He shook his head. He needed to do this. He liked Katherine, but whatever August Cleary was up to trumped any feelings he might have. If her father was guilty, she’d have to come to terms with it. That was all there was to it.
“I don’t need time, sir. This is important.”
“Agreed.”
“Have you learned anything more?”
“Cleary’s claiming that the shipment you found was stolen. I’m not buying it. He didn’t report it until your team was already en route to Venezuela. The timing is too convenient. That tells me that he was tipped off we were coming and scrambled to cover his tracks.”
With a thoughtful frown, Kong nodded. Tipped off by whom though? “Any hits on the new doctors brought in for Resurrection?”
“We’re watching them, digging into financials, but so far, nothing.”
“What about our team watching Cleary? Have they found anything?”
“He knows or at least suspects he’s being watched. He’s made a few calls on a burner phone in his bathroom with the water running to try to muffle things” – Kong almost chuckled at that – “But so far, he’s been careful to keep it short and vague. No names, no dates, no addresses – nothing to implicate him in anything.”
“He’ll get desperate and fuck up.”
“That would sure as hell make our job easier.”
“Did they find anything on the tech we brought back from Venezuela?”
The general shook his head. “Nothing yet. They used an alpha-numeric system for their records that we’re still trying to decipher.”
“Lark’s on it?” She was the best. If anyone could figure it out, it was her.
“You know she wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Kong grinned. His best friend loved a puzzle.
There was a quick, sharp rap on the general’s door before it was opened. Lark, as if he’d summoned her with his thoughts, poked her head inside and looked right at him. “We got a hit on Godwin’s DNA.”
Kong stood, nearly knocking over his chair in his haste. “Where?”
“Miami.”
He was back in the States. The smile that spread over Kong’s face was probably downright sinister. He looked to General Davies. “Permission to gather a team to go after him, sir?”
“Permission granted.”
With eager anticipation singing through his blood, Kong headed to the door but the general stopped him. “Kong.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“This is a capture, not a kill. We need to question him.”
Kong clenched his jaw hard but nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter Fourteen
Katherine crawled out ofbed and hurried through her morning routine. She’d had a shitty night’s sleep but was determined to find Kong as soon as possible. If that wall was still between them, she was going to get to the root of it and tear it down. She tried calling him, but it went to voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message and headed to the mess hall. He might be there having breakfast.
He wasn’t. Nor did he show up while she lingered over her coffee until the very last minute. Walking to the Resurrection Hub, she rubbernecked the entire way, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. No such luck. Later, she told herself. She’d find him later.
She listened with half an ear as ORION gave the usual morning update on the Resurrection soldiers as she checked her messages. One of them was from her mother, reminding her thatshe needed to take time off from work for her upcoming birthday bash. Katherine made a note to speak to the general about it.
Her mother threw her a party every year, and it was always a big deal. Harper Knox spent a crazy amount of time and money planning it, insisting on outdoing the last event. When Katherine was a child, that meant magic shows, costume parties, and pony rides, and one year, her mother had organized a party at a theme park so she and her friends could ride the rides all day.
