Edge of Reason (EDGE Security Series Book 2)

by Loye, Trish

  “Hey, Cat,” Zach said.

  She grabbed a skipping rope and began to warm up. “How was the rest of your night?” she asked.

  “Zach drank too much and is now engaged to a hooker. You know…the usual,” Marc said.

  Zach punched him in the shoulder. “I’ll have you know, Cat, I was very good. Unlike this guy. Two women!”

  “The ladies like me,” Marc said. “They’d like you too, if you’d shower more.”

  “Ha!”

  Marc and Zach continued to rib each other while Cat moved through her routine, not really listening to them. Pushups, pull-ups, and core exercises to warm up her upper body, then onto a bit of stretching. She had a lot of energy to work off, or rather emotion, and knew she’d be going hard through the Beast. No sense pulling something.

  “So what happened with you and Rhys last night?” Marc asked.

  Cat straightened from her lunge, her gaze snapping to the guys as they both worked on their pull-ups.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Zach looked at Marc and then focused on a spot above her head as he counted off reps.

  Marc had no problem replying. “I mean he went after you like a knight-in-shining-armor, to save you from your ex. Isn’t that what all women want?”

  The question stung her, and she narrowed her gaze. “I don’t need a knight—or anyone—to rescue me. I think I’ve proven that.”

  Marc dropped to the ground and held up his hands. “Easy, Valkyrie. I know that. Zach knows that.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure Rhys does, though. And if he thinks you need to be rescued then maybe…maybe he’s not the best choice for the team.”

  Zach let go and landed beside Marc. “I hate to say this, but I agree. I like Rhys and I think he’s a good operator, but if he can’t trust your abilities then maybe he’s not right for us.”

  Cat ran a hand through her hair. “Where is this coming from? Is this just because of last night?”

  Marc held up his hand and ticked his points off on his fingers. “He let an asset get killed trying to protect you. He wanted to interfere in your fight at the airbase. And he went running off after you last night.”

  Cat tilted her head as she studied Marc, trying to figure out his real point. This didn’t seem to be about Rhys’s ability. “He performed well on the mission.”

  Marc sighed. “You know I think of you like a sister.”

  Zach elbowed him. “A sister who could actually kill you if you give her this advice.”

  Marc glared at Zach. “You agreed. Now shut it.” He turned to Cat. “We’ve seen how Rhys looks at you.” His lips compressed, as if he didn’t want to say the next part. But trust Marc to never back down. “And how you look at him. We don’t know what happened between you last night.” He held up his hand to forestall Cat’s protest, so she crossed her arms and waited, anger brewing. “And we don’t care. But we do care if what’s between you interferes with either of your judgment on a mission.”

  Cat didn’t move or say anything, she just stared at her two friends, her teammates, her brothers-in-arms. Her anger boiled over, and she couldn’t stop her words.

  “Have I ever let my feelings interfere with my judgment or a mission before?” she snapped.

  “No, but—” Zach said.

  “Then take your advice and shove it. I don’t need or want it. Are we clear?”

  “Clear,” they chorused.

  She strode to the Beast, needing to move. How dare they? She didn’t even pause before starting her run to the ten-foot wall.

  Anger gave her excess energy, but made her sloppy. She cursed herself, Marc, Zach, and then finally Rhys, who seemed to be at the root of her problems.

  By the time she hit the tunnel, she was cursing the Boko Haram and the political dickheads who said they couldn’t go back. The dark water closed over her head and she’d been so preoccupied cursing everyone that she hadn’t steeled herself against her memories.

  The cold water, the blindness, and the confinement brought the memories of the accident rushing back. She’d been sawing frantically at the jammed seatbelt of her teammate, her lungs burning. Wanting, needing a sip of air, her throat aching with it. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, the only sound in that horrible silence under the water. Her inner voice screaming, Leave him! Leave him!

  She opened her mouth and water rushed in, almost choking her. Her mind snapped out of the old memory and she pulled herself through the rest of the tunnel. Her lungs were past the burning stage and the ache diminished. A bad sign. How long had she been under? She needed air now.

  A part of her just wanted to drift, but she made herself swim to the end. She hauled herself out, gasping for air. Two pairs of legs stood in front of her.

  “Thought we were going to have to come in after you,” Zach said in a calm voice.

  “What the fuck, Cat?” Marc sounded anything but calm. “You trying to scare us or something?”

  She shook her head and coughed up the water she’d swallowed. How to explain? She couldn’t. “I’m good.”

  “You don’t look good,” Zach said, crouching by her. “What happened under there?”

  She looked up into Zach’s compassionate gaze and her breathing steadied. “I’m good, seriously. I just let some old memories sidetrack me.”

  Marc reached a hand down and lifted her easily out of the water. “Don’t pull that shit again,” he said roughly. She smiled at him. He may be the most cantankerous man at E.D.G.E., but she knew it was because he cared so much.

  “I’m good.” She waved them off. “Go back to your workout.”

  “And what are you going to do?” Zach asked.

  “You already know. I’m going to run the Beast again and make sure I can do it without freezing.”

  Marc nodded as if he’d expected no less. “Don’t make me get wet saving your ass.”

  She laughed as she walked to the wall to run the course again. This time and the next when she ran it, she stayed focused, not letting her thoughts stray from the task at hand. Once she had her mind under control, she ran it once more just to prove she could.

  She was toweling off when Marc and Zach approached her again. She held up her hands. “No more advice, guys.”

  “No advice,” Zach said. “Just wanted to let you know that if you decide to go back, we’re with you.”

  She nodded. She didn’t tell them they didn’t have the go-ahead. They had faith in her. They expected her to get them back there to do their duty. And she would…somehow.

  “But…,” Zach continued, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “But?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

  “But we don’t think Rhys should come,” Marc said.

  “That is not your call,” Cat said calmly, but her voice held an edge.

  “Easy, Cat,” Zach said. “We don’t want Rhys off the team entirely.”

  “Yet,” Marc said.

  Zach punched him in the arm and continued. “We think he needs more training with us before he’s allowed on another mission. He needs more time getting used to you.”

  Cat almost growled. She hated that anyone needed to get used to her, but they had a point. “I’ll take it under advisement.”

  She left the guys racing each other on the Beast. Zach and Marc only wanted what was best for the team and the mission. And that’s what she needed to concentrate on, too.

  Running the Beast over and over had cleared her head. By the time she’d changed, she felt focused and resolved once again. Cat went upstairs to Blackwell’s office and knocked on his door.

  “Enter,” he called.

  Sarah, the petite ex-CIA agent, sat across from Blackwell. Quiet to the point of fading from a room, which Cat suspected was exactly how she liked it, Sarah used her stillness as a weapon. It’s why everyone called her Ghost. Cat didn’t know her well, but she knew she could talk in front of her.

  “Sir, I’d like to put together a team to go to Nigeria and get those girls out,” she
said.

  Blackwell pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before looking up at her. “I thought we’d discussed this, Valkyrie. We do not have approval for such a mission. Commander Knight is working on it.”

  Cat shook her head. “Sir, those girls are moved all the time. We need to go in now. Ask forgiveness rather than permission.”

  “Isn’t that what you’re doing now?” Blackwell said. “Asking for permission?” He continued, “I have already sent the requests up the chain of command. We’ve been told to wait out. My hands are tied. If anyone decides to go in and disaster strikes, then they risk losing not just their position with E.D.G.E., but they will most likely be court-martialed and discharged.”

  Cat clenched her fists. She couldn’t leave this alone. This wasn’t what she’d trained for. She needed to do something, and it needed to be soon.

  Blackwell stood up. “Did you need anything else, Valkyrie?”

  She stared at Blackwell, not sure she could continue to work at a place that would leave innocent girls to be raped, tortured, and killed at the hands of mad men just because it was inconvenient to their superiors.

  “Valkyrie?” Blackwell stared hard at her. “I cannot sanction a mission. You will be on your own if something happens. We won’t be able to come after you. Understood, soldier?”

  The light finally dawned. He was telling her that she could go and he wouldn’t stop her, but she wouldn’t have help and this wasn’t on-book. “Understood, sir.”

  She left the room and went to her office. She needed to think. She plopped into her seat and pulled up a map of the area. For a second, she considered calling Rhys to let him know what she was planning, but she stopped herself before she punched in the numbers.

  She needed Marc and Zach on this mission, and knew she could force the issue and have Rhys come help, but it would cause strife. She needed everyone on the team to trust each other implicitly. And that wouldn’t happen if Marc and Zach kept waiting for Rhys to pull some kind of protective macho bullshit.

  To be fair, she wasn’t sure he would anymore. But Zach and Marc needed proof. She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease the tight muscles there.

  Rhys had told her last night that the military was his only family. If he joined her on an unsanctioned mission, he could be dishonorably discharged from the only family he had left.

  She couldn’t do that to him. Her gut churned, but realistically their chances of success weren’t great. They had to move twenty girls past two hundred men and not get caught. She bit her lip. Who could she get to come with her?

  Either way, she had to tell Rhys what the team was doing. But later. After the plans were made.

  Coward, her inner voice taunted.

  At least I’m going to tell him. Eventually.

  Cat looked up. Sarah had stepped into her office at some point and stood watching her. The woman was as silent as her call sign suggested.

  Cat was in no mood for someone to get the drop on her. “What do you want?”

  “I can help,” Sarah said. “Blackwell filled me in. I have contacts.”

  Cat tilted her head, wondering how this seeming mouse of a woman could help on a mission like this. “Why?”

  “I heard about the girls,” she said. “And I… I can’t just walk away knowing they’re in that situation.”

  Cat understood that. “Grab a seat. What can you do for me?”

  “I know of a flight we can get on to get to the insertion point.”

  Getting to Nigeria and out again without using commercial air travel was one of Cat’s big headaches. If Sarah could solve that then she was halfway there.

  Sarah laid out her plan to get in country. Cat listened intently, pointing out potential flaws that could land them in trouble. To her relief, it seemed Sarah had already thought of every one of them.

  “So,” Sarah finally prompted, after nearly an hour of discussion. “What do you think? Am I in?”

  Cat hesitated, but only for a second. “Honestly? I don’t think I could do this without you.”

  Sarah nodded. “Who else is coming?”

  Cat took a deep breath. “Marc and Zach have already said they’re in. The rest… I’m about to find out. Either way, I want to be on that plane tonight.”

  “I’ll be ready,” Sarah said.

  CHAPTER 17

  Cat left Sarah making plans and then ran down the back stairs to IT. Dani was in and typing furiously while staring at a string of numbers and code streaming down her holographic screen. It looked like something from The Matrix.

  “You busy?” Cat asked.

  Dani didn’t look over. “Just trying to get ahead of this cyberstalker who’s after a governor’s daughter. Give me a few minutes.”

  Cat paced back and forth twice before Dani stopped typing. A countdown began in the corner of her screen. “You have ninety seconds before I need to be back online,” she said.

  “I need satellite imagery of the northeastern part of Nigeria for the last twenty-four hours.”

  Dani pushed her wheeled chair across the room to another desk. She tapped the console box on the desktop and the holographic screen there came to life. Dani was already wearing the thin gloves that let her manipulate the data, and she flicked her fingers through images so fast that Cat had a hard time keeping up with her.

  “Okay, I’ve got it. Sending the images to your inbox now,” Dani said. “Are you going back there?”

  Cat nodded. She wasn’t sure how much to tell her friend. “Another rescue mission.”

  Dani nodded, but studied her face. “What’s different this time?” she asked.

  Cat bit her lip. The woman was too perceptive—probably all that time living with criminals who might kill you. She’d learned to read people well.

  Cat decided to distract her.

  “Have you met Q yet?”

  “Q? As in the tech guy from James Bond?”

  “Well, her name isn’t Q, that’s just her call sign. Her name is Charlotte Singh. Charlie. But she is our resident genius. Well, her and Gears.”

  “Gears?” Dani looked over at her program and then back at Cat. “This I gotta see.” She slid her chair back to the original holograph image and started typing madly again. “I’m going to attach a cyber-tracer to the creep’s subroutine signature. It probably won’t work, but it’ll lull him into thinking I’m stupid and then his guard will be down and I’ll snag him next time.”

  “You sure?” Cat said. “I can introduce you another time.”

  “Nah. This is a good plan. Believe me. I’ve only been chasing this guy for a couple of days. He doesn’t know what I can do yet.”

  “How do you know he’s a guy?”

  “His arrogance,” Dani said.

  Cat laughed. “Fair enough.”

  Cat led Dani to the operator’s elevators, but with a quick pit stop to her office to snag a small bag of candy she kept for emergencies just like these.

  “What are those?” Dani asked, pointing at them.

  “Swedish Berries,” she said. “And my bribe.”

  She pushed the number for the top floor of the building. Dani frowned.

  “E.D.G.E. keeps their lab separate from everything else,” Cat said, “in case something goes wrong. No sense in having the lab blow up the armory or anyone else.”

  “That’s…”

  “Pragmatic,” Cat said. When the doors slid open, they faced a small bare alcove with a steel door and a console beside it. Cat placed her hand on the console and waited while it scanned. The door slid open.

  Inside, a wall of windows let in the afternoon light as they stepped into a large white-walled room.

  “Watch out,” a feminine voice shrieked.

  What looked like a metallic Frisbee flew toward them. They ducked and it pinged off the wall behind them, sparks flying before it gained velocity and headed back into the lab. It careened over a long table covered in wires and metal bits, flying toward a slender woman with light brown skin a
nd dark hair pulled back in a loose braid. She stood in front of a clear wall, behind which someone in a biohazard suit bent over a microscope.

  The woman waved her arms at the miniature flying saucer. It zoomed right for her and she ducked behind a table. A tall, spare man stood in another corner, a remote control device in his hand, his fingers rapidly punching buttons.

  “Need help?” Cat called.

  “Yes!” the woman shouted. “Harold has lost control. It detects motion. But be careful. It has a bomb on board.”

  “A bomb?” Dani squeaked.

  “Don’t move,” Cat said.

  Cat looked around the room, ran to one of the tables along a wall, and grabbed a fire extinguisher. She jumped onto the table in the middle of the room. The saucer zoomed straight for her. She sprayed the sucker as soon as it entered her range. It wobbled in the air and then the woman was there and snatched it when it dropped.

  “Brilliant, Cat! Why didn’t I think of that?” she said, pushing a button on the device’s side. “Any time you want a job, you’re hired.”

  “Good to see you, Q,” Cat said. “And I think I have enough excitement in my normal job that I don’t need to work in here.”

  Charlie laughed and turned to Dani. “I’m Charlie, though everyone calls me Q—though I’m not sure why, because Q wasn’t actually smart, he just handed out the toys to James Bond. I, on the other hand, am a certifiable genius, but don’t let that intimidate you. I’m actually a really nice person.”

  Cat laid a hand on Charlie’s arm. “Easy, sister,” she whispered. “Take a breath. Don’t scare her off.”

  Charlie bit her lip, looked at Cat, and then back at Dani. “I’m talking too much, aren’t I?” She shrugged. “I tend to do that when I’m nervous.”

  Dani frowned. “Why are you nervous?”

  “I’m…not really good with new people.”

  Cat decided to save her. She looked at Harold and lowered her voice. “Where’s Gears?”

  Charlie grimaced. “I probably wouldn’t have had the flying bomb issue if he hadn’t decided to go on a mission. I mean trip. He went on a trip.”

  Cat smiled and then handed her the candy. “I brought you a present.”