by Rebecca Deel
“Yes, sir.”
“Zane, it’s good to finally meet you in person. We appreciate all your help in the last few months.” Blackhawk shook his hand, nodded at Claire, and left.
Rio watched Zane, speculation in his eyes. “Can you talk to Maddox or should Josh make the call? Ethan needs information. He can be the biggest help or the biggest pain in your backside.”
“I can’t talk to the boss until there’s no chance of being overheard on either end of the conversation. Come on. Let’s find out what’s happening with the rest of Adam’s team.”
“Nothing good,” Rio murmured.
“What do you know?” Claire asked.
“Their leader is missing, Ackerman hijacked the leadership role, and Simmons is a traitor. Your brother’s team is imploding from the inside, sugar. That’s all bad news. When your brother returns, he’ll need to rebuild his team, hopefully with better operatives this time.”
Zane motioned Claire toward the door. “How’s Quinn?”
“He has a knot on his head and a bad attitude about being shoved into a wall hard enough to lose consciousness.”
Rio led the way to the gym where the remaining members of Adam’s team sat with the rest of the Fortress operatives and their wives, with the exception of Alex.
Zane glanced around. He didn’t see Ivy, either. Guess the sniper’s wife was with him. He suspected Morgan was answering multiple questions from the detective in charge of the shooting investigation as well as Ethan Blackhawk.
“How can you not know?” Nate asked Ackerman as Zane, Claire, and Rio walked closer to the group. “You’re supposed to be a family in a military unit. There shouldn’t be secrets that large between you. You took over leadership of this team when Adam went undercover. You don’t know your own people?” He leaned in close to Ackerman. “I think Simmons wasn’t working alone. What do you think, Joe?”
Fury darkened the man’s face. “You’re implying I’m in league with him?” His angry gaze speared Zane. “What about Murphy? He’s a prime candidate for selling out. There’s evidence he’s on the take. Why aren’t you looking at him?”
“I trust Zane to have my back. He’s proved himself time and again, including saving my wife’s life. You, on the other hand, I don’t know well. What I do know is that you’re not a leader I would go to the wall for, and I doubt you’d put your life on the line for me or your teammates, either. You don’t have that kind of loyalty in you.”
Ackerman’s fists clenched. “What are you saying, Armstrong?”
“Instead of being a team player, you’re more concerned with your own moves. You’re a renegade, one sure to cost the life of one or more of your teammates.”
“Based on what?” he yelled.
“Observation in training and mission reports. You shouldn’t be on a special operations team, Ackerman. We’ll be recommending Maddox terminate your employment at Fortress effective immediately.”
“You have no right to do that!”
Nate dropped his voice in direct contrast to the shouts of the livid operative. “We have every right. It’s our job to make sure the Fortress teams are operating like well-oiled machines. Every team you’ve been assigned to suffered from your actions. You’re a disrupter.”
“It’s because I’m not military and never been part of a Special Forces team, isn’t it? You just don’t want to admit someone besides a paid assassin could be as skilled as you and your buddies are. You’re a bunch of narrow-minded…”
“This has nothing to do with being military or not. Remy never served in the military, but I would trust him with my life and Stella’s. We’ve worked operations with him and Lily. They check their egos at the door and follow the designated leader, whoever that is. You never follow the plan agreed upon. So far, you’ve skated by, but your teammates paid the price. It stops now. Go back to the motel and pack your bags, Ackerman. You’re finished at Fortress.”
“You’re dead, Armstrong. Do you hear me? I’ll kill you for this.” With a roar of rage, the operative lunged across the table.
Hollis and Moore grabbed Ackerman’s arms and yanked him away from Nate before he had a chance to touch Durango’s EOD man. They wrestled him to the ground and pinned him until the emotional storm had passed.
“Let me up.” His voice sounded wooden.
“Don’t be stupid, man,” Moore said. “Armstrong will take you down hard if you lay a finger on him.”
“I get it, all right?” When his teammates slowly released him, he jerked away and got to his feet. “There are more outfits that need my skills. Better pay, better working conditions, better people. I’m gone.”
Hollis and Moore glanced at each other. “He didn’t mean it, you know.” Moore folded his arms across his chest. “He can be a jerk, but he’d never go after you in a fit of revenge.”
“If you believe that, you’re more foolish than Ackerman,” Eli said. “That man is a loose cannon, ready to explode at the least provocation. You don’t want to be anywhere near his vicinity the next time he goes off. You may not survive.”
Jon strode into the gym. “I have an ID on the body in Belize.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Claire swallowed hard at Jon’s statement. Zane’s warm hand wrapped around hers. “Who is it?”
“An employee of Collins. It’s definitely not Adam.”
Able to draw a free breath for the first time in days, Claire asked, “Are you sure?”
“Positive. Saw the autopsy photos. The guy has blond hair and green eyes where Adam is brown and brown.”
“Who is he?” Rio asked.
“Ron Pierce. He worked for Collins five years. He’s a native of Oklahoma, a wife, no kids. Pierce had been working for Collins’ organization in the U.S. When the boss offered him a chance to move up in rank and salary by moving to Belize, he jumped at it.”
“And his wife let him?” Dana asked, her voice making it plain she didn’t understand that.
Claire didn’t, either. She would never let her husband move to a foreign country for work without her, especially if they didn’t have children to worry about.
Jon slipped his arms around his wife and hugged her close. “They were going through a divorce, baby. She got tired of him being gone for months on end and started seeing someone else. She planned to marry this other man as soon as the divorce finalized.”
“And Collins just dumped him outside the compound?” Rio asked, his eyebrows winging upward.
“He doesn’t seem worried about the authorities.”
“I’d say Collins invested a lot of money in buying local law enforcement.”
“So what happened to Ron Pierce?” Claire moved a step closer to Zane.
“He was shot in the back of the head.”
“Executed,” Nate said, scowling.
Brenna laid her head on Eli’s shoulder. “And nobody raised a fuss about that?”
“Autopsy report said he died of natural causes.”
“Maybe it’s natural for Collins’ employees, but it’s sure not in the same ballpark as dying of old age,” Quinn said.
“I wonder what he did to tick off his employer,” Dana said.
“Don’t know, baby.” Jon kissed his wife’s forehead. “I’ll do my best to find out.”
“What happens now?” Moore asked.
Nate turned to Jon. “You learn anything we need to know from Hollis?”
The sniper’s lips twitched. “Aside from the fact he’s nuts about a girl who works in a coffee shop, no. He’s clean.”
Moore swung around to stare at his teammate. “Mary Jo?”
“Got a problem with that?”
A grin. “Nope.”
“Have you asked her out?” Zane asked.
Hollis’ face turned bright red. “Not yet.”
“You should. She’s a sweetheart.”
“How do you know?”
“I spend time in the coffee shop. She sits with me a few minutes if it’s not busy. Mary Jo
always asks about you, Hollis.”
“She does?”
Moore elbowed his teammate. “Told you she was interested. Ask her out before one of the other guys decides to try their luck.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Moore, we still need to talk about Adam and Simmons.” Nate folded his arms across his chest. “You willing to answer a few questions?”
“Sure. I’d prefer not to have a large audience, though.” A wry smile curved his mouth. “My answers might cost me some macho points.”
“Do you need Jon or me?” Eli asked, his arm around Brenna’s waist.
Nate shook his head. “Can you get into Alex’s place? No telling how long he’ll be answering questions and I’m not sure Ivy will leave him.”
“He gave us a key.” Within a couple minutes, their wives had scooped up their purses and found Ivy. After convincing Alex’s wife to go with them, the five of them left.
“What about you, sugar?” Rio asked Del. “One of us can bring Josh home when he finishes giving his statement to Ethan.”
“No need. Josh is on duty in a couple hours. He’ll have to go home soon to change into his uniform.”
“You okay to answer questions here, Moore, or do you want to go into another room?” Nate asked.
Moore shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t matter now.”
“Good enough. Hollis, don’t interfere.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nate turned his attention back to Moore. “What do you know about Adam’s mission?”
“It was undercover assignment. We had no idea where he was going because Maddox swore him to secrecy.”
“Did Simmons show an undue interest in Adam or his mission?”
“That’s what is so strange about his attack on Ms. Walker. Simmons never asked about Adam in all the weeks he’s been gone. The rest of us were griped about the lack of news. Well, except for Ackerman.”
Claire pressed her lips together to keep from spouting off about the man. The only person Joe Ackerman cared about was himself. She doubted he lost one moment of sleep in the last two months. He’d probably enjoyed having control of his own team, even if he’d taken the role instead of being chosen for it by his teammates or Maddox.
“How long has Simmons been with your team?”
“About a year.”
“He should have been concerned, or at least curious. If Josh was undercover that long with no word, we would hound Maddox for news.”
“We asked,” the man protested. “Maddox ignored us.”
“And you took that for an answer?”
“What would you have done?” Moore fired back.
“Fortress has resources. We would’ve tapped all of them. If we still didn’t learn what we needed, we would have cashed in favors outside Fortress.”
Moore and Hollis looked at each other. Moore rubbed his face with his hands. “We’re not Durango. If we go off the path without permission, Maddox would tear strips off our hides.”
“You should have kept digging until you discovered the location of your leader because you aren’t in position to aid him. At least one of you knew or heard rumors where Adam was located.” A scowl without a denial was his answer.
Although Claire didn’t know these men, she realized that Nate was correct. They heard or strung together enough information to know where Adam worked undercover. And that made her resent them more. Durango would have taken themselves off the Fortress duty roster and made their way to Belize to be available for their leader.
Nate tilted his head. “You’ve been deployed on missions while Adam was undercover. You telling me you weren’t anywhere near Belize for two months?”
“We didn’t know where he was,” Hollis protested.
Nate turned. “You might not have known, but I’m not buying every member of your team was ignorant. I’ll remind you one more time to not interfere. At your next outburst, we’ll toss you out on your ear. Am I making myself clear this time?”
“Yes, sir. Sorry,” he muttered.
“When did you learn where Adam was working, Moore?”
“A few days ago.”
Claire froze. “How long ago?”
Moore looked to Nate, as if asking permission to answer. He received a nod in answer to his wordless inquiry. “Four days.”
“The day before the first attempt to kidnap Claire.” Zane scowled. “Timing could be a coincidence.”
“Probably isn’t,” Stella said. “Who told you Adam was in Belize?”
Moore paled. “Simmons said he heard it on the Fortress rumor mill.”
“He lied,” Nate said flatly. “He knew and I’m betting someone else on your team did as well. Was it you, Moore?”
“No, sir!”
“To my knowledge, only two people knew where Adam was,” Zane said. “Maddox and me. I haven’t told anyone where he is.”
“What about when you weren’t on duty, Zane?” Claire asked.
“Per Maddox’s order, I made sure I was on shift when Adam was due to check in.”
“So you haven’t had a day off in two months?” Rio’s eyebrows winged upward.
“It was necessary to keep Adam safe.” He eyed Moore. “So you assumed I spilled the beans about Adam’s location to Simmons or someone else who then told Simmons.”
“Ackerman’s name is coming up a little too frequently,” Quinn pointed out.
Moore looked uncomfortable. “Ackerman told us you must have blabbed about Adam’s assignment or deliberately told Collins he had a mole in his compound. I’m sorry, Murphy.”
Sorry? Claire frowned. Did Moore really think an apology would undo the damage? From what she understood, the Fortress people had trusted Zane with all information until Simmons pointed an accusing finger at him and blamed him for Adam’s disappearance. Now she had to wonder if the dirty operative was responsible for her brother being out of touch. Simmons could have been the one to tell Collins about the tracker and the fact he had a spy working for him. Simmons alone could have spilled the information or Ackerman might have had a part in it.
Ackerman’s motive was easy enough. Control of his own team. With Adam gone, Ackerman had a clear path to leading his own team. After all, look at how quickly the other two men went along with the hijacking of team leadership.
What she couldn’t figure out was what Simmons had to gain from the betrayal. Was it money? Maddox paid his people well, certainly more than she paid herself. Taking photographs wasn’t as lucrative as saving the world. Too bad her superhero uniform was permanently at the cleaners. If it wasn’t, she could have joined the Fortress party and padded her coffers as well.
“Who did the computer hacking?” Zane asked.
“How do you know there was any?” Hollis’ expression was defiant. “We still don’t know you aren’t involved.”
“Sure, that’s why your teammate threw me under the bus.” Zane’s voice rang with disgust. “Use your brain.”
“You’re saying someone hacked into Fortress files?” Quinn dragged a hand down his face. “Unbelievable. So we have more than one traitor in the house.”
“Unless Simmons, Hollis, Moore, or Ackerman have mad computer skills no one knows about, there’s someone else. It’s easier to hack into the system if you already have access to begin with. The hacking would involve classified files pertaining to Adam’s mission.”
“How do we find the second traitor?”
“We set a trap he won’t be able to refuse.”
“Like?”
“Leak classified information, something Collins will want in his hands, something irresistible.” Zane pulled out his phone. “I need authorization before I say more. I’ll be back.” He zoomed across the gym floor and out of sight.
“Do you know what that’s about?” Stella asked Nate.
“Maybe. Zane is a storehouse of intelligence the rest of us never know about. The only person in Fortress with more knowledge in his head is Maddox.”
“You’re serious.�
� Hollis rubbed the back of his neck. “I never realized Maddox trusted him to that extent.”
“Then you don’t pay attention to what’s going on in our company.”
Moore sighed. “Ackerman and Simmons both played us for fools.”
“It’s time you wised up,” Rio said. “Next time you get played, you could end up dead.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“This is a dangerous game, Z.”
Zane didn’t like this any better than his boss. “I know. You have a better solution? If so, I’m open to another suggestion, one that won’t put us on Uncle Sam’s black list.”
Silence reigned a moment, then was broken by a sigh. “Nope. Don’t let this hacker have too much information. Otherwise you won’t be eligible for a day off until you’ve rewritten all the code and closed all the back doors I’m positive you and Jon have left in my system. If you miscalculate, we won’t receive any more business from Uncle Sam. That will have devastating repercussions in other arenas. You hearing me, Murphy?”
He swallowed hard. It was one thing to gamble with his own future as well as Claire’s. This was a whole other level of consequences. Not only was his career on the line, so was the company of one of his best friends. A miscalculation could destroy Fortress. And what about Claire? If he was wrong, what would happen to her?
Zane couldn’t let anything happen to Fortress or his girlfriend. Maddox had worked too hard and provided jobs for so many vets, many of whom would have had a tough time finding work, including Zane. Veteran unemployment rates were much higher than the national average. Maddox appreciated and utilized all the skills vets brought to the table. Some, like Zane, couldn’t be in the field, but that didn’t stop the boss from plugging them into the Fortress network of jobs. And as for Claire, the only thing she was guilty of was loving her brother enough to fight for his life.
Provided they pulled this operation off without ticking off the government, Maddox’s threat to make him revamp the entire computer security system left Zane feeling ill. He wouldn’t sleep much for months. By the time he finished the job, Claire might have decided to dump him for a guy who at least poked his head out of the computer lab once in a while. She probably wouldn’t even remember what he looked like. Depressing thought. “Yes, sir.”