Edge of Reason (EDGE Security Series Book 2)

by Loye, Trish

  Charlie popped two of the gummy berries in her mouth. “You want something, don’t you?” She took her saucer and walked to the worktable in the middle of the room.

  “Come on, Q,” Cat said. “Don’t be like that.”

  “You haven’t come to visit me in ages.”

  “I haven’t been home in ages,” Cat chided. “You know that. You know all the missions.”

  Charlie gave a huge sigh. “I just wish I could go on a mission.”

  Cat ran a hand through her hair. “Look, when I get back we’ll all go for a movie or something.” She looked at Dani, who nodded. “A girl’s night.”

  Charlie turned around, her smile back. “A girl’s night? I’ve never been on one of those.”

  “Neither have I,” Cat muttered.

  Dani laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll organize it.”

  “Thank you,” Cat whispered to her. Then to Charlie, “I’m going to Nigeria. I—”

  “You’re going to rescue those girls, aren’t you?” Charlie said.

  Even Cat was taken aback. Charlie shrugged. “I read all the reports. I don’t actually need much sleep and I have a photographic memory, though I don’t need it to remember your report. It sounded horrible, Cat. I’m so—”

  “Q!” Cat said, stopping the woman’s verbal vomit. “That report was classified. Were you supposed to read it?”

  “I have the highest security clearance,” she said. “Besides, I don’t leave a trace when I read them. Just like Danielle.”

  Cat looked at Dani, whose face was red.

  Cat shook her head. “You two will get on great. Let’s forget the report, though. I need something that will help me. I need an edge for the mission to succeed.”

  Charlie stuck both her index fingers into the air. “I have just the things. Can you say micro-explosives?”

  Hours later, Cat already had Zach, Marc, and Sarah on board with her plan. They were in the equipment room packing their rucksacks with all the kit they’d need. They had a bird ready to transport them to their military flight in an hour. Cat had outlined her plan to the guys. After they packed, they would go over it one more time. Her mind focused on all the hypotheticals of the situation. She kept her map out so she could memorize it as she packed.

  Cat’s phone dinged. It was a text from Rhys.

  Still on for dinner?

  Dammit. She’d forgotten dinner. She looked at her pack. Should she answer?

  “Everything good?” Zach asked.

  “Yup,” she said, still eyeing the phone.

  “Is it Rhys?” Marc said.

  Her gaze snapped to him. “Why do you say that?”

  His lips twisted into a cynical smile. “Because I’ve only ever seen you flustered around him.”

  That stopped her. Was that true? She racked her brain, trying to think back over her actions since Rhys had come to E.D.G.E. Was she flustered around him? It made her sound like a schoolgirl with a crush, and that annoyed her. She needed to start acting like a team leader around him.

  Her phone dinged again.

  Jake and Dani asked me to cook for them again tonight. Bring your brother.

  Crap. Her fingers hovered over the keys. What should she tell him?

  I’m busy at the moment. I’ll call later.

  Now she felt cowardly for putting off the conversation, but she wasn’t going to talk to him in front of the others.

  “What are we doing about a pilot?” Marc asked. “We can’t do this without one. And while I’m sure we’ve all had the basics trained into us, I’d really prefer to have someone with a bit more experience in combat.”

  Cat heaved her ruck onto the trolley for loading later. A wild idea came to her and she smiled. At least something would go right for her. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”

  Zach followed from the elevator to her apartment door. “I don’t get it,” he said. “You’ve got an E.D.G.E. pilot hidden in your apartment?”

  “No, not an E.D.G.E. pilot.”

  “Seriously,” he said. “What are we doing here? We need to be finalizing our plan and getting on that plane.”

  “I need your help.”

  “You said that already.”

  She opened her door and swung it wide. “Dylan, look who I brought for a visit.”

  Dylan padded to the door barefoot. He rubbed a hand over his buzz cut and then yawned. “Zach? What are you doing here?”

  Zach looked at Cat. “Seriously? Your brother?”

  “Why not?” Cat said. “He’s CSOR and he’s a tac hel pilot.”

  Zach stared at her. “You know why. Blackwell will crucify you.”

  “Well, he should have sanctioned the freaking mission then. I’m doing the best I can. Do you have any better ideas?”

  “What mission?” Dylan said. “Cat, what’s going on?”

  Cat looked at Zach, waiting. If he wasn’t behind her on this then she’d do something else, but she believed her brother could do it. He could be their pilot.

  “He’s good,” she told Zach. “You know that, you’ve flown with him.”

  “He’ll have to be read in,” Zach said with a sigh.

  “Don’t worry, my brother won’t breathe a word of it to anyone, will you, Dylan?”

  Her brother crossed his arms. “If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to start breaking things.”

  Zach laughed. “Spoken like someone from the regiment.”

  Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “Just because I didn’t try out for JTF2 like you doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass.” Then he looked back and forth between Cat and Zach. “But something tells me you’re not working for JTF2 anymore. Are you a civilian too?”

  Zach snorted. “Never. I work at E.D.G.E.”

  “The civilian company that employs my sister?”

  Cat shook her head, finally resolved. She’d been struggling with this for so long now, but it seemed like the decision had been made for her. She couldn’t do this without a pilot. Dylan was a pilot–and a good one, at that. A pilot she knew would have her team’s back. It felt like fate had intervened.

  “No, the secret government organization that we both work for doing black ops. And we need your help.”

  Dylan started to laugh. Cat just waited him out. Finally he stopped, then frowned at her. “What? You’re shitting me. I thought that kind of thing only happened in movies.”

  “No, Cowboy, it’s real,” Zach said, calling her brother by his nickname. “And we need a shit-hot pilot to fly our bird.”

  “Wait. You work for a secret organization doing black ops and you guys don’t have a pilot? What kind of chintzy organization is it?”

  “We have pilots,” Cat said. “We just don’t have one for this particular mission.”

  Dylan’s eyes narrowed as he stared at his sister. “I can always tell when you’re keeping something back.”

  Zach snorted but stayed silent. Cat put her hands on her hips. “This mission isn’t sanctioned.”

  Her brother raised his eyebrows like he always did when he didn’t believe her. “You want me to go AWOL for a black ops mission that even a secret government organization won’t sanction? You are crazy. Next you’ll be telling me the fate of the world rests on us.”

  Zach laughed. “You’ve definitely been watching too many movies, Cowboy.”

  Cat didn’t laugh, she just held her brother’s gaze. “Not the world,” she said. “Just twenty innocent girls.”

  I’m busy at the moment. I’ll call later.

  Rhys rubbed the back of his neck and scowled as he read the text from Cat for the third time. When was later? Was she brushing him off?

  It was probably for the best—he was getting too attached to Cat, anyway. He put his phone away and knocked on Jake’s apartment door. He’d moved in with Dani before Rhys had come back from being deployed. They seemed like a good fit for each other. Rhys was happy for Jake, but not sure if he could handle the happy couple at the moment.

&nb
sp; Jake pulled open the door, his smile dimming when he saw Rhys’s face. “What’s wrong, Lucky?”

  Rhys put on his carefree smile. He suspected by the way Jake’s eyes narrowed that he could see past it, though he didn’t call him on it.

  “Nothing,” Rhys said. “I’m here to save your stomachs and make you dinner.”

  “I bought groceries,” Dani called from the kitchen. “Are you making gumbo again?”

  Rhys wandered into the kitchen to see Dani already chopping green pepper and celery. “Looks like I am.”

  Dani looked beyond him. “Cat’s not with you?”

  “No.” He could feel his face tighten as the sting of it hit him again.

  “Did they leave early, then?”

  “Leave?”

  Dani turned to him. “For Nigeria. Cat’s going to get those girls.”

  Rhys felt like he’d been sucker punched. His fists clenched, and he fixed Dani with a hard stare. “Tell me everything.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Cat strapped herself in for the landing at the Niger airbase. Sarah had used her CIA contacts to get them on the provisions flight for the base. The cargo plane had fold-down seats attached to the walls, and crates of food stacked and strapped down in the middle.

  Cat checked her phone one more time. No messages. She’d phoned Rhys late last night, but he hadn’t answered and she’d left him a short voicemail telling him the team had left and it had been her decision to leave him behind.

  She hadn’t wanted to tell Rhys of Marc or Zach’s concerns, knowing it could compromise their ability to work together down the road. As team leader, it was up to her to take the blame on this–regardless of what it might mean for her and Rhys. She’d said she would explain when she got back.

  If they got back.

  Marc sauntered over and sat in the jump seat beside her.

  “So…your brother?” he said over the headset. The interior of the plane was too loud for a normal conversation.

  “We’ve been over this, Marc. Deal.”

  “Have you thought that even if this mission is a success, Blackwell might bury you just because you broke protocol?”

  She stared at her weapons case and ruck piled with the others near the food crates. “You have a point to make?”

  Marc shook his head. “The minute your brother gets off this plane and the personnel on the base see him, then Blackwell and Knight will know that he knows everything about us. There’ll be no turning back. You’ll have blown E.D.G.E.’s cover. The best-case scenario is you’ll be fired. The worst is you’ll see prison time.”

  “Seriously, Marc? It’s my brother and he’s already in special ops. They won’t send me to jail.”

  “You two do know that you’re not on a private channel, right?” Zach’s voice came over their headsets.

  “Yes,” Cat said with gritted teeth.

  “Cat, you’re a good leader,” Marc continued on as if Zach hadn’t spoken. “I don’t want to see you punted from E.D.G.E.”

  Cat laughed. “You think they’ll punt me for bringing along my brother and not for organizing an unsanctioned mission?”

  Marc didn’t react to her humor, his eyes serious. “I think they’ll use whatever excuse they can, even if this mission is successful.”

  Cat sat back and studied Marc. “You don’t trust Blackwell and Knight to have our backs, do you?”

  He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t break eye contact either.

  “Do you trust me?” This was something she needed for the mission. If he didn’t trust her implicitly then he’d question her orders and that couldn’t happen.

  He hesitated and then gave a short, sharp nod.

  “Then trust me on this,” Cat said. “This mission is worth whatever fallout blows our way. We need Dylan to complete it. Blackwell, however uptight he might be, will understand that. Now let’s drop this and focus.”

  Marc nodded. “Wilco, Valkyrie.” He sat back, put his chin to his chest, and closed his eyes for a combat nap.

  The plane’s landing gear dropped and thunked into place, reverberating through the plane and the bones of her chest. Marc’s words of warning tumbled though her head, but she shoved them aside. She had to do this mission. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t do something to help those girls, no matter the risk. Not many people could pull off what she could—which was why she had to be the one to do it.

  The plane hit the tarmac and thundered to a halt. She unbuckled and grabbed her gear, ready to deplane the moment the back hatch opened. Her team followed her onto the tarmac and across to the tower, where an armed squad of soldiers trotted out to meet them.

  She halted and felt her team do the same. She drew in a deep breath while the soldiers approached them. At least they weren’t pointing their weapons yet.

  “You’ve made an unauthorized landing,” the man in front said. “Who’s in charge here?”

  She placed her weapons case carefully on the tarmac and held her hands out to the sides. She couldn’t look completely harmless with her sidearm strapped to her leg and her knife in her webbing, but she tried. She even pasted a smile on her face. By the way the soldiers adjusted their grips on their M4 assault rifles, the smile had been too much.

  A quick glance behind showed her team all staring with cold, hard eyes at the squad. Nope. A smile would never be enough. Her team stood casually, hands nowhere near weapons, but that didn’t fool these soldiers. Time to reign this in.

  “Sergeant,” she said to the man. “I need to speak with Major Steve Dougall.”

  The sergeant shook his head. “I’m sorry…” His eyes flicked to her collar and over her chest to look for her rank. But E.D.G.E. never wore it. “Ma’am,” he finally said. “I need your unit and your reason for deployment here. We have no record of any personnel scheduled for today.”

  Cat had known this was coming. “Of course not, Sergeant. If you’ll show my team to a shaded waiting area, I’ll be pleased to accompany you to your commander, Major Dougall.”

  The sergeant stared at her a moment. Of course it wasn’t protocol for her to jump the chain of command like this, but it was obvious they weren’t an ordinary unit. The sergeant nodded and ordered his men to accompany hers.

  “I’ll join up with you when I’m done,” Cat said to Zach, her second-in-command for the operation. “Until then, get some rest.”

  She followed the sergeant into the hangar and waited while he called in. He turned to her. “Can I give him a name, ma’am?”

  This sergeant had obviously dealt with spec ops before. She nodded. “Tell him Valkyrie is here.”

  “Valkyrie? You’re the one who busted Corporal Anderson up?”

  She hesitated only a moment before nodding.

  The man smiled. “Nicely done, ma’am.”

  It was only a few minutes before Steve strode up to her, his shoulders back and his chin high. He nodded at the sergeant. “You can return to your duties.”

  The sergeant saluted and left them to talk.

  “What are you doing here, Cat?” he said. “There’s nothing on the books.”

  “This mission won’t be on any books.”

  “Black ops?” he whispered.

  This was the tricky part. A black ops mission could be denied by the government if found out, but usually had support going in. It would be too easy to lie and say yes. Steve, who so desperately wanted to be part of special ops, would bend over backwards to give her everything she needed if she let him get involved.

  She shook her head.

  Steve frowned. “What are you doing, Cat? I can’t sanction a rogue mission.”

  “I’m not asking you to sanction it. I’m asking you to let us use the airbase as our base of operations.”

  “Shouldn’t you be asking the base CO this?”

  Her lips twisted. “You know Colonel Harris dislikes me and anything to do with me. If he hears I’m here again, then the mission won’t get off the ground.”

  Steve
sighed. “And what do you expect me to do for you?”

  “I need med support for casualties and any fresh intel you have on the Boko Haram’s encampment. I’d also like a squad of men. The best you have.”

  His eyes narrowed as he studied her. “What are you planning, Cat? If you want intel then so do I.” He held up his hand to forestall her protest. “This mission isn’t sanctioned. I need to know what I’m signing my men on for.”

  He didn’t need to know, but if she told him then she might get more help from him. It was a gamble she was willing to take. “We’re going to rescue those girls.”

  He stared at her, then looked beyond her to her team lazing in the shade of a plane. “You’re joking. I grant that you’re good—”

  “I made it into CSOR and you didn’t,” Cat said.

  His jaw tensed and he shook his head. “Why are you risking this? For a bunch of girls the world has forgotten?”

  That question reinforced her belief that she’d done the right thing leaving Steve. All at once, she thought again of Rhys, and his reaction when she’d made the impossible decision to leave the schoolgirls behind. Of anyone, Rhys understood her need to save those girls–she knew he felt the same way she did. It was going to kill him that she’d left him behind.

  Damn—she needed to stay focused. Rhys was a distraction even when he wasn’t with her.

  “I want your cooperation, but I don’t need it,” she said. “This mission will go forward with or without your help.”

  His lips firmed and she knew she had him. He couldn’t arrest her because they technically hadn’t done anything yet. The special ops community protected and punished their own. If he ended up complaining she was on base, he’d be seen as a troublemaker by those who decided the postings. His career would be in jeopardy of stalling out worse than it had.

  “What do I get out of it?” he finally said.

  And again he showed his true colors. Her voice carried a hard edge. “What do you want?”

  His gaze went down to her boots and back up.

  She cocked her eyebrow in response, refusing to let him faze her. “Try again.”