Chapter 2

2

Cody Lassiter.

A name Paige long hoped never to hear again.

She watched the team exit the mansion through her array of monitors, her mind still reeling from the unexpected blast from the past. The shame of her MIT days crept up her spine, hot and unwelcome.

The team was aware of her history. It had all come out when she was recruited into their former group, BlackOut Squadron. Still, she couldn't help the hot flush of humiliation that colored her cheeks. In her last month at MIT, less than four weeks from graduation, someone hacked into the admin mainframe and zeroed out over a hundred student accounts. The incident cost the university hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tuition.

And the trail led straight to her.

Cody was the one who turned her in. Her almost-boyfriend. The first guy she'd ever fallen for. He'd come across the evidence on her computer. Worse, he'd refused to believe she had nothing to do with it.

The memory of that day still stung. Cody, his face a mask of disappointment and betrayal as he headed off to the dean's office with the evidence, destroying their budding relationship. Her father's trust. And dynamiting her future.

No MIT graduation. No bright, shining future for the wunderkind who'd been accepted to the elite university's uber-elite computer science program at sixteen.

For three long years, Paige had thought her future was over. Until BlackOut Squadron had plucked her from obscurity, offering her a chance at redemption.

But her romantic life? That had remained in shambles. Cody's refusal to believe in her had crushed her, shattering her trust in relationships. And learning later that he'd been recruited into the Consortium? That had been the final twist of the knife.

The van's side door slid open with a metallic screech, jolting her back to the present. The team piled in, bringing with them a gust of chilly air and the scent of damp earth.

Graham slipped the van into gear, the engine rumbling to life as they pulled away from the decaying mansion.

"Alright, Paige," Bridger's voice cut through the tense silence. "What's got you looking like you've seen a ghost?"

She took a deep breath, the words sticking in her throat. "It's Cody Lassiter. He left that message. He wants to make contact."

A chorus of surprised murmurs filled the van.

"That's good, isn't it?" Tai leaned forward, his eyes bright with interest. "We need an in with the Consortium, and he's reaching out."

"But why?" Mason asked.

Exactly what Paige wanted to know. Why now? And why her?

Cody and Jason had met briefly on a mission long before the Consortium, or BlackOut Squadron, existed. She was well aware of Cody's poor opinion of her. Why not contact Jason?

Mason looked pained. "He can't be stupid enough to think we're just gonna let his evil overlords kidnap another one of us."

Seriously. That hadn't worked out so well for the last Consortium operative who tried it.

"How about this time we do the kidnapping?" Bridger winked at her. "You're more than due for payback. Am I right?"

Paige fiddled with the corner of her laptop. "Copy that."

Except she had no taste for revenge. At some point, Mr. Rule Follower Cody had gone to the dark side, joining the shadowy Consortium, but in college, he'd been a straight arrow. Hardworking and sincere, if a bit cocky. Reporting her for the hacking had hurt, badly, but she'd always believed he did it because he was trying to do the right thing.

The person she really wanted to make life difficult for was the jerk who framed her in the first place.

As for Cody, she'd prefer never to deal with him again, but they needed to save Jason. Interrogating a Consortium operative would be a huge step forward.

Fenn studied her. "Whatever the reason, Lassiter reached out. Let's give him some extra incentive. If we're gonna set a trap, let's make the bait irresistible."

Tai rubbed his chin. "You mean kick it up a notch?"

"Exactamundo." Fenn cocked a finger at him like a gun. "You so get me."

"Great." Tai rolled his eyes, but a grin softened the words. "What're you thinking?"

"Whatever his goal, this dude wants to work with someone he knows," Fenn said. "Or thinks he knows, after all these years. And what does he think he knows?"

Paige swallowed hard, unsure where her teammate was going. "That I messed up. Badly."

Fenn shook his head. "Not messed up. Got caught. He thinks you have sketchy morals. Or at least you did years ago. If he believes you wiped out all those financial accounts in college, he'll be willing to believe you're interested in joining the Consortium."

Paige's stomach flip flopped. She could see where this was going …

But the rest of the team had that gleam in their eyes. They loved the idea.

But she couldn't do it. She never had been the person Cody thought she was. And she was no actor.

"It's a win-win," Bridger concluded, his tone brooking no argument.

More of a lose-lose for her. Having to face Cody again: lose. Confronting the fact that the guy she'd admired, maybe even loved, had gone to the dark side? Major lose.

Her hands fell from the keyboard, her shoulders slumping. "I can't do this," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not a field agent."

The van fell silent, all eyes turning to her. Her skin prickling with discomfort.

"You guys are former military," she continued, gesturing at her teammates. "You've got training. Field experience. Me? I'm just ... I'm the tech geek. The one who stays behind the screens."

Bridger leaned forward, his expression softening. "You're selling yourself short. You've got skills none of us have."

"Computer skills. Hacking skills. Not ... not whatever this is. Espionage? Undercover work? I can't lie to Cody's face. I can't pretend to be something I'm not."

Fenn's voice cut through her spiral of doubt. "You won't be pretending. You'll be you. A you that's grown, changed. A you Lassiter doesn't know anymore."

Paige looked around at her team, seeing the confidence in their eyes that she couldn't feel herself. Her stomach churned. But beneath it all, a tiny spark of determination flickered to life.

She threw her hands up in mock surrender. "Fine. I'll do it. But when this all goes horribly wrong, and I end up in some Consortium black site wearing a fashion disaster of a jumpsuit, I expect you all to stage a dramatic rescue. And bring me a decent cup of coffee. Prison brew is probably worse than the sludge Fenn makes."

Fenn's indignant "Hey!" was drowned out by the team's chuckles.

Paige turned back to her screens, muttering under her breath. "Cyber geek turned super spy. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, right. Everything."

As the van continued towards their destination, she cracked her knuckles and dove back into her work. When she failed spectacularly, it would make for a great story.

Assuming she lived to tell it.

The van hummed with renewed energy as they sped towards the airfield, leaving behind the ghosts of the past and hurtling towards an uncertain future. Paige turned back to her screens. It was time to prepare for a reunion she'd never expected—or wanted.

"How do we get in touch with Lassiter? Maybe leave a hidden note beneath the doodle at the mansion?" Tai's suggestion cut through her thoughts.

Fenn snorted, shaking his head. "The guy won't be back. Too careful. No spy who's lasted that long in the Consortium would hit the same place twice."

"So we find a way," Bridger insisted, his jaw set with determination.

As another suggestion was tossed into the mix, Paige felt a familiar itch in her palms. She knew how to do this.

"Enough," she said, her voice cutting through the chatter. The van fell silent as all eyes turned to her. "I know how to get in touch."

She always had.

A chatroom within a chatroom on a secret server that Cody created a month after they met in that senior lab.

"Just in case," he'd told her. "I want to be able to find you any time you need me."

If she remembered, he would, too.

The van pulled to a halt at the airfield. Paige barely noticed, lost in the familiar dance of navigating digital back alleys and hidden servers. Her teeth worried her lower lip as she accessed an account untouched for almost fifteen years.

Got your message. We should meet.

Her pulse quickened as she hit send, tossing the missive out into cyberspace.

The response came almost instantly.

Where and when?

She gasped. Bridger laid a hand on her shoulder, his touch reassuring. "We good?"

"I don't know about good, but I made contact."

"That's good," he insisted.

She'd reserve judgment. In the meantime, she'd pray.

Bridger made eye contact again. "Paige and Tai are updating Jason. He might have new intel on Lassiter. He'll at least have some thoughts. We got this."

Her hand instinctively reached for the locket at her throat. "Be strong and courageous," she whispered. "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

The familiar words of Joshua 1:9 steadied her nerves, a touchstone of strength as she prepared to face Cody—and her past—after all these years.