“This time I have a lead on a man and a woman,” she continued. “From the video I pulled, it appeared they were having a tense discussion in the formula aisle before getting the brand we recommended. They have no child on record and the man is on the federal watch list.”
How would she know who was on the federal watch list? Was it possible that she was now working for the government?
Some of the pieces seemed to click into place.
“I’m sure your team has a pretty good idea of what they are doing and who they are looking for, but it seems to me that most new parents have probably had some kind of fight in the middle of Costco.”
She laughed. “You have me there. You’re probably right.”
If he kissed her again, would she open up? They had put a pin in anything between them, but damn, he was tempted to try to make her forget herself again.
He thought of Troy and Kate. Kate worked for the FBI. Maybe he could make a call and she could get in touch with her people in the Bureau and they could look into Summer and find out who she worked for and maybe even why. And yet, the idea made an empty thud within him. He didn’t want to have to do this kind of digging on the woman who had been such a big part of his life for so long.
Here Summer was, bringing him into her life with one open hand while pushing him away with the secrets she held in the other. Frustration filled him and a grumble slipped from his lips.
“What’s the matter?” Summer asked.
He wanted to unleash the truth, to tell her all the things he was thinking, and then at the same time he wanted to rise above it all and not give in to the swirling mess of his thoughts and feelings.
“Summer, can I ask you something?” he said, glancing over at her.
“Sure,” she said, but she didn’t sound it.
“Something is bothering me about you, and I don’t want you to get upset, but I need to make sense of a few things. Okay?” he asked, hating that he was going to have to take a roundabout to get to the truth of who she had become and why.
She slowed the car, but didn’t stop driving. “Shoot.”
He nodded, almost unconsciously. “So, you told me that things went south with STRIKE and you went to work for Rockwood. You don’t work for them anymore. Yes?” he asked, treading lightly.
“Yep.” She gripped the wheel tight, pulled the car over to the side of the road and put it in Park. Letting go of the wheel, she stared over at him. She opened her mouth like she was going to speak, but stopped. She motioned as if to speak three times before she made a sound. “I know what you are getting at. And I’m not as good at this as you are.”
Had she meant for her words to be a jab? He wasn’t sure what “this” she was talking about and he wasn’t sure he would like it once he did, but he had to know.
“Good at what, Summer?”
She stared at her hands like they held the answers. “Did you tell your family about Mayfly? Did you tell anyone?” Her tone made him feel like he was the one on the spot and not her.
“I didn’t. I wouldn’t. You asked me not to. Why do you ask?” He made sure there was not a single twang of falseness in his voice; she didn’t need to read anything into him that wasn’t there. Right now, she had to be looking for anything to keep her feet out of the fire. “I wouldn’t betray your trust, never again.”
He could see her mouth form words and her eyes take on the storm that came with a fight, but just as quickly as the tempest started, it receded. She gave a resigned sigh. “I just needed to make sure you won’t betray me, and that you know I will never betray you, Mike. I couldn’t just run headfirst into this thing, whatever it is, without first doing some checking into you.”
“Uh-huh.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the passenger’s seat as he waited for the rest of her storm to play itself out. He tried not to be hurt by the fact she hadn’t trusted him and she’d run a background check. If anything, he should have been flattered that she would go to that much work to have him in their lives. “And what did you find?”
“Nothing so far, but I’m still looking.” She watched him as if she could find the answers she was looking for in his features.
“You mean your team is looking into things.” His words sat sour on his tongue.
She cringed, the motion so subtle that if he hadn’t been looking for it, he would have likely missed it.
“Yes, my team.”
“You gonna tell me about who you are working for, or are you going to make me drag it out of you, Summer?” he asked.
She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m not trying to be difficult, Mike. I swear.” She paused, collecting herself. “You know if I tell you, I could be further compromising your safety and mine. Don’t you think I’ve already compromised you enough, given the amount of information I’ve already shared?”
“I’m in the fray. You can’t stop talking to me now.”
“But will it make a difference if you know who I’m working for? Will it matter in getting Joe back?”
She had him there. “Based on this,” he said, lifting the Faraday bag for her to see, “you must be working for a group made up of a lot of initials. I need to know how much trouble I’m going to be in if it comes out that I’m working with you. So, which alphabet soup organization is it? Please tell me that you are working for the government and not another group like Rockwood.”
Her mouth fell open with shock. “No. No. I’m not working with the bad guys. It’s nothing like that.”
This woman was in deep. Only how deep was yet to be discovered.
“Did you come to Missoula just to meet up with me?”
She didn’t meet his eye.
“So, yes?”
“I needed someone I could rely on.” Her words were charged with emotion. “You were the only person I knew with connections to Rockwood who wouldn’t know I had infiltrated the group. I needed information, but I also needed to stay in the shadows. My boss wants me to find out how much Rockwood had ended up pulling from ConFlux after I gave them the keys.”
“Who are you working for, Summer? You have to tell me.”
“The man on the phone was my boss at the DTRA. I’ve been an agent for them for the last twelve months. They have been great.”
“The DTRA?” He was familiar with a lot of the acronyms within the federal government, but this wasn’t one of them.
“The Defense Threat Reduction Agency. We are a part of DARPA. Technically, I’m working remotely out of an outpost connected to the New Mexico office.”
DARPA, he had heard of; it had been created during the Manhattan Project. Did that mean she was working with weapons of mass destruction? “Holy hell, Summer. Are you working with nuclear weapons?”
“I’m not—at least, not right now.” She shook her head. “Right now, I’m still working on low-level threat assessments and implementing effective neutralization strategies.”
“So, let me get this straight...you are the one who finds ‘threats’ and then calls in teams to wipe them out?” He frowned as he tried to make sense of what she was saying.
“In layman terms, yes.” She nodded. “And to answer your next question, yes, the DTRA is the reason I was working with Rockwood. Like I said, I had been infiltrating their company. Basically, Rockwood should have gotten nothing. It’s why I needed you. Why I’ve been asking you about Rockwood. Do you know if they know my real identity? Have I been exposed?”
“Do you think they found out about your being a double agent and they connected the dots?”
“It’s the only reason I can think of for why they are coming after me for the codes. I mean, why else would they target me—Joe?”
“Damn, Summer. Just... Damn...” He sounded breathless even to himself.
She put the car into Drive and merged back into traffic. “You can say that ag
ain. But I’m still not sure how they figured out that I was a double agent. There were a few times they might have found out, but the links would have been thin. I mean, how would they know I had access to any of the codes, codes I sent to my boss? For all Rockwood should have known, I only broke into the network. That was it. They shouldn’t have known about any codes.”
They sat in silence as she made her way onto the highway. He had no idea where they were going, but he didn’t bother asking.
He chuckled as he watched her. “You do know how cool you are, right?”
She jerked slightly as she looked over at him. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Really. You may actually be one of the coolest chicks I know.” He gave an amazed laugh. “Here I was, thinking that you had totally just screwed up your life and gotten yourself into major crap without intending to. And yet, I was wrong.”
“No, you’re not wrong. I definitely got myself into some major crap.” She sent him a coquettish smile.
“Yeah, but what happened was entirely outside of your control. You didn’t know these people would infiltrate your family and steal Joe as a result of your work,” he offered, hoping that his support would help rid her of any guilt she may have been feeling. She had only been doing her job. Nothing more. “So, explain the thing with Ben. Do you think it was him who sniffed out your identity?”
“He is smart, but I don’t think he did. I was so careful around him. My team at DTRA ran strong cover for me. Like I said, I don’t think he is the one behind the kidnapping or them asking for the ransom to be paid in the stolen code. I think he came to my apartment to win me back, and saw you. He was just hurt and angry. He is jealous.”
Just because she didn’t think Ben was behind Joe’s disappearance, it didn’t mean Mike would stop hating the dude. If anything, he wanted to punch him in the face more now than ever.
“Does Ben still work for them?” he asked.
She nodded.
Yep, he hated him. But sometimes two people didn’t need to like each other to find common ground. “What if you called him? Do you think he could help lead us to Joe? Maybe he knows what they did with him.”
She smiled. “I don’t know...but that is a good idea, after all. I know I rejected it at first. Maybe he has someone he can go to. He loved Joe, too, you know.”
The words burned at him, but he tried to cover them with the salve of possibly getting some much-needed answers. “I’m glad. Joe needs to have as many people in his corner in life as possible.”
Yeah, being a parent was going to be one heck of a kick to the ass if these last few days were any kind of preview of what was to come. Underprepared and overwhelmed didn’t even begin to encompass all the feelings he was having about becoming a father to this little boy. However, it came with the knowledge that when something involved his son, he would do whatever it took to make sure he was safe—even if that meant putting himself in dangerous and uncomfortable situations...with or without a grown man dressed up as a baby.
“Summer, you are having a hell of a big life.” He smiled over at her. “I’m proud of you for making the best out of a bad situation. And again, I’m sorry I forced the change upon you.”
She met his smile with her own. “I’d be lying if I said it has been easy, but at the same time, I have to admit that since we split, I have done a lot. I’m proud of how far I’ve come. How much I’ve learned. You forced me to grow in ways I never thought possible, and for that I can be grateful.”
Chapter Fourteen
No wonder she had never done great as a spy. Sure, Summer had gone through a few months of training before the DTRA had put her into an active intelligence-gathering role, but when it came to Mike, he had unmatched skills in actually listening to her and picking her reality apart. Whenever she was around him, it was as if he stripped her naked and exposed her in a way that only he could see.
That inability to conceal anything from him for very long, and the desire to not want to hide any of her truths, had to mean something about them was unique, unprecedented and whispering of soul mates. Didn’t it?
She chuffed at the thought. No, that’s not what was going on here. This was all because she had been forced to bring him into her little world and reveal more than she had anticipated. Though she hadn’t meant to give him breadcrumbs that led him to the truth, that was exactly what she had done. There was nothing ethereal or otherworldly about their bond, no. It had all been set up by her subconscious mind. She had wanted him to know the truth, to pull it from her. And more, to care.
Was her taking him down this path her subconscious way of making sure that if he was going to be in their lives, he would be willing to work for it?
Gah... She had to stop picking this thing between them apart. They just needed to work together, find Joe, and then they could figure things out between them.
Pulling over at a gas station, Summer watched as Mike got out to begin filling up her car. “I’m gonna go make a phone call. I’ll be right back,” she said.
Mike answered with a tight nod. He definitely hated Ben, and she didn’t blame him, but this phone call had been his idea and he could hardly be annoyed that she was doing as he had asked.
The justification for her actions did little to stop the pull at her gut that told her to hide what she was doing to protect his feelings. And yet, at the same time, she didn’t want to hide, she wanted him to know and to be a part of everything.
This was all so confusing. It had to be the stress that was messing her up like this. Just the stress.
She walked to the side of the building, far enough from the gas station’s car wash that she didn’t pick up too much background noise, and far enough from the entrance that anyone coming and going from the little convenience store couldn’t eavesdrop.
As she was about to speed-dial Ben, she stopped and hit the number just two down from it on her Contacts list. Kevin answered on the first ring. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Hi, Kev. It’s going. Any word on Joe?” She silently begged for a miracle.
“Were your ears burning?” he asked, a smattering of excitement in his voice.
“What is that supposed to mean? Did you get him back?”
Kevin sighed. “You and I both have chatted about this and you know that it is the US government’s policy not to negotiate with terrorists. In this case, that terrorist is your son’s kidnapper. However, I have finally gotten the approvals required from top brass to assist in your son’s safe and rapid return.”
Ah, the power that came with knowing the right people to call.
She rose on her tiptoes and put her free hand up against the beige stucco wall of the store. “Thank you... Kevin...thank you.” Relief flooded through her, though she hadn’t even heard Kevin’s idea. No matter what he said, it had to be better than going to Ben and possibly tipping their hand to whomever else Ben was working with. As much as she had gone to bat for the man with Mike, she still didn’t truly trust Ben. Not in her world of spies and counterspies.
“Don’t thank me just yet, Summer,” Kevin said, his voice suddenly taking on a serious edge. “First, we don’t know if this is going to work, but it is what my team believes is the best option in this situation.”
“And what is that? What are you guys thinking?” She looked down at the dirt on the toes of her black boots.
“We have taken the code that you supplied us with from ConFlux and have altered it enough that it looks legitimate even to a proficient coder. Then we added in a few little lines here and there, which should help us pin down the IP address of whomever is trying to use it. Basically, once they run the program, we can swoop down and take these guys into custody.”
“How long will it take you to get the code ready?” The kidnappers had only given her another twenty-four hours. The people at the DTRA would have to work fast.
“Well
, this is the part you are really going to like. We are already done. We’ve been working on it ever since you told me about their demands.”
“Kevin, you are amazing. No matter what the rest of the guys say.”
“What? What are they saying?” Kevin said, laughter marking his words. “I will send you the code now through our encrypted server. Let me know when you put it into the kidnapper’s hands.”
“Will do,” she said, smiling.
“And, Summer, give Joe a big hug from me.” Kevin hung up.
She may possibly have the best boss ever. It took a special person to put his neck on the line to do what was right and go the extra mile to support his teams. And yet there was the little voice in the back of her head that screamed it was Kevin and her work as an agent within the DTRA that had really gotten her into this predicament.
Mike was just clicking the gas cap into place on her car when she made her way back out to the bay. “I have good news,” she said, smiling over at him as she lifted her phone for him to see.
“Ben choked?” he joked.
“Better. I just got off the phone with my boss.” She glanced around, looking for anyone or anything that was out of place. She motioned toward her car in the hope that if there was anyone following them or listening, she could thwart their attempts. “They have agreed to supply the fake code we need for the ransom. You are a smart guy with the idea for the code. Thanks to you and Kevin, we’re going to get Joe back.”
Mike flashed a smile but it was suddenly overtaken by a sour look.
Even to her own ears, the plan sounded simple...too simple. What was she missing?
“You know, kidnappers often kill—”
She cut him off with a raise of her hand. “I don’t need to hear that. We don’t even need to think about that happening to Joe. These people know the only chance they have to get the information they want is to give him to us. There would be no advantage in killing our son.”
Mike nodded, but the look on his face didn’t recede. “I just think we need to be prepared.”
Rescue Mission Page 12