“Valeria is gone,” Alex said as he rushed into the bar.

Lizzy turned off the television. Poor Tate. She handled herself beautifully, but now she would be useless to the group since the media would be focusing on her continually.

“What do you mean, gone?” Dalton asked from where his arm had been around Lizzy as they watched Tate’s press conference.

“I mean she’s gone gone. Like, not coming back. All her electronics have been shut off and were waiting at her apartment with a note. Here.” Alex shoved a piece of paper at Lizzy.

If I make it back, I’ll have answers. If not, then I failed. Don’t come looking for me. It could jeopardize everything if you do.

“Great. Tate has basically become useless and Valeria is gone. Our team is falling apart,” Lizzy sighed as Dalton hugged her.

“It’ll be all right. You have me, and we did just fine on our own. I won’t leave you. I promise.”

Lizzy closed her eyes. How did he know that was what she was afraid of?

“Dude,” Alex said, looking at his phone. “We might have lost Valeria, but we have a new Secret Service guy. Crew is picking him up now. The president wants us to meet in two hours.”

“This morning? Before the Fourth of July celebration? We’ll be seen,” Lizzy worried.

“We’re to meet in the tunnels. Humphrey will lead us to the meeting site,” Alex said.

“At this rate, I’ll never get the fingerprints done,” Lizzy groaned.

“Come on, let’s get ready. We’ll need to leave well in advance with all the holiday traffic.”

Lizzy let Dalton lead her back home. She couldn’t help the feeling of despair, and she hated it. They needed a win badly, but today they’d suffered two blows. “Dalton, I want you to start surveillance on Epps as soon as our meeting is over. I’ll get to work on the fingerprints. It’s going to take a while to gather and log them all before running them against the partial we have. It’s a real long shot,” Lizzy worried.

“But we’ve done more with less. We have a plan, and we’ll stick to it. I’m glad that this new guy is joining us today. The president and Tate will be under fire constantly now. Now, come here,” Dalton said with a smirk as he closed the door to her house. “I know of a way to turn that frown upside down.”

Lizzy laughed and then gasped as Dalton pushed up her skirt and knelt in front of her. Her hands speared his hair as his tongue— “Oh fuck,” Lizzy groaned, tightening her grasp on Dalton’s hair.

Dalton stood up and dragged her past a yipping Dave and upstairs. And by the time Lizzy and Dalton left for DC, she had a big smile on her lips.

“Crew Dixon?” Brock asked a man in a flight uniform who met him at Andrews Air Force Base.

“Brock Loyde?” the man asked in return.

“That’s me.”

“Then I’m your ride. We have a meeting soon. I’ll take you straight there.”

Brock followed the pilot to a pickup truck and tossed his bags in the back before getting in. “What can you tell me about this meeting?”

“You’ll meet the group. I’m not really part of the day-to-day stuff. I just know about it and am on hand if needed.”

“Elizabeth James is the leader, is that correct?” Brock asked. He had memorized everything Humphrey had told him.

“Yes, but her friends call her Lizzy,” Crew told him before describing the rest of the team. “And then of course you know Valeria.”

“How is she?” Brock would find out soon. He was nervous about seeing Val after all these years.

“Intense.”

Brock chuckled. “She always has been. Can you tell me what you know about the mission so far?”

Crew nodded as he sped toward DC. “Humphrey said to bring you up to speed. Here’s all I know.”

Brock listened to some of what Humphrey had told him and some that Humphrey had not. As they entered DC, Crew maneuvered through traffic to a hotel near the White House.

“There are tunnels leading into the White House from The Knox. Humphrey will meet us and take us to some meeting room in the tunnels. The White House is too busy to meet there today,” Crew explained.

“How is the president going to get away unseen?” Brock asked, thinking of the Secret Service that should be with him almost constantly.

“The tunnels lead to the residence, and he can order Secret Service to stay downstairs. He’s cleared the floor of his staff for a private phone call. No one will bother him for about twenty minutes.”

Brock got out of the truck when Crew did. They entered the hotel and used a biometric keypad hidden behind an old painting to gain entrance to the secret tunnels in the basement. Humphrey was already waiting for them. “Brock, good, good. Glad you’re here. There have been a lot of developments. Hurry, the others are waiting.”

Brock and Crew followed Humphrey’s bald head through a series of tunnels. He finally stopped at a door and knocked. It was opened by a man with military written all over him. “You must be Dalton Cage.”

“And you must be Brock Loyde. Welcome. This is Lizzy James, our team leader. And this is Tate Carlisle, our inside source at the White House. And lastly, this is Alex Santos, our tech man.”

Brock looked from Lizzy to Tate to Alex. No president. And no Valeria. “Where’s Val?”

Lizzy stepped forward. “She’s disappeared. You know her better than we do. What do you think?”

Lizzy handed him a piece of paper and he instantly recognized Valeria’s handwriting. He handed the paper back and felt the eyes of the entire team on him. “It’s Val. She’s always been the lone wolf type. Whatever she’s doing, it’s dangerous and she has a high chance of getting caught, which is why she has cut all ties with you. If she does get caught, then nothing will lead back to you.”

Brock didn’t like it, and clearly the rest of the group didn’t either. “Has Crew filled you in?” Lizzy asked.

“Yes.” Brock looked at Crew and saw him stiffen as Lizzy stood close to Dalton. Well, that sure complicated things.

The door opened and the president walked in. “Brock,” he said, holding out his hand. “So glad you could make it. Call me Birch. Are we just waiting for Valeria?”

The president stepped over to Tate as she explained the situation. If he thought a relationship between Lizzy and Dalton with a jealous Crew thrown in was complicated, then a relationship between Tate and the president was a freaking nightmare. These things always had a way of coming out, no matter how tightly the Secret Service tried to protect the president.

By the looks Lizzy was giving the two, he wasn’t the only one worried about the relationship. “What’s going on with you guys?” Lizzy asked brusquely.

“What’s going on with you and Dalton?” Tate shot back.

“We’re sleeping together, but we both know a relationship is impossible. You two on the other hand,” Lizzy answered bluntly.

The way Tate turned red and the president stood ramrod straight as if he would physically defend Tate told everyone in the room exactly what the relationship was.

“Fucking great,” Lizzy groaned.

“This changes nothing,” Birch said.

“No, this changes everything. Your judgment already nearly cost us our cover because you sent us flying into the hotel over fears that Tate might be in danger. I hate to say this, but Valeria was right. Tate, you’re our weak link. You’re out,” Lizzy said without a trace of remorse in her voice.

“You can’t do that. I’m in charge here,” Birch said, coming toe to toe with Lizzy.

“No, you aren’t. I am. And Tate’s already impaired your judgment, and that was before you slept with her. Now I can’t trust your judgment. I can’t risk this group being sent into another dangerous situation just to protect Tate.”

“And you would leave Dalton if you had to.”

“Yes,” both Dalton and Lizzy said at the same time.

“But you don’t even know what I’ve learned,” Tate said, sounding more pissed off than Brock thought possible.

“And what have you learned?” Lizzy asked with a sigh.

“I have a way to take Claudia out of use for Mollia Domini.”

Lizzy’s eyebrow rose. “And how do you know that?”

“There’s video of her sleeping with Peter, Birch’s head Secret Service agent, and then reporting on information he passed to her. So, Brock will replace Peter and Claudia will lose her inside source. Then you all know about the photo that was released today?” Everyone nodded. They’d all seen it. “I released it. I’m using Brent Eller and Flint Scott, anonymously of course, to put the information I want out to the public.”

Lizzy shook her head. “Wait, why on earth would you bring so much scrutiny to yourself?”

“Because Alex didn’t just get video of Claudia and Peter. He has footage of Claudia and Fitz that expressly says she got me fired in order for Fitz to represent her. What happens when Claudia asks the president about me after bashing me for days only to have Tinselgossip.com release video proving that Claudia is manipulating everything? Flint already asked me about it at the press conference,” Tate said as she started pacing around the small room.

“And Claudia will be completely discredited, thus throwing everything she’s reported on into question and leaving Mollia Domini without a face to push their propaganda. You did all this on your own?” Lizzy asked.

“Yes, and I know Claudia. The first thing she’ll do is head right to her handler to complain about the tables being turned on her.”

“And we’ll have a chance to nab the next in line who we can then question to finally find out who might be in the inner circle. If this person isn’t in there already.” Lizzy shook her head. “I’m sorry for not trusting you, Tate. That’s great work. You’re sacrificing yourself to take down two or more Mollia Domini. I’ll back off you and Birch as long as your judgment is unclouded. You get Birch ready for that interview. I take it you have a detailed plan?”

“I do.”

“Good. Dalton is on Epps. Brock, you need to take over for Peter, but there needs to be a reason. He can’t know that we know he’s the leak,” Lizzy ordered.

“I’ll take care of Peter,” Humphrey said. “Yeah, I got it. Brock, be ready. It won’t take long. Then walk right in through the employee entrance. And Alex, make sure Brock is the only name on the short list for the job who is available.” Before Brock could say okay, Humphrey was scuttling out the door.

“And I’ll start on the fingerprints,” Lizzy said as the door closed behind Humphrey.

“What do you want me to do?” Crew asked.

“I want you with the president,” Lizzy answered.

“I’m honoring military all day today. Crew can be my guest of honor. Just get into a dress uniform and that should do it,” Birch told him.

“Got it. Where should I meet you?” Crew asked.

“Give me an hour and come to the gate. Your name will be on the list.”

Crew took off and Dalton stepped forward. “Alex, I need a press pass or something that will get me into any area with Senator Epps.”

“No problem, dude. Give me fifteen minutes. I just got to do this thing for the Hump man.”

Brock rolled his eyes as the young man hurried from the room. “How many times was he going to say dude?”

“Every time he speaks,” Lizzy answered.

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” Brock said, embarrassed at being caught.

“We all ask that question,” Dalton told him as everyone nodded.

“I have to get back to the White House and add Crew into my speech. Tate will be with me all day,” Birch told them.

“Tate, can I have a word?” Lizzy asked as she pulled Tate away. The room was small, and it was easy to hear Lizzy apologizing again. Brock was somewhat comforted in the fact that their team leader could own up to mistakes. Brock also saw her hand off a small gun to Tate. Now, that might not be the best idea.

Tate nodded and the women came back to the group. “A gun?” Birch asked just what Brock was thinking.

“Tate’s not the best with hand-to-hand, but she’s a good shot. Has an Olympic medal to prove it,” Lizzy defended. “And if she’s with you, then she won’t have to go through a metal detector. It’s just an added layer of protection because if Mollia Domini has any idea what we’re up to, they’ll have no problem taking us out—especially Tate. The elevator attack, the house ransacking . . . they think she knows something. They just aren’t sure of it, and that’s the only thing keeping her alive right now.”