“He couldn’t.” Ryker shook his head. “Not without help.”
Grant’s hard stare met Ryker’s. “You’re talking about one of your men.”
“Not mine, but someone within the agency, yes.” The Homeland agent exhaled loudly. “Unfortunately, it’s the only explanation.”
“So, what now?” Trace asked.
“I’m leaving shortly to have a chat with Karim, as well as the staff at the building where he’s being held. I’m going to see if I can get one of them to give up the traitor. I know it’s not much, but at least we have Cook’s name to go off of, now.”
“A name doesn’t help us find my sister,” Coop shot off.
“Not true.” Ryker shook his head. “We know Thomas Cook is connected to Karim, which means Sadiq Khaled is also either working for or with Karim. We find out howthosetwo got connected, it may lead us to a location.”
“Ryker’s right.” Trevor joined in. “I know it isn’t much, but the good news is, they took Emma with them.”
“I’m sorry.” Coop looked at the other man as if he’d lost his damn mind. “That’s good news,how?”
“They took her, rather than kill her.” Trace followed Trevor’s line of thought. Meeting Coop’s gaze, he said, “Trevor’s pointing out that if Cook wanted Emma dead, he would’ve killed her in that bathroom. Instead, he took her with them.”
Piggybacking off of his explanation, Grant muttered, “The real question is why.”
“Khaled want to use her against us.” Trace spoke the words they were all thinking but were too afraid to admit. “He couldn’t kill us, so they’re going to use her to set an example.”
“Ah, god.” Bending over at his waist, Coop put his hands on his knees. The man grew pale as his greatest fears for his sister were realized.
Trace understood how the man felt. The idea that Emma was in that bastard’s hands right now, enduring God knows what...it was all he could do not to howl out in anger and guilt. Fear and heartbreak.
But he couldn’t. Not yet. The walls he’d finally let down—because of Emma—were back and stronger than ever. They had been ever since he’d walked into that bathroom to find the woman he wanted a future with gone.
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Ryker assured them all. “I’ll keep you updated as I find out more. Until then, your job is to keep each other safe.”
The large, open room hidden beneath what appeared to be just another decrepit building on the edge of Dallas became silent as they watched the powerful man leave. Minutes later, Coop broke that silence with his heartbroken acceptance.
“They’re going to kill her.” He looked directly at Trace. The anger from before had been replaced by pure agony. “They’re going to murder my sister.”
“We don’t know that.” Derek did his best to remain positive.
“Coop’s right, D.” Grant looked at the computer genius. “This whole thing is about teaching us a lesson. We ruined Karim’s plans for the future, so he wants to ruin Jake’s, as well.”
“But why use my sister for his fucking revenge?” Coop threw the question out to anyone who would answer. “She wasn’t even part of R.I.S.C. until a few weeks ago.”
“She got in his way.” Trace was the one to answer.
All eyes turned back to him.
“What do you mean?” Coop scowled.
“Emma said Branson insisted on giving the package containing the bomb directly to Jake. She refused. My guess is, Branson had to explain to Khaled why Jake survived the bombing. Guy like that wouldn’t hesitate to throw an innocent woman under the bus to save his own ass.”
“How’d that work out for the fucknut?” Derek mused sarcastically.
“So what are you saying?” Coop ignored D’s comment and kept his stare on Trace’s. “This was supposed to only be about Jake?”
“I think so, yeah.” Trace nodded. “At first, anyway. I think their intention was to kill Jake and be done with it. But when Emma put the package on Jake’s desk instead of letting Branson give it to him personally, Jake survived.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Trevor looked at the group. “Sadiq Khaled finds out McQueen didn’t die in the explosion. He knows he can’t get to him because there are too many eyes at the hospital, so he decides to go after all of us, instead.”
“Take away Jake’s own team”—Grant followed their train of thought—“the result is still the same. If R.I.S.C. becomes known as a vulnerable organization that can’t even protect its own home, the business would be ruined.”