Page 19 of Nightstalker

He was always the one that talked things out with me. When we were in the planning stages of an op Drew and I would bounce ideas around while the others watched in amusement. It worked, we worked.

“Three out of the four men are dead. He would seek out family. How would you seek out someone with a military background and a CIA operative?” I asked.

“You hire a hacker,” Zane supplied the answer.

“Deepweb336 was looking for where CIA operatives were undercover. Neither of us were undercover at the time of the hack nor are we still in the CIA database.” I was still missing something.

“Deepweb336 was specifically looking for Ghost, however he was told to get the entire file to throw off the investigation sending us scrambling to protect hundreds of operatives,” the President explained.

“Lincoln, why would Sonreír want to find Lincoln?” Leo asked.

“He was the pawn,” the President answered.

“How so?” Leo continued.

“Lincoln was the easiest way to get to Zane. Zane would do anything to save his brother’s life,” I said out loud as I still was trying to puzzle together the last pieces, “Who left Lincoln and Z’s mother’s name in the file for me to find?”

“An analyst was paid off. Timothy Clark,” the President answered.

What in the fuck was going on here? Who the hell were all these fucking people!

“Before you ask, Jasmin, Clark was paid off to leave that name in hopes you would put two and two together that Zane had a brother he was lying about. If there could be a rift between you and Zane, you would be easier to get to, making you a pawn to get to me,” my uncle was matter of fact in his explanation.

“Well Fuck me, Zane and Lincoln brothers,” Jax shook his head.

“What else don’t we know?” Colin sneered.

Yup, the team was getting pissed. They were lied to as well. Shit and Damn! This is going to get ugly fast. The whole room needed to separate.

“Can we please break for dinner or lunch or what the fuck ever as long as you all find a room that is not here to cool off? I just found out I have a kick ass house. I would prefer no one else break shit.” I tried to interject some humor in my request but the truth was I felt more like vomiting then laughing.

“Yup.” that’s all the response I got from the guys as they all walked in different directions.

“I’d like to see a picture if you don’t mind, Mr. President,” I asked.

“Jasmin, please call me Tom. I am your uncle for God sakes,” he answered.

Yeah, that was not happening just yet. I just found out that not only do I have an uncle, but he was the President of the United States. And he had kept himself hidden from me for the last twenty eight years.

“I hope you understand that it might take some time.”

“Of course, follow me upstairs.” He turned to Gerard before we walked away. “Will you please see if the staff has left food as instructed?”

“Yes, sir.”

I followed the President, my uncle, up the staircase. “I was at your inauguration. I got called in last minute as a replacement for a secret service agent.”

“Yes, you were. I could not let that day pass without my niece at my side, even if you didn’t know,” he replied.

“Thank you for that.”

We stepped into the master suite. My eyes widened. I looked all around the room, taking it all in. It was lovely. Done in soft greys and pale yellows, a huge four poster bed sat in the middle of the room with floor to ceiling windows at the foot of the bed. You could lie in bed and have a perfect, unobstructed view of the bay. The bureau had framed photographs atop it. I walked over to get a better look. My heart was pounding in my chest as I picked up a photograph of a man and a woman holding a baby girl. Tears streamed down my face as I saw my parents for the first time. All these years I used all the resources I had to try and find a single image of my parents. All the while there was a treasure trove of memories less than fifty miles from where I lived.

I clutched the framed photograph against my chest, hugging the parents I did not remember, mourning their death for the first time.

“Thank you, for them,” I cried.

Chapter Ten