Page 47

Garrett didn’t respond as he pondered the idea. He’d need some kind of diversion to get into his office to access his computer directly. McHugh was a walking diversion, but he always stayed within sight of his office. Otherwise, it stayed locked and surrounded by people. Garrett saved those thoughts for another time as Riley navigated through the screens until he reached McHugh’s database. The first thing he did was search the files for the word Anaviqa.

This time there were hits. Five of them.

Garrett’s heart rate increased, but he tried not to get his hopes up after what happened with Jay Wilson.

The first document must have come from a lab. It included the chemical breakdown and production process of the drug.

The next file included a collection of accident reports, including the one on Josh’s parents Riley had already discovered. Were more people targeted because of their work with the drug?

“Can you send these to me? Or save them somewhere?” Garrett asked.

Riley leaned forward to dig into a pencil cup on his desk and pulled out an innocuous USB drive. He inserted it into one of the many drives on a tower lit in neon blue.

“I’ll put everything on here for you,” Riley said as he went back to his search results.

The last three files were labeled with a series of numbers and letters. Riley opened the first one, a personnel or recruitment file for someone named Taylor Phillips. The document covered his military status in the Marines as well as a breakdown of his accomplishments and skills. The second file belonged to someone from the Air Force named Thea Durbin.

Riley shot forward. “Shit, Thea? What the hell is she doing on here?” Riley asked.

Garrett’s skin prickled with worry. “Is that Durbin as in Cole Durbin?”

It had to be. She had the same dark hair and ice blue eyes as Cole.

“Yeah. Thea is his older sister. She hasn’t been around in years…” Riley trailed off.

“Okay, check the last file. I need to start researching all this shit and trying to figure out how it’s connected.”

Riley double clicked on the final document and both of them gasped.

Staring at them from Riley’s computer screen was Rafe Hernandez.

16

ONLY TWO HOURS AFTER Garrett left for work, he stormed back into his house, surprising Rafe.

Rafe was relaxing on Garrett’s sofa, dicking around on his laptop and not really getting anything done, when Garrett walked in, a storm cloud practically visible over his head.

“You’re back soon,” Rafe said carefully. “Is everything okay?”

Garrett didn’t answer with words. He stood there quietly, appraising Rafe where he sat.

Not for the first time in his life, Rafe really wished he could read minds.

It took a lifetime for Garrett to move away from the front door, toeing off his shoes and throwing his keys on the hook before walking over to the couch to sit beside Rafe.

He stared off into space for a bit before turning to face Rafe.

“I think we need to shake things up today,” Garrett said.

“Shake things up how?”

Garrett’s eyes peered right through Rafe, making him uneasy.

“I know we talked about this happening at one point, but I think we need to move up the timeline. I need you to infiltrate the department. Find a reason to go in and question people. See who’s lying and who’s not. It would help us narrow down our suspects for this mole. I can only get so far with background checks and analyzing financials. We’re human lie detectors, and I think we should take advantage of that, but everyone there knows me. I need you to do it.”

Rafe considered Garrett’s words, wondering what prompted them.

Garrett was hiding something.