“I got extra,” Sin protested.
“Because you’re so damn hungry?” Dakota asked with a smile.
“Exactly,” Sin replied. “I love thateventuallyyou catch on.”
After filling their plates, they made their way to the conference room. As everyone sat around the table, Caroline was surprised no one sat at either end.
Addison pulled out a chair. “For you,” she said to Caroline who eased down next to her.
They were quiet for a few while they dug in, and Caroline appreciated the brief respite. She was thrilled to have been hand-selected, eager to learn what the mission was, and still trying to take in everything she was learning.
“A few months ago,” Dakota began, “we discovered that a group within the Haqazzii terror cell had infiltrated the country.”
As he and Sin explained the situation, her guts knotted, and she stopped eating. It was a stunning revelation to hear that these men had gotten in unchecked and had been living in the country for months.
“Where are they now?” Caroline asked.
“We don’t know,” Addison said. “We’ve got a small team at ALPHA doing research. We’ve also got some great hackers trying to figure it out, but the terrorists changed their aliases after they got here.”
“What we do know,” Sin said, “is that they’re here to blow up eight critical locations on May thirty-first.”
“They’re calling it the Day of Destruction,” Addison added.
Dakota opened a tourist map of DC and laid it on the conference table in front of her. She moved her plate out of the way and eyed the circled buildings.
The White House, the Justice Department, the FBI, the State Department, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Capitol. There were two Virginia targets off-map that were indicated with an arrow. The Pentagon and the CIA.
“How are they going to breech these buildings to blow them up?” Caroline asked. While she was no explosives expert, she was confident they couldn’t waltz into the building with home-made bombs.
“That’s what you and your partner—along with the team—have to figure out,” Dakota replied.
“And stop it by the end of May,” Hawk added.
No pressure there.
Caroline shook her head. “That’s less than two months away.”
Dakota tapped the remote and a screen lowered on the far wall. He got busy on his laptop. Seconds later, several mugshots filled the screen.
“We know of these international criminals,” Sin said, “but there could be more.”
“How many agencies are involved?” Caroline asked.
“Just BLACK OPS,” Dakota answered. “We need to keep this tight. If the press gets word, it’ll create a national panic?—”
“That will have a global reach,” Sin added.
“Not to mention all the amateur sleuths who’ll want to get involved,” Addison added.
“In other words,” Hawk said, “it’s a cluster fuck that you’ve been brought in to stop.”
As she regarded each of the people around the table, asense of confidence filled her soul. She knew this terror cell well, maybe better than anyone.
Almost anyone.
The conference room door opened. Backlit by the hallway light, Grey Stone loomed large in the doorway.
Ohmygod.
Her breath caught in her throat, adrenaline shot through her, and she gave him a once-over… more than once.
“Speak of the devil,” Sin said. “Welcome to the show, Greystone.”