“We need to clone that new phone,” she said under her breath as she received her handgun from the man at the door. She kissed Daniel flirtatiously near his ear to cover up what she was saying and gave him a smile and a wink.
He laughed and kissed her back. “Oh, darling, you’re amazing,” he said out loud. Then quietly for her ears only, he leaned in and said, “Got it, I’ll make a diversion. You do the clone.”
He stepped away from her and right in the way of Derek, who was swaggering by. “Derek, do you really know how to set a C-4 charge, or are you just filled with hot air?”
Derek puffed out his chest. “I was a specialist in the army. I served overseas in Operation Enduring Freedom,” he said roughly. “I know more about setting charges than you’ve ever dreamed about.”
“Can you prove that?” Daniel asked. “I doubt you were even part of that military operation over in Afghanistan.” He took a step closer, getting right up into Derek’s face. “Could you even recognize an Al-Qaeda soldier if you saw one? Do you know what the Taliban is or what they stand for? You’re all about hate, pure and simple. I doubt you actually ever served at all.”
Derek’s face turned red and spittle spewed from his mouth. “I don’t have to prove anything to you,” he answered hatefully. “You’re just some murdering police scum.” His voice started to rise and Liam and Ethan were suddenly on the scene, trying to calm everyone down. Bethany took the opportunity to take a few steps back and pull out her own phone. A few clicks later, the cloning process had begun.
“You do if you expect me to be on the same team with you again,” Daniel answered, his voice also rising. “I’m not giving you another opportunity to take a shot at me. I need to know there’s really a good reason to have you on that team and that you really do know what you’re doing. Were you even listening when Liam was going over the details of how to set the charges? I don’t want this mission to fail because of your incompetence.”
Derek took both hands and pushed Daniel hard. “There’s your reason. Because I say so. Is that good enough for you?”
Daniel scrambled back and threw a punch, landing his fist hard against Derek’s chin. He didn’t have an opening to throw a second blow, because seconds later, Ethan and Liam had gotten between the two and were once again physically holding them apart.
Bishop was quickly on the scene, as well. His face was serious, and his brow furled. “Are you two going to be able to put aside your differences or not? We’re counting on you two to make this happen. This mission is very important to Operation Battlefield. If we can’t trust you to do your jobs, we’ll have to give them to someone else that we can trust. This isn’t a game for children with attitude that put themselves and their personal agenda before the Guard.”
Daniel pulled against Liam’s grip, but relaxed once he got the signal from Bethany that the cloning was complete. “It was my fault. I’m sorry. I let my anger get the best of me. It won’t happen again.” Liam released him and he took a step away from Derek, putting his hands up in a motion of surrender. “You can count on me. I’m all in.”
He took Bethany’s hand, gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her close.
“We’re committed to the cause, Bishop. Both of us,” Bethany reassured him. “And we’ll be there tomorrow morning. You can count on us.” She watched the worry lines slowly disappear from his face.
“Alright, Hailey. We’re putting a lot of faith in you to get this job done.”
The two left the building and quickly got into Daniel’s truck and drove away from the warehouse where the meeting had been held.
Bethany immediately started reading through Bishop’s cloned texts and data as Daniel drove. “Anything interesting on that phone?” Daniel asked.
She kept scrolling. “He refers to a phase one and phase two a couple of times. It makes me think that the stadium demolition is only part of Operation Battlefield, like he mentioned today, but what could phase two be? And really, what’s the point of killing all of those people at the stadium? I don’t understand the reasoning behind it. There has to be something else going on that we haven’t figured out yet. It has to be a piece of a bigger plan.”
Daniel glanced over at her. “Well, we’d better figure it out soon since this whole thing is supposed to go down tomorrow. Let’s pull Captain Murphy and Agent Hooker in and see if they have any ideas. We need help with the research.” He turned a corner. “Do you see anything about Derek in those texts? I still can’t understand why they brought him back into the fold. That guy is a menace and a problem just waiting to happen.”
“No, and their decision to do so makes me nervous. It’s not a wise move on their part and they’re usually smarter than that. They have to see that decision raises big red flags.”
Bethany kept scrolling. “It makes me think they’ve got something planned for him, like making him a scapegoat for the stadium tomorrow.” She looked over at Daniel, who kept checking his mirrors. “Anybody following us?”
“Nobody so far. I’m keeping an eye out though.” He checked again, made several turns and lane changes but drove carefully, presumably so Bethany wouldn’t get sick this time. She smiled at him, appreciating his efforts.
“Wow, your driving has really improved. I’m impressed.”
He laughed and she saw the dimple appear on his left cheek. “Well, I was rewarded for my efforts with a kiss the last time. I’m hoping to be rewarded again.”
Her own cheeks burned as she remembered the kiss they had shared right before Captain Murphy had arrived to give them the C-4 they needed for the operation. She had to admit, it had felt good to be held in Daniel’s arms. They had been stealing kisses and touches frequently when they were around the Guard, but that had been for the benefit of the roles they were playing. Or had it been? At first, it had been hard for her to receive the small intimacies, but now she was slowly not only accepting them but actually looking forward to them. She liked holding hands and the gentle caresses he offered without being pushy or demanding. He seemed to know when to come close and when to give her some space. It was uncanny. Just knowing he was nearby had once made her nervous and jumpy, but was now giving her comfort and making her feel whole and complete.
She stole a look at him from the corner of her eye. At first, she had dreaded this assignment. Daniel was untested in the field and had never done any undercover work, but she also had to admit that he was doing his job well. He had fit in with the others and so far had played his role without gaffs or rookie mistakes. But there was more to it than that. She could tell that he was looking out for her, and that he really cared about her. She felt...cherished.
But could she trust him? Her old boyfriend had cared about her too, or at least he had said he did. He had said and done all the right things at just the right times too. And then the next thing she knew, she found him in the arms of another woman and was utterly humiliated in front of all of her friends and coworkers. She had thought she knew him, but he had publicly shattered her trust. Could she ever trust again? Was it worth the pain if she was wrong?
She stole another look at Daniel as he kept his eyes on the road. She was attracted to more than just his good looks, but she also knew for a fact that he wasn’t willing to share his past with her, and it hurt to know that he wasn’t willing to open up to her about his family. She didn’t think he would ever be so cruel as to make promises to her and then be unfaithful. Daniel was too loyal, too considerate to treat anyone that way. He would never intentionally hurt her. But she didn’t think he would voluntarily tell her about his private life either, and she didn’t think it was right to try to force him to reveal his secrets. The problem was, if he was hiding his past, what else would he hide from her? What other parts of his life would he keep secret? She would always be wondering. There would be no trust. And the relationship would inevitably suffer.
Her stomach twisted in knots as the realization of the depth of her feelings overtook her. She loved him. That made it even harder. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but she could no longer push those feelings aside. But could she compromise? Even though she cared for Daniel, she didn’t think she could. She didn’t want to love him, especially when there didn’t seem to be any future for their relationship, but she couldn’t help herself. It was a good thing this mission was almost over. Tomorrow they would make the arrests at the stadium and then Operation Battlefield would be over, and they would go their separate ways. She would take her new FBI assignment and move to a new city, putting Chattanooga and Daniel far behind her.
She wondered fleetingly what her options would be. Miami? New York City? Or maybe a smaller city in a rural area? Why didn’t the prospect of moving on fill her with excitement the way she would have expected?
She knew it was time to pray. God was always her strength in difficult times. If there were ever a time to seek His guidance, it was now. She poured out her heart in her prayer, as well as her fears about what the future would bring. She also prayed for protection for both herself and Daniel as they entered this most dangerous part of their undercover mission.
Her FBI phone suddenly rang, bringing her back to the present. She looked at the number and identified it as the new number that Hooker had supplied.
“Yes, sir? This is Hailey.” These days, she always used her undercover name, just in case the phone was compromised in any way. It also made it easier to stay in character if she always answered with her undercover name.
She listened for a while, then answered. “Yes, sir. Thank you for the information.” Then she told her FBI boss about what had happened during the meeting and the plans for the stadium. She also told him where he could pick up the pen and glasses that had recorded the meeting that morning, and their need to research and figure out the rest of Operation Battlefield. A few minutes later, the call ended and she stored her phone again.
“Everything okay?” Daniel asked.
“Not really,” she answered. “The FBI has found incontrovertible proof that Max Westfield was intercepting all of the communication between us and Special Agent Hooker. That’s why we weren’t able to contact him. They’ve found evidence that Max was tampering with the Heritage Guard files, as well. He was definitely the mole and was probably also behind Justin’s death. They’re trying to tie him to it as we speak. And now, Max Westfield has disappeared.”