Valeria knew the moment she asked the question that something was wrong. Everyone in the room froze and stared at her. Where was he? What weren’t they telling her?

“Who’s Brock?” Grant asked as Dalton shook his head to indicate he should shut up.

“Brock Loyde,” Valeria said, slowly looking around at each person in the room. “He is a Secret Service agent who was supposed to help guard Birch. Did he decline?”

“Alex, move,” Birch said sternly. Alex stepped out of the way of the camera and she saw Birch’s face more serious than normal. “Come here, Valeria, so I can see you better.”

Valeria felt numb as she approached the laptop. The computer at the hospital was moved to Birch’s lap so only he could be seen.

“Where’s Brock?”

“Val, I’m sorry to tell you that—” Birch started to say, but Valeria was already shaking her head back and forth.

“No. No. Don’t tell me,” Val ordered, her voice strangled by unshed tears.

“He died saving my life during the bombing. He was a hero and will be buried as such. I thought you would want to handle the funeral. I’m so sorry, Valeria,” Birch finished, telling her even though she didn’t want to hear it.

“Val,” Tate said, her voice heavy with sympathy. Sympathy was something Valeria didn’t want to hear right now. She spun away and pushed past Lizzy. She needed an escape from it all. She needed to control herself.

Valeria darted into the first room with a door and closed it. It was a small half bathroom with a white pedestal sink, sea foam walls, and not much else. Valeria turned on the sink and let the sound of running water cover the sound of her tears.

---

“Who’s Brock?” Grant asked into the silence.

“Valeria’s boyfriend,” Tate answered. “He was in the Secret Service and was with us at the bombing.”

Grant gave a nod of understanding. The woman just lost her love, and he’d been hitting on her. Now he felt like an arse.

“You can still leave if you want to,” the president said with a sigh.

Grant looked back at the closed door and then at Dalton. He’d never left a soldier behind, and he wouldn’t do it now. “No. I’ll stay.”

Alex moved in and began to work on the computer as Grant headed over to stand next to Dalton. They had worked together so long words weren’t needed to communicate what they felt at this moment. Grant knew going into this it was a small group, but now he and Dalton felt just as they did flying out to rescue the downed Syrian—this operation was FUBAR.

“Duuuuuuude,” Alex said, all wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He looked up from the computer. “Dude, dude, dude!” His voice raised an octave with every dude he said.

“What is it?” The president’s voice came through the computer even though Grant couldn’t see him since Alex was working.

“She followed the money.”

“I’ll go get her,” Lizzy told them, but Grant reached his hand out and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, stopping her.

“I’ll do it.”

---

Grant knocked on the door. Nothing but the sound of running water greeted him. He twisted the knob and the door opened. He found Valeria sitting on the toilet lid, her head buried in her hands, and her shoulders shaking as she silently cried.

Grant wedged himself into the small bathroom and closed the door. Valeria turned away from him and wiped at her face as he crouched down in front of her. “Ah, lass. I’m so sorry about your boyfriend.”

His heart broke as he said the words. He enjoyed their playful banter and the challenge Valeria presented. But if he’d known about Brock, she would have been off limits from the beginning. Instead he’d hit on her while her boyfriend was dying for the president.

“I’m fine,” Valeria mumbled as she finally looked at him. Grant saw the bloodshot eyes and the stiff upper lip. She was hurting but refused to admit it.

“It’s okay to mourn. You lost someone you love. He must have been very special.”

Valeria nodded and then looked away again. “He was. And it’s my fault he’s dead. He didn’t ask for this. He was happy in France, and I dragged him into this just like I’m dragging you. You rescued me, now let me rescue you. Leave now. Go back to your base and forget we exist.”

Grant reached out and clasped her hands in his. “You’re not dragging me into anything I don’t want to be in.” He paused. He didn’t want to push her, but they needed a game plan. “When you’re ready, Alex has all the information up that you got in Mexico.”

Valeria took a deep breath, her eyes hardening. “Let’s finish this.” She stood up at the same time Grant did. He stepped back against the sink as they came chest to chest. His arms automatically wrapped around her to catch her as she stumbled. Shit. He’d had women in his arms before. Many, if he was honest. But Valeria? The beautiful, fiery force of nature felt like she was made to be in his arms. He wanted her. And damn the luck that her heart belonged to someone else.

Grant looked into her blue eyes streaked with electricity and rimmed with dark clouds. Her eyes were as wild as she was. Some men would want to tame that wildness, but not him. He longed to set her free. To do that, he had to let her go. Grant dropped his arms, opened the door, and watched the woman he desperately wanted in his life walk away from him.

---

Lizzy watched the closed bathroom door open and a red-rimmed Valeria step out. Her back straight and stiff, her eyes for a second showed confusion as she glanced back at Grant, but then hardened. That was the Valeria Lizzy knew. The one who would look death in the eye and give it the finger.

“That’s interesting,” Dalton whispered next to her.

“It’s distracting.”

Dalton’s eyebrows rose in response. “Am I a distraction? Sometimes love is a motivation, a reason to keep going, not a distraction, Lizzy.”

Lizzy looked at the resignation and longing etched in Grant’s face. He’d shaved since she had seen him last. His big thick beard was now what she’d consider a day’s overgrowth of scruff. It was dark auburn and only highlighted the sharp angles and muscles of his face. His matching dark auburn hair was slightly wild in an I-just-had-sex kind of way. And then those green eyes—they were like looking at the Highland mountains. This literal mountain man looked as if his heart ached for Valeria, but he was too tough to ever admit it. And it broke Lizzy’s own heart.

Lizzy leaned close to Dalton. “You’re right. Love isn’t a distraction. Love saved Birch. If Tate didn’t love him with all her heart, she wouldn’t have risked her life to protect him.”

“And love brought me to the South China Sea. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to soothe the hurt and deception Dan caused. And it’s what’s keeping me by your side through everything that may come.”

Dalton placed a kiss right below her ear as Valeria turned from talking to Alex. Grant stood next to Dalton, and everyone stopped talking and gave Valeria their full attention.

“Manuel Hernandez is the head of the Hermanos de Sangre cartel. He owns the local bank that I traced all the payments to Phylicia to, along with a $5,000,000 withdrawal made by Sandra Cummings that corresponds to the briefcase full of cash Branson Ames was supposed to deliver to the terrorists in Syria.” Valeria pointed to the records she’d pulled off Manuel’s computer.

“It’s imperative we pick up Sandra immediately,” Birch ordered.

“I’ve secured Thurmond in a former CIA black site here in DC. It hasn’t been used for five years but is still useable. I can pick her up and take her there,” Jason offered.

“Do it,” Birch ordered.

“And speaking of Sandra,” Humphrey’s little nasally voice said, “Alex has Thurmond’s computer and the dossier he put together at her request on natural disasters. We’ll discuss that next.”

“Actually,” Val said, “I bet that has to do with what else I found on Manuel’s computer. See, I followed the money not only to Sandra, but payouts to Dan, Hugo, Fitz, Phylicia, and about twenty other names.”

Val went to the next image and Lizzy gasped. “Stanworth.”

“Wait. Does that say SA Tech?” Birch’s voice sounded hollow at seeing his friend’s company listed.

“Yes. Sebastian is somehow tangled up in this. He told me he had to pay Manuel a fee in order to not have his business harassed in Mexico. However, it seems as if they do quite a bit of business.” Valeria didn’t seem too surprised or saddened by this fact. Lizzy, on the other hand, knew the feeling of betrayal Birch must be feeling.

“Here,” Val said, pointing to the screen, “is a $5,000,000 deposit by Sebastian just two days before Sandra’s withdrawal. It’s sloppy and obvious. Either they needed the money fast or he is being set up. I can’t tell which,” Val answered.

“Lizzy,” Birch said, his voice empty of emotion, “you’re to accompany Sebastian to the White House. I’m tired of being stuck in this hospital. You bring him to me as soon as I’m back home. I’ll be the one to question him. Go on, Valeria.”

“Well, you can see there are also payments to and from Bertie Geofferies, the Kamerons, and Governor Orson Benning. It reads like a who’s who of international players. Geofferies is Sebastian’s biggest competitor, the Kamerons make their money selling various products made in Mexico, and New York Governor Benning’s family owns a small but very luxurious resort on the Mexican coast. The trouble is figuring out who paid to do business and who paid to launder money. There are so many payments being made back and forth, it’s pretty much impossible to tell. However, we now have a list of names. Plus we have this.”

Val opened the next file. It was filled with communication and orders from Roland Westwood.

“Roland Westwood. I should have known,” Birch said.

“Who’s he?” Alex asked.

“Roland Westwood is the spoiled grandson and heir to Davenport Bank,” Tate told everyone. “His grandmother spoils him even as his not-so-loving father tries to keep him on the straight and narrow. For his twenty-fifth birthday, his grandmother handed the Davenport Bank in South Africa over to him after Roland told her he enjoys the surfing there. I did a story on the corruption coming out of those banks.”

“And Davenport Bank is one of the most prestigious banks in the world. Everyone who is anyone banks there. It would be nothing to have all those people on that list as clients,” Humphrey pointed out.

Valeria nodded. “It’s how they launder the money. Manuel put $5,000,000 into his bank, then invested it into a stock market account. Then someone at the Davenport Bank in South Africa liquated that account and wired it through private banking to Davenport London, who would then send it to Davenport Bank in DC or anywhere else in the world. When it’s pulled out, it’s clean.”

“This is good, and we can now stop the free-flowing money that is funding Mollia Domini, but what does this have to do with the bombs?” Jason asked.

“This.” Valeria went to the next file. “It’s a list of the world’s most influential stock markets, power grids, and water plants.”

“It’s the dossier Thurmond prepared,” Humphrey said, stunned.

“They’re going to blow up some or all of these targets. We know they have five more bombs, thanks to Alex’s hacker friends. But we don’t know if they have more than that,” Dalton said with a seriousness they all felt.

“We do know where and who the money is coming from, though. We need to cut off the money and cripple Mollia Domini. And let’s make sure we find Roland Westwood. Maybe then we can find out where these bombs are. We can’t wait any longer. We need to move now. Westwood could be the head of Mollia Domini, and without him we may never find all the bombs,” Lizzy ordered.

“Sandra doesn’t know we’re onto her, though.” Humphrey said, his bald head coming into view as Alex took down the documents from the shared screen. “She could lead us to Roland or even others who are in the inner circle.”

“I can get that information from her,” Jason said coolly. “She’s responsible for Phylicia.”

That said it all. Jason blamed Mollia Domini for his wife’s death. But he blamed Sandra most as Phylicia’s handler. Lizzy looked at Dalton, and she looked at Birch. They understood what was happening. If she gave Jason permission, she was signing Sandra’s death warrant. Of course, Sandra never had much of a chance at living anyway. Not when she’d committed treason.

“Do it,” Lizzy ordered.

“Wait,” Birch called out. “I’ll call her to the hospital. Meet me here at eight. I’ll have the floor cleared. Alex can get you past any security. I’m taking a risk, but I need this as much as you do. Then you can take her to the black site.”

Jason looked out into some unknown before acknowledging the president. “I’ll keep myself in check. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

“Valeria, you’re with me,” Lizzy said as she took control. “We need to find Roland Westwood.”

“You’ve got it.”

“Dalton and Grant, you’ll provide support if we need it. Alex, you do your thing to shut down the money. If you have to, bring in only those hackers you can trust. No more public boards and screen names, though. I need details on them so I can vet them before I clear you to bring them in. And even then, they only need to know the bare minimum. Okay?”

“Yup,” Alex nodded, already getting to work on his computer. “I’m posting their details on our secure site.”

“Tate, are you able to work?” Lizzy asked.

“I can type with one hand,” Tate smiled.

“Then start working on press releases for the disappearance of Thurmond and Sandra. We need something to account for their absence or someone will come looking for them. I want it to be specific enough that Mollia Domini knows we have them and are coming for them.”

“I can do that. I’ll have something tomorrow for you to look over.”

“Good. We have our assignments. Good luck, everyone.”