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“You know Derek and Chase will do it,” Kessler said. “I’ll call Derek after our meeting. I’m sure they’ll be on a plane this afternoon and in the building by this evening.”
TJ nodded and Jensen typed up the notes into a blank slide.
“I have two buddies I can call,” Penn said.
“And there’s Evan,” Dr. Bond said. “Chicago PD owes him some vacation time, and his captain will be happy to get him out of her hair for a while.” She glanced at me. “My significant other, a former Army Ranger.”
I was feeling safer already as the team expanded before my eyes.
“We’ll have plenty of tech backup,” Jensen volunteered.
TJ frowned. “I want you to be very careful where you let your hacker friends wander around in our systems.”
Jensen grinned. “Don’t worry, Boss, they’re all cleared. Two from NSA and one from CIA. They’d love to get their hands on some of the stuff we do. They’d probably pay me.” TJ raised his eyebrow, and Jensen added, “Of course, I wouldn’t charge them.”
As they talked, I could see their ease with each other and their excitement for embarking on a new mission together. If they were fazed by X’s somber mood and TJ’s warning of their potential career suicide, they were hiding it well.
“On to the timeline,” TJ said five minutes later. “Ashlee, how long will it take to turn your notes and that recording into a story?”
I silently ran rough calculations. I already had bits and pieces written, some in my head and some in the files on the secret server Jensen had hacked. I’d need to get my hands on Aiden’s notes, which were secured in a bank box under the name of his husband’s sister. After I’d pulled together the entire story, I would send it to Jayna, who would give it to the copy editors and the fact-checkers. I’d need to reach out to sources and suspects alike for comments. The Sentinel’s lawyers would have to give their blessing.
“Going full tilt, I’d say a week,” I answered.
“That won’t work.” TJ leaned forward with his palms on the conference table. “Unless anyone has an idea for derailing the subcommittee’s emergency Monday-night meeting to vote on defunding HEAT, at which point we’ll lose access to everything from the secure networks to the tranq guns.”
“They wouldn’t still do that after seeing Kovac and the first chunk of the Carbonados go down, would they?” I asked.
“They would, and they will, with Calder leading the charge,” Alder said. “He’s already reaching out to his allies on the committee, and his aides are working their counterparts on the other members’ staffs.”
TJ crossed his arms over his chest. “And we know that how?”
“Do we have to say it out loud?” Jensen asked. “I mean, we can stop if you tell us to, Boss.”
“No,” TJ answered. “If we’re going rogue, we’ll go rogue all the way. Keep up the wiretaps on the senator and his staff, but cover your tracks.” He looked around the conference table. “Any ideas?”
“Two days,” I said before I had enough time to think about it and convince myself it was impossible, which it probably was. “There’s a way I can have the story written, edited, fact-checked, and posted online and out on the news wires by Monday afternoon.” I thought about this team pulling together in this dark hour, pooling their resources, and sharing the burden of the task ahead of them. I’d had that once with Aiden and the small staff we often brought together to break big stories. I’d missed it. “I need a team of my own.”
Kessler leaned forward. “Meaning?”
“Meaning I’ll need to ask my editor to call in the best writers, copy editors, and fact-checkers we have, and put the lawyers on standby.” I braced myself for the next request because I knew it would invite the most pushback. “And I’ll have to go there this afternoon, to The Sentinel offices, and stay there around the clock until we hit publish.”
TJ started to speak, but Penn cleared his throat, interrupting him. “Boss, if that’s what she needs, we can escort her there and watch her and the building for as long as it takes.”
“I’d be amenable to that,” TJ said.
“Not so fast,” I said, knowing I was making it harder for them to do their jobs, but Penn’s plan was a deal breaker. “Watch the building if you must. But watch me and my fellow journalists while we work? That’s a hard no. For the next fifty-plus hours, you’re all still government employees. You can’t sit in our newsroom with weapons and surveillance equipment. That’s not how the fourth estate works.”
TJ held my gaze so long, I desperately wanted to look away, but I sensed that would be a concession I couldn’t afford to make. Seconds stretched into a minute while everyone remained silent, waiting for their leader to make the decision.
“Fine,” he finally said so quietly, it was barely above a breath. “Crews, work on your detailed plans. Meet back here in one hour. Jensen, get a secure line set up with the editor. We’ll reach out to her in a few minutes.”
Everyone stood to leave except TJ, me, and Jensen, who picked up one of the cleared cell phones from a desk on the side of the room.
“Set it up from the IT room,” TJ told him.
Jensen looked between TJ and me, nodded, and followed his colleagues out of the SCIF. I stood to leave, as well, but TJ laid his hand on mine.
“We need a minute,” he said.
