“By the way, you’re welcome.”
He brought his attention to Weber, who was now eyeing him curiously. “What was that?”
Weber shook his head, a smile spreading across his lips. “I suppose you can now tell me how many buttons I have on my shirt?”
Eight. “Why should I be thanking you?”
“For sending McKoy. I knew you had a thing for her. It’s an added bonus that she can find anyone plugged into the grid.”
“Speaking of, what’s her next find and how does it involve me?” He knew TREX protocol, and he definitely knew Weber. The director wouldn’t insert an intel agent so deep unless he planned to use her again, and he wouldn’t go to all this trouble to pull David back in unless it had something to do with the intel agent he’d sent to retrieve him.
He laughed out loud, something Weber rarely did. “You’re a perceptive son of a bitch, you know that?”
Yes, he did know that. And that wasn’t an answer, so he decided to take another approach. “What about her brother?”
He laughed again and David found himself really annoyed at his reaction. Since when had the surly Dan Weber become so jovial? “Chris? In Pakistan on assignment.”
“So he’s in?”
Weber lost his smile and threw him a baffled look. “He was always in. I brought him in personally.”
“Funny,” David mentioned, careful to keep his growing temper in check. “Charis was under the impression if she didn’t succeed in retrieving me, you’d kick his ass back to incident response and pretty much slam the door on any other agent wanting to transfer into spec ops.”
“Are you shitting me? I never said that. That would be covert suicide. As much as I hate dealing with some of the divisions inside of TREX, we’re all one agency. Each division brings something to the table or we wouldn’t have them. Who told her Chris would be out if she didn’t complete this find?”
He didn’t know, and after seeing his reaction, David believed this was the first Weber had heard of it. “You’ll have to ask her.”
“You bet your ass I will. I don’t like sending agents in under false pretenses. Shit like this can get an agent killed.” He pulled a tablet out of his shirt pocket and made some notes, all the while cussing up a storm under his breath. Something David said really set him off. But what? Without looking up, Weber asked, “Anything else she said seem out of place?”
“Yeah.” He thought back to her comment about Weber not telling her why TREX needed him. Either she lied, or Weber did. “Why didn’t you brief her on why TREX wants me back?”
“Need to know basis only,” he stated and shook his head.
“Don’t you think that counts as sending her there under false pretenses?”
“Did she tell you I wouldn’t talk to anyone but you?”
David nodded.
“Then no. I didn’t lie to her, and she didn’t lie to you. She really has no idea why I need you on this. No one does.” He looked at him. “And it needs to stay that way, at least right now. Did you come in through the rear entrance?”
David nodded again.
“Good. Sally doesn’t know you’re here, then?”
“That’s right.”
“All right,” he sighed. “So Charis is the only agent who knows you’re back?”
“Aside from you.”
Weber made a few more notes. “Pass any cameras on your way in?”
He counted down from ten so not to raise his voice. What was with all the bullshit questions?
“Cameras?” Weber looked at him when he didn’t answer right away. Something in his eyes didn’t settle well. They pierced into him. He seemed far too interested in whether or not anyone else knew David now sat alone five stories below ground with the director of special operations.
“I know the angles. I know how to disappear.”
“You’re sure?”
“Check the surveillance. You won’t see me.” Now why the hell did he just admit that? The room they sat in didn’t have any surveillance equipment or he would have spotted it.
Interesting.
“What the hell is this? Why don’t you want anyone to know about me?”
Weber shook his head. “For what I’m putting together, it’s crucial no one else knows.”
Well, that didn’t really clear things up. If anything, it only heightened his increasing suspicions. “Why pull Charis into this then if you want to keep me hidden? That woman likes to talk.”
“And talk and talk,” he added with a chuckle. “Intel, especially Charis McKoy, has,” he paused, contemplating his words, “certain talents spec ops doesn’t. They may be the biggest PITA to work with, but they’re a necessity.”
David thought about Charis. Did he consider her a pain in the ass, or PITA as Weber so affectionately referred to her division? Her taste lingered on his breath, her warmth on his flesh. His skin prickled at the memory.
Hardly a PITA.
“This is the most painful goddamn thing I’ll ever admit,” he grunted before looking at David. “No one can do what she can.”
“And that is?”
“McKoy is what you call an e-tracker, and a damn good one. I’ve used her skills on several finds and she’s never let me down. I knew she’d be able to find you.”
“That’s why you called her in?” he asked suspiciously. He knew Weber better than that.
“I remember how you reacted to her at the hospital. What better way to ask you to return than to send a peace offering?”
Peace offering? Or piece offering? “Interesting choice of words,” he threw back at him. The wave of anger building inside him grew. Charis believed she’d paved the way for other agents, that she alone had secured her brother’s future as a TREX spec ops agent. The brilliant light in her eyes would falter after hearing she had nothing to do with it. And that really pissed him off. She was sent there to do exactly what she did—use everything in her power to convince him to return to TREX.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Weber countered.
Hell yeah, it worked. She’d kept him completely preoccupied. He should have disappeared the instant he saw her. Instead, he’d stuck around, putting himself in a no-win situation. It had nothing to do with her ability as an agent. Hell, it had nothing to do with his ability as an agent. No, it had everything to do with the fact she was a woman, and how much he’d noticed that fact.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” He placed one booted foot, then the other, on the corner of the table.
Weber’s face remained expressionless. He karate-chopped the soles of David’s boots and knocked his feet back down. “Show some respect. I’m still your boss.”
He smiled at his friend. He loved that someone like Dan Weber took over the entire western region of TREX after cleaning up the mess left from one of the previous directors. At least this one wouldn’t put a hit out on his best agent and end up getting himself killed while trying to save his own sorry ass. Donovan had been a piece of work. Thank God Weber had caught on to him before it was too late. “For how long?”
“How long are you back?” Weber countered, sank in his chair and folded his arms.
No way. He knew better than to blindly agree to this, not when he’d already tried to throw him over to intel once. Instead of answering, he simply shrugged.
It hurt. He ignored the pain.
“How about we talk about why you’re here.”
“I figured you missed me.”
Weber narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t changed one bit, you know that?”
He lifted his shoulder to stretch it out. Yeah, aside from getting shot and losing my spot on TREX’s lineup. I haven’t changed at all.
A buzzing from Weber’s pocket broke through the silence. He pulled out a cell phone and looked at the number. Cussing, he opened the phone and answered. “What’s up?” He nodded at David, then signed to him it was JT on the other line. “Oh really? Yes, I guess good news does travel fast.” He pulled the phone away and David hear
d the audible squealing on the other end.
McKoy called JT and told her you’re back, Weber signed.
I’m not back yet, David signed in return.
Don’t— His hand signals abruptly stopped and he sat up straight as he placed the phone to his ear. “No, I wasn’t. Sorry.” He looked at David again. When David grinned and signed, whipped, Weber gave him the finger.
The unyielding Dan Weber sweated as he attempted to dig out of the hole he’d gotten into with his wife. He stood and ran his fingers over the stubble on top of his head. “I don’t know. I. Don’t. Know. It isn’t like I’m just going to ask him.” He sighed, rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure you would. No, you cannot talk to him.” He paused, looked at David. “Because I haven’t got the chance to talk to him. You called before I could get more than two words—shit, I gotta go. Another call. Bye. No. No. He’s right—” Weber growled and turned away from David. “I love you, too.”
He turned around and gave David a warning glare as he pulled the phone away and pushed a key, bitching all the while about call waiting. “Weber. No, she isn’t. Right outside, or at least she’d better be. I’m not at liberty to say. Oh she did, did she? She must have fast fingers. Because she called another agent not more than five minutes ago with the same news. Right, so much for keeping it under wraps. Need I remind you this was supposed to be confidential? Remember what we’re dealing with. Her loose lips could FUBAR this entire operation. Surreal is supposed to be dead.”
That little tidbit got David’s attention. He stopped counting the pinholes in the wall next to him and listened in. Did Weber say Surreal? As in the cyber-terrorist whose last act of terrorism included breaking into the Department of Defense and planting a bomb in the server room? If he hadn’t tracked him down to that little shack in the hills of Montana before he detonated the device, the nation’s defense systems would be back to punch cards.
If only he’d found the crazy bastard before he blew up the first four buildings. Or himself.
Weber growled and curled his lip. “I don’t care if she’s the queen of Spain! She needs to learn to keep her goddamn mouth shut.” He nodded, and David figured the person on the other end must have been apologizing profusely for pissing off the special director. “I haven’t had the chance to brief her.” He paused, listening and shaking his head. “No. No. I want your best. You said so yourself, she’s the best. She successfully tracked down the agent who will bring in Surreal. She can track Surreal, too. That is unless you want to go at it from opposite ends like before. No, I didn’t think so.”
Before? David’s mind took him back to the day he tracked Surreal to that shack. Did Weber know about that? Did he know Charis was the other agent?
“He’s dealt with the psycho son of a bitch before and I’m going to need her to track him through the grid. The transfer is going through. I don’t give a shit whether you want it. It’s what needs to happen.” Weber looked at David then, and he understood why TREX needed him back. Surreal was good, really fucking good, and terrorized the United States during his reign as the nation’s top threat. He had a knack for breaking into highly secure areas undetected, planting the device of his choice, and slipping out before anyone suspected anything. Then he’d detonate.
The man was like a shadow. As far as he knew, David had been the only one who’d ever seen him, which would explain why Weber wanted him on the assignment.
But Surreal was supposed to be dead. He had to be. David watched him die. Hell, they had to use a sponge and Ziploc bags for most of him, he’d made such a mess when he blew himself up. And a mess like that, they don’t count the body parts. Because they had nothing to compare it to, they never ran his DNA. They didn’t see a reason to.
Until now.
Of course Surreal would have a backup plan. Why didn’t TREX take that into consideration? Shit. Why didn’t he think of that? Why didn’t they at least test the DNA for multiple donors?
The sick fucker got off on blowing up innocent people. David wouldn’t put it past him to have a hostage tied up inside that little shack. When it blew into a million pieces, scattering someone along with the building, they’d assumed it to be him.
“McKoy, we’ve gone over this. Your daughter has more than proven herself in tracking down someone who doesn’t want to be found.” He looked over at David.
So the caller must be none other than Malcolm McKoy. Weber sank into his chair as McKoy delivered some sort of news he apparently didn’t want to hear.
What does he want? David signed.
Weber shook his head and brought his hand up to silence his query. “You do? And who would that be?” Weber shook his head. “I don’t think so.” His harsh laugh echoed throughout the small room. “If you want to stop this transfer, talk to Vic Greene. He’s the one who signed the paperwork.” He paused, listened. “No way. I’m not bringing you in on this. It no longer involves intel. You know the rules. No, I won’t. Because it’s none of your goddamn business how I run my operations!”
Holy shit. He’d only seen Weber this agitated two other times in all the years he’d known him. Once when he discovered a mole inside the agency. The other when that mole had a part in the kidnapping of his wife and almost killing her.
The mole didn’t fair well against Weber. How much farther would McKoy be able to push him?
“I don’t give a shit what you do. The transfer is done.” Weber pulled the phone back as McKoy obviously had a few words about his comment. He glared and pushed the phone back against his ear. As he met David’s gaze, he rolled his eyes. “Of course safety is a priority. It’s always our priority. We can’t let the son of a bitch slip through our fingers again. He already took out that company’s server room in Mill Creek. That one killed seventeen people. I just received word he took out another one a couple hours ago. The special agent in charge is one of my best. I wouldn’t assign anyone else as SAC on this. No, I can’t guarantee something like that. You know the risks here, McKoy. I can’t even guarantee she won’t chip the polish off her pretty little toes.”
David didn’t like Weber talking about Charis like that. He’d been very intimate with those pretty little toes and would appreciate Weber’s respect to that fact.
“Let me get this straight. I need our best e-tracker on this. Charis is our best e-tracker. This is a matter of national security, but because she’s your daughter you’re refusing her involvement?” Weber shook his head. “Tough shit, McKoy. National security trumps an overbearing daddy.” He gave David a tired look as he listened. Color crept up his neck as he stiffened. Not a good sign. Weber’s voice grew low, serious and even. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table. “Why haven’t you shared this with me before now? Yes, this does change things.”
“Weber,” he urged, the suspense of whatever they discussed just about killing him.
He held up his finger to stop David from saying another word. With a slight shake of his head, he silenced him. One of these days he’d learn to call bullshit on that hard look of Weber’s. Today wasn’t that day.
“Hardly. This makes her even more valuable to the mission. Yes. I’ll have Sally set something up.” With a grunt as his goodbye, Weber ended the call. “Jesus Christ. You aren’t even in the field yet and already this find is giving me a fucking migraine.”
His heart rate picked up. “What was that all about?”
Weber ignored his question. “I need to get you two briefed and on your way before anyone knows you’re back. Shit,” he grunted and shook his head, rubbed his eyes. “I wish you would have told me you were on your way. I didn’t want you anywhere near HQ, not with Surreal surfacing again.”
“Am I some big secret?”
“I hope so. I’m looking for the element of surprise here.” He grunted out his favorite cuss word. “If that is even possible anymore thanks to Loose Lips out there. Surreal may already know. Still, now that you’re back, I can finally put this plan into play.”
David listened.
“Before I go into detail, what assurance can you offer you’ll stick around after what I have to say?”
“How about the fact I’m here at all?” he retorted, not bothering to cover up the irritation in his voice. Why would Weber even ask him that? After all they’d been through?
Weber eyed him for a long time. The man had serious trust issues. David knew he trusted him, but Weber’s hesitation bothered him to the core. “Even if it isn’t good news?”
“Why would you call me back for a shit assignment? You aren’t trying to pass me off to intel again, are you?” His suspicions grew.
“Jesus, no. It’s just—” He paused and shook his head, lowering his eyes. After he brought them back, he locked them with David’s. “We have a situation.”
“Please don’t tell me we have another mole.”
Weber cracked a slight smile. “No.” With a deep sigh, he rubbed his eyes with his fists. The man definitely had something weighing on his mind. “David, how long have we known each other?”
David? Oh, Christ. Weber used his first name. “Years.”
“And in all that time, have I ever given you reason to doubt me?”
“No,” he answered without hesitation.
“I need you to trust me.”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?”
Weber’s lip twitched. He chuckled slightly, but the sound didn’t have an ounce of humor in it. “I need you to go under. Deep. As in disappear off the grid, at least for the duration of this mission.”
He dragged him back to Seattle for this? “I thought I had.”
Weber shook his head. “McKoy found you in less than a week. A week. I need you to totally disappear. Erased.”
David’s suspicions jumped to high alert. Weber would no longer look him in the eye. At all. “Why?”
“You obviously heard the details of that call. I have yet to see you not pick up every detail in any situation.”
Seek and Destroy (TREX, #5) Page 12