Chapter 24 – Hacked

Marc Whittaker –

Fuck, this place is always busy. Today I’m grateful for it because the powers that be are pissed, and I need to talk to him.

I make my way through the morning crowds of the Pentagon City Mall, through the food court to the coffee bar where he’s standing in line. A group gives me a dirty look when I cut in front of more than half the line to stand next to him.

I don’t beat around the bush, they’re angry and waiting for answers. “What the fuck does she know?”

Sheldon turns, surprised to see me and lifts a brow.

“She knows something,” I hiss under my breath, not able to control my temper. “They’ve hacked into her computers and you’re all over her search history. She even looked me up a few times, but mostly it’s you.”

His face remains neutral and he ignores me. When the line progresses ahead of us, he steps forward to order from the barista. “Americano and fill it to the top. I don’t need room for anything.”

He doesn’t glance my way again, but I give him the chance to pay and we move to the side out of earshot.

“You’d better fucking talk to me. They’re up my ass about it and think this is my doing. This is not what I signed up for, Sheldon. I want answers.”

He slides his hands in his pockets, looking happy when he replies, “This is what you get when you’re picked to be the messenger. No one’s up my ass, Whittaker. This is what happens when you play with the enemy.” Then he cocks his head, narrowing his eyes. “You wanted to be the messenger. If you can’t play, you’re fucked. Once you’re in, they never let you out. I don’t think I need to tell you what it means to be fucked.”

“Just tell me what she fucking knows and why she’s researching us. It’s new, been happening for just a few days. And she’s combining us on searches with ‘treason,’ ‘KGB,’ ‘CIA,’ shit like that. They don’t give a fuck that she won’t leave her property, it’s open to business during the day, they’re ready to move in and take her out.”

Finally, his face cements as he turns fully to me, his body tightening. “They’d better fucking not. I don’t know what she’s searching for, but whatever’s goin’ on, this is their doing. They opened this fucking can of worms by digging shit up that should’ve been left buried with her father. Their antics the night of the White House dinner, chasing them down and shooting at them didn’t help. They brought on whatever attention they’ve got all on their own.”

“You’re not giving me answers,” I seethe.

“I don’t have any, they need to drop it. I’ll call them myself, I could give a fuck who they want to communicate with. They can’t take people out just because they get cold feet. It might work that way where they’re from, but not here in the States. They start on a rampage here—we’ll all get attention we don’t want.”

“Fuck,” I mutter and run my hand through my hair as they call his name to get his order.

He takes a sip of his steaming brew and tips his head to me over the rim. “You need to learn to control your shit, young Marc. This is my last piece of advice to you, you show weakness, they’ll know how to get to you. My guess? They already know. This is no more than a game and you’ve already given up your poker face. You think I’m fucked? You should look in the mirror.”

He turns to walk away, leaving me in the busy food court.

He’s right, I need to get it together. I need to turn the tables—control them—I didn’t sign up to be anyone’s puppet. Doing my best to calm myself, I scan the room. For what, I don’t know, but I’ve had a weird feeling lately. Knowing what they’re capable of, what they’ve threatened to do to O’Rourke, I’m getting bad vibes.

Seeing nothing besides tourists, skaters, moms pushing strollers, and suits like me either getting coffee or cutting through to the Metro, I force myself to relax. This shit is so consuming, I’m sure it’s in my head. There’s no fucking way I’m being followed, I would know.

I move the way O’Rourke did to make my way back to the Metro. It’s only one stop to the Pentagon, it’ll be faster than walking.

On my way, I pull out my secure cell to make the call I’m dreading. Because I have no fucking answers. I’m gonna have to do what I’ve been doing—make shit up as I go along.

*****

Asa –

I’m on my way to the big barn, the men should be back from their morning run soon. Their times are getting better by the day. Crew and Grady run with them, but I fucking hate running. Always have. I force myself to do it a couple times a week to stay in shape, but I prefer to lift, and at home I’ve got my rowing machine. I could row for hours, even though the machine doesn’t come close to the real thing, but it’ll do.

I pull my cell from my pocket and grimace at the name on the screen. He was on my list to call first thing this morning for Addy, but he beat me to it, and I don’t like that.

“Yeah?” I answer.

“Whittaker and O’Rourke just had a meet in the mall.” Carson doesn’t bother greeting me. Then again, he never does. “We’ve got tails on both of them. It’s reported Whittaker is lookin’ more tweaked by the day. It was busy, nothing was heard but the one tail who had full view of Whittaker can read lips. He was talking about Addison Wentworth, she’s been hacked. If she’s been researching them, she needs to stop. She’s bringing attention to herself, attention she definitely doesn’t want. You need to keep a closer eye on her with Vega gone. My guess, if you secure her system now, it’ll tip them off.”

I sigh. “How am I supposed to tell her to quit researching them without telling her she’s been hacked? She thinks someone’s trying to tarnish her business and assumes it’s O’Rourke. You know anything about this?”

“I don’t even know what the fuck you’re talking about. I’ll look into it, but he’s done nothin’ that I’ve seen and we watch his every move. I don’t know why, but if anything, seems O’Rourke’s trying to deflect attention from her.”

“It’s probably why she’s looking into him. Check Whittaker, too. I told her I’d look into it, but I doubt it’s them. What I didn’t tell her is it’s not their style to cause small headaches. They’d rather put a hole in your head and be done with it.” I watch Jarvis emerge from the forest first, no one on his heels. I pull my phone away from my ear to look at his time, and if it’s possible, he’s getting faster and more efficient. He’s a machine.

I fucking hate it when Grady’s right.

“I’ll let you know if I hear anymore,” he replies, ready to end our call.

“Any word from Vega and Cain?” I ask.

“They’re gettin’ close, should be wrapping up soon. Cain appears steady, and you know Vega doesn’t like to talk to me. I won’t hear from them again ‘til the job is wrapped.”

I shake my head thinking about Crew. From the beginning, he hated working with the CIA, always keeping his communication to a minimum. Less than a minimum, if possible. I hang up immediately after demanding, “Call me if something changes.”

I watch the other three recruits appear in close intervals, but nothing close to Jarvis. Crew and Grady had better wrap their job up quick. I signed up for this to work close to Crew, not to babysit recruits all on my own.

I yell toward the clearing where they’re cooling down, “You’ve got two minutes for water, then get your asses to the mats.”

Nothing like getting the day started after ten miles.