Rising Hope by Edie James

32

Sleep eludedSarah for most of the night. No huge surprise there.

What did take her by surprise was the strained vibe blanketing the upstairs conference room the next morning.

Nothing overt, just an unmistakable whiff of tension that peaked when she entered the room, combined with enough covert glances to make her realize she’d been the topic of conversation. She dredged up a sickly smile and headed for the coffee bar set up along the back wall. The beautiful display of fresh pastries and fruit would have enticed her if her stomach weren’t aching.

Something had clearly changed in the team’s attitude since last night. She glanced at the computer area while she stirred cream into her coffee. Had Ethan and Star come across evidence that made them suspect her and Enzo?

The hand clutching the mug shook, raising tiny waves that skittered across the top of the coffee. She and Enzo wouldn’t make it long out in the open, but if Jack and his team intended to hold them, they wouldn’t get three feet.

“Morning,” Enzo called out from the top of the stairs. Dark lines were etched beneath his eyes. The hair on his crown stood at attention. Bed head at its best. He’d clearly had a rotten night, too.

The team greeted him. An unfamiliar dark-haired team member pointed at the breakfast bar. “Java and snacks are ready to go. I suggest you two fuel up. It’s gonna be a long day.”

Enzo smiled at Sarah, a wan attempt to inject some positivity, and headed for the food. She appreciated it more than he knew. No matter how this ended, it was nice knowing he’d warmed up to her.

She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but the tension didn’t ratchet up the way it had when she walked in. Whatever had the Knight Tactical team on edge, it wasn’t Enzo.

It was her.

She did a mental face palm. It wouldn’t have taken Ethan and Star five minutes to unearth every sordid little detail about her background. About her thieving, conniving extended family. About her arrest on drug trafficking charges.

She studied the faces around the room. Most avoided her. A few, Star included, cast Enzo concerned looks.

Yup. They’d found out.

A weird thing to be relieved about, but she planned on revealing everything today anyway. The only person she cared about here was Enzo. She would have preferred to tell him in private, but really, how much did that matter?

Once he knew what she was, any spark of interest would die a swift death.

Not that that mattered, either. The plan she devised in the middle of that long night did not include any sort of future with a genuine boy scout.

Ignoring the food, she sidled her way around the table to the far corner and sat between Jack and another new face.

The pretty blonde held out a hand. “Angie Michaelson.”

Her handshake was firm and somehow friendly. Sarah instantly warmed to her.

Once everyone was settled, Jack opened the meeting, introducing the dark-haired woman as Tamra Bosch, former Special Agent, and Angie as a former FBI analyst.

Then he leaned across the table, weight on his hands, his expression grim. “We’ll start with the worst news,” he said and pointed at Star.

Caught off guard, the petite cyber expert swallowed quickly and set down her mug, shooting Sarah a sympathetic look. “There’s no arrest warrant out for the two of you.”

Enzo scratched his nose. “That’s bad news how?”

“It means they’re keeping Munson’s death under wraps,” Austin explained.

“And the fact that the shipment’s missing,” Ethan added.

Sarah worried her lower lip between her teeth. Very bad news. “They can’t risk us getting arrested with the jewels.” She pointed out the obvious.

Enzo paled. “Ri-i-ght.”

Tamra threaded her fingers together around her mug. “It also means whoever’s orchestrating this has high enough clearance to hide an agent’s disappearance, at least for a while.”

Enzo turned to Jack. “What’s the good news?”

The other man shook his head and gestured at Star again. “Nothing good yet, just slightly less bad.”

Star took another long sip of coffee. “The jewels look authentic. For now, we should assume they’re real, and they’re part of the Romanov collection.”

Austin rubbed his hands over his face. “I get that the Tambov Roka’s run by Russians, but why would they be shipping jewels along with drugs? It’s not like they’re in the habit of handing out parting gifts.”

Tamra circled the rim of her mug with a finger. “They’re paying someone for something.”

Exactly what Sarah had concluded last night. She nodded. “But what?”

“Information is my guess,” Jack said. “Unbelievably valuable information.”

Ethan splashed a headshot of the missing pilot, Wenmark, up on his screen. “And they’ve been doing it for a while.”

“Ethan was able to access the guy’s phone data.” Star winked at her husband, who ducked his head modestly. “There’s been no movement detected since the day he disappeared.” Her face fell. “But look at this.”

The image on Ethan’s screen shifted to a blurry shot of a metal case identical to the one they found sitting in an open duffle full of B3yond.

“It was the last image on the kid’s phone,” Ethan said.

Sarah’s eyes flew to Enzo. Face rigid with grief and anger, he stared at the photo.

Anger filled her, too. Her throat clogged with unshed tears. That poor guy. “That’s why Panetta and Munson insisted we keep our hands off the bags.”

“Smart way to pay someone off,” Austin murmured. “Risky, but smart.”

Enzo looked confused.

“The only people who knew the jewels were hidden with the drugs would be the sender and the people being paid off,” Tamra pointed out, clearly thinking out loud.

“As long as the shipments didn’t make it to the evidence locker first,” Enzo added.

Austin shot him an appreciative look. “True that.”

The memory of a stony stare, and an equally troubling smirk flitted through Sarah’s brain. “It had to be Panetta and Munson. They were the only ones who would have had the opportunity.”

Jack rubbed the stubble on his chin. “That doesn’t mean they weren’t working for—or with—someone else.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Enzo pushed a half-eaten croissant toward his empty mug. “So how do we figure that out, exactly?”

Jack’s team didn’t bother to hide their concern.

Right. Not easily. She’d gotten stuck on that very point last night.

Star nodded at Ethan. Her husband slid Enzo a troubled look. “We have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.”