Valeria woke with her body pressed against Grant’s. She didn’t know how, but she’d somehow fallen asleep as they watched over Gene’s girls from their cabana. Grant was reclined with one arm behind his head and the other around her back and resting on her hip.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve never fallen asleep on a stakeout before.” Valeria made a move to sit up, but Grant kept her pinned there.

“It’s okay, lass. Rest. We leave in a couple hours for our red-eye anyway. They’ve just been swimming and sunning. We had a long night last night.” He leaned down and kissed her upturned lips, reminding her of the pleasures of staying up late with a man like Grant.

She rested her head back onto his chest and watched the girls being handed strawberry daiquiris. Since her time with Anthony, Val had been a one-night kind of girl. She didn’t trust. She didn’t want to have to decide ever again between love and the law. Instead, Val preferred no-strings-attached dates. However, she wasn’t ready to shove Grant out the door. Somewhere, over the rescue in Mexico, the rescue in California, the night in the desert, and time together at the resort, she had begun to trust him. And trust was dangerous in her book. It gave Grant power over her and that was something she didn’t know if she was ready for.

“You’re thinking so hard I can hear it,” Grant said softly as he began to absently stroke the curve of her hip with his thumb.

“Just trying to plan out our next step.”

“Of the operation or of us?” Grant asked, knowing her better than Anthony ever did. Not since Brock had any man really known her. Valeria had never thought she’d have those feelings again. Trust, affection, love.

“Both,” she said honestly.

“I know you’re blown away by my animal magnetism. It’s scary and intimidating, but as long as you don’t look deep into my eyes, you’ll be okay.”

Valeria burst out laughing. Maybe it was time to take a risk with her heart along with the mission. Grant smiled at her as she leaned up and kissed him.

“Hmm,” Grant said, pulling back. “Phone. It’s Dalton.”

Valeria sat up as Grant answered. She had enjoyed their moments together, free from the reality of their mission. But reality had a way of never really going away. The more you fought it, the harder it picked you up and slammed you back to earth.

“Fuckin’ A,” Grant cursed, sitting up quickly and looking at Valeria as Dalton continued to talk. “Yeah, we’re still here. We leave in a couple hours. Sure, we can catch an earlier flight. Tell Alex to get the girls on the same one. I don’t want to leave them here alone. I think they’re safe, but I don’t want to risk it until we’re out of the country.”

Valeria took in Grant’s hand as it opened and closed as if he were trying to remain calm. He finished his phone call and Valeria knew reality had just slammed them yet again.

“What is it?” she asked as he stared out over the open water, searching for signs of trouble.

“Have you ever met someone so evil they scared you to your core?”

Valeria thought about it. “Angered me, worried me, threatened me, sure. But scare me that deeply? No.”

“You will. Retired Colonel Brandon Locke. He’s the owner of CBL Services Group. Private security of the worst kind,” Grant told her. The more he told her, the colder Valeria felt. It didn’t matter she was in the hot summer sun. To know that kind of evil was out there chilled her,but sadly didn’t surprise her.

“Dalton wants me to go with him and Jason to see Locke. They believe he’s with Mollia Domini and will be used by them as their own private army.”

“Where are their offices?”

“New York City.”

“We’ll all go. Lizzy and I certainly aren’t ones to sit back keeping the home fires burning.”

Grant shook his head. “Locke will talk even less if you’re there. He finds women worthless. He’d order you taken out the second we have our backs turned because no matter how hard Dalton and I hide it, he’ll see we care about you both.”

It rubbed Valeria the wrong way to be considered a liability, but she understood. She threatened family members all the time to get people to talk. “We’ll be invisible. We’ll stay in the van or in lookout positions.”

“I think we can handle that.”

“Rebecca or Stephanie Rankin,” a hotel staffer called out as he walked through the sand in his white shorts and bright blue polo.

“Here!” Rebecca called out from her chair in front of Grant and Valeria.

“We have you scheduled for a shuttle to the airport this evening, however, your flight has been changed. You leave in two hours. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

The sisters quickly gathered their things as Grant called the man over. “I just got notice our flight was also cancelled and rebooked for earlier. Can you arrange two more seats on that shuttle for us?”

“Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Browning.”

Valeria watched the staffer hurry back to the resort as she gave one last look out over the ocean. It had been twelve blissful hours, but reality was a bitch.

---

Dalton, Lizzy, and Jason were the first to arrive at the tunnels. She hated waiting but knew it would be safer to go through the tunnels all at once. With the increased security, she didn’t want to have to open and close the hidden entrance to the White House residence more than necessary.

Dalton had given her the abbreviated version of what had happened, and since then, neither he nor Jason had said much. Lizzy didn’t push. She had said she would go with them and they’d both said no with such force she didn’t bring it up again. She’d see what Valeria said because she had no intention of staying behind.

The secret door leading from the basement of the hotel opened and Valeria entered, followed by Grant and Alex. Grant looked around in wonder, and Lizzy wondered if she’d ever looked so awestruck. Then she remembered the first time she came through the tunnels she had a sack over her head.

Lizzy greeted them as Dalton began to lead the pack up the tunnels. Lizzy hung back and put a restraining hand on Valeria’s arm for a brief second. It was more than enough as Valeria instantly slowed and moved to her side.

Lizzy leaned her head close and whispered, “Has Grant said anything about New York?”

“Yes,” Valeria whispered. “I thought you’d want to talk about this. He said the guys would want to leave us behind.”

“Dalton already said I couldn’t go.”

“Well,” Valeria said, before looking up to make sure they weren’t overheard. “I knew you’d feel the same way I do, which I told Grant. He said this colonel is scary evil, and I agree after hearing about him. He’s worried if we go with them, neither he nor Dalton will be able to hide the fact they care about us.”

“So?” Lizzy started but then stopped and smiled. “Grant cares about you?”

Valeria blushed slightly and Lizzy’s grin widened. She had thought relationships would hurt the operation, but instead they made them stronger. Tate’s rescue of Birch would never have succeeded if she didn’t love him.

“Grant believes the colonel would purposely hurt us just to throw them off. I actually agree with him.”

“There’s no way I’m staying behind if he’s that bad,” Lizzy hissed as she tried to keep her voice down.

“I agree. I told Grant that, and he agrees that we can be outside the facility in a backup vehicle or in a sniper position. While we won’t be inside with them, we’ll at least be nearby if they need to make a quick exit.”

Lizzy wanted to say no, but it was a good plan. “Let’s do it then. I’ll take sniper and you take driver. Then we’ll have both positions covered. I’m sure Dalton and Jason will agree to that.”

They were all quiet as they climbed the stairs. Lizzy sent a message to Humphrey and a few very long minutes later the secret door opened and Humphrey’s bald head poked in.

“It’s all clear. We’re meeting in the Treaty Room.” Was it just her or was Humphrey walking a little taller today? Saving the president’s life could do that to a person.

Birch was standing when they walked in. His hand and a hip were leaning against the polished table, but he looked better than he did on the video chat a few days before. He was back in a suit and tie. His light brown hair had been freshly cut, he had shaved, yet he still looked tired. There was pain etched along the fine lines around his mouth and eyes.

Tate was sitting in a chair with her leg propped on a small ottoman. She smiled to the group. Her blonde highlighted hair was pulled back into a loose bun at the base of her neck, and while she looked worried, she remained the optimistic go-getter.

“It’s so good to see you both in person,” Lizzy said, shaking Birch’s hand and leaning over to hug Tate. Every one else fell in line behind her making their rounds to welcome Tate and Birch back into action.

Lizzy watched as Valeria hung back. She was the last to shake Birch’s hand and then she almost pulled Tate from the chair with her hug. There had been a time when Valeria thought Tate was nothing more than a talking bobble-headed reporter. Now, as they embraced, it seemed they were family. Well, they were. This crazy mix of people was family. They had her back and now she needed to have theirs.

“It’s great to be together again, but I’m afraid we need to get back to work. Dalton, why don’t you fill them in,” Lizzy said, raising her voice slightly over the greetings.

“Sandra Cummings is dead.”

“What?” Birch asked, shocked. “How?”

“She hung herself with her bra,” Dalton told him along with what they had found out from Gene and Thurmond.

“Brandon Locke? Shit.” Birch shot up from where he was sitting and grimaced in pain. “When they mentioned private security, I thought it would be someone reputable. But Brandon Locke? He’d kill someone out walking their dog . . . and then kill the dog.”

“We want to go talk to him,” Jason said quietly from the corner of the room.

“Why would you do that?” Birch asked.

“I want to ask him to his face what’s going on,” Jason said, standing now. “I’m tired of hiding.”

Birch was quiet for a moment. “Alex,” Birch called out, turning to Alex instead of answering Jason, “what have you found out?”

Alex was bouncing even as he sat. His right leg bounced so hard the table was moving. “I’m telling you, dude. Mr. Dude? Sorry, President? Sir? Birch?”

“Birch. Go on,” Birch said with a faint smile.

“There’s chatter everywhere. London, Switzerland, Japan, all over the world, dude. I mean, Birch.”

“What kind of chatter?” Lizzy asked.

“The kind about terrorist attacks. And not the kind for the most human casualties, but the kind that can cripple a country. It’s lining up with the report Thurmond made on financial and energy targets. Furthermore, I traced Gene’s phone, and the lawyer who came to him is big-time bad news. The phone was a burner, so I hacked into the jail and found the security footage of the attorney’s visit. Dude kept his face away from the camera the entire time. Never got a shot of his face. So I traced the burner phone to a small DC electronics store. They don’t have any footage, but there is a traffic camera nearby, and I got an image. Stan Detrick.”

“Stan Detrick, himself?” Lizzy asked as everyone was quiet.

“Yup. I matched the custom watch he wears. It’s identical to the man who went into the electronics store and the man who met with Gene.”

“Who’s Stan Detrick?” Grant asked.

“He was the attorney general under President Pollock. Everyone knew he was corrupt. He used the power of the AG’s office to build his client list and then left the administration before he was caught doing anything illegal. His client list consisted of huge drug dealers like Manuel, corrupt CEOs, dirty politicians, hedge fund managers who were trading inside information—you name any defendant with $500 million or more to his or her name and Stan Detrick was their attorney,” Birch explained.

“And this is bad?” Grant asked, trying to understand.

“It’s bad in the sense Stan Detrick won’t talk. He’s been threatened with everything short of torture. He’s managed to wiggle out of it because he knows more people than I do. Cartels owe him, the mob owes him, politicians owe him—the list goes on and on,” Birch explained.

“So, torture him,” Valeria shrugged.

“I would have Sebastian talk to him, but I can’t trust him anymore,” Birch sighed as he sat back down.

“I, uh, have information on that as well,” Alex stuttered as his bouncing knee smacked into the table above it.

“Rock Star found it.” Alex turned pink. “She’s better at hacking private companies than I am.”

“I’m thinking we should invite her to the US. You two would make a great team,” Birch said kindly.

“What did she find?” Lizzy asked instead of letting Dalton get a teasing word in.

“That Bertie and Sebastian are in a technology race. A game-changing technology race,” Alex told them.

“What kind of technology?” Birch asked as everyone seemed to lean closer.

“Artificial intelligence software than can analyze every corner of every market and tell you what is likely to happen to every stock. Theoretically, it would be able to predict the stock market with amazing accuracy. Do you have any idea how much that would be worth?” Alex’s eyes had grown wide as he spoke.

“Billions.” Birch looked worriedly around the room. “Do you know what could happen with such autonomous software? It’s constantly learning, constantly evolving. If parameters aren’t put in place to keep it solely analyzing and predicting, then it could learn to manipulate variables to create its own desired outcome.”

“Not just that,” Valeria said, standing. “It could be sold to terrorists and turned into a market hacking tool that would do more damage than the aftermath of 9/11.”

“Who’s winning the race?” Humphrey asked as the room quieted down.

“Bertie Geofferies. According to the internal emails Rock Star was able to get to, they’ve completed the software and are ready to test it,” Alex answered.

“What are they waiting for? Why isn’t it being tested immediately?” Dalton leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees. His brow creased in thought and Lizzy was pretty sure it was the same thought she had. He was waiting for something to happen.

“She couldn’t find the answer. Sebastian is close to testing as well, but he’s probably a week behind. That could be giving Geofferies time to test at the most optimal time or maybe Sebastian has thrown a wrench in it somehow,” Alex suggested.

“When would be the optimal time?” Tate looked to Birch to answer.

“A great time to launch software like that is after a crash. The software could maximize its returns if an outside force caused an extreme drop.”

“Did Sebastian tell you he wanted Alex to give him this information on Bertie?” Lizzy asked, directing the conversation to Birch and Sebastian’s previous meeting.

“Yes.” Birch let out a frustrated breath. “I hate to admit this, but I don’t know what to do. I believed him when he said Roland wasn’t the head of Mollia Domini and that he joined only to feed us information. But then he wanted that information in return. Not just that information, but illegally obtained corporate spying. I don’t know. He’s my best friend, or at least I thought he was.”

“Are you going to hand the information over?” Tate pressed. Lizzy could see she was uncomfortable with this, too.

“Not yet. You want to go to New York to see Locke? Well, Lizzy, you and Valeria can pay a visit to Bertie Geofferies. We’re going to get to the bottom of this now. If it’s Sebastian playing me, I’ll have you bring him in. And if it’s Locke trying to pull a power play, deal with him. But first we learn and then we move,” Birch ordered.

“We can leave tonight,” Lizzy told him as the others nodded.

“And Alex, invite your crush to join us. I wonder what she’s like. She must be special if you like her,” Birch grinned as Alex flushed from his chin to the tip of his ears. “Oh, and before you all leave, why don’t you pick up Stan Detrick and toss him in a cell for a couple days. It may make whoever is paying him a little nervous for him to suddenly disappear.”

“I’ve got that,” Jason grunted as he walked out the room.

“Jason,” Birch called, stopping the man. His face, his body, and his stance spoke of a grieving, hardened man. “You’re not alone.” Birch looked around the room at the vagabond team, willing Jason to see that his loss was felt by all. “Be safe.”

Jason barely registered the backing before he turned and left the room.

“I’ll watch out for him,” Dalton said softly before chasing after Jason.

“Good luck. I wish I could go with you two,” Tate smiled sadly at her and Valeria.

“You keep the team together here on the home front. Give us something positive to fight for, and we’ll all come back.” Valeria leaned down and hugged Tate before winking at Lizzy. “Come on, Lizzy. Let’s see if all billionaires are assholes.”