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Club Southside/
Cerberus Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
“Damon and the medical staff say Miley would be dead if it weren’t for you,” said Seth.
Brock leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. I need a haircut. “I didn’t do anything the rest of you wouldn’t have done. I’m just glad we found her in time. That whole op was one big SNAFU after another. How the hell did we get such bad intel?”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t know, and this isn’t the first time. Royce and King are stymied. The sources are the same good sources we’ve always had, but something is wrong.
Brock sat forward. “Do you think we’ve been hacked?”
“Doubtful. The Cerberus System is one of, if not the, most secure systems in the world.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m not saying anything…”
“Quit playing word games with me, Seth,” growled Brock.
“Easy, big guy. I’m on your side, or rather, we’re all on the same side. I don’t think it’s the system…”
Brock sat back. “But you do think we have a mole.”
“I don’t want to think it, nor do King, Royce, or Fitz, but I can’t believe we’ve had this run of fucked up ops in the past six months.”
“So do you think it’s some of the new guys?”
Seth shook his head. “Not necessarily. It could be someone’s gotten to somebody, or someone is getting greedy. Shit!” Seth’s fist pounded the conference table in frustration. “Sully and Nina are triple checking the system, but I think all of us are leaning towards a mole in Cerberus.”
“When I think about it, it could be as simple as someone working in admin or even someone working for the club. We don’t discuss sensitive matters, but if someone was trained and trying to put something together, I don’t know that they couldn’t. Have you guys spotted a pattern?”
“Not so much a pattern, but the same kinds of—as you said—SNAFUs. So far, our operatives have been good enough to spot it like you did. Miley said she thought something was off, but decided she was just feeling Damon’s influence.”
Seth chuckled, as did Brock. Miley had always been hell on wheels, but Damon was managing to keep her in line. It wasn’t easy and it was often loud and raucous, but it was fun to watch.
“Do you think it might be a good idea to take a look at some of the new hires?”
“I think,” said Seth, “that I don’t want to think any of our people is a mole, but that isn’t going to fix anything, and Miley’s op could have been a disaster if you hadn’t figured it out and moved in as swiftly as you did. Damon said something about moving you down to Charleston.”
“Is Fitz serious about opening another office down there?” Seth nodded. “I’d hate to lose Miley. I like working with her, and Damon’s been good for her, but I don’t know that I’d fit in down there. I like it here in Chicago. If Fitz says go, I’ll go, but it wouldn’t be my choice.”
“This is all too annoying. What do you say I take you out for a steak dinner somewhere expensive. We can order a great bottle of wine…”
“Call it bourbon, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
“Samantha’s on a book tour. I’ll call King and he can meet us.”
“Sounds good.”
A few moments later they were headed down to the lobby. Once the elevator doors opened, Brock’s eyes locked on hers like a missile locking on its target. It was always like this when he saw her. It was as if everything else somehow melted away and only she was left standing. Brock snorted and shook his head. This was all getting a bit much. She had no interest in the lifestyle; besides, getting involved with an employee who was as vanilla as they came was a disaster in the making.
“Alicia, what are you still doing here?” asked Seth.
“Getting the debriefing reports organized and sorted so I can send them to Sully. He needs to have them in the morning. If I wait until tomorrow morning, Chicago time, it’ll be afternoon London time. I don’t want to hold him up.”
“Everybody was supposed to have their monthlies in by noon today so you wouldn’t get stuck working late,” said Seth. “Who was late?”
