Page 51 of Nightstalker

“Can I get you anything, Mrs. Parker?”

My heart dropped. I remembered the day my little five foot nothing spitfire of an aunt ripped the staff a new ass for calling me ‘Ms. Smith’. She promptly told everyone I was Mrs. Parker. If I wasn’t so fucked at the moment I would have busted out laughing. I quickly fell in love with that woman. I would be in a strait jacket by now if it was not for her.

“Just a cup of coffee, please, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“No ma’am, I have some ready. I hope you don’t mind hazelnut flavor. I wasn’t expecting anyone down for another hour.”

“That sounds perfect, if you hand me a mug I can pour my own. If you’d like some peace before everyone shows up I can take it and leave.”

“Here.” He handed me the mug and pointed towards the coffee pot. Thank Christ the coffee was already made. That thing had more freaking buttons and doohickeys on it then the damn space shuttle.

“Please have a seat and keep me company. Would you like some fruit?” He pushed a plate of cut up fruit to the middle of the table and went back to chopping. I was in a trance watching his knife make quick work of a mango.

“Holy cow, you are fast. Thank you for the coffee by the way.”

“Happy to dazzle you with my culinary skills; they go so unappreciated these days.”

I let out a laugh and then quickly covered my mouth. What was I doing laughing? I lost my husband five days ago. I had no business laughing.

Linc hated me when he left the cabin; he looked at me like he didn’t want to even know me. I had lost him even before his death. That was the absolute worst part. Knowing he left without me telling him how much I loved him, how I wanted to have all those babies with him. I had royally fucked up and I had no one to blame but myself. I knew I would regret that for the rest of my life.

“May I be frank?” the chef asked. That was an odd question. I gave him a nod, afraid of what my voice might sound like if I spoke. “I lost my wife of thirty years a few years back. I want to tell you that I know your heartache and I am truly sorry. One day you will understand it is okay to laugh again. Do not be so hard on yourself in the meantime.”

I would not cry. I would not cry in front of this man. The fuck I wouldn’t. The tears came. It took a few moments before I could speak again, “Thank you for that. My family thinks we should have a memorial service. We do not have a body to bury.” I sucked in a breath. If I was going to tell anyone, a stranger was best. My team already thought I had gone off the deep end. “It doesn’t feel right. Something in my gut is telling me that…” I trailed off not knowing how to put my feelings into words. I already sounded crazy enough.

“What is your gut telling you, darling?” He gentled his voice and his eyes were full of understanding.

“I just don’t know how to explain it. Maybe I cannot accept he is dead. Maybe I am just crazy, but deep in my gut something tells me this is all wrong. I need answers first.”

There I said it. Now he could tell my uncle I needed to be committed to the loony bin.

“Then find the answers.”

“What?”

“Mrs. Parker, if your intuition is telling you that something is wrong, then do not ignore it. Get the answers you need. They may not be the answers you dream to have, but you need them nonetheless.”

I drank my coffee and thought about what he said. He was right, just like Drew had done, this man had given me the words I needed to hear to get my ass back on straight.

“You’re right. Thank you. If you don’t mind, I am going to take my coffee and get to work.”

“Good day, young lady.”

The team was staying at the White House. Oddly enough I was staying in the ‘Lincoln bedroom’. Yes, there is indeed a bedroom named the Lincoln in the private living quarters. It was beautiful and it was kind of my uncle to allow us time here, but I wanted to go home to my town house and be around my things. Zane wanted me here, protected, until we had a lead on the mole in the CIA. And if I was here, my team was here. They all had my back and refused to leave me even after I begged them to. Even Drew stayed. I talked to Julie and she threatened to slash the tires on my bike if I even mentioned Drew going home to her. For a small little subbie thing she sure was scary. I had no doubt she would make good on her threat.

I made my way through the central hall way towards the Treaty room. My uncle was allowing us to use his private study as an office.

I sat at the desk with a blank piece of paper in front of me, tapping my pen against the desk. What do we know? Sonreír hired Deepweb336 to hack the CIA records. Deepweb’s brother Timothy Clark was paid to reinsert redacted information into a report for me to find. Why would Deepweb hack the data base if his brother was on the inside and on the take? Who actually ordered the information to be recovered and Deepweb to be taken out? The more I thought about what I knew, the more questions I had. My phone vibrated on the desk. I slid the lock open and entered my code.

G2579: The information you have requested has been sent to your tablet. Password of the day will open.

Garrett had finally texted me back. Thank fuck. I was going crazy needing answers. I picked up my tablet and opened the file. Shit and Damn, two hundred and thirty pages. It bit my ass having to ask for help but it would go so much faster if I could get the team to help filter all this intel.

I was just about to text Zane when my phone vibrated again. The caller ID read BLACK.

“Black, everyone ok?” I glanced at the clock, 6:05 AM in DC meant it was 3:05 AM in California. Zane walked in the door, obviously surprised to see me already working. I motioned for him to shut the door. “I am putting you on speaker. Viper is in the room with me. We are private otherwise.”

“Viper. Nightstalker, we did some recon of the explosion sight like you asked. Ghost was right. There are tunnels under the house.” I looked up at Zane. He started clinching his jaw when he heard his brother’s call sign. OH SHIT! Black continued, “I will send you the map I drew while we were down there. The tunnel collapsed four hundred and ten yards south of the compound. Coordinates will be with the map.” Black stopped and took a breath. “Jasmin, you and I go way back, I do not want to give you false hope. There was blood in the tunnel; we swabbed it for a DNA match. Ghost’s record was wiped clean so it might take some time…”