Sunday. CIA safe house outside of Washington, D.C.

“Shit, Robert. What have you gotten us into?”

“We know the five agents killed were all attending this event today, right?” Robert jabbed at the laptop screen. He hadn’t slept since arriving, and neither had his CIA contact, Brett.

“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. In time, he’d learn how to operate on no sleep for over a week.

“Did we get a hit on Tanya yet?”

“No, I told you, that alert was just activated. I’m not sure TSA would even be aware of it yet.”

“She’s here. Right under our noses.” Robert wasn’t sure how Tanya had made it into the country, but his gut said she was there. Everything he’d read, the reports he’d culled, indicated she was the kind of self-starting, take-charge agent that wouldn’t let anything keep her sidelined. Quade had never talked directly about her, but even his statement supported Robert’s findings.

“Are we trying to catch her or—what? I’m tired.”

“Drink more coffee and get with the program. Tanya and whoever she’s with, are going to be close to the weapon. You’re positive she hasn’t reached out to anyone?”

“Yeah. I told you.”

“Hey, would you grab more of these little packet things?” Robert wiggled the empty one at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Brett sighed and pushed to his feet.

Robert listened to the thumps of the young man’s feet down into the basement. When he was certain Brett was below, Robert pushed to his feet, closed the basement door and locked it. He wrestled the refrigerator sideways until it, too, braced the door shut.

Robert only needed a little time. Besides, if his tip was right, it would be better if Brett were stuck here.

The kid was useful, but the things Robert needed to do so no one died would be crossing all kinds of lines. Besides, he wasn’t convinced the summit was the target. It was obvious. The chances for the stolen credentials to get flagged were high, unless Orlando had someone in the system to cover his tracks. He had a CIA mole, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to think it possible. Still, Robert didn’t want to take the kid down with him if he could help it.

He snagged Brett’s CIA credentials, his phone and car keys.

Orlando was making a move, and the Americans weren’t ready. They had no idea what was coming their way. Robert had to get access to the CIA network so he could give Tanya a window of opportunity.

Sunday. Washington, D.C.

Isaac peered out the door, taking in the sun bathing the clouds over D.C. in pinks, oranges and golds. At any other time, this would be a beautiful day to see the capital, take one of those little bus tours around the monuments. There would be hundreds of people doing just that with no idea the threat that could be happening right under their nose.

He closed the door and leaned his shoulder against the wall, staring out over the Mossad setup.

They’d pulled in people awfully fast. Either they really were that quick, or they’d been prepared for such an event. Regardless of what it was, Isaac and the rest of his team didn’t trust them. They’d each taken a shift through the night. Kyle had threatened to knock Isaac out last night if he didn’t get some rest, so he’d wound up with the last shift.

By some miracle, he’d slept, though he missed the feel of a warm body against his. The warehouse was not as comfortable as their previous digs and he could have used a bedfellow. Tanya had kept her distance after her shower. He was pretty sure he’d achieved sleep by the time she came to bed, and this morning there was no identifying which dark lump on what cot she might have been.

Why was this thing with Tanya so complicated?

In hindsight, he could have reacted better yesterday. Given the opportunity, he’d apologize. There was something about Tanya that frustrated him and made him want to stick to her like glue. He couldn’t puzzle it out.

Luke ambled toward him, two cups of coffee in hand.

“Morning,” Isaac said.

Luke handed the coffee over and turned to watch the comings and goings of the Mossad team.

“Anything interesting happening?” he asked.

“Not that I can tell. The guy from last night just showed back up a little while ago. I didn’t get to him fast enough to ask for an update, and everyone else pretends they don’t speak English when I ask a damn question.”

“They’re efficient though, gotta give them that.”  Luke chuckled and shook his head.

“Makes me wonder, did they really set this up for us, or were they waiting for something else?”

“I’ve seen the Mossad team assemble. It can be done. The real question is, what were these people doing before they were activated to come here? I’d buy that a few people flew in, but not all of them. So what are they doing here? Hm?”

“It’s D.C., maybe they work here?”

“Maybe.” Luke shrugged.

The hair on Isaacs’ arms rose. For the span of a moment it seemed as though his heart stopped beating and his lungs ceased to work.

Tanya and Abigail entered through the double doors, heads together in conversation. They crossed the warehouse to what served as the kitchen corner. The grill was going once more, cooking kosher food for the team.

“I’m going to give you some advice. You can ignore me or not, but—learn from my mistakes.” Luke sipped his coffee and they both watched the women. “The man who trained them—Baron? He put them through the kind of shit that would break us. They are stronger than we are, not physically, but the whole package. You either have to support Tanya, or get out of her way.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“You’re holding her back. We need her at her best.”

“I’m holding her back?”

“When I met Abigail, we’d been equals. I always saw us as partners. You were introduced to Tanya as an asset, at the end of her rope and probably in the worst circumstances she’s ever been in. She might have less training and time in the field, but she wouldn’t have been activated and put into deep cover if she wasn’t capable of handling herself. You view her as needing your protection. She doesn’t. She needs you on her team.”

Isaac kept staring at Luke. Was he serious?

“We need her at her best today, so whatever is going on between the two of you, forget about it until this is over, and start treating her like part of the team.”

“You are so off the mark.” Isaac shook his head. For the duration of this job he’d been the one on her side. He was the one who’d believed her, who stood up for her. No one else on this team believed in her like Isaac did.

“Am I? Want to talk about why you came out of the women’s locker room, spitting mad?”

“None of your damn business.”

“Look, if you care for Tanya, let her do what she has to. It’s hard, and likely dangerous—”

“You’re making problems where there are none, man.”

“My bad.” Luke pushed off the wall. “I’m going to get something to eat, you want to come?”

“Nah.”

Isaac remained where he was, Tanya’s voice etched into his brain.

Leave me alone.

She’d told him, and he’d listened.

It was better this way. He liked her, but the moment she put him above the job was the second he realized things had gone sideways between them. This was a fun fling, nothing more, and deep down he knew she wasn’t the only one who’d renigged on their initial understanding. He cared about Tanya, wanted to see her get through this and go back to school, to have the life she wanted. And he wasn’t part of that picture.

Tanya pushing him away like that was a blessing, because if she hadn’t, he’d have kept coming.

Luke was right, Isaac had to stop thinking of Tanya as the asset now, and that was where Isaac was struggling. His instinct said to protect her, to make sure that if nothing else happened, she got out okay. And that went against the broader mission of what they’d be doing today, if anything actually happened.

The door to the trailer on the far left burst open and a guy vaulted down the stairs. All eyes went to the man.

Isaac started jogging before he’d made the decision that something was about to happen.

“Guys,” Kyle bellowed out, waving them to the ready corner near the van prepped for their unsanctioned operation.

Everyone all across the warehouse dropped what they were doing and circled around the electronic white board. The Mossad agent in charge stepped out of the nondescript van, expression vague.

“The signal has surfaced.” The agent’s grim expression echoed Isaac’s. Part of him had hoped nothing would happen. “The good news is that we are between the weapon and its destination. Aegis Group, you’re up.”

Isaac stepped forward, as did the others. They weren’t the people to hesitate or hang back when things were tough.

They grabbed the waiting, navy jumpsuits. Often people ignored men in blue collar uniform. Someone slapped an HVAC magnet on the outside of the van, turning them into a service vehicle.

Adam and Luke took the front seats while the rest of them filed into the back, sitting along the sides of the empty van like an urban SWAT team. Tanya and Abigail focused on a tablet showing some sort of a map.

Someone in the crowd of support staff clapped, then another and another. Their grim faces telegraphed Isaac’s feelings about the situation back at him. This might not be the sort of thing they came home from.

“Remember, the suits are in the compartments with masks and oxygen tanks. God speed.” The agent closed the back of the van, plunging them into darkness.

“Ready?” Adam called back.

“Go,” Kyle said.

The van accelerated, the tires even squealed a little bit.

They were racing the clock and an enemy who wanted to kill as many people as possible.

“The signal is coming straight at the building, but there’s traffic. We should get there with almost ten minutes to prepare.” Tanya turned the tablet to show them.

“Okay, we’ve all seen the plans for the building.” Kyle gestured to the map of the building where the summit was being held. “I want us to divide into three teams, one as lookout, one in the parking structure and one at the loading docks. The thing bringing this in has to be big, right, Tanya?”

“Yes. It’s...ten feet by... fifteen? And three feet tall. They will need something big enough to move the container, plus whatever they’re using to disperse the gas.”

“Do we have any idea what they’re going to use to do that?” Isaac asked.

“Best thing to do would be to hook it up to the air conditioning, pump it in and through the whole building in a matter of minutes.” Tanya zoomed in on the aerial view of the building. “But to do that they’d need to either get to an access point or to the air returns on the top of the building. They have to have an alternate plan for the delivery.”

“Could they have put the gas into portable containers?” he asked.

“Maybe. Like I said before anything is possible.”

“Look, we get in there, we assess what they’re doing and either we stop them or we get people clear before they use the gas,” Kyle said.

He made it sound so easy.

That’s how these things started. This gig had been all about getting the girl and bringing her home. Now they were sandwiched in the back of a van provided by an ally intelligence agency, trying to stop someone from killing an international meeting of the minds.

Isaac leaned his head back against the side of the van, watching Tanya out of the corner of his eye.

Was Luke right?

Was he prioritizing her over the new focus of this job?

There was a pull that had him gravitating toward Tanya at every choice.

Maybe he did care about her more than he should. That would explain his fucked up priorities. It was easy to tell himself to simply stop, but emotions didn’t work that way. So what was he going to do about it?

“We’re here,” Luke called back.

Kyle drew a black curtain across the front of the van, shielding them from anyone looking into the van. If security wanted to clear them, that was another issue to resolve later.

The van eased to a stop. The electric hum of the window heralded in a myriad of traffic noises.

“Took you guys long enough to get here,” a man said. “There’s a spot for you guys all the way at the end by the service elevator. Did they really only send two of you?”

“No, we’ve got a few guys in the back to help us,” Luke said.

“Good.”

Adam drove forward.

“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Isaac muttered.

“I think we just stole their cover story,” Tanya said.

The van eased to a stop. Luke pulled the curtain back and Adam twisted to face them.

“Let’s assume this other team is coming in just like we did, as an HVAC crew.” Tanya straightened and stared at the map. “They’re coming right to us, then. Do we stop them on the street or in here?”

“This basement parking garage could contain the gas,” Abigail said.

“How long ‘til they get here?” Luke popped his seatbelt. “Adam and I will go tell security that we have a bigger unit bringing equipment in, so they’ll wave these guys in. We need to be prepared to ambush them.”

“Minutes,” Tanya said.

“Go,” Kyle snapped.

Adam and Luke bounced out of the front seats and were gone.

“Isaac, Shane, you guys keep a look out. The rest of us are going to suit up so we’re ready to handle the gas, okay?”

“When this starts happening we have to be ready to move fast. The gas is deadly on contact, so if you aren’t in a suit—get out. Okay?” Tanya glanced around the truck

“Shane, Isaac, you guys focus on getting people out of the parking structure, okay?”

“Copy that.” Isaac straightened.

Shane opened the back doors of the van and they slid out, careful to not open them too wide.

Isaac glanced around at the cars.

“This has got to be at capacity. Event’s already started,” he said.

“That’s what I was trying to not think,” Shane said.

“Come on, let’s look like we know what we’re doing.” Isaac slapped Shane’s shoulder.

They made a quick circuit of the parking area, determining that there must be another level under them. The cars were packed in so tight it was hard to see anything bigger than the van making its way into the subterranean garage.

“Lights,” Shane said.

A large, delivery style truck with a faded logo on its side rolled in from a secondary entrance. Not the one their van had come through. This was a bigger truck, maybe even the size needed to transport the gas.

Isaac unzipped the jumpsuit, ready to reach for his weapon if need be. They moved to intercept the slow moving truck inching its way toward where the van was waiting. Behind the truck Luke and Adam crept closer, all eyes on the truck.

The driver eased to a stop about twenty yards from their van. This close, Isaac could see the driver peering at him, the other vehicle and working it out.

Isaac tapped his comm. “I only see one guy.”

The driver threw his door open and leapt to the ground.

Isaac sprinted forward. He was closer than the rest.

The driver wasn’t nearly as quick. He landed with a heavy thud and went to a knee, wobbling a little. Isaac tackled the guy, using his greater bulk and the advantage of speed to drive the guy to the concrete.

“Got him,” Isaac called out.

The others reacted as one. Shane leapt into the driver’s seat while Adam and Luke closed in on the back. The van burst open and the rest of their team suited up in the biohazard suits raced in.

“Get off me,” the man yelled.

Isaac drove his elbow into the back of the guy’s head. Stunned, he didn’t protest Isaac wrapping his wrists in a zip tie.

This was too easy.

Tanya planted her foot on Felix’s knee and stepped into the back of the van. She could barely think through the pounding of blood in her skull. The surge of adrenaline did her no favors.

She stared at the black case taking up the bulk of the floor space in the delivery truck.

Why were there barrels? What purpose did they serve?

Tubing hung from the ceiling, well out of the way.

Abigail climbed onto the edge next to her.

“Ready?” Tanya asked.

“No, but that doesn’t matter.” Abigail edged into the truck.

To get the lid of the case off they would need a person at each corner of it.

Tanya and Abigail slithered between the case and the side of the van. They released the catches as they went. Whoever closed the cases last hadn’t been all that thorough. Only half of them were done.

“The case is cracked over here,” Tanya called out over her shoulder.

Shit. That was not good. The gas was highly unstable, which was why Orlando had a facility built just to temporarily store it in. If it’d been jostled and perhaps damaged in transport... She didn’t want to think about that.

“I’ve got them all on this side,” Abigail said.

“Here, too.”

“There’s cords coming out of the case and going to these barrels.” Abigail slid her hands along what looked like a water hose.

“One thing at a time,” Tanya said.

“You guys ready to get this lid off?” Felix called out

“I think so.” Tanya knelt and felt for the edge with her fingers. “Everyone ready?”

“Ready,” they called out in unison.

“On three.” She swallowed. “One, two, three.”

They lifted, not all the way but enough to slide the top back and get a glimpse inside.

“Oh—shit.” Tanya straightened and took a step back.

“What? What is it?” Isaac joined the others at the back of the truck.

“It’s not the gas, it’s a bomb.” Tanya followed the lines and cords with her eyes. That was just what she could see.

“The gas can’t be in the part back there?” Abigail asked.

“No. Get the lid off. Now.” Tanya’s instinct was to run as far from this as possible.

The guys hoisted the lid off the case, dragging it back. Bits of the hard shell broke off as the cracked part gave way.

“Fuck...” Abigail lifted her hand and dropped it.

“This will bring the whole building down,” Tanya said.

“Where’s the gas?” Abigail asked.

“Not here. Look—the timer’s already activated. They weren’t going to gas the place, they were going to set off a bomb.” Tanya followed the lines to the detonator out to the rest of the bomb.

“I can disarm it,” Isaac called out.

“No.” Tanya threw up her hand. “It’s too tightly packed. Just get everyone out of here. Alert who you can.”

“Is there another detonator? What are we looking at?” Abigail asked.

“I only see one, but that doesn’t mean anything. There’s only three minutes on this thing, so there isn’t time to second guess what we’re doing.”

“Agreed. Your arms are longer. You’re going to have to do this. Can you?”

“In theory, yeah.”

“Baron taught you. You can do this, I’m right here with you.”

“You should get out.” Tanya glanced at the other woman. “Just in case.”

“We’re doing this together. Give me your gloves, you’ll need your hands.”

Tanya stripped off her gloves and tossed them to Abigail.

Getting to the detonator was an act of contortion. Tanya had one foot on the floor of the truck with her toes under a wooden bumper rail. Her other foot was on the edge of the container, and she leaned over the device.

For its size, it appeared relatively simple. As though it’d been thrown together with whatever was around.

“There’s like, six wires coming out of the detonator.” Tanya frowned. If she were making a device this big, there would be dozens.

Could it really be this simple?

She’d have to cut the right line, but with only six options, two of which were highly unlikely choices, that left her with a twenty-five percent chance of getting it right.

“Two and a half minutes,” Abigail said.

Tanya pulled the multi-tool from her belt and flipped the screwdriver open. She grasped the display portion of the detonator and tugged. There was enough give to the wires she was able to get it free. With a little space she unscrewed the back of the detonator to get a closer look at the ignition mechanism.

“Not to hurry you guys up, but the cops know there’s a bomb threat,” Isaac yelled at them.

“I got it. I got it.” Tanya swallowed and turned the tool around.

One snip. That was it.

She slid the tool between the cords.

Tanya exhaled and squeezed the handle, snipping the exposed copper wire.

The clock face stopped at one twenty-two.

“Done. Go!” Tanya jammed the multi tool into the delicate inner workings of the ignition device, ensuring that it wouldn’t be able to spark remotely.

Abigail stepped up onto the case, treating it like a balance beam, and leapt out.

“Watch out!” someone yelled.

The truck lurched sideways.

The case slid, trapping Tanya’s leg.

Her knee wrenched sideways, and a couple hundred pounds of force pinned her leg between the bomb and the side of the truck.

“Out of the car! I said out!”

“Tanya?”

“Get out of here. Go!” She wasn’t getting free, but the others had to. The gas was out there somewhere, and she wouldn’t put it past Orlando to have something else planned.

“Like hell we’re leaving you. I need some help over here!”

Isaac climbed back into the van, followed by two more guys. Tanya’s vision blurred. Her toes were working, but the pressure on her leg could be holding broken bits together for all she knew.

“Push.” Isaac groaned the word.

The case budged. Not much, but enough.

“Give me a hand.” He held out her arms.

Isaac wedged himself between the case and the wall, his arms outstretched.

“I’ve got you.” He wrapped his hands around her wrists. “On three, I slide you to me, okay? There’s more of a gap over here. One, two, three.”

She rocked toward him and he pulled.

Her ankle twisted at an impossible angle, but he slid her at least a foot farther.

Sirens echoed off the concrete.

“You have to go, Isaac.” Tanya tried to wrench her hands out of his grasp.

“No one gets left behind. One, two, three.” He threw his weight back and she slid almost into his lap.

Tanya twisted her lower body, rolling from one side to the other and dropped her feet off the tailgate. Isaac vaulted off, slung her over his shoulder and sprinted into the open doors of the van.

“We’re in. Go!” Isaac went to his knees and pulled her into his lap.

The van accelerated and they slid across the metal floor before someone grabbed them.

The back doors of the van slammed shut as Adam took a hard turn.

“The bomb? Did you get it disarmed?” Kyle asked, his tone frantic.

“Yeah. Yes.” Tanya dropped her head against Isaac’s shoulder, the hood on her suit crumpling.

“Where are we going?” Adam called out.

“The warehouse,” Abigail answered. “We need to know what went wrong.”

Light shone through the windshield.

They were about to make a break for it.

The van slowed.

“Why are we stopping?” Tanya jerked her head up.

Luke slid into the passenger seat.

“Go,” he snapped.

“Let’s get this off you.” Isaac helped her remove the hood and mask of her suit.

The cool air against her skin helped, but the throbbing in her leg was a greater concern.

“What happened?” Kyle asked.

“The gas wasn’t in the case.” Tanya pushed up, out of Isaac’s lap and sat on the bench.

“But, I thought you had a tracker on it.”

“No, I was only able to put the tracker on the case. Either they will use the gas another way or Orlando tricked them.”

“We have no idea where the weapon is?” Abigail asked.

“No.”

“Maybe the team knows something? They could have a lead for us,” Abigail said.

Tanya nodded.

She hadn’t considered that the gas would be separated from the case. The case had weathered its theft and time in Orlando’s care, up to now. It was built with the gas in mind. Without that, the gas would be more volatile. She didn’t understand its makeup, but she’d heard enough emphasis on keeping it contained, away from oxygen, that the idea of it out in the open made her considerably worried.

What if the gas had never left Europe?

What if it was half a world away?

Orlando could have divided the gas up into lots and sold it piecemeal instead of all together.

She’d let herself be blind to any option, except the one that made sense to her, based on what she’d heard. Her assumption that Orlando’s sole focus was revenge could be wrong.

It stood to reason that the moment Orlando knew about her and Quade he could have changed his goal. Revenge could have taken a back seat.