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COOLIO WATCHED THE feed from the team’s body cameras in stunned silence. When Kruger and Sierra peeled back the plastic on the body they found and said it was Cowboy, Coolio ran the image through his facial recognition software hoping they were mistaken.
The software only confirmed Coolio’s fears – 99.87% match. That was Cowboy and those people had been caught trying to dispose of his body and clean up the aftermath. It made Coolio sick to his stomach.
“Oracle, we’re going to clear the floor and look for intel and then move to the extraction point. What’s the status on the elevator?” Kruger asked over the tactical frequency.
Coolio checked the drone feed and then the hotel’s cameras that he could see. “They stopped on a different floor. You’re clear for now.”
“Copy.”
The team cleared the room and then moved on to the other rooms. Methodically, Sierra and Kruger went through each penthouse, gathering as much intel as they could while Tuna and Ringo covered the hallways. Coolio couldn’t imagine what Sierra was going through knowing that she had just lost her brother, but he was impressed with how she seemed to compartmentalize it and continue with the mission.
“We have a laptop,” Sierra reported as the finished with the final room. “Moving to the elevator.”
“Still clear,” Coolio replied.
Coolio shadowed the team with the drone as they made their way into the elevator and back to the parking garage. They had loaded Cowboy’s body on the maintenance cart and covered it with a sheet. They made it to the getaway vehicle without incident and were clear of the hotel in just a few minutes.
“Headed back to you, Oracle,” Dusty reported as he drove the panel van out of the garage.
When the team was safe, Coolio went to work trying to find Khang. He opened the video chat window on his screen and dialed the first contact in his favorites.
“Hey Becca,” Coolio said as MI-6 cyber analyst Rebecca Mallory appeared on screen.
“Julio, you look dreadful. Is everything alright?” she asked, brushing her red hair out of her face as she tried to get a closer look at the screen.
Coolio had become friends with Becca while working with Odin. She had worked for Sierra Carter and assisted Coolio during missions with the British intelligence service. And although they had only met a handful of times in person, the two were in constant communication in a close friendship that Coolio hoped would eventually turn into something more.
But for the time being, her beautiful green eyes did nothing to cheer him up. Seeing Cowboy’s lifeless face was something he’d never get out of his head. It chilled him to his core and even Becca’s bubbly personality and beautiful smile couldn’t fix that.
“Cowboy’s dead,” Coolio mumbled.
“Oh my God!” Becca replied, covering her mouth with her hand as she started to cry. “Oh my God! Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Coolio answered. “I ran facial recognition off their body cameras. It’s him.”
“My God. Does Sierra know yet?”
“She was on the team that found him.”
“My heart aches for her,” Becca said, wiping away tears. “Just awful.”
Coolio steeled himself as he sat up in his chair. “That’s not why I called. I need your help. I’m going to find the son of a bitch that did this to him.”
“Of course. I’ll do anything – anything at all.”
“I’m sending you what I have now,” Coolio said as he uploaded the files to the secure server. “His name is Khang and he’s a Chinese intelligence operative. He managed to avoid all of the hotel cameras, and the room Cowboy was being held in had a closed-circuit system. I’m hoping MI-6 has something on him.”
“I’m on it, love,” Becca replied.
“Thanks, Becca, I-”
Before Coolio could finish, Becca had cut him off. He could hear keystrokes in the background and she worked furiously on her computer.
“I found that bastard!”
“Seriously?”
“I ran his information against our database. He has another alias called ‘Ming’ that has a safe house in Shanghai. I’m trying to get into their traffic cameras now, but I think this is it. Sending you the address.”
“I’ll help,” Coolio said, momentarily forgetting about his sadness as Becca’s enthusiasm and incredible talent lifted his spirits.
“Yup, this is it, I found his car.”
“You’re right,” Coolio said as he simultaneously found a match via the traffic cameras. “That’s him. He’s there.”
“That’s not all,” Becca said. “I’m trying to retrace his route. It looks like he went to the airport first.”
“Can you send me the camera and timestamp you’re looking at?”
“Already did,” Becca said with a grin as she continued to work on their puzzle.
“Thanks,” Coolio said as he went to work trying to beat Becca to the punch. “Who’s that with him?”
“Don’t know. Looks like he dropped someone off at the airport.”
“Whoever it was didn’t want to be seen. Hat, sunglasses, hoodie. I’m getting nothing.”
“Same here,” Becca said. “But I did find the aircraft he dropped his passenger off at on the military side of the airport. Looks like it’s registered to the Russian FSB with a flight plan to Moscow.”
“Shit, I know that plane!” Coolio said as he pulled up the data Becca sent him. “I tracked it to Moscow. It was involved in our operation.”
“Whoever it is, didn’t stay long.”
“Oracle, status?” Kruger asked over the tactical frequency. “Did you find that fucker yet?”
“Yes, boss, I’m sending you the address now,” Coolio replied.
“He sounds angrier than usual,” Becca commented as she overheard the radio.
“Yeah, whoever did this is about to feel the wrath of Kruger. First Natasha, now Cowboy. It’s going to get ugly when he finds Khang and whoever is on that airplane.”
“Good,” Becca said. “They bloody well deserve it.”
“Oracle, we’ll be at your location in two minutes. Be ready to give a full briefing,” Tuna said over the radio.
“Oracle copies,” Coolio replied before looking at the screen and smiling sheepishly. “I’ve got to go. Thanks for everything. It really means a lot.”
“That’s what I’m here for, love. Go get’em. Let me know what happens.”
“You’ll be the first person I call. Thanks again.”