Page 59 of Brooks

“And weapons?” Thad inquired.

“I should be getting a text any minute if I haven’t already with a nearby location where someone will supply me with what I need.”

“Did he tell you that?” Declan questioned.

“No. Standard operating procedure. I can’t have a weapons cache when I’m supposed to be working for the UN or relief organizations. There’s always someone who provides me with anything I need.”

“Does this happen often, getting a kill order in the middle of a mission?” Dec continued.

“Not often. But it’s happened a few times.”

I had to admit I didn’t like the mission shift with an order to kill a woman we’d just finished surveilling. The calls to Tatiana started before Declan had called in what we saw to Zane. So how would Leon Brown, who was presumably in the United States, know we’d had Sefa in our sights earlier in the night?

I looked around at my team and they, too, were all trying to puzzle out why the kill order had come in at that moment in time if there had never been any mention of her being a target before. Maybe it was something as innocent as Leon finding new intel on the woman and deeming her a high threat. But that didn’t explain why he wanted Tatiana to go in alone.

“Are there any issues between Leon Brown and Zane?” I asked Declan.

“Not that Z said.”

“Zane told me working for him was a better option than working for The Company,” Tatiana added. “But he didn’t elaborate. He also said he didn’t have as much intel on them as he’d like.”

Declan pulled out his cell and dialed, putting it on speaker. It took four rings before Zane answered, “Yeah.”

“Is there an issue between you and Leon Brown we should know about?”

Zane’s laughter filled the room. “Wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve pissed off a lot of people. Why?”

“He sent Tatiana on a mission. Need to know, with us in the dark.”

“What kind of mission?” Zane’s tone had changed from humorous to deadly.

Tatiana spoke up, filling Zane in on what Leon had told her. Once she was done, he remained quiet for a moment. When he finally spoke again you could feel his anger rolling off in waves, over the phone, and thousands of miles away, it didn’t matter. When Zane Lewis was pissed the world knew it.

“The Company is a division of the CIA. Their latest and greatest attempt at complete anonymity. When I say complete, I mean, complete. Off the books and black ops. No records are kept. None. Only verbal communication between the handlers and their operatives. Handlers verbally report in to one man. No paper trail whatsoever.”

“If there’s no electronic footprint, how’d you find it?” Thad asked.

“I have my sources. Take the mission. If Leon is keeping tabs, he needs to think you’ll still follow his orders. I need a few hours to figure out what game Leon is playing.”

“Take the mission?” Tatiana questioned. “We don’t have all the intel. We were going to wait.”

“Brooks, take her back. You’re a shadow. I don’t want you seen unless shit goes sideways. This could also be a trap. Get Tatiana separated from the team so he can take her out. Be ready for anything. I don’t trust a goddamn thing the CIA does.”

“I want to be clear, Zane,” Tatiana said. “Are you telling me to execute the order?”

“No. I want you to accept the mission. Pick up your weapon. Go to the location and wait. Garrett is almost done. What he’s finding doesn’t look good for Sefa Nazari, however it doesn’t amount to a death sentence. Unless Tex comes up with something more, you’ll report back to Leon and explain why you failed.”

“But I’ve never failed,” Tatiana complained.

She was cute when she grumbled about having to report an unsuccessful mission.

“I think your stats will survive,” Zane joked. “Twenty-and-oh is nothing to sneeze at.”

“Twenty confirmed?” Kyle asked, his voice laced with respect.

With a nod she verified his question. Nothing about her posture indicated she was proud of the number of assassinations she’d carried out or the fact that she’d executed his orders without fail. Another bit of information slid into place and I was beginning to understand her a little more.

“Goddamn. Thought you said this type of thing doesn’t happen often,” Kyle continued.