15 |
15 |Off-the-books Operations Center Outside Bethesda, Maryland
Leroux paced the length of the shipping container, the claustrophobia getting to him. He hadn’t seen the light of day since setting foot inside, nor taken a breath of fresh air. When Kane had given him the address, he had been stunned at what he found, and realized just how prepared Kane was for any eventuality.
His friend trusted no one.
Well, almost no one. He assumed Kane trusted what he thought of as the inner circle. Himself and Sherrie, as well as Fang, and perhaps even Morrison, though their boss was bound by orders from above that might leave Kane twisting in the wind should the Administration decide he no longer served their purposes.
Leroux regarded the equipment surrounding him, now manned by a yawning Sonya, and an eager Tommy who seemed filled with boundless energy.
Reminds me of my Red Bull days.
He had been addicted to the stuff, the caffeine-infused beverage fueling late nights behind the keyboard, until Sherrie had finally convinced him to give it up. She had been the incentive he had been searching for, and once found, going cold turkey had been difficult, yet successful, and now he no longer missed the addictive concoction.
Though in times like these, he sometimes wished he could indulge.
Sonya yawned again.
“Why don’t you take a nap?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”
“No, that’s an order. Grab a few hours. You’ll be that much sharper.”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “You’re right.” She rose, heading for the doorway that connected them to the second container. She turned. “Wake me if you need me.”
He nodded and she disappeared. His eyes lingered after her, and he wondered what might have happened between them if Sherrie hadn’t entered his life when she did. If they hadn’t met, or hadn’t made things work, would he have had the courage to ask Sonya out? She liked him, there was no doubt of that, but if it weren’t for Sherrie, he would still be that puniest of men he once was, with zero self-confidence, and absolutely no skills when it came to women.
Today, the way he was now, if he were single and Sonya didn’t report to him, he could see himself asking her out, though the very thought of it sent butterflies rippling through his stomach, then a wave of guilt at the thought. But the man he was before?
Never in a million years would he have found the courage to ask her.
“Got something.”
Leroux tore his eyes away from the closed door and took a seat beside Tommy, the young man proving to be an extremely valuable addition to their unofficial team. If it weren’t for his history, he might make a good formal addition.
I’ll have to talk to the Chief when this is all done.
“What have you got?”
“I found the woman Agent Reading told us about.” He pointed at a screen showing footage of a woman walking up to the victim’s door, standing there for several seconds, then leaving, the gate to the row of houses opened by the victim himself.
“You can’t really see her face there, can you?”
Tommy shook his head. “Nope. But you can on this one.”
Another video displayed, the same woman walking quickly down the street then climbing into a car, but not before she took a glance over her shoulder, her face revealed to the camera. “Can you plot that?”
“Already done.”
Leroux’s heart hammered at the anticipation in Tommy’s voice. “And?”
“And she’s an exact match for the woman in Moscow who planted the bomb the next day.”
Leroux slapped Tommy on the back. “Excellent work! Do we have the list of residents yet?”
“Yes, it arrived when you were asleep. Sonya is running it against our databases, so hopefully, if there’s something to find, we’ll know soon.”
“And that tip from Special Agent West about the woman possibly involved in the Minkin arrest? Anything yet?”
“No, but it’s just a matter of time. Everyone is on social media these days, whether they want to be or not.”
“Okay. Let’s track this woman in Salisbury. See if we can find out where she went.”
“Won’t the Brits be doing that anyway?”
Leroux nodded. “Yes, but they’re not likely to share what they find with us, and we need to know where she is. Right now, it looks like she’s involved with two serious attacks in as many days. We need to figure out who she is, and where she is, so we can stop her, find out who she’s working for, and why, so we can prevent the Chief from becoming a target.”
“Roger Roger. I’ll find her for you, that’s a promise.”
Leroux ignored the overconfidence, though from what he had seen so far, the kid might just have the skills to come through.
It was a good team.
Sonya was a fantastic analyst, one he had come to rely on over the years. Her recognizing the fact that a suspected Islamic terrorist bombing in Moscow of an apartment building, actually carried out by a blond white woman, might be related to the woman the police had sought when Minkin was arrested, was brilliant, and had proven correct now that they had matched her to the Salisbury attack.
This woman was the key, and now that they had clear images of her face, it was only a matter of time before they found her.
The world was wired.
And he had access to almost all the cameras out there.
Sooner or later, she’d cross paths with one of them.