by Cara Carnes
“Anyone other than them?” Rhea asked.
Zoey nodded. “Yep. He corresponds with an old high school buddy of his, a vet. Bob even has a gaming app where he feeds and takes care of virtual animals. You think you know someone and then stumble across this kind of stuff.”
“Did he even have a pet in the house?” Bree asked.
“His daughter is allergic,” Vi said. “Based on the threads.”
“That’s not right.” Bree muttered the reply as she pulled the laptop nearest her closer. She accessed the intel she’d mined from the social media accounts earlier. “I could swear there were pictures of her working at a local animal shelter.”
“Which would’ve been missed as anomalous if different people went through each data thread. We haven’t threaded the kids’ social media accounts into HERA with everything recovered from Bob’s house and Alex’s headquarters,” Zoey said. “I’ve got this, girlfriend. I’ll reprogram the parameters and feed Bob’s chats with his vet and those social media posts through HERA again. What else should we add?”
Bree looked over at Cord. “Did we find any new accounts using the same IP addresses?”
“We did.” He motioned to his laptop. “Nothing strange, though. Just more pictures. I was about to dump them into facial recognition to identify everyone with both Bob’s kids. They both partied. A lot.”
“Forward the info to me and I’ll add them to this data mine,” Zoey ordered. “What else?”
Bree stood and made her way toward the display Vi had pulled up. The chat thread with Bob’s vet friend incited her curiosity. “Can you rewind to the start of this thread? Messaging systems usually store the older chats.”
“I’m not sure the vet should be the focus,” Dallas said.
“Leave her be. Something’s bothering her,” Rhea replied. “What are you thinking?”
“What do we know about the vet? Has he been vetted through HERA? How do we know it’s really him Bob is talking to? This could all be a simplistic yet elaborate code.” She drummed her fingers on her chin as she read through the bland conversations as they rolled by. “I remember Shelly talking about this. People carry on inane conversations but slip hidden messages within.”
“Right,” Mary said. “We’ve done this before. HERA should have either identified it and broken the encryption, or spit it out as a problem we’d have to handle manually.”
“Does that spitting out and doing manually happen a lot?” Bree asked.
“No. We have most of the common ones in the key database. HERA uses logic to break cyphers based on that, but some fall through the cracks.” Mary crossed her arms. “It’s not a perfect system. This is somewhat simple when taken by itself. We know it’s a coded message, but we’d have to put the timelines of the chat thread against known facts to establish what is really being said.”
Right. Bree nodded. Computers were great, but sometimes old-fashioned do-it-yourself worked better.
“So can we break down the topics into categories?” Bree asked. “He mentions German shepherds frequently. And Dobermans. Then he switches to different cat breeds. I could see a vet being all in with any animal, but why bore Bob with all this?”
“Makes sense if he’s an animal lover, too,” Dallas replied.
“Yeah, but his daughter’s working with an animal shelter. If she’s not allergic, why not have a pet? Heck, even a gerbil. My gut’s telling me there’s more to these conversations.”
“I agree,” Vi said. “Something we would’ve spotted eventually if that was all we were dealing with. This is something we need to program into HERA’s reasoning. It’s programmed to spot potential conversations exactly like this but didn’t. Why?”
“Because it’s a layer too deep,” Mary whispered. She stood beside Bree. “HERA would have spotted this, but we would’ve had to reload the initial results in again, similar to what Bree did with the social media accounts.”
“Sorry, that’s on me,” Cord admitted. “Jacob and I ran this intel.”
“If we’re having to reload multiple times, that’s a programming issue Z and I need to fix,” Vi said.
Bree listened to the conversation around her as she continued reading alongside Mary. When the topic shifted to a German shepherd named Blondie, she froze. Wait. “Stop the thread.”
The screen froze. “What did you see?” Mary asked.
“Blondie,” Bree whispered. “What’s the timeline for these chats? The vet mentioned a shepherd named Blondie earlier, like right at the start of the thread. This one says she’s at a no-kill shelter and sniffing around a Doberman.” Mary activated the feed again. The story continued, Bob said he once had a Doberman who started a fight in the play yard to protect a shepherd. That he was supposed to be put down for being feral, but the shepherd’s owners were rich and protected him.”
“Fuck,” Cord spat. “That’s Vi and Jud, isn’t it?”
“We’re the shepherds,” Mary commented, her voice low and tight. “Which means Dobermans are likely Collective. Whoever Bob is chatting with isn’t a vet. We need to pour through all this and timeline it, verify these topics are relevant to known events.”
Bree nodded.
“Tell me Bob wasn’t Collective,” Vi whispered.
“No, he wasn’t.” Bree shook her head. “I’d bet my lab he’s tied to Probus somehow. That vet is his puppet master.”
“Alex?” Nolan asked.
“Likely not. From what Ram has shared, they wouldn’t expose themselves like that,” Mary said. “We’ll need everything time-lined and decoded before we get real answers.”
A group huddled behind Bree and Mary, but she didn’t bother turning around to see who. The tone of the conversation turned darker as it progressed. Bob begged the vet to help a lost border collie. The vet told Bob he’d found the collie. She’d fled from the area, but a pack of wolves had captured her. They’d made her fight a rival pack of Dobermans and gotten seriously hurt. Bob begged for help once again for the collie, but the vet refused, saying the shepherds had claimed the collie and brought it into their pack. It was too dangerous to all the dogs to return her to the pack she’d come from. She was no longer pack and would not be protected by the other collies. Bob begged the vet to get her sanctuary within the Rottweilers. But the vet refused, saying his personal pack wouldn’t accept different breeds.
Silence blanketed the room, a thick tension Bree felt in her lungs. If Dobermans were Collective and Arsenal were shepherds, then… “This is Lily.”
“It is, which means she has a deeper background than we expected,” Mary said. “We knew she was hiding, but not from who. Whoever these collies are, they’re the group Lily came from.”
“Which means the Rottweilers are Probus,” Bree said. “They’re rarely mentioned. Who are the wolves, though?”
“HERA’s reprogrammed,” Zoey said. “We’ll get this figured out, girlfriend. Let’s break to eat, then we’ll reconvene and go from there.”
Anger rolled through her. Someone had labeled her and her friends like animals, then conversed casually as they fought adversary packs. They’d observed and done nothing. Those were the assholes Ram had escaped. And Bob had known all along.
“The vet is Bob’s puppet master,” Bree whispered. “He’s known all along and didn’t tell us.”
“We’ll need to fully decode the thread, but more than likely,” Mary replied. She wrapped an arm around Bree. “We’ll get the answers. Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Goes without saying, but you just cracked this intel wide open,” Marshall said. Warmth reflected in his gaze. “Thank you, Bree. We may have figured out the need to reload the data in HERA eventually, but with so much swirling around us, it may have been too late to be useful.”
“He’s right,” Jesse replied. “This is a huge win.”
Bree hoped it was enough, that this nightmare would finally be over.
Everyone converged in the mess hall to eat while HERA did her thing. Bree took the chance t
o catch up with her family, who regaled her with their adventures around the compound—which mostly included playing with the new puppies.
Her stomach tightened at the mention of the animals because her mind refused to leave the conversation thread she’d just read. Her worry ratcheted up a couple notches whenever she thought about Ram.
They’d been sent after the woman. Which pack did she belong to? Was she a threat?
“And Kamren said we could have a couple of her baby rabbits when they are old enough. They still need their mommy right now. She must be a good one,” Luke exclaimed. “Isn’t that awesome?”
“So awesome,” Bree said with a smirk. Lars chuckled. She could tell he was thrilled. Bree couldn’t help but hone in on her nephew’s comment about a good mom, though. Was he thinking about Janey? She definitely had never been a good mom.
“What have you been up to, dear?” Grams asked. “And where’s that handsome man of yours?”
Great question. She took a sip of her tea to avoid answering immediately. Heat crept up her cheeks. There was no sense of arguing the point Ram wasn’t technically her man. When Grams got her mind on something, it stuck.
“He’s on assignment right now, but he’ll be back soon.” She hoped.
“There you are.” Momma Mason put a hand on Grams’ back. “We’ll be leaving at seven tomorrow. We can have breakfast at Bubba’s before the circle starts.”
“Oh, wonderful. Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing some materials? I’m afraid I was running low before we got here.” Grams patted Lars’ hand. “My boy isn’t a fan of shopping.”
No one was a fan of taking Grams for sewing supplies. Bree would rather gouge her eyes out. The woman took hours touching every freaking ball of yarn. She shared a knowing look with her brother. Neither of them commented.
“Of course I don’t mind.” Momma Mason laughed. “You’ll be doing me a favor. I have so much. I’m glad you’re here. Honestly, you’ve renewed my joy of sewing. It’s been too long since I’ve been to the circle.”
The woman shared a conspiratorial look with Bree. Yeah, Momma Mason had an agenda tomorrow. Good to know. If anyone could convince Grams Resino was a good place to live, it was Momma Mason.
Cells chimed around her. She glanced down at hers.
Jacob: SOS. Need your brains.
Bree wiped her mouth. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go. See you later.” She leaned down and kissed Luke and Hillary both on the head. “Love you all.”
“Love you, too,” Grams said. “You don’t worry about us. We’re all having a good time.”
Bree was really glad. Concern glinted in her brother’s gaze, but he didn’t voice whatever he was really thinking. “Stay safe, sis. We’ll chat later.”
Ugh. She was not looking forward to that particular conversation. She followed Mary, Vi, and Zoey out of the mess hall. “What do we know?”
“We all got the same message,” Zoey said. “Cord was handling Gage’s team. They just landed. I have no clue what trouble they could’ve possibly gotten into already.”
Bree really hoped Jacob was overreacting. He was young and still new at the operations gig.
But Cord isn’t.
You’d better be okay, Ram.
15
Gunfire echoed around Ram as he crouched behind a bullet-ridden vehicle. To say they’d walked into an ambush was an understatement. He’d stopped counting at thirty targets. Drones flew overhead, surveilling the area as they downed enemy combatants. Pierce had run for higher ground, but most of it was taken by an asshole, which meant he was having to fight his way to the destination.
Blood seeped from a graze on his left bicep. Pain shot along his chest, where the vest had stopped two bullets. Fuck, he hated situations like this.
The private airstrip may have been an optimal location to pick up Melanie, but it was clearly a disadvantage now. Someone had known their plan. How? The mysterious woman was crouched beside him, quiet but alert. Her long, dark hair shrouded her face.
“Now’s probably a good time to share who the fuck you are,” Ram commented. “Not sure whether we should shove you out there and let them have you or keep fighting.”
“Give me a gun and I’ll take them out.” The woman glared at him. “Who says they’re after me?”
Ram wasn’t stupid. “Lady, we’ve gotten a good enough reputation for no one to fuck with us without reason. That’s you. Start talking.”
He rose and shot at three targets. Two fell. He crouched again.
“I don’t even know who you are.”
“Bullshit,” he said. “You’re an operative, Melanie.” He waited for her to respond to the name. Her eyes widened. Yeah, he’d gotten through a layer of her stubborn. “Whose is what I don’t know.”
She was too calm as bullets slammed into the vehicle they’d taken refuge behind. The restraints around her wrist hadn’t stopped her natural instinct to reach for a weapon—one he was sorely tempted to give her if she’d tell him who she worked for.
“Just under half the targets are down.” Edge’s voice sounded through the coms. “Round them up toward the southwest corner of the hangar. Medina, get your team positioned to the east. There’s a cluster within your firing range. That’s your focus.”
A click of affirmation sounded on the com.
Thank fuck. Ram had worked a few missions with Cord, but he lacked the women’s ball-busting styles. Vi, Mary, and Zoey never hesitated to blow shit up or shed blood if it kept an Arsenal team safe.
“Need someone on reload,” Jacob said via com.
“Send ’em my way,” Gage ordered. “North side.” The latter was unnecessary data since HERA had them all identified, but Ram understood why he’d given it anyway. More was better. Always.
“We’re herding targets away from your position, Ram. Get her talking,” Edge ordered. “We’re waiting for confirmation but suspect she’s a Knightwind operative.”
He clicked the button to confirm the order and continued firing at targets. Gunfire sounded from other directions, all aimed at the targets he shot at. Crouching once again, he reloaded his ammo. “We’ll help. That’s what our crew does. We’ve all been in rough situations where we’ve done shit we didn’t want to.”
Melanie’s lips thinned. “They didn’t give me a choice.”
“Assholes rarely do. Their asses aren’t the ones on the line.” He aimed and fired again at the asshole lodged between the building and a tall stack of crates. The fucker wouldn’t leave that hole willingly.
“We received intel I was ordered to confirm,” she said. “Two days in and I knew there was a problem. We thought my target was under duress, but all the situations I witnessed indicated otherwise.”
“So Alex and his crew were protection,” Ram commented, adding enough intel for her to know they already knew a lot. “Bob was your target. What intel were you confirming?”
“You’ll protect me? Medina mentioned an underground.” Melanie looked around. “I wanted out. They refused. Repeatedly.”
“You’re a Knight,” Ram surmised. “You’re why Gavin inserted himself into this mission. He’s after you.”
“He’s here?” Her gaze darted the area. “You’re working with him?”
“We aren’t. We’re stringing him along, gathering intel.” Ram shoved her back to a seated position. “What’s he to you?”
“Handler.” Melanie made a choking sound. “Prison guard is more like it.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard about them from a woman I know. They wouldn’t let her go until someone made them. We can help you start a new life, but you’ve gotta give us what you know.” Ram kept his attention on Melanie. Terror seeped into her gaze.
“You won’t like it,” she whispered.
“We rarely do.” He lowered his voice. “Whatever it is, we know you aren’t the cause or the problem. We don’t shoot messengers.”
She sighed heavily and wiped her hands down her face. “Fine. I’m dead anyway. Gavin didn’t give
me much background, but a few drinks got him talking. I don’t like going in blind. Knightwind was approached by a former Mossad agent. He was sent to find a missing agent of theirs, one who’d been inserted into an extremely impossible situation.”
“Vague much?” Ram’s eyebrows raised. “Which group?”
“He wouldn’t give a name, just said they operated in the shadows and did mostly political stuff. Extremely powerful and dangerous.” Melanie shivered. “He wanted Knightwind to help him. He thought our paths may have crossed hers.”
The group had to be Probus. Ram’s gut twisted. Fuck, they were the last problem The Arsenal needed right now.
“We’ve received new intel from Bob’s house, Ram,” Edge said. “She’s talking about Lily, the woman we’ve got tucked away with Tanner’s crew up north. Find out how Lily would’ve been with The Collective if she was sent to infiltrate Probus.”
Fuck. Would this web ever come down? Ram nodded. “So she was sent in to spy on Probus. That was a suicide mission. How did she end up with The Collective?”
The woman’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“How do you think?” He clipped his words. “Spill it.”
“Fine. I met her once. I was on assignment, hidden within the administrative side of Hive. I’d been sent in to gather data on two of their handlers and some system they’d created.”
HERA. “So Knightwind was after HERA,” Ram said. “How did Lily fit into that?”
“She… Her path crossed Knightwind at some point while she was deep undercover within Probus. They somehow knew who she was. No one said how, but they knew and took her into custody.” Melanie licked her lips. “They forced her to infiltrate The Collective because I’d found a connection between them and Hive. Knightwind realized by that time they wouldn’t get their hands on HERA.”
“So they were positioning themselves to offer up whatever info you and Lily gathered to The Arsenal, to come across as the good guys willing to help keep HERA safe,” Ram guessed.