Ross held up a hand. “Harrison Coulter is a good man and I trust him. He has requested Black Tower conduct an independent operation to capture the shooter after he is identified. Will, you’ll be leading Operation Blue Smoke along with Tank, Jackson, and Ryder.”
Ross might trust Harrison Coulter, but Will wasn’t so sure. It seemed there was no end to the ability of the Syndicate to infiltrate, corrupt, blackmail, or coerce people to do their bidding. And with the POTUS out of the way, Coulter just became the most powerful man in the world. It was a heck of a motive.
Joey continued to push back while Will watched the exchange. He was used to operating without a safety net, but even he was grateful for the pre-signed pardon Ross pulled out from the president. Coulter wasn’t playing around with this mission. They had a blank check to do whatever it took to capture the assassin.
Will appreciated Joey’s skeptical nature, and when the meeting ended, he ducked past Tank and Jackson to catch her in the hallway outside the meeting room. He placed a hand on her arm. “Got a second?”
He tugged her to an alcove in the hallway outside the conference room.
“I need you to do something, Joey.” He kept his voice low. He didn’t want Ross or Raven to know what he was asking her.
“Yeah, of course. What do you need?” Thank heavens that Joey was a team player.
Will took a deep breath, looking down the hall again to make sure no one else was listening.
“I need you to deep dive on Coulter. I need you to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not tied to the Syndicate, or being used as a pawn in their twisted plan. For all of our peace of mind.” He felt a little guilty going behind Ross’s back, but he needed to be sure. It was his team who was going to be on the hook if this all turned out to be a grand scheme from the Syndicate and Coulter was in on it.
Joey shook her head and gave him a confused look. “I don’t know how much I can find that hasn’t already been dug up. The man went through the vice-presidential security scan, not to mention the media hounds trying to find even the hint of dirt. What am I supposed to look for?”
Will leaned forward. “Everything,” he said firmly. “Those other checks weren’t looking for Syndicate ties. They wouldn’t have even recognized them if they saw them. But you will.” If there was anything Will knew about Joey, it was that she wouldn’t let the smallest detail slide. His only worry was that she was distracted with her current project at Zia. His eyes slid toward the lobby where he knew Cole Kensington was waiting for her.
“Can you do this, Joey?”
She nodded once. “I’ve got you, Gilbert. If there is anything suspicious about Harrison Coulter, I’ll find it.”
Will smiled tightly. “Thank you. Oh, and don’t mention this to anyone else, okay?”
He saw the hesitation flicker across her face, but she nodded sharply.
He left her there and headed toward Miranda’s office. Operation Blue Smoke could be underway in a matter of hours, and he’d need her to get things organized whenever they needed to hit the ground. Miranda Bradley handled logistics for their team, and she’d pulled him out of a bind more times than he could count.
He knocked as he entered the doorway. Jackson and Miranda startled at the noise, and Jackson moved away from Miranda’s chair with an awkward step that had him stumbling backward.
Will raised one eyebrow. “Am I interrupting?”
Miranda waved a hand. “Nope, just catching up. Tell me what you need, Square.”
Will grunted at the nickname. “Not you, too.” He glared at Jackson. “Really? You got her calling me that?”
Jackson shrugged and gave Will a cocky smile. “What can I say? If the goody-two-shoe fits.” Jackson winked at Miranda. “I’ll leave you two alone,” he said as he walked toward the door.
“Pack your bag. We’ll roll out on short notice. Wheels could be up in…” Will glanced at Miranda to answer the unspoken question.
“Ninety minutes,” she replied without missing a beat. No one even knew where they were headed yet, but once they did, things would move quickly.
Jackson left, and Miranda turned fully toward him, pulling her long, dark hair up into a ponytail. It was a telltale sign that she was ready to dive into focus work mode. “So, what do you need?”
“Not entirely sure. I’m guessing Florida, near Orlando. Somewhere to operate out of. Standard gear, but fairly incognito. We’re not looking to catch attention.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Mission goal?”
“Apprehension. Target is likely a professional, and federal law enforcement will be in the vicinity.”
Miranda nodded, unfazed by the news. Will would bet a year’s salary that she could guess exactly why they were headed to Florida. She might not technically be in the loop, but nothing got by Miranda. “All right. Who is going and when?”
“Jackson, Tank, Ryder, and myself. Whenever we get intel that tells us where this guy is—”
A voice from the doorway interrupted. “Actually, change of plans. Jackson and Ryder are staying here to assist whenever Joey needs them for Zia. For now, you’ll take Tank and Pierce.”
“Got it. I’ll call the pilots, and the plane will be ready. Let me know when you’ve got orders, and I’ll handle everything else by the time you land. Anything else I should know?” He could see the gears already turning in her head.
“That’ll do it. Thanks, Miranda.”
She ignored him and turned back to her computer. Will exhaled a deep breath. Once they had intel on the shooter, his team could swoop in and apprehend him and deliver him safely to Acting President Coulter. Easy-peasy.
CHAPTER
FIVE
She watched with horror as a few of the Secret Service agents ushered the injured president into the back of an SUV and tore out of the area. The remaining agents exchanged shots with someone shooting from the opposite end of the basement, leaving her unattended long enough to attempt crawling out from behind her boxes and dashing up the stairs toward the nearest exit.
A few tense moments later, she was safely in her car, driving away from the hotel as dozens of police cars descended upon the Orlando suburb. She checked her rearview mirror for the hundredth time, expecting to see flashing lights behind her.
Maybe she was being paranoid, but she drove in circles for a while, just to be sure she wasn’t being followed. The radio in her car had been stolen the other week, so she couldn’t even listen to the news to see what was going on. Finally, she made it back to her apartment and scurried inside, clutching her phone to her chest.
Her phone rang, and she dismissed the unknown number. Another collector, harassing her to pay the debt her mother had taken in her name. Over a hundred thousand dollars in student loans that she never saw. Her scholarship had covered most of her schooling, but Mom and Jeremiah had seen dollar signs as the student loan offers started arriving in the mail.
On the drive, she’d considered a thousand different options for what to do with the footage she’d captured of the assassination. The most practical thing to do would be to sell it. It was no secret she could use the money. One glance around the crummy apartment was a testament to that, even without the collection notices piled on her dresser. Splitting the rent and living in the cheapest place she could find, she wasn’t making ends meet as she desperately tried to dig her way through a mountain with a pickaxe. Out of desperation, she’d even started writing mindless clickbait articles. Not exactly the hard-hitting journalism she’d dreamed of doing.