I didn’t need to be told twice. Bloom pointed me in thedirection of dishes and silverware, and I loaded up my plate. I’d need some carbs before my long run, assuming that was coming, but starting the day with a hearty pile of protein would replenish me after last night.
“So, Pasco’s here?” I asked as I poured a cup of coffee from the nearly full carafe. “I’m looking forward to meeting him in person.”
“Then it’s your lucky day.”
I turned around to see a guy with dark hair, a full beard, and a wide grin join us. I set down my coffee mug to shake hands with him.
“Jack Pasco,” he said.
“Ben Hayes. I owe you a lot of favors for your help over the past couple of days.”
Pasco poured a cup of coffee, and we sat at the table, me near Bloom and him near Wheeler.
“Just doing my job.” He took a sip from his mug. “Plus, I’m always happy to help Li.”
He was referring to my sister, who used Li, her middle name, as her surname because, in military circles, the Hayes name came with baggage and expectations. I hadn’t been smart enough to do that, and although Dad was a big deal in the Navy and not the Army, every now and then, someone connected the dots.
I glanced around the table. “Have all of you worked in the field with Mai?” I didn’t know yet what ‘the field’ meant in the context of HEAT, but there weren’t that many options, given they were a covert agency aligned somewhere between the FBI and NSA.
“She was part of the team that recruited me to HEAT,” Pasco said.
I wondered if his recruitment had been coerced, like mine had. I didn’t like to think of my sister as being capable of something like X had pulled on me. Then again, if my read onHEAT was correct, X pulled all the strings so everything led back to her.
“I worked with Li and her partner, Kessler, a couple of times,” Bloom said. “They’re pretty much the dynamic duo of tactical teams here.”
I’d met Cynthia Kessler a few times since she and Mai had started working together under the guise of providing private security for Wilder Enterprises, which made high-end athleisure wear and protective clothing for the military, and was expanding into other market spaces. Mai was dating Chase Wilder, and Cynthia was dating his brother, Derek. The relationships were real, but I’d never for one minute believed the two of them were dating their bosses. The military contracts of Wilder Enterprises must have been what made the company a good cover for covert work.
“Wait,” I said, as a new possibility occurred to me, “the Wilder brothers. Are they—”
“Chase has never been an operative,” Pasco said. “Derek was. It’s my understanding that he was one of the best.”
I’d met the guy once. He was intense, brooding, and probably intimidating to people who weren’t used to working with balls-to-the-wall types. “If he’s so good, why did he leave?”
It wasn’t an asshole question. I was genuinely curious. There were those who wondered the same thing about me leaving the Rangers.
Pasco sighed and laid a hand over his heart. “L’affaire de coeur.”
“HEAT’s like the Army in that way,” Bloom said. “No fraternizing.”
“He left so she could stay?” I wouldn’t have expected that from Mr. Intensity. Then again, I hadn’t expected most of the things I’d seen, learned, and agreed to over the past couple of days.
“There is one notable exception,” Bloom said. “But theunspoken rule is we don’t mention it. HEAT’s lead IT guy, Jensen, and Sparks, one of the loggies who was on Alpha team with him.”
“Fucking Jensen.” Pasco grinned as he said it, so I suspected it was a term of affection and not bad blood. “Rules don’t seem to apply to him.”
I glanced at Wheeler. That’s what bothered me about him. I’d met enough knuckleheads like him to know they thought rules and regs were for the other guys.
“Jensen’s the second-best white-hat hacker in the world,” Pasco said.
“Let me guess,” I said, “you’rethebest.”
“It depends who you ask,” Pasco said, “but since you’re asking me, yeah.”
“What else are you authorized to tell me without leadership here?” I asked.
“And outside the SCIF?” Bloom said, referring to designated and regulated spaces where classified information could be shared. He pushed away from the table and walked to one wall of the kitchen that was done in chalk paint.
He wrote across the top and circled SSC and President, then wroteXunderneath them. Based on what I’d seen and heard last night and my familiarity with how secret ops work, I took SSC to mean secret senate subcommittee. Bloom drew lines from X to the bubbles, indicating that X reported straight to the most powerful civilians in the country. That explained her arrogance.
