Calculated Entrapment

by K. T. Lee

  She held up a hand. “Easy there, 007. Joey is going to take the lead and we are both going to take one giant step back away from the equipment. Are you wearing a ball cap in the building?” He took it off sheepishly, making the dark circles under his eyes that much easier to see. “Are you sleeping okay?”

  “No. Not at all.” Nash rubbed a hand down his face.

  Stefanie gestured to the equipment behind him. “Okay. You need a mental health day. You can work on our newest prototype or you can take a sick day. Which one will help you the most?”

  Nash rubbed the back of his neck. “Prototype. Ooh, what if I made something that could spy on the platform we are dropping? We could drop it down next to theirs and see if we pick anything up.”

  While Nash could legitimately make something awesome, there was no way Quinn would let anyone not on the team design her equipment. Still, it would keep him busy. “That’s a great idea. Focus on that. You have until Friday. And I don’t want you anywhere near the ship. Joey and I will take care of things.”

  Nash shot her a look. “Boss. Stefanie. No way. You can’t go alone with someone you barely know.”

  Stefanie’s voice was gentle. “I’ve checked his credentials and I’m not worried about Joey, okay?”

  At that moment, Joey appeared at her elbow. “Why aren’t you worried about me?”

  Stefanie cleared her throat. “Nash had some ideas for designing a prototype to spy on the client’s equipment, just in case it’s truly research and not something nefarious to spy on the Navy. We keep our customers and his brother stays safe.”

  “Nice work, man.” Joey gave Nash a high five.

  Nash gave Stefanie a look. “I can come help deploy it.”

  Joey shook his head. “Hard no, Nash. I don’t want you near these guys. They figure out what we’re up to and we’re toast. I had to get special permission for Stefanie.”

  The door opened and all three of them turned in tandem. Cole stepped in the door and they all said hello at the exact same time. Stefanie bit back a cringe. So much for acting naturally.

  “Hey, team.” Cole clapped Nash on the back. “You guys look like you’re cooking something up.”

  Stefanie managed to make herself look a little bashful. “We are, actually. We’re looking at sending down some of our equipment next to our customers to do a little head-to-head data comparison.”

  “Is that why your sister is coming?” Cole eyed her.

  Stefanie lost her breath for a second. That was so fast. She tried to keep her tone light. “No, she’s thinking about coming because we’re supposed to be having a family weekend and I’m bailing on her. I’d like to bribe her with a cool trip if you don’t mind.”

  Cole held up his hands. “Of course, she’s welcome to come along.”

  Stefanie gave him a broad smile. “She’ll be thrilled. Do I need to have her sign anything, like a confidentiality agreement or a liability waiver?”

  Cole frowned. “I don’t think so – everything will be sealed up.”

  “Great! I’ll let her know.”

  “That’s settled, then. Good luck, team.” Cole’s phone buzzed and he glanced at it. “Duty calls.” He smiled and walked out, shutting the lab door behind him.

  Joey pulled out his phone and Stefanie couldn’t quite read the message he typed out. Hopefully, the team had a warrant to listen to Cole’s calls. When she looked up from Joey’s phone, suspicion was written across Nash’s face. “So, your sister can come, but I can’t?”

  “I’m not worried about Ree.” Joey shrugged. “No one knows her or would suspect she’d touch the equipment. You are highly suspect because you work here, and you designed most of the equipment. It’s just a bunch of consultants – don’t let your imagination run away with you.”

  Nash narrowed his eyes at Joey. Stefanie put a hand on his arm. “Nash, I get it. Please don’t make it a thing. I’m stressed and my sister is going to be moral support. We aren’t going to do anything except for drop a platform with their equipment in the ocean. And maybe even put your platform next to it.” Her heart skipped. The entire conversation grated on her nerves. There was nothing natural about keeping an employee from working on something he was good at.

  “At least fill me in after.” Nash gave a long-suffering sigh. “And I’ll see if I can build you something.”

  Joey checked his watch. “How long will it take you?”

  “A day or two. I need to find the equipment, install, test, tweak. You know how it is.”

  Joey looked at the equipment knowingly. “Well, then. You better get to work.”

  23

  Finally, Quinn was in San Francisco. Her time in the office hadn’t been wasted, however. She had been quietly spreading information online about Ree’s fictional upcoming trip in case Dmitri was looking for it. There was an art to making it seem authentic. Quinn’s boss, the Director of Special Operations, had been careful about how and when she engaged, asking her to do as much quiet electronic work as possible to minimize the risk. She’d dutifully complied so that she could actually get to the good stuff. And now, she was here.

  Cam parked their rental car in front of Joey’s house. Normally after such a long flight, Quinn would feel at least some fatigue, but this time, her adrenaline was a lot stronger than her jet lag. Quinn pulled her suitcase out of the trunk and followed Cam to Joey’s front door. A moment later, Joey opened the door and they filed inside.

  Soon, the small team was seated around Joey’s kitchen table. Joey looked at both of them, then at the door. “Was I supposed to tell Stefanie you were coming? I thought you’d reach out to her.”

  “I thought you didn’t like having a civilian on your investigation.” Quinn eyed him.

  “I didn’t.” His mannerisms were nonchalant, which instantly sparked Quinn’s curiosity. “But she’s been a real asset.”

  Quinn studied Joey until she felt a gentle elbow from Cam, who gave her a wink. “I’m glad to hear it. Let her know we’re here, and until she gets here, we’ll just fill you in on what we’ve learned.”

  Joey held up one finger and sent a message to Stefanie. When he was finished, he put his phone on the table. “Hopefully, it’s some good news.”

  Quinn tilted her head back and forth. “I’m not sure if it’s good news, but we’ve lost Dmitri. No trace of him electronically or in person for two days.”

  “Did we push too hard? Is he going underground so we find a way to blame Cole?” Joey crossed his arms. “It wouldn’t be the first time one of his people took the fall for him.”

  Cam exchanged a look with Quinn. “Hard to say.”

  “Is Ree okay? Someone still keeping an eye on her?”

  Quinn tapped a hand on the table. “She should be. I’ve been leaving a false trail online to show Ree working in the Bay Area this week. She and Parker are staying at an FBI safe house near downtown Chicago. Matt is covering her classes and coming to work armed. Just in case.”

  “Did you get his hitman to talk? He tell us anything more?”

  Cam rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s been cooperative, but he doesn’t know anything beyond that Dmitri was working with a code-named spy who seems to have vanished.”

  The doorbell rang and Joey jumped up to answer it. Quinn watched him carefully and a small smile formed. She’d been worried about him, but his stress had been nudged to the side by something else entirely. Stefanie gave him a warm smile and then looked past him. Quinn gave her a friendly wave. “Hey, Stef. How are you holding up?”

  “Okay, I guess.” Stefanie walked over and gave her a hug. “Any news?”

  Cam nodded. “We’ve confirmed the team of consultants that met you haven’t left town. They’re staying at a hotel about ten miles away, but they haven’t left the building much. We haven’t been able to trace any of their contacts, but one of them keeps asking the front desk if a package has arrived yet. We’re keeping our distance, so we don’t tip them off.”

  “But is all this re
ally about monitoring our submarines? Are they already doing it? What is the team doing if Cole already dropped some of their equipment in the water?”

  Cam held up a hand. “Okay. That’s a lot of questions. I’ll try to answer them in order. Maybe. Maybe. Not sure.”

  Stefanie snorted. “While technically answers, those are not really helpful.”

  “It’s the best we’ve got, Stef.”

  Stefanie harrumphed. “Well, for the record, I think Nash is on our side. He called his brother to make sure we were legit. I’m going to owe him a whopper of an apology when this is all over.”

  Cam nodded with understanding. “If he’s not working with Dmitri, he’ll understand. If they try to slip anything else onto the boat, Quinn and I will both be there to watch them. If Dmitri is going to use it as an opportunity to go after anyone, it’ll be Ree.”

  “I thought you said she was hiding out in Chicago.” Stefanie’s gaze darted between them.

  Quinn smiled. “She is. I’ll be playing the part of your sister this weekend. Cam will go as Parker.”

  Stefanie turned her head to one side, studying Quinn. Quinn wrinkled her nose. “I know. I’ll be dying my hair and wearing makeup. I won’t be an exact replica.”

  “I was actually thinking of your safety.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s above your pay grade.” Quinn tossed her hair.

  Stefanie frowned. “Am I getting paid? I definitely thought this was a pro bono situation.”

  Quinn chuckled. “Fair point. It still holds that it’s above your pay grade since your pay grade is your generosity.”

  “So, is Alexis coming? Where is she, by the way?”

  Cam gave her a conspiratorial smile. “Right now, she is working with the San Francisco police department to check your customers’ hotel for drugs.”

  “There are drugs involved now?” Stefanie lifted an eyebrow.

  Quinn shook her head. “Not that we’re aware of. But Waffle is only trained for explosives anyway. The police department just thinks he’s checking for drugs and Alexis is keeping them well back from the actual hotel.”

  Joey’s phone buzzed. He read the text out loud. “From Alex. No explosives. No more smells of Dmitri. Damn. Maybe Dmitri is only going to send them the package?”

  Quinn looked around the table. They were closer than they had ever been. “What if I went to the hotel? Hung around at the restaurant, eavesdropped a little? I might even be able to intercept that package.”

  Joey carefully considered her question but Cam’s jaw set in a line. Quinn stared him down. Well, apparently their relationship was at the phase where they could have an entire conversation without using words. That was new. But Cam had a point. It wasn’t really worth the risk/benefit. Cam’s return look changed from stubborn to smug. “If you go to the hotel, you can’t be on the boat. You can either be Ree or the person listening to their discussion. Not both.”

  “Damn. That’s a good point.”

  “Is it always like this with these two?” Stefanie smiled.

  Joey chuckled. “Sometimes worse. What about Alexis? She’s itching to do something else.”

  Quinn tapped her fingers on the table. Alexis was more than competent and in their short time working together, she’d found more in common with the agent than differences. “Yeah. Let’s do that. Have Alexis check in, create a backstory, and station herself there. They didn’t see her when she was at the OEG, did they?”

  Stefanie considered. “No. She was there before and came after. We should be good.”

  Quinn rose and started puttering around the kitchen. Long a fan of coffee, she’d cut back substantially while on painkillers to manage her bullet wound. Surprisingly, she’d grown to like a nice cup of tea. She leaned over the counter. “Tell me you have tea? Preferably something strong?”

  Joey pointed to the cabinet behind her. “Earl Grey. Stef likes it.”

  Color rose in Stef’s face. Despite Quin’s inner operations officer firmly egging on her natural curiosity, she didn’t push any further. Stefanie wasn’t Ree. Still, if she was seeing it, Cam definitely was seeing it too. And Cam was the protective big brother type. He met her eyes and winked at her. Okay, he’d noticed. And approved. Good to know. He wasn’t won over easily. She made tea for herself and Stefanie since Joey had volunteered it. And because she needed to soften Stefanie up before asking if she wanted out one last time.

  She slid a mug to Stefanie, who gave her a suspicious look. “Alright, why are you buttering me up?”

  “I was just stealing some of your favorite tea. I thought I’d share.” Quinn maintained a nonchalant tone and Stefanie eyed her in a way that reminded her of Ree. Quinn laughed. “Okay. I’m buttering you up. I want to give you another chance to back out.”

  Stefanie took a sip of tea. “No thanks.” She set the mug on the table. “What do we do when we find out their game? How does this go down?” Quinn and Cam exchanged a look as Stefanie wrinkled her nose. “See? It looks like you don’t know either. I’d feel better if we could make a plan before we go.”

  Cam’s background was in tactical warfare, which meant he knew how few operations went exactly to plan. He ticked off a list on his fingers. “Primary plan is we let them bring their equipment on board. If we figure out what it is, we let them drop it and either use it to spy on them or fish it out when they aren’t looking. Secondary plan is that Dmitri is a loose cannon and we aren’t anywhere close to guessing what he has in mind. Once we realize what he’s really up to, we adapt.”

  “Okay.” Stefanie took another sip of her tea. “So, all of your fancy operational language means that no matter how long we sit here making a plan, we’re still probably going to have to wing it?”

  Joey smiled. “Essentially. I’ll come on as the guy who turns the wrench on the platform. We’ll at least have them outnumbered.”

  “Not overwhelmingly, but I like those odds.” Stefanie shifted closer to Joey.

  Quinn nodded. “And we’ll have Waffle sniff everything, just to make sure we aren’t outgunned as well.”

  Stefanie stood to put away her now-empty mug. “Hopefully, they’ll bring their mystery box to us the evening before so we can get a good look at it.”

  Quinn looked at Joey. “You’ll check it for bugs before Stef is in the room, right?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Quinn rubbed her hands together. “Good. Stef is right, that’s about all we can plan for right now. I wish we were a little closer to the man himself, but I’ll settle for setting up his crew for a trap so we can have a better shot later.”

  Cam said, “Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s get some rest. Our friends will make their move this weekend and we need to make sure we’re ready for them.”

  Quinn and Cam walked towards the door but Stefanie lingered behind, whispering something to Joey. Joey watched Cam and Quinn while he listened and Quinn gave Joey a knowing smile. For the first time in their admittedly new friendship, his neck went a little pink. It warmed her heart. Like her, he’d beat himself up over not being able to prevent Rory’s death. He’d always feel some grief, but he was starting to think about living the kind of life Rory would want for him. Cam tugged gently on Quinn’s elbow. The look in his eyes was warm. She could almost hear him say, let them be. He was more patient than she would probably ever be. It’s what made them a good match.

  * * *

  Stefanie waited for Cam and Quinn to leave, then turned to face Joey. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was hoping for – reassurance, comfort, or an excuse to see if he had changed his mind about waiting until the operation was over. Joey closed the door behind her, and she took a step closer, waiting for him to make a decision. The conflict was obvious on his face, then it cleared. Stefanie grinned, and soon they were entangled, walking as a set over to his couch. They tumbled down, Joey flipping to soften her fall. “I thought we decided to wait.”

  “Nope, you decided to wait.” Stefanie lifted an eyebrow. “And apparently, you c
hanged your mind. I may have been hoping that would be the case.”

  He laughed and kissed her again. “Well, after the look you gave me, you can hardly blame me. We haven’t been together as long as Cam and Quinn, but it looks like I can read your mind just as well.”

  Stefanie bit her lip and her brain decided it was time to contemplate literally everything. It was a wonder her mind didn’t make the same noise as her laptop when it overheated. “Oh no.” She closed her eyes. “Probably not the best time to ask, but are we…together?”

  Joey ran a hand down her back. “I guess we didn’t talk about it. I made assumptions. I…I haven’t done this in a long time. I’m not good at this.”

  Stefanie nuzzled Joey’s neck. “I beg to differ.” She looked into his eyes. “I don’t date a lot either. It’s just that the guys I’ve dated lately always say something like, ‘I’m not interested in labels.’”

  Joey chuckled. “Sounds like they’re only interested in bullshitting you.”

  “Ah, if only I’d cracked the code as quickly as you did.”

  “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t ever a casual guy. Even…before I consider someone my girlfriend, I keep it exclusive. It doesn’t feel honest any other way.”

  Stefanie sighed and pressed her forehead against his. “I like you. And I want you to be sure about the girlfriend offer. So, I’m going to stop things before they get out of hand, even though I’d really rather not.”

  Joey blew out a breath and smoothed back her hair. “You’re right. I owe it to you to see this through, then start asking you to be my girl, not the other way around. I just keep forgetting.”

  “Ugh, being responsible is the worst.” Stefanie sighed ruefully, a smile hiding behind her eyes.

  Joey rose and offered his hand. “I know what you mean. But you need some sleep. If your customers drop off their box as planned, we both need to be rested. Something tells me we’ll be dealing with something that none of us have thought of.”