Dalton knew it couldn’t be good when Alex met them at the airport. He stood in baggy olive-green cargo shorts, shifting from side to side on his untied tennis shoes that had to be worth more than any kid had the right to spend on shoes. He shoved back his unkempt hair as he scanned the crowd.

“Dude!” he called out as soon as he saw them and frantically began to wave them over.

Dalton had slept hard and long on the plane ride home, but he was still exhausted, and Alex’s puppyish exuberance only annoyed him right now. “What is it?” he asked with dread as Alex’s bouncing increased.

“Sebastian is arriving in a private jet in ten minutes. Humphrey is meeting him, but—”

“But you’re worried Humphrey won’t be able to handle it,” Dalton finished for Alex as he opened the door for Lizzy.

“Yeah. I mean, he’s an old dude,” Alex shrugged.

“Then let’s go,” Dalton sighed as he lowered himself into the sedan.

Alex hurried around the hood of the car and leapt in. “Oh, and I need to take you to talk to Jason. I can drop you off there and take Lizzy back to her place before picking you back up. That is, as long as Humphrey can get Sebastian to go with him.”

Alex tore out of the arrivals line and sped toward the private hangars. They wouldn’t be able to waltz right in, but they would be able to watch to make sure Humphrey had Sebastian in hand. If not, then Dalton would go to Plan B.

They saw Humphrey’s car before they saw his head. He was leaning against the side of the car with his arms crossed. Dalton and Lizzy peered out the windshield and through the chain-link fence, watching him.

“I don’t see any agents with him,” Lizzy said, scanning the area.

“Nope, and here comes Sebastian,” Dalton replied, his eyes never leaving Sebastian’s tall frame as he walked down the stairs of his jet. “He doesn’t seem surprised to see Humphrey.”

“Sebastian would never show if he was. That’s part of his image,” Lizzy answered.

Humphrey walked over to Sebastian and shook his hand. He gestured to the car. Sebastian nodded and said something. Humphrey nodded then and pulled out his phone. Lizzy’s phone rang and Alex jumped. “Dude, weird.”

“Hello?” Lizzy put the phone on speaker.

“It’s Humphrey. I’m at the airport with Sebastian. He wants to talk to you.”

Lizzy looked at Dalton, and he instantly knew what she was asking. He gave a single nod of his head. “Then turn around. We’re in the sedan.”

Humphrey spun as Lizzy and Dalton opened their doors. Lizzy still had the dress from the party on, but it was now covered with a black T-shirt. Sebastian was in the same suit as well. Sebastian and Humphrey got into his car and drove through the guarded gates toward them.

“What do you think he wants?” Alex wondered. Lizzy and Dalton didn’t answer. They spread out to cover the car as it came to a stop next to them. Sebastian and Humphrey got out and Dalton tensed, ready for anything.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” Sebastian said, not sounding all too glad.

“I could say the same, but I don’t know if it’s true yet,” Lizzy shot back in the same nonchalant voice Sebastian had used as she patted him down for a wire. “How are your new friends?”

Sebastian seemed amused, and Dalton fought against punching him. “Roland isn’t the head of Mollia Domini.”

“I guess you’d know this since you joined them. At least that’s what it appears when you wire a million dollars to Roland Westwood right after you disappear with them,” Alex chimed in.

Dalton blinked at Alex’s statement. First, Alex was standing up to Sebastian. Second, a million dollars?

“You paid them?” Lizzy asked, her voice soft and deadly.

The moment of shock that had registered and then quickly passed over Sebastian’s hard features was masked with elitist indifference once again. “A million is nothing. You know that. It was enough to learn that Roland isn’t the leader. Isn’t that worth a million dollars?”

“At what cost?” Lizzy asked. “The cost of you now being an enemy of the country? What did they need that money for? To try to kill your supposed best friend again?”

“Again, again,” Alex mumbled.

“What?” Sebastian snapped.

Alex began to shuffle his feet again. “Someone tried to kill the president again overnight.”

Sebastian didn’t react. Instead he turned to Humphrey. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” Lizzy ordered. “What else did you learn?”

“I’m an enemy of the state, remember? If you want to know what I know, then I need a favor.”

“So much for no strings,” Lizzy spat. Dalton could tell she was close to letting her temper fly.

“I’ve put a lot on the line to get you information on Roland. Now I need something in return. It’s a simple quid pro quo,” Sebastian shrugged.

“What do you want?” Lizzy asked between gritted teeth.

“Nothing from you, love. I want Alex, or whoever discovered I’d wired that money so quickly, to get me all of Bertie Geofferies’s financials, private emails, text messages, everything.”

“Why?” Dalton asked.

“Bertie is my rival, and we all know knowledge is power. I’m helping you, you help me, and I continue to feed you information on Mollia Domini.”

Lizzy shook her head. “No. I won’t let him. You’re not in control here, Sebastian.”

Sebastian raised one eyebrow over his cement-gray eyes. “We’ll just see what Birch has to say about it. Speaking of my friend, let’s go, Humphrey.” Sebastian slid into the back seat as if Humphrey were his chauffeur and closed the door.

“I’ll let you know everything,” Humphrey promised before getting in and driving away.

“What an arrogant ass,” Dalton muttered as they all got back into their car.

“I can’t tell with him. Is he on our side or not?” Lizzy asked as Alex drove out of the airport.

“He’s on his own side.” Dalton sighed, exhaustion rolling over him, knowing he still had a full day before he could get some shut-eye.

“This is the second time he’s asked for information on Bertie Geofferies. I think it may be time for me to find out why,” Lizzy said with the decision made. “Alex, can you get that information Sebastian wants?”

“Some, but Rock Star can get more.”

“Rock Star?” Dalton asked with a quirk of his lips. The way Alex said the name showed an admiration and respect, but it was the way little hearts practically leapt from his eyes that told Dalton that Rock Star was more than just a hacker buddy.

Alex cleared his throat. “Yeah, she’s the hacker from London.”

“I remember,” Lizzy said, not bothering to hide her smile. “Our little boy is growing up.” She held back the laughter.

Alex turned apple-red. “Not cool, dude. Not cool.”

“But Rock Star is,” Lizzy said, and she surrendered to the laughter.

“Okay, okay, we embarrassed him enough.” Dalton was laughing as well. “Can you get what we need?”

“Duh. I’ll get working on it immediately. I’m assuming I’ll give it to you and not Sebastian.”

“You’ve got it,” Lizzy said, finally leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes. “And make sure Rock Star meets us before you take her on a date. We have to make sure she’s good enough for you.”

---

Dalton walked hesitantly into the building Jason was using as a black site. It was an abandoned building made to look like office space. He knew Jason had seen him on the cameras, and sure enough, Jason appeared at the office door.

Dalton stood in the aisle surrounded by empty cubicles and looked at his friend and mentor. Jason was empty. His eyes were blank, his lips were in a thin line, and his body that had plumped after retirement was now sagging. It was evident that Jason wasn’t dieting; he wasn’t eating, period.

Jason leaned a shoulder against a steel doorjamb and crossed his arms. “You come to check on the prisoners?”

“Are they still alive?”

“For now.”

“Jason, you need help,” Dalton told his friend, knowing it was the last thing Jason wanted to hear.

“I’m getting my help here.”

“Is revenge the only thing keeping you alive?” Dalton asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

Instead of answering, Jason turned and walked down the dark stairwell, leaving Dalton to follow. The stairs led into a secret network of rooms behind a false wall in the basement of the building. Down there, no one would hear a gunshot, a scream for help, or any other noise that might occur during interrogation.

Interrogation rooms lined the hallway as they walked to the cells in the back. Each cell was a small cement block room lined with thick metal walls and exposed steel beam ceilings. Behind each steel door with the small square Plexiglas window was a cot and a toilet. The first cell contained Gene, huddled on the cot as his body shook.

“Here,” Dalton said, stopping Jason. “What’s wrong with him?”

Jason pulled out a set of keys. “Drug withdrawal. This one wouldn’t shut up. He told me everything he knew the second I set him in the chair. Unfortunately, it’s not much. Mostly, he was a patsy. I kind of feel sorry for him. Michelle would have taken him under her wing.” At the mention of his wife, he looked away from Dalton and opened the door.

Dalton walked in and knelt before the old butler who was still in his White House tuxedo. Next to him was plenty of food and water, something Dalton was betting the others didn’t have.

Gene opened his eyes. “Are you going to kill me?”

“No. I’m here to tell you that your daughters are safe. There were two operatives following your girls. They’ve been eliminated. Your daughters will be getting on a plane tonight and coming home only to discover they’ve won an all-expenses paid trip out of the country for the rest of the summer. They’re going to call you, and you’re going to tell them you are stuck at work and are so happy for them. You’re going to tell them to leave immediately and enjoy themselves. And you’re going to tell them how much you love them.”

Tears began to stream down Gene’s face. “The president did that?”

“Yes.”

Gene began to cry harder. “I didn’t want to do it.”

“I believe you,” Dalton said sadly. Gene was another life ruined by Mollia Domini. How many more people would be dead or ruined before this was over?

Dalton stood, and Gene reached out and grabbed his leg. Dalton didn’t jump back. There was nothing Gene could do to him. Not with Jason aiming a gun at his head. “Thank you. Thank you for saving my girls. They’re all I have left after my wife passed.”

Jason faltered. His gun momentarily dipped at the mention of the loss of Gene’s wife. “You’re welcome. Gene, are you willing to testify about what happened?”

“Only if it doesn’t hurt my girls. They’re all that matters to me now.”

Dalton gave him a tight smile showing he understood and walked out the door. Jason shut it and locked it again. “Who is next?”

“Thurmond. But he doesn’t know anything more than he’s already told us. It’s clear he was set up to take the fall if Sandra started to come under suspicion.”

“Will he testify against Sandra?” Dalton asked.

“Maybe if it means he doesn’t get the death penalty. I’m sure he’d enjoy writing a tell-all book and doing interviews from prison.”

“Then let’s ask him.”

Dalton waited for Jason to open the cell door. Thurmond was sitting on the cot with his back against the wall, waiting for them when they entered. “Who are you?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “He’s still a little shit.”

“I can tell,” Dalton said seriously.

“Will you testify about everything you’ve told him?”

“Testify to whom?” Thurmond asked as if he weren’t sitting in a black site.

“The court and Congress, if need be.”

“What do I get out of it?”

“How about not dying and a chance to be on every channel live as you’re telling Congress what role you played along with Sandra?” Dalton casually answered.

“I want immunity,” Thurmond said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How about you die in a secret prison? You’ll be that asshole they’re glad disappeared,” Dalton countered.

Thurmond looked ready to argue, but one look at Jason had him changing his mind. “Fine. I’ll testify. But I want a lawyer.”

“You’ll get one. Here’s the deal. If there is anything you haven’t told us, and we find out, the deal will be as dead as you will be. Got it?” Dalton asked as he stared a mutinous Thurmond down. Thurmond was trying to be tough while clearly petrified of Jason at the same time.

Thurmond looked away and then back to Dalton. “Deal. I, um, know something that Sandra could tell you that I may have forgotten about until now.”

“What?” Jason snapped.

“Um, a private security group that Sandra and President Mitchell wanted to contract through the State Department. They had something to do with the report I was generating. They were to be part of the response team to the financial district and the Department of Energy.”

“Which private contractor was it?” Dalton asked, knowing they were onto something big here.

“CBL Services Group.”

Neither Dalton nor Jason said anything. They were intimately aware of how dangerous CBL was. The head of the company was retired Col. Brandon Locke. He was now in his early fifties, but Jason had worked with him quite a bit before Locke was quietly pushed out of the military. Dalton had worked with him for a year before the rumors became too much and the military was forced to either admit what happened under their watch or quietly pension him off. They chose to pension him off and bury the evidence as much as they could.

“Anything else?” Dalton asked.

Thurmond shook his head. “Not that I can think of. So, we have a deal?”

“Yes, we do. If you think of anything, knock on the door and tell him. No matter how big or small it is. Okay?”

“Okay. When do I get my attorney?”

“If you can use half of your brain to figure out why we’re asking this and connect the dots, then you’ll realize how much trouble you’re really in. When it’s over, you will get your lawyer. Until then, you will be fed, clothed, and treated well, unless you start withholding information. You are considered an enemy of the state and you need to understand that.”

Dalton turned to leave and Jason followed him out. They didn’t say anything until the door was locked. They walked a couple paces away and huddled together, dropping their voices.

“Why am I not surprised Locke is involved?” Jason asked rhetorically.

“All I know are the rumors. I met him a couple of times when we were overseas for rescues. I’d never met anyone so cold-blooded. He didn’t care if civilians were in harm’s way and that’s where the rumors came into play,” Dalton remembered.

“Brandon Locke is a disgrace to the military. He ran an elite group of black op soldiers who were just as bad as he was. They had absolutely no moral code. Sometimes you need that in war. But you need someone who can control them. Locke was more interested in riling them up and letting them loose than focusing on the mission.

“I remember a rescue that I was called in on before you joined us. They went into the mountains to try to find one of the high-value targets. They were caught in a shoot-out and one of them was injured. My team was called in for a medical evac. In the meantime, the terrorists were hiding among innocent families. By the time I arrived, they were all dead, and not from the terrorists. Locke had gone in and wiped them all out. Innocent or no, he didn’t care. He got his target. Children as young as two were murdered. My team found women with clothes ripped off and a single bullet in their head.” Jason looked down the hall as if he were there, looking at the casualties.

“I shoved Locke against the helo, but his men were on me in a heartbeat. They threatened us all and said what we saw were the casualties of war. We took it to our commander and were told, very clearly, to drop it. I heard there was an incident with a foreign ambassador and his family that finally ended Locke. It was a rescue mission and during the blood lust that followed the rescue, the ambassador’s daughter was raped by one of Locke’s men. Allegedly she was a very beautiful nineteen-year-old woman and was being held alone in a separate room. When the soldiers killed her captors, they thought they deserved an extra reward for saving her. The woman caused a scene, and Locke killed the girl to keep it quiet. The ambassador went straight to Sandra Cummings, who was the head of the Senate Foreign Affairs at the time, and it was covered up the best it could be, and Locke retired,” Jason said with a disgusted shake of his head.

“That’s the connection we needed, though,” Dalton said, pulling out his phone. No service. “Let’s check on Sandra and hear what she has to say about it. Then I think it’s time to renew our acquaintance with the colonel.”

Dalton followed Jason down the hall. Jason stopped at the door and then rushed to get it open. “Fuck!” he yelled, flinging the door open so hard it echoed off the metal wall. Dalton saw what it was the second he got through the door. The cot was leaning partially upright against a wall as if it had been stood on its end lengthwise and then kicked over. Sandra was hanging from the exposed beam by her bra a couple feet away. She’d found a place where a bolt had fallen out and slid her bra through making a noose. She’d shoved her cot upright and climbed up, kicked the cot away and hung herself.

“When did you last see her?” Dalton called out as he raced over to try to lift her in case she wasn’t dead.

“Right before you arrived. I took her pantyhose. Dammit, I didn’t think of her bra.” Jason moved the cot and took Dalton’s place, holding Sandra’s body so Dalton could climb up and cut her down.

Dalton cut the bra and Jason laid Sandra down on the ground, feeling for a pulse. “She’s dead.”