CHAPTER 5
Timber Ridge, Colorado – Safe House
Thursday – 1700 Hours
Code Name: Raven
The slight vibration from the aircraft eased her nerves. As she peered out the window, the blue sky greeted her. Heights had never been a problem for Jade. Open spaces and nighttime—that was another story. Flying among the clouds gave her a peace she longed for on the ground. One of her foster fathers during her early years had loved to fly and had tried to pass on the excitement to her. But the loss of her mother at such a young age had turned her life upside down and sideways, trading a carefree childhood for fear.
“We’ll be landing soon.” Liam’s deep timbre jerked her from her musing.
“What are the plans? Dax said a safe house. I assume we’re going straight there.”
Liam nodded. “A friend’s ranch near Timber Ridge, Colorado. A small town west of Colorado Springs. We’ve used the place before. He has secure computers waiting for us. Gutreaction, our mission to find the contractor’s daughter and your abduction are tied together. Some way, somehow. You and Rafe can start combing through emails, mission logs, and buried reports. See if you can find evidence.”
Relieved she’d have work to focus on instead of her fears, she puffed out a breath. “Good. Because whoever knew where I’d be… they didn’t guess. They had access to my schedule. But I don’t know how. Like I said before, I only told one person where I was going.”
“Which is why I want to read those threat emails you told us about. See if whoever sent those is linked to what happened in the jungle.”
Rafe folded his arms in the seat across from Liam. “Once we figure out who’s responsible for hurting you, I want to dig into those black-market GPS codes Echo got tangled in.”
Jade’s stomach tightened. “I should have pushed harder on that.”
“No. That wasn’t your fault. You tried to inform the higher-ups.” Dax’s eyes widened. “Wait. A connection to Echo Team? Am I the only slow one here?”
“Yes.” “Bro, you just now figuring that out?” “Duh.” The men commented on top of each other.
Jade laughed at the team’s banter. She missed having these guys in her ear.
“Oh, stuff it.” Dax shook his head. “The contractor’s daughter. Were we ever told which contractor?”
Liam’s brow furrowed, and he scratched the scruff on his jaw. “No. Special Agent Scott said he received a request from up the chain that a defense contractor’s daughter was in trouble and hired us to go retrieve her.” He used air quotes around the word retrieve.
“Could it be a reference to the same contractor involved with Echo Team?” Dax asked.
The cabin got quiet. The hum of the engines was the only sound that broke the silence.
Jade mulled over the information. “When Scott asked you to find the woman, how did you know who to search for?”
“Agent Scott sent me a photo and the location of Bahía Sombra, Mexico.”
“What did this woman look like?” Jade flipped through her memory like an old Rolodex. Even with her vast knowledge of defense contractors, the sheer number of people precluded her from narrowing down the possibilities.
Liam pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He tapped through what she assumed were photos. “Here. This is the lady we were sent to find.” Before he turned his phone to show her, he stared at the image.
“Liam?”
“Sorry. It didn’t dawn on me with all the crazy of your rescue, but she looksa lotlike you.” He handed her the phone.
She studied the picture. “If you could see me under all this dirt, this woman could be my twin.”
“We’d never met in person, so had no idea of the similarities.” Liam shook his head.
Dax took the phone. His gaze bounced between the screen and her and scowled. “Liam, this woman doesn’t just look like Raven. It is Raven. We were sent to find her.”
Liam grabbed his phone back and stared at it. “So, we were supposed to discover her location? To what end?”
“And let’s not forget that they called us off after we changed our search to the jungle.”
