Page 47 of Jack

Chapter Nineteen

Jack didn’t wantto let Astrid’s hand go as he walked into their base of operations at the hotel and saw his men turn to look at them. After what she’d told him and what they’d just shared, he was undoubtedly halfway in love with her already, if not all the way there.

They walked straight to Lopez, who was working on his laptop, which was attached to multiple screens. “What we got, Lopez?”

He glanced up and looked at Astrid as if seeing her for the first time before pulling his gaze away with a frown. “Not a lot. We lost Adeline when she hit the dock area, and I haven’t been able to pick her up since. I’m running facial to see if I can find her, but I suspect if she’s stayed hidden for so long, then the chances are we won’t find her.”

Jack agreed. Adeline hadn’t been there by accident. She’d come with the sole purpose of seeing and being seen but what was her game? He held up his hand and beckoned his team closer.

“We need to brainstorm this and figure out how it’s all linked, and I know it is somehow.” He sat in a chair and Astrid sat beside him, her thigh touching his as he let go of her hand to take the coffee Alex handed them both.

“Thanks, Alex.”

Jack watched Astrid smile at his second and couldn’t help the feeling that everything would be okay as long as he had her with him. She had, in a very short period of time, become everything to him. The thought should scare him, but it didn’t in the least. Maybe it was because she knew his secrets and the strain of the job and understood them or perhaps it was that he’d finally met the one everybody talked about.

“You want me to dial Will in on this?” Lopez asked.

Jack shook his head. “No, let him sleep. The Queen is secure with Mitch and Reid watching her and Fortis will need to remain sharp tonight with everything going on. We know that was Adeline at the school, but we need to know why she was there and how she links to Ravelino and Frederick.”

He glanced at Astrid, looking for any sign of pain and found none, just focus. After what she’d told him about her ex-boyfriend and what he’d done, he’d rather cut off his arm than hurt her. He’d meant what he’d said though. When he’d finished with Frederick, he was tracking that fucker down and putting a bullet in his head. Vermin like that didn’t deserve to live, and he had no problem with pest control.

“The Ravelino link is me and the picture I found in Juan’s room.”

All eyes turned to Astrid.

Jack cocked his head. “You think this all goes back to that first mission?”

“Yes, it has to. I was looking for my sister, and Iago and his men show up, then my sister makes an appearance.”

“That makes sense.”

Alex sipped his espresso as he nodded his agreement. “What about Frederick though? He links to the Ravelino cartel but how does he know about your sister?”

Astrid got up and began to pace as she bit on her thumbnail, before spinning to face them. “What if he has no idea about Adeline?”

Liam crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the desk. “I don’t follow.”

“Okay, let me show you.” Astrid grabbed a black marker and went to the whiteboard they used for formation planning. Flipping to a clean page, she wrote down Ravelino, Frederick, and Adeline at the top and then her name, CIA, and Eidolon at the bottom.

“Okay, so Frederick links to you and Ravelino.” She drew in the lines as she spoke. “I link to Ravelino, you, the CIA, and Adeline. Adeline links to me, Ravelino, and the CIA.” She kept drawing until it was a tangled web and he was frowning, a headache forming in the back of his eyes at the thought of his father.

“I think Frederick went to Ravelino purely because he found a link to me and my failed mission. By attacking me, he destabilises you.”

Gunner smoothed a hand over his long hair, his hatred for Frederick almost as strong as Jack’s over what he’d done to him. “So, you don’t think he knows about Adeline?”

“No.”

“That makes sense. He never mentioned any ties to the CIA or the cartel, and I’m sure he would’ve utilised both before now if he had them.”

“So, Frederick alerted the cartel to where we were in the hope they would attack Astrid and force us onto the back foot?” Jack was catching up to her thought process now.

She beamed at him. “Yes.”

“Okay, I get that but why would that force Adeline out of hiding and what does she want?”

“That I don’t know yet. I do know she wanted me to see her but not be able to follow her, which was why she picked that place and time.”

Jack glanced at Alex. “Have Shadow find out from Iago if this lines up. I want to know how he found Astrid and what he knows.”