Page 70 of Fighting Salvation

Val could see how worried they were about Lotus by the fact they were calling her Naz, short for Nazareli, her real name.

“She has a lot of her uncle in her.” Her smile was half-hearted but she could see it now, how much like Bás Novem was.

“Okay, enough. We need a plan.”

Jack walked up to them, his whole body alert and in command. “I have something.”

“Tell me,” Duchess ordered and Val was relieved to see she’d snapped out of her funk and was taking control again.

Jack rubbed his chin and looked away before placing his hands on his hips. He focused on her when he lifted his head. “Look, I knew Bás was planning to go with Hansen if it came down to saving himself or Watchdog.”

“What the fuck?” Duchess got up in Jack’s face, her anger flashing from her eyes.

Val reached for her, placing a hand on her arm as the two leaders faced off. Jack didn’t back down but neither did Duchess, lifting her chin and palming her hips.

“Listen, Duchess, I know I should have told you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react. So I made a call based on what I knew.”

“Not your call to make, Jack. This is my team, not yours, and I deserved more respect than that. You either trust me to run this team in Bás’ absence or you can have my resignation right now.”

Val glanced at Hurricane, and he raised his brows and she realised the entire room was silent and shamelessly listening to the exchange. Nobody crossed Jack Granger. He was fierce but he was also fair. She trusted that he’d see this for what it was, a woman fighting for her people.

“I know, and I’m sorry.” A murmur filtered throughout the room. “I do trust you and I was out of line. I’ll step back and let you run this.”

Duchess dropped her head and sighed, the anger seeping out of her like a popped balloon. “Jack, I want your support but I know this team and it’s my responsibility. So, what do you know?”

Jack nodded and Val’s respect for him grew even more.

“Having spoken to Bás, and knowing what he’d planned, I planted this on him.”

He held up something so small she had to step forward to see it. The team crowded around him and he showed them his finger, which held a clear disc on the end.

“What is it?”

“It’s a tracker Will invented. Don’t ask me how it works, for God’s sake, but he tells me it won’t be picked up by a scanner.”

Val felt her eyebrows hit her hairline. “You know where he is?”

Jack nodded and moved to his laptop and opened it. Will and Lopez were on a split screen.

“Will, share your screen please.”

“Yes, boss.”

Jack rolled his eyes but Will did as he said.

Duchess leaned in and Val peered over her shoulder, seeing a dot in the middle of what looked like a huge compound.

“What the hell is that?” Bein folded his arms and the tension was pouring off him as he glanced at Reaper, who’d been silent the whole time.

“That’s Neufolk Island. It’s nestled between Marion Island and Prince Edward Island. Until now it was thought to be uninhabited but if you look here, you can see that’s not the case. Marion Island is the closest and is only accessed by research vessels.”

Reaper glanced at Duchess, a worried look on his face. “So it will be heavily fortified and an absolute nightmare to breach.”

“Are we one hundred percent sure he’s there?” Val asked, wanting certainty when there was none.

Reaper winked at her and she forced a smile as she looked back to Lopez and Will. The truth was, she trusted these men but she’d feel a lot happier if it was Watchdog on the other side of that screen.

“We’re as sure as we can be.” Will clicked some buttons and brought up a second image. “I managed to get into the satellite and these images are from six hours ago.”