“What can I say, brother? Saylor’s got my full attention. But since you’ve already interrupted us…”
Bodie waved them toward his office. “Consideringwhat just happened, we should do this in my office where I know no one’s gonna eavesdrop. Everyone else is already waiting.”
Zain nodded, grabbed her hand, then guided her into Bodie’s secure room. His teammates and Greer gathered around Bodie’s desk, looking more than a bit haggard.
Kash tapped two chairs slightly off to the left, grinning when they claimed them. “Got caught kissing, again, huh.”
Zain looked at Saylor, stealing what little breath she’d managed on the short walk over, before shaking his head at Kash. “Are you keeping track for some sort of pool? Or just being an ass?”
“Both.”
Zain looked over at Jordan. “Are you sure you’re okay? That the baby’s okay?”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Trust me, we’re both fine. And no, I’m not telling you how the doctors proved it unless you want my legs wrapped around your throat as I choke the life out of you.”
Kash gave her hand a squeeze. “He’s good.”
Greer cleared her throat, leaning against Bodie’s desk as if she needed it to anchor her — prevent her from marching out and hunting down anyone who looked remotely guilty. “I’ll start off. That partial plate brought up nearly two hundred possible matches, none of which were registered to anyone directly connected to theVigilant. Not that I was expecting to find any damning evidence, but it would have been nice.”
Zain raked his fingers through his hair. “And that lead you were chasing down?”
“I need to premise the intel, first.” She shuffled a bit, looking oddly vulnerable. “Before I left the Bureau, I was part of a number of joint task forces with the Defense Intelligence Agency. I can’t really go into any details, but I made a few reliable contacts at both the DoD and the CIA.”
Zain stiffened beside Saylor. “If this is your way of saying your contact is in the Agency, we’ll pass.”
Greer released a weary breath. “I know you’re not fans?—”
“Fans? Sean’s dead because of a couple Spooks. And Rhett…”
“Not everyone in the CIA’s corrupt, which I get, is the hard part for you to swallow. But I worked with Nick Colter on and off for the better part of two years. The guy was former Delta Force. Shifted over to the Agency’s National Clandestine Service until a covert mission went sideways, and he ended up with more metal in his body than bones. He’s not the type who could be bought.”
Zain glanced at her, then Chase, rolling his shoulders a few times before nodding. “Point noted. And?”
“First, he ran that chip number from the drone. It was part of a classified shipment that went missing from one of the DoD’s covert storage sites, along with all those weapons you’ve been encountering. They’ve got their own officers looking into it, but whoever broke in knew where to strike to take out their security. And it’s the kind of base only high-ranking officers even know exists.”
“That sounds less than encouraging.”
“I didn’t say you were going to like what I discovered.” She raked her fingers through her hair. “Moving on, after that first incident at Saylor’s apartment, then the attempt at the joint property, I wondered if I could track where the vehicles had come from with satellite images. Now, before you say anything, I know. Between the rain and the clouds and it being the middle of the night, unless someone had a dedicated feed focused on Raven’s Cliff, there probably wouldn’t be any trace of them. But… you never know if you don’t try.”
Zain sat up a bit straighter. “Did Colter actually trace them?”
“Not exactly, but between a few snapshots and a bunch of traffic cam photos he got ahold of, he was able to identify an abandoned ranger station that was the likely origin point for both trips. Which itself was suspicious enough for me to take a look.”
Greer reached behind her and grabbed an evidence bag off Bodie’s desk. “The cabin had definitely been used recently. And I found this…” She handed the bag to Chase who made the rounds with it.
Saylor stared at the charred scrap of paper, half of a faded logo stamped in the upper right corner, the letters SALV just legible beneath it. She leaned closer, tracing the swirling lines with her thumb when the image struck her.
She inhaled, snapping her gaze to Greer. “I’ve seen this logo before. It was on the side of that salvage ship.”
Greer smiled. “Yahtzee.”
“But, the name’s missing.”
“That’s where Bodie comes in.”
Bodie twisted his monitor in order to give them all a better sightline. “Before we get to the salvage ship, I have more intel on Eric Vasquez. As promised, I did a deeper dive on him. And I mean deep. Not quite Becca Tate-level like when she uncovered all that intel on Rook Donovan and Scythe to help out Jordan, but I know she’d be proud.”
Bodie focused on Zain, then shifted to Saylor. “This isn’t going to be easy for you to hear, Saylor, but bear with me. Turns out Vasquez was a Coast Guard reservist for the past decade, which itself, isn’t news. But about five years ago, he started applying for every extra active duty opportunity that popped up. And I mean every one. All of which were approved. But the odd part is that it looks as if some of the assignments were manufactured just so he could qualify.”
