Point of No Return (30 page)

Gunny stepped forward. “We. Are. In. Only one we’re not too sure of is . . .” He tipped his head in Kara’s direction. “We’re thinking she can stay in the van with Coop, watching and lip-reading. But,” he said and shrugged, “you want . . . we’ll put her in plastic cuffs and leave her in your safe room. Your call.”

Kara went rigid and stood string straight. “Oh, hell no.” She jabbed a finger at Gunny. “If you, or anyone tries to tie me up it’s the last thing they’ll do.”

“Settle down,” Honey said. “Wait . . .” She looked at Gunny. “What van?”

Gunny graced her with one of his rare go-on-forever smiles. “Needed wheels to transport us and our hardware.”

She didn’t need to know what weapons of destruction he’d come up with, only that they had them. There were other things she needed to know. Honey went to attention straight. “I have to hear an affirmative from each of you. You’re in and you understand there is real danger. Gunny?”

He straightened. “I understand and I’m in.”

She called their names, and each responded the same as Gunny. Then came Kara. Honey stood inches from her. “First thought”—
and most rational
—“I don’t want you with us.” Kara began to protest. “Listen to me. If I do go against better judgment and decide to let you in, you have to do
exactly
as you are ordered.”

Kara straightened and nodded vigorously. “I can do that.”

A part of her brain had a heavy, unpleasant and ominous feeling warning her not to do this. Not just Kara, any of it. She shut that part of her brain off and turned to Gunny. “Kara comes. I want her in as much protective gear as possible.”

“Done,” Gunny said. “Bomb ordnance suit good enough?”

“Sounds good.”

“Major—” Kara began a protest.

Coop took her arm and shook his head. “Not a good idea.”

“Where is this gear?” Honey said, ignoring Kara.

“Living room and your study floor,” Buck said.

Gloria brought out a platter of sandwiches from the Sub-Zero. “Fuel.” They inhaled the food, washing it down with water.

“Plan?” Honey said when the food was gone. “How do we get in?” All eyes went to Coop.

Coop folded his arms across his chest and for a long moment appeared fascinated by the pattern in the floor tiles before speaking. “Access we have from your card. They haven’t cancelled it,
yet
. Keeping us off their camera feed is simple.
Getting
control
of the feeds is the problem. It’ll take five to fifteen
very long
seconds to redirect.”

“The control room will catch that,” Honey said.

“Yeaaah, but . . .” Coop’s sly expression told her he’d worked out a plan.

“Let’s hear it,” she said.

He picked up the TV remote and the flat screen glowed, displaying the weather channel and local radar. “I’m counting on storms moving in from the west to give us a break. Supposed to be worse than last night. More lightning, high winds and hail. Did you set a time to begin the diversion?”

“No. Setting a time would be impossible. We estimated between eleven and midnight. Clare O’Brien will call when it goes into motion. We’ll have to time it from then.”

Coop pointed the remote at the screen. “Look. Heavy storms with lightning to hit at approximately midnight. I can use one of those lightning strikes to take down the system, hack in and bring it back.”

“I don’t know, Coop. What about those computer battery backups?”

“Not messing with the computers. I’ll be tackling their network.”

“It’s iffy. Those storms could dissipate or there could be no lightning generated anywhere nearby.”

“I checked three sources. They each say we’re in a five-day severe storm pattern with tonight and tomorrow being the worst. The data agrees on everything but the time they’ll hit.”

Honey looked around. “You’ve had time to mull this over. You good with this plan? Everybody agree?” They nodded silently. She trusted their opinion. Trusted them. They were as good as if not better than any agents, any black ops team in the business. “I concur. This is a go.”

“Shouldn’t there be a plan B?” Kara piped up.

“Oh, there is baby sister,” Buck said. “Plan A doesn’t work”—he threw his hands in the air flapping them—“we run like hell for the exit screaming like little girls,” he said in a falsetto voice.

Kara smacked his stomach with the back of her hand and they laughed, breaking the tension.

“Gear.”

“I’ll get yours,” Buck said. He quickly returned with a duffel and spread her gear on the kitchen island.

“Three nonlethal weapons.” Gunny touched a beanbag shotgun, a dart pistol and a triple-X military-grade Taser. “I’m assuming not everyone inside will be a kill target.”

Honey nodded.

“Dart loaded with a high dose of ketamine. Taser with a three-shot platform.” His hand glided to a long gun. “A suppressed HK. Your own knife and handgun as usual.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. You paid for it.”

“Tell me about the van.”

“Panel van like a UPS truck. Black with brown and gold lettering. Gets us and the gear there and back. We’re now a twenty-four-seven highway assistance company. Inside are hidie places for weapons. It will pass on a look, not a stop and search. Major setup for electronics.”

A visual of Gunny in a dark parking lot trading with an alphabet agent to get the van popped into her head. Or worse yet, him
borrowing
it without permission.

“We good with this van? I mean, we get stopped it isn’t going to come up stolen?”

“You really want me to answer?”

“Yes.” If he’d added to this by stealing . . . Oh, hell, what difference did it make? Given what they were about to do, auto theft was the least of their trouble.

“All legit.” He grinned. “Bill of sale and registration in the vehicle just like the law says. And . . . we bring it back like we got it, no money has to change hands.”

They checked equipment and went over plan details, waiting for the go call.

“Lineup tonight is me in the lead,” Honey said. “Then Gunny, Buck, Santiago.” They nodded. “Once in, Coop guides us to Ali. We get her. You three take her out and I go for Jack. Ali is the priority. I want her and all of you gone the moment she’s out.” She wanted them out of danger and trouble.

“We get the kid gone but, due respect, ma’am, we aren’t leaving you in there,” Gloria said, staring her down.

“She’s right,” Gunny said. “
Everybody
gets out.”

“I appreciate how you feel. Understand. O’Brien won’t come out until he has Nelson. I don’t want to leave until I find out who in the government is helping Global. You get out with Ali and . . .”

“We stand by at a safe distance until you and O’Brien are out,” Gunny said. “That’s the way it is.” They nodded.

“There’s something else,” she said, breaking an awkward silence. “Jack O’Brien and I have been involved in a sexual relationship for a while. Tennessee was the first I’d spoken with him since before his family was killed. I had no idea he or his family was involved until I was in Moore’s office. This was strictly a mind-fuck coincidence.” They stared silently. “Well?”

“That’s it?” Gunny said.

She nodded.

Kara rolled her eyes and flapped her hand in the direction of Buck and Coop, fingers wiggling.

“Da-aamn!”
Buck said, reaching into a pocket. Coop shook his head and did the same, coming out with folded bills.

“What’s going on?” She had a pretty good idea but she wanted to know who the instigator was.
“Kara.”

“Told them I could tell by your voice you
liked
O’Brien.” She shrugged. “They”—she shot Coop and Buck a look—“said no way.” She put the folded bills in her jeans pocket. “I said put your money where your—”

She was interrupted by someone leaning on the doorbell and pounding the door. Honey checked the camera monitor.
“Fucking flaming fish balls
. Moore.”

“General Moore?” Kara said. Buck took Kara’s arm, guiding her into the pantry and taking a position inside the door. “I want to see.” Kara said from the shadows of the pantry. Buck mumbled an obscenity and the door clicked shut.

Coop faded into the dining room. Santiago and Gunny, pistols gripped and held low at their sides, joined Coop in dining room. One of them closed the drapes.

The pounding grew louder and Honey went to the door, stopping at the living room entrance to scan the room. The weapons were gone, only a couple of black duffels on the floor.

“Honey.”
The banging increased in quantity and volume.

“What?” she said without opening the door.

“Damnit. Let me in.”

“What do you want?”

He pounded the door. “I
want
in.”

Fuck it.
Honey unlocked the door and retreated to the kitchen as Moore stormed in, following her.

“Why haven’t you answered my messages?” He was so agitated he didn’t notice the array of equipment on the counter. “Have you been with O’Brien all this time?”

Been with him?
Honey said nothing.

“I was told you were at the O’Brien home and questioned by the FBI. What the fuck did you tell them?”

He knew Ali had been taken and he wanted to know what she said? Well, wasn’t he special? She said nothing.

“You better not have opened your mouth about Global.” His face grew distorted with rage. “This is a secret operation.”

She snorted, unable to remain quiet any longer. “So secret you and I were the only ones who know about it.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“I’m saying there was no
secret investigation
. The DIA orders are fake. No one is looking at Global for any reason.”

“That’s, that’s . . . not true.”

“I told you not to fuck with me, Paul.” Her tone was matter-of-fact.

“I didn’t.”

“Then what are you doing?”

He moved around the edge of the island and looked at the gear spread on it as if it had suddenly materialized. He looked back to her. “What are
you
doing?”

She said nothing.

“You know where the O’Brien brat is.”

Honey said nothing. A noise came from the darkened dining room to let Moore know she wasn’t alone.

“Is O’Brien here?” He moved toward the door and when three figures ghosted into view, he stopped.

“O’Brien isn’t here and if he was, it’s none of your business,
sir
.”

Moore didn’t care what she was saying he concentrated on who was in the dining room. “Who’s in there?”

Honey nodded and the three crowded the doorway.

He whirled on her, bug-eyed with anger. “I told you no team. No backup.” His face contorted like he was lifting something heavy.

“I know,” she said casually. “They’re my insurance. When I found who was dirty at Global I didn’t want you taking the credit for my work.” She leaned a hip against the counter and folded her arms over her chest. “Not this time.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Global isn’t dirty. I made that up to . . .” He went still.

“Go on,” she prompted. “You made that up to . . . ?”

His angry expression morphed to an innocent
ah, shucks, you caught me
look that didn’t cut it.

“Made it up to . . .” she encouraged.

He glanced to the three in the dining room then back to her. He held out his arms, hands palms up. “Okay. I made the crap up about Global being dirty so we’d have an opportunity to work together again. Once we were working together again, I knew we’d get back,
together.
”

Geesus, what a fucking asshole. She pushed off the counter, bile rising in her throat.

“Settle down. Remember it was you who requested in on the investigation. I saw the coincidences with Global. All I did was make it seem like they
could be
into something illegal.
You
jumped all over it. I know they’re clean. They’ve been vetted in every investigation and review. I did it for us to have time together and we’d be . . .” He reached for her and she stepped back. This had been the reason at the top of her suspicions, but to hear him pronounce it with such arrogance was stunning.

“You thought sending me in blind to deal with a murderer, a kidnapper, and international identity thieves would make me fall into your arms, into your bed?”

Moore gaped at her.

“Tell me you aren’t part of this Paul.”

His thick eyebrows formed a unibrow. “There isn’t anything to be part of.”

“I have proof Global is involved in cyber identity theft.”

“You’re crazy.”

She shook her head. “Substantial evidence, Paul. We were going to . . .” She paused. Had that only been this morning? “We were going to turn over the data to jurisdictional agencies this morning. Bristol took Ali to prevent us.” She didn’t want to get into who Bristol really was.

“Bristol kidnapped that kid?” He made a dismissive sound. “That’s fucking bullshit. Whatever it is you’re doing here I’m ordering you to stand down.” He let his commanding officer persona rip. “All of you.” He pointed to Coop, Santiago, and Gunny. “Your asses are mine. I’m writing you up. Your careers are done.” He swiped at the gear on the counter, sending a knife and plastic cuffs clattering across the floor. “If nothing else I’ll turn you over to DC police for weapons possession.”

Gunny took a threatening step and she shook her head in warning. Moore was hers.

“And you.” More jabbed a finger at her. “I was willing to give you a chance. You wouldn’t need to stay in the Corps. I thought you were different. Together, with our DC connections, we’d be A-listers. But noo, you couldn’t behave.”

Honey bristled. “Different?
Behave?”

“Yeah. In Cairo, you were on board. You allowed me to use your work. You understood a man’s career is more important than a woman’s.”

Honey always felt everyone lived in two worlds. The real world and a world in our heads where we escape when that real world gets rough. Paul had been hanging out too long in his cerebral world. His brain had become a dim, addled place filled with echoing delusions of grandeur.