood. “Welp, you’ve got things under control here, so I’m going to get settled. Work on that stick. Call me if you run into trouble.” He slid a card with a phone number on it across her kitchen counter.

  Stefanie gave him a little salute. “See you at work tomorrow. Gonna need you to act like you know what you’re doing.”

  “I do that every day. Night, Miss Ryland.”

  Once Joey left, Stefanie’s pulse slowed from thunderous to just racing. What had that been? It was an odd mix of awkward initial meeting and something else entirely.

  Stefanie huffed out a breath and sent a text to her sister. Joey is a handful.

  Her phone dinged. How come?

  She considered how to explain their interaction. Not a complaint but find out what you can about him. Seems like a pro but he’s stressed about this. I want to know why.

  Ree’s response was instantaneous. Probably smart to be stressed. But I’ll check around. Got your back, Sis. What else has you rattled?

  Stefanie rummaged through her cabinets for a bottle of wine. She tapped a finger on her phone, then landed on honesty. She already had way too many lies to keep straight at the moment. He showed up at the gym and I hit on him.

  Bahahahahahaha.

  Stefanie shook her head. I WALKED IT BACK. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO MEET AN AVAILABLE GUY WHO ISN’T A TOTAL WEIRDO?

  Ree’s message was quick. It’ll be okay Sis. Deep breaths. Make sure he doesn’t notice that you’re still checking him out.

  I AM A PROFESSIONAL.

  Her phone dinged again. Clearly. Deep breaths. It’ll be okay. You’re just thrown off balance. You’ll adjust. Call me if you have any problems. I love you.

  Stefanie sighed. Love you too.

  Just as she’d poured a glass of Pinot Noir, proudly made in nearby Sonoma, her secure tablet rang. Quinn’s name popped up and she answered in short order, deciding to keep the wine in hand versus put it out of frame.

  Quinn appeared with Cam sitting next to her. “Hey, Stef! How are you holding up? Joey still there?”

  “Great. Joey left. Our meeting was fine once I figured out who he was. We did fine. It’ll be fine.” Stefanie held up her wine glass.

  Quinn frowned. “Uh oh. He’s normally great. What happened?”

  “He came to the gym to see if I could handle myself. Did not introduce himself, which is why I’m glad you called to verify his information.” She closed her eyes and put her hand on her forehead. “Then, when I asked him if he wanted to know if I could shoot, he had the gall to say yes. Totally over the top, considering I’ve known about this for less than a week. I mean, he did apologize for scaring me. But still.”

  “Okay. So, you two are good now or I need to call him and tell him to tone it down?”

  Stefanie’s heart began to race again. She forgot for a moment she wasn’t just talking to a friend who was practically family, she was talking to Joey’s coworker. Their meeting hadn’t been that bad. “No. Definitely don’t. I just was surprised. That’s all. It was…funny, not problematic.”

  Cam and Quinn exchanged a look. “There is something you should know. His girlfriend was the operations officer that was killed.”

  “Yeah, he already told me.”

  “Wow. It’s good he’s being so transparent with you.” Quinn leaned into the camera. “He doesn’t normally talk about it.”

  Stefanie swirled the wine in her glass. “It was in the context of my house being secure.”

  Quinn nodded. “That makes sense. He didn’t want you to get hurt. Are you worried about your safety now?”

  Stefanie scoffed and took a sip of wine. “No, I’m worried I won’t be able to take the trash to the curb without a chaperone. He wants me to go with him to the gun range to prove I know how to use my gun that I have a concealed carry permit for.” She took another sip of wine. “You couldn’t just send Alexis’s dog instead?”

  Quinn laughed. “Well, Waffle is one of the most popular employees at the Bureau. It’s hard to resist those big brown eyes and wagging tail. However, I think you’re better off with a human to protect you in the lab. Think you can make it work with Joey?”

  “Of course.” Stefanie gave a long-suffering sigh.

  “Great. So, when do you have him starting at work?”

  “Tomorrow. We’ll get him in, get the lay of the land, then use the weekend to strategize. Not sure he is the kind of guy that can slip in without notice, but we’ll do our best to work as a team.” Stefanie took another sip of wine.

  Quinn snorted. “Something tells me you are more alike than you are different. Joey is very mechanically inclined. I know there aren’t that many of you in the lab, but sometimes that’s worse. It’s almost as bad as a small town.”

  “Exactly. Not a lot of secrets in the lab.” Stefanie took a long drink of her wine. “Okay. There could be one big secret in the lab. But not many personal secrets. Ree can hear all of this, right? I’m not sure who can know what, which is exhausting. I’m not good at compartmentalizing anything, especially information.”

  “Yeah, I think in this case, it makes a lot of sense to include her on everything. All of us are cleared to talk on this op. It may look like only Joey has your back, but you’ve got a team working behind the scenes too. And if things heat up, the risk/benefit will change, and you’ll have us all there physically.”

  Stefanie’s pulse kicked up again. She knew there was risk when she started this. She just had to keep going, even though she didn’t have any idea how it was going to end.

  11

  Joey woke up in a strange place and took a moment to remember where he was. Not at his house. Not in another country. He was in San Francisco, California. He blinked fully awake just as his alarm went off. Six in the morning, on the dot. He rolled out of bed and got a quick workout and shower in. He hadn’t brought a lot of gym equipment, but he could make do with bodyweight exercises. At exactly 7:30 in the morning, he parked his rental car in the Oceanic Exploration Group’s parking lot. The building was a medium-sized office building that could have housed any number of different businesses – there was nothing particularly notable about the exterior. However, there was also a large storage building, not unlike an airline hangar, in its own space across the parking lot. Everything looked pretty new.

  Despite being a relatively recent addition to the industry, the Oceanic Exploration Group had become the most competitive game in town for oceanic research. Why would Dmitri pick this company to infiltrate? The ocean was huge, so it was a lot harder to make a big, front-page impact, like when he had caused a rocket to explode mid-flight. It would take a major oil spill or industrial accident for someone to even detect what he was up to. They were obviously missing something. Well, he made his living walking into situations with a lot of unknowns. Joey left his car and spotted his new friend walking in front of him. He’d gotten a little too focused on operational safety the night prior. Today, he’d make it up to her. They just had to survive one day in the office first.

  Joey walked through the double doors and found Stefanie chatting up an administrative assistant, another of the OEG’s new hires. Peggy Bennett looked up brightly. Stefanie turned to face Joey, all traces of annoyance at him completely gone. Either he’d blown his behavior out of proportion or she was acting. She fidgeted with a ring on her right hand but gave him an easy smile. Ah, she was acting. “You must be the new dream job intern.” Stefanie reached out a hand. “I’m Stefanie Ryland. I hope we live up to your expectations.” She looked over to the administrative assistant. “Peggy, this is Joey, our new intern.”

  Peggy reached for a badge that had already been made before Stefanie had finished her introduction. “Joey Trenton, welcome to the team. We’re happy to have you her
e. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. I handle reception and our communications, so I usually know what’s going on.” She gave him a knowing wink over the top of her cherry red reading glasses. She wore stylish, bright clothing and the chain on her glasses was color-coordinated to compliment both the glasses and her shirt. Peggy oozed friendly confidence and he liked her immediately – he made a mental note to take a closer look later when she wasn’t actively trying to make a good impression.

  “Thank you, Peggy. I’m honored to be here.” Joey flashed Peggy a bright smile. “I’ve heard how great Stefanie is to work with, and I’m looking forward to learning from her.”

  Stefanie waved away his words with an easy laugh. “You don’t have to butter me up – I’m not even paying you. Come with me. I’ll put you to work and see if you still like me.”

  As they walked away, Peggy called after Stefanie, “Be nice to the new guy!”

  Once they were alone in the hallway, Joey said quietly, “Nice work. She’s on our list.”

  “Yeah. I saw that.” Stefanie stopped at a door with a scanner and ran her badge over it. “She also has a heart of gold – volunteers with local at-risk youth.”

  Joey bit back his retort. She didn’t need to suspect everyone. That was his job. “Good to know. Does anyone else work in this lab?”

  The door swung open and a younger man, maybe twenty-five years old, wearing a hoodie, stood up from a large lab table, screwdriver still in hand. This would be Nash. On paper, he was an engineer who’d participated in intramural athletics and math club. While he wasn’t on the list of new hires, he had both opportunity and skillset. Now, Joey just had to watch for a motive. Nash gave Stefanie a wave. “Morning, boss.”

  “Morning, Nash. Meet our new intern.” Stefanie swept out a hand towards Joey.

  Joey looked towards Stefanie and she returned his look with the polite aloofness she’d adopted when he’d been rude the night prior. Hm. Maybe she defaulted to professionalism when she was annoyed at him. Good to know. Joey stuck out a hand. “Joey Trenton. It’s great to be here.”

  “Fresh meat.” The kid rubbed his hands together. “I mean, it’s nice to have you here, Joey. Welcome to the marine corps.”

  Stefanie put a hand to her forehead. “I’ve told you to stop saying that, Nash. You’re going to offend a veteran at some point who doesn’t get the pun.”

  Joey waved it away. “Trust me, we’re a lot tougher than one bad pun.” He winked. “I was in the Army.” Nash looked Joey up and down, clearly trying to fit him into some kind of box. He could practically hear the gears turning. Joey chuckled. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  “I like this one, Stef. I assumed that I’d be older than the intern, but he’s a lot more fun than a nervous college student.” Nash gave him a fist bump.

  “Technically, I’m still a college student, but this isn’t my first job. I’m just new to this industry.” Joey put his hands in his pockets. “Maybe you could teach me a few things?”

  Nash nodded. “Sure. I’ve been here since I graduated, about three years.”

  Stefanie’s phone buzzed. “One second.”

  Nash tilted his head towards Joey. “I can give him the tour while you handle your call. It’s no problem.”

  “That works for me.” Joey looked around the lab. “Maybe you can tell me more about the history of the company since you’ve been here a little while. It’s always fun to mix history with the science.” He leaned towards Nash. “And I have to write a report when I get back.”

  Nash puffed up a little under the importance. “Glad to help. We could probably even find a brochure or two for you to put into your report.”

  Once Stefanie left the lab, Nash began his tour. The lab was filled to the brim with interesting equipment. It was extremely organized, and Nash knew where everything was. His prototypes were made from quality materials and seemed well-built, which was probably a requirement for any work being done in a marine environment. Nash confirmed Joey’s assumption when he explained the material requirements for their protective cases and the amount of battery life required to run the equipment and send data to the transmission buoys. There were a few research platforms scattered around the large room, including one currently in pieces filling the work table in the center of the lab space.

  “How many platforms do you have out there now?” Joey leaned in to study the parts on the table a little closer.

  Nash looked into the air while he counted silently. “Probably twenty worldwide, currently collecting data.”

  “All prototypes?”

  Nash shook his head. “Oh no. Prototypes don’t pay the bills – we just do those when we can. The ones you see here are a mix of prototypes we use for demonstrations and platforms that will be ultimately used by paying customers. We have a lot of customization options, but you’re looking at the guy in charge of customization. That one is currently set up to measure potential seismic activity, acidity, ocean temperature, and even collect water samples. And the one over there, almost fully assembled, will be used for customers interested in offshore mining. They are looking in areas with less potential wildlife impact and boat traffic.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just drill on dry land? Or in shallower waters?” Joey scratched the back of his neck.

  “Not for precious metals. With the right equipment, the material value more than offsets the expense.” Nash pointed to two black X’s on a printed, topographical map of the ocean. “Our geology consultant recommended that we search these areas. But the environmental impact has to be measured, defended, and approved by the proper authorities before they ever start digging.”

  Joey lifted an eyebrow. “Where did you find a geology consultant?”

  Nash shrugged. “I didn’t. I just make the platforms. You’d want to talk to Cole for that. He manages our consultants.”

  “I might. That’s so fascinating.” Joey rubbed at his chin. “Thanks, Nash.”

  Nash smiled. “Now, do you want to build some stuff?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  12

  Ree Ryland placed her heavy purse in her desk drawer, slid it shut, and locked it. While she didn’t love bringing a weapon in the building, she liked having it a lot better than leaving it at home. Particularly since her side job volunteering for the FBI had gotten a little more dicey recently. Locking the weapon in a drawer in her office at Indiana Polytechnic was a good compromise. Dr. Matt Brown gave her a wave from his own desk. “Morning, Dr. Ryland-Mitchell.”

  Ree returned the greeting but it sounded thick, even to her. Carrying Junior around was a lot more difficult than the movies made it look. When she questioned if she should be as tired as she was, her OB-GYN’s nurse merely gave her standard answer for everything, “Women have been doing this a long time. You’ll figure it out.” Her OB-GYN had been only slightly more understanding. However, all of the “cures” they’d offered for her first trimester exhaustion and nausea thus far were woefully inadequate. It turned out that growing a human was just plain exhausting, and copious amounts of ginger could only do so much.

  Matt scrolled through his phone, then looked up at her again. “You okay, Ree?”

  Ree let out a long sigh. If it wasn’t a matter of national security, she wasn’t terribly interested in maintaining secrecy for secrecy’s sake. Frankly, if it was a matter of national security, Matt had the clearance for it. Her home team was Parker’s FBI team and his was Cam’s CIA team. He also happened to be head over heels for Alexis, which was completely adorable. She took a deep breath to make sure her body was going to remain in equilibrium. “According to the doctor, the baby and I are healthy. But pregnancy sucks. I mean, we’re thrilled. But I feel dreadful.”

  “Congratulations! That’s amazing news for you and Parker.” Matt’s eyes darted to his phone. “Although I’m sorry you feel bad.” His phone buzzed and he looked at it again.

  Ree narrowed her eyes. “Fess up. You’re not norm
ally distracted by your phone when I talk to you.”

  “I might be texting Alexis.”

  “Oh?” Ree raised her eyebrows. She may not be an FBI agent but she could interrogate her friends well enough when the situation called for it.

  Matt looked a little sheepish. “I asked her if you were expecting and she said she could neither confirm nor deny the reports.”

  “I wonder if anyone besides me is going to be surprised.” Ree shook her head.

  “Oh, no one else has said anything. I just noticed you were down to one small cup of coffee a day and I hadn’t seen you eat chocolate in like three weeks. Normally, you have one stress chocolate after every office hour.”

  Ree laughed out loud. “You all need to come with warning labels.”

  Matt looked at the closed office door. “Engineers or spies?”

  “Both.” Ree laughed and sipped at her cup of coffee. “Definitely both.”

  Matt leaned back in his chair. “Speaking of, Alexis told me to ask you what was going on. Apparently, the CIA said I can be read in and she doesn’t wait until this evening to fill me in. All I know is all of our people are on high alert. Cam even has people monitoring security cameras on the outside of the mechanical engineering building.”

  Ree looked into her single, measly cup of half-strength coffee. “We just realized that Dmitri is pulling the strings with someone at my sister’s company. And while my sister and I are different people, we share one very important trait – we don’t like bullies. So, approximately half a second after she found out, she got involved.”

  Matt winced. “Ooh. And you’re here, which means you’re sitting this one out. That can’t be easy. How are you holding up?”

  “Between the morning sickness, not nearly enough coffee, and finding out my sister might somehow get mixed up with a guy who has now shot two of my friends, I’m not super great.” Ree sighed. “However, objectively, Stefanie could also be our big break and she wanted to do this.”