Chapter 5

The room braced.

There was no other way to describe the atmosphere other than tense.

Zane was giving off cataclysmic vibes. Lincoln's energy was only a notch down from that.

"Candy Apples or OPLAN 3033 was an intelligence gathering operation. Find a man who claimed he had information on a coup and if need be, relocate him and his family," Zane launched in.

"When was this?" Cash asked, even though the brief was on the screen.

"Haiti, after the earthquake. Right before the elections."

Without looking at the brief Zane went on by rote, "Earthquake, mismanagement of relief funds, fraud, cholera outbreak. Once again the country that had never been stable was more unstable. The elections were coming up and it was becoming clear Martelly was going to win. Word was there was going to be a revolt. The concern was there would be a replay of the 1991 coup. Intel was making its way back to Washington that this threat was viable. My assignment was to escort a base chief and a CO into Sun City, find the brother-in-law of a gang leader and get him and his family to safety in exchange for information on the coup."

"Who was the base chief?" Jonas asked.

I had a sick feeling we all knew the answer to this question.

"Maddon Judd," Zane confirmed.

"And we just let Nebraska walk out of here when she has confidential material on your op and intel on a BC?" My observation was unnecessary seeing as we'd done just that not even ten minutes ago.

I watched the vessel running up the side of Zane's neck pulse before his eyes cut to Theo.

"Once upon a time I was a lot like you were before you left the CIA. Guided by principle, blinded by ideology, and the knowledge I was on the right side of wrong. It took you less time than it did me to realize there is no such thing as black and white." Zane pulled his gaze from Theo and locked eyes with his brother, looking like he was about to admit a mortal sin. "I was riding the high of mission success, the adrenaline that fuels the next battle, and all the bullshit that comes with being told you're the best. I ate that shit up, rode it all high and mighty. I thought I knew best, I thought I was the best, then I was taught differently. And the person who delivered that lesson was a woman called Ann Robinson. She went by the pseudo, Pidgeon."

"Honey trap?" Cash asked.

A scary smile formed until both Zane's dimples came out. That was never a good sign. But I didn't understand why that smile was directed at me.

"Even drenched in sweat, covered in dust and grime, fully kitted out, combat ready, the woman was gorgeous. She had some years on me, and not a few of them, but still she turned every man's eye, including mine. It was the pool-blue eyes that held a man captive."

Pool-blue eyes.

Suddenly the sick that had gathered in my stomach started to churn.

"Are you saying…" I trailed off not knowing exactly what Zane was implying, just that I didn't like where I thought he was going.

"That Ann Robinson is Nebraska Michaels' mother, yeah that's what I'm saying. Though I wasn't sure until Nebraska walked into the room. There's nothing in Ann Robinson's file that indicates she had a child and Nebraska's birth certificate lists a Jane Smith as her mother. But Nebraska's a spitting image of Pidge, all the way down to how she carries herself. It was like going back in time watching Ann walk into the TOC."

Oh yeah, that sick was churning and all those dirty thoughts I had about Nebraska suddenly felt wrong. Very, very wrong knowing my boss had fucked her mother.

"You said Charlie adopted her. Who's her biological father?"

Zane's dimples depressed deeper and his hands came out of his lap, palms facing the table in a stop gesture.

"Not me."

Well thank fuck for that or me throwing up would be the least of our worries. Zane's wife Ivy would likely dismember him.

"So she fucked you for information?" Theo inquired.

"The woman fucked me, alright, but I never touched her."

Why was that such a relief?

"I don't get it then," Kira put in.

"There are many ways to fuck a man without having to bed down. The greatest lie ever told was that women are the weaker sex. Men perpetuated the lie. But women, see, they're smart enough to allow the propaganda to be persevered. Generation after generation the lie is told and women are underestimated. When the truth is women are far more cunning than men. Sly in all the ways they fuck with a man's head. It's not about physical strength; it's a power dynamic that men have very little chance of winning. Pidge was the last woman I underestimated. I would've seen a honey trap a mile away. I would've been prepared for that. Pidge was smart. She observed me, got to know me, asked questions, then she used my weakness against me. I handed her everything she needed to know in less than a week kicking back at night around a fire, tossin' back a few beers. Stroking my ego, making me feel needed, placing me in the one role she knew I couldn't turn away from. One night in some great admission she told me she was scared. This was her first time out in the field with a team. She was nervous. Sun City was mostly a shanty town. The residents lived in extreme poverty, run by gangs. It was hella dangerous but for a woman it was worse. But she didn't want to be viewed as fragile or a strap so she did her part even if she was scared to death. She told me in a way that made me believe she trusted me to keep her safe. I became her protector. And once that happened, and she cemented that bond, I trusted her with more than I should've."

Holy fuck.

Kira's fingers were flying across her keyboard.

I didn't wait for her to find what she was looking for before I asked, "Ann was the case officer?"

"That's what we were told."

"But she wasn't?"

"Nope. She wasn't a blue badge, she was a contractor."

"What'd she get out of you?" Cash asked.

"Not what. It's where she landed me and Dutch."

That was all he said but he spat it out like he couldn't get the words out unless he expelled them from his throat.

Kira pushed her laptop towards Layla. Her eyes immediately dropped to the computer, and I watched them move over the screen.

"Where?" Theo asked, like he hadn't noticed Kira and Layla leaning close, looking at KK's screen. But the frown on Layla's face had me concentrating on her as she continued to scan whatever Kira pushed in front of her.

"We'd found the man we were looking for, collected the evidence he had, cabled it back to Washington, and were waiting for it to be authenticated. The plan was to move as soon as we got approval. Dutch was the TL. He was briefing the team on the evac route. It was going to be a quick snatch and grab made to look like a kidnapping. We finished our brief when Ann came in looking distraught. No, she looked completely terrorized. Dutch went on alert, I went on high alert—I'd promised to protect her and she looked devastated. The story she told us was she'd gotten word a gang had rounded up teenage girls, kidnapped them, and were in the process of transporting them. Dutch and I loaded up and moved out. No questions asked. I trusted her. We get to the location she gave us, found five girls in a rundown warehouse but no guards. We loaded them up and were back on our way when we were stopped by Haitian police. We explained we worked for the US Government, blah, blah, blah. We'd received intel on a kidnapping, blah, blah, and we'd rescued the girls. The police officer spoke to one of the sobbing girls. She lied and said we'd taken them from their homes. That we'd kidnapped them. Dutch and I were hauled in and spent three days in custody until someone from the embassy came and got us."

"Holy fuck," Theo mumbled.

He got that right.

"What happened to your target?" Smith asked.

"Mission was halted while we were in custody. Maddon was pissed as fuck. When Dutch and I returned to the safehouse Ann was gone and so was our target."

"She set you up."

Even though my statement was just that, Zane still verified.

"She set us up. I spoke to Maddon, explained what had happened. He didn't believe me or Dutch and since Ann had been pulled she wasn't there to be questioned."

Throughout Zane's brief, Layla's attention hadn't moved from the screen. Her frown had deepened and the two lines between her brows were so pronounced they formed a perfect eleven.

"What are you two looking at?" I asked.

Layla didn't glance up when she answered, "Nebraska went to live with Charlie Michaels after her mother was murdered when she was twelve. According to old medical records Kira found her mother's name is Anna Bauer or at least that's whose name in on the intake form. No father mentioned."

Anna Bauer's driver's license photo flashed up on the screen.

Holy hell.

Nebraska was a younger version of her mother. She wore her hair longer and her nose was straighter but other than that, there was no denying Anna was her mother.

"That's Ann Robinson and she was very much alive when I was with her in Sun City. She was very alive years later when I saw her in Germany and she winked at me as she left a bar I was entering with some of my teammates. And she was also as beautiful as ever when I saw her in D.C. about five years ago."

Zane's response was met with silence.

Until Kira broke it. "Do you think Nebraska knows her mother's alive?"

"With all the bullshit fuckery that comes with the Agency…"

Zane let that hang and shrugged.

The shrug and vague answer was very un-Zane-like.

"What aren't you saying?" I asked.

"A lot," he admitted.

"Where do Charlie Michaels and Maddon Judd fit into this?" Smith joined.

"Maddon Judd is still active CIA," Kira answered. "The reports Nebraska gave us are going to take some time to sort through. They go back twenty years. The file on Charlie Michaels isn't as comprehensive."

"Not surprising," Theo mumbled.

"But," Kira continued. "It looks like Charlie officially retired a little over four years ago, but he still freelances. The Raven project was a contract. His life as an art forger is his cover."

"Not unusual," Layla added.

She would know. She and Theo both were CIA case officers. Thankfully my time in the CIA had nothing to do with spy shit. I was a trigger puller—less bullshit, more adventure.

As uninterested as I was in Maddon Judd and Charlie Michaels now that we knew he was of no risk to Theo's woman, I was very much interested in what we were going to do about Nebraska Michaels.

"What are we doing about Nebraska?"

"Nothin'."

Zane's answer was like a sucker punch I didn't understand.

"Nothing?"

Zane's gaze focused.

"Don't let those pretty blue eyes and all that soft you think you see under her hard exterior fool you. She's a fixer, same as her mother. She'll sell her services to the highest bidder. Women like that have no loyalty. And right now, she holds more power than I'm comfortable with. Until we understand what she wants and what she's willing to do to accomplish her mission, she's on her own."

"Kira, can you get me the files on the prison riot and Paulo Alves?" Smith asked.

"While you're at it," Jonas started. "Send me the Maddon file."

"I'll take the Charlie Michaels file," Theo requested.

"Well, I'd say send me what you have on Nebraska but I'm not feeling like getting into hand-to-hand combat with Easton while I'm wearing my favorite tee, so I'll take the Candy Apples file."

Cash was a smart man. I might've loved him like a brother but I had zero issue punching him in his ugly mug to get my hands on Nebraska—or her file.

"Tomorrow morning, eight o'clock, we'll brief." Layla okayed our self-appointed assignments. Part of what made her such an effective leader was she didn't micromanage. We were grown-ass men, used to doing big boy things with little to no direction. Now that we weren't out in the wild working our cases how we saw fit but instead working within the parameters of Z Corps she treated us no differently—same big boy rules. As long as the work got done, she didn't care how.

"I'll track her movements and dig into her mother."

I wanted to ask Kira to keep me updated on Nebraska's location but refrained.

For a reason I wasn't willing to dissect, I hoped she hadn't been sent in to reenact her mother's play.

It would seriously suck if she turned out to be the enemy.