Tank’s phone rang. He answered. “Hey, Cooper, what’s the word?”
“I’m pulling into the neighborhood. Am I first on scene?”
“Yeah,” Tank replied.
“Good. I want you two gone before they show. We’re still chasing The Day of Destruction and we gotta keep a tight lid on it.”
She and Tank made their way toward his SUV.
“Once we make contact with Cooper, we’re out,” Tank said.
Shortly after, Tank and Cooper were shaking hands. Cooper Grant was tall with short blond hair and a warm smile.
After Tank did the introductions, Cooper said, “Excellent work, Sydney.”
She’d done her job, completed the mission, but nothing about it felt excellent. She’d found King A and eliminated the threat, but it didn’t feel like a win. Never did she imagine he’d be family.
Her stomach roiled.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Cooper continued. “We’ve got a number of quality resources if you experience PTSD or just need to talk it out. Have you been to our office in Tysons?”
“No,” Sydney replied.
“Tank, bring Sydney by anytime,” Cooper said before regarding her. “Don’t shoulder this alone. Understood?”
She extended her hand. “Thank you for being so supportive. Much appreciated.”
Cooper eyed the laptops. “I see you got yourself some souvenirs.”
Tank cracked a smile. “Once I review the torture tape, the laptop’s yours. I think this other one will crack The D of D case wide open.”
Cooper’s phone rang. “The FBI is almost here.” Before he answered, he said to them, “If you need anything, call or text me.”
As Cooper answered, she and Tank jumped in the SUV and headed out. As they left through the quiet neighborhood, a car whizzed past.
“One mission down,” Tank said. “One to go.”
In the darkened vehicle, he clasped her hand. “I love you Sydney Austin and I respect you so much. You are the real deal, and I’m a damn lucky man.”
A lump formed in her throat, tears pricked her eyes. Fighting against the emotion, she said, “Thank you. I think I’m luckier. I have you, and you, Theodore Santini, are as good as it gets.”
“We did good, didn’t we?”
Despite the heartache, she said, “Yeah, we did damn good.”
TEDDY
Back at the Black Site,energy pumped through Teddy. He was one step closer to stopping The Day of Destruction, one step closer to taking down Haqazzii. While he had no proof that Bjorn ShariffwasMuhammad Haqazzii, he had to follow the breadcrumbs.
“C’mon, give me something,” he said while working in the conference room.
Teddy was laser-focused on trying to hack into Robby’s laptop. He’d plugged in a propriety software program designed to identify passwords, but that took time. The number of iterations were in the millions, so Teddy had to be patient.
He’d run out of patience weeks ago.
BING!
A text from Tara.
