(eng) Myke Cole - Shadow Ops 05 by Javelin Rain

Author:Javelin Rain [Rain, Javelin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XVI

DOESN’T ANYONE KNOCK ANYMORE?

The analyst did her level best to look nonchalant, but she was trained to crunch numbers, write software, and pull needles out of giant data haystacks. Working for a spy service didn’t make her a spy. Eldredge could see all the classic tells, refusal to make eye contact, increased breathing, sweat sheening from the hollows of her neck where they showed through her thin green blouse.

“What do you mean, I can’t see Jawid and Dadou?” Eldredge racked his brain for this analyst’s name. Joseph? Daniel? “I am the lead scientist on this program.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice and failing. He decided her name . . . her cover name, at least, was Matthew. “They’re cloistered right now.”

“What the hell does that mean?” It was times like this that the kindly Samuel Clemens look he’d worked so hard to cultivate backfired. On the one hand, it made others more likely to trust and open up to him; on the other, it made them less likely to obey him when he was trying to put the hammer down.

“It means they’re unavailable, sir,” the soldier behind her answered. “It means you need to check back later.”

Eldredge scanned the man’s blouse for his rank, noticed there was none displayed. That meant he was assigned directly to the Cell. It meant he wasn’t going to blink, but that wouldn’t stop Eldredge from trying. “I was here when they brought Jawid in. I have been with him every day since. I have never, not even once, been denied access to him.”

The soldier shrugged. “Guess there’s a first time for everything.”

The analyst frowned at the floor, looking pained.

“This is going to be bad,” Eldredge seethed, hating himself for not having more self-control, “for both of you.”

He spun on his heel and stormed back to his office, feeling the soldier’s smug grin burning against his back the entire way.

Eldredge slumped into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, staring at the clutter on his desk. It soon became clear there was no answer there, so he pulled up the commlink and called the Director.

He heard the low buzz, saw the icon blink as the call went through.

Nothing.

What the fuck is going on? The Director had never failed to answer him before. Eldredge wracked his brain, going back the years since he’d come here. His secretary had at least answered. Eldredge had never had to wait more than fifteen minutes. He’d just assumed that the Director lived in his office, worked around the clock. Like me.

Eldredge broke the connection and pulled up the overhead layout tracking the Golds. The triangles flashed. They were fanning out west, moving in a pack. Schweitzer had moved off along a ravine, and Eldredge was betting that he’d followed it. The mop-up team showed as a blue square, hovering over the last place they’d seen Schweitzer. They were busy cleaning all traces of the Golds’ presence.

They were dealing with what was left of Sarah Schweitzer’s corpse.

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