Chapter 8 Investigation

The eastern courtyard was almost always empty.

Most operatives preferred the gym or the shooting range during their breaks. The courtyard offered nothing except old stone benches, dying flower beds, and enough privacy for people who wanted to avoid being overheard.

Eric found Rafe sitting alone.

A cigarette burned lazily between his fingers.

Eric stopped.

"I didn't know you smoked."

"I don't."

Rafe took one final drag before crushing it beneath his boot.

"I only do it when I'm thinking."

That was enough to tell Eric how the conversation was going to start.

He sat beside him.

"It went badly."

Rafe glanced sideways.

"Malcolm?"

Eric nodded.

"He already knew."

"Or at least suspected."

"He didn't deny anything."

"He just kept talking about necessity... duty... sacrifices."

Rafe listened without interrupting as Eric described every minute of the meeting.

Malcolm's calmness.

His refusal to acknowledge the conspiracy.

His warning to stop digging.

By the time Eric finished, neither of them spoke for several moments.

Finally Rafe exhaled.

"So..."

"He buried it."

Eric looked down.

"He said he'd forward everything to the Executive Director."

Rafe gave a humorless laugh.

"Translation?"

"It disappears into bureaucracy."

Eric nodded.

"He also warned me not to investigate anymore."

"And if I do..."

"He won't be able to protect me."

Rafe leaned back against the bench.

"I've heard that sentence before."

Eric looked at him.

"When?"

"Whenever command wants someone to stop asking inconvenient questions."

Silence settled again.

Eric rubbed a hand across his face.

"I don't know what to do anymore."

Rafe remained quiet.

He wasn't the type to answer immediately.

Instead, he thought.

Really thought.

After nearly a minute, he finally spoke.

"If everything you've shown me is real..."

"It is."

"I'm assuming it is."

Rafe looked toward headquarters.

"Then someone is lying."

"Maybe research."

"Maybe command."

"Maybe people above Malcolm."

He folded his arms.

"But one thing is certain."

"No one's coming to save us."

Eric frowned.

"So..."

Rafe stood.

"So we keep digging."

Eric blinked.

"You mean that?"

Rafe looked at him.

"You expected me to walk away?"

"You've got more to lose than I do."

"I've got exactly the same thing to lose."

"My conscience."

He smiled faintly.

"And besides..."

"You'd last about two days trying to run a covert investigation by yourself."

Despite everything, Eric laughed.

"That's probably true."

"It is."

Rafe's expression became serious again.

"We do this carefully."

"No heroics."

"No emotional decisions."

"We gather evidence."

"Nothing more."

Eric nodded.

"And if they come after us?"

Rafe shrugged.

"Then we were right."

---

Tessa opened the apartment door before either man could knock.

"You two look awful."

She stepped aside.

"What happened?"

The apartment was exactly what Eric expected.

Minimal furniture.

Everything organized.

Knives lined one wall in perfectly spaced mounts.

Running shoes sat neatly beneath a bench.

Nothing out of place.

She listened without interrupting while Eric explained everything.

The DNA.

Rebecca.

Malcolm.

The warning.

When he finally finished, Tessa poured herself a glass of whiskey.

Then another.

She handed one to Rafe.

Ignored Eric entirely.

"You don't get one."

Eric frowned.

"Why not?"

"Because one of us has to stay capable of making good decisions."

Rafe coughed into his drink to hide a laugh.

Tessa took a sip.

"You two are planning to investigate a classified conspiracy."

"After receiving a direct order to stop."

"Do I have that right?"

"Pretty much."

She stared at them.

"I hope you both understand how unbelievably stupid that sounds."

"It does."

"And you're still doing it?"

"Yes."

She sighed.

"I hate that answer."

Rafe finally spoke.

"We're not asking you to approve."

"We're asking you to join us."

Tessa nearly choked on her whiskey.

"Absolutely not."

Eric wasn't surprised.

"You don't even know what we'd need."

"I know enough."

"I like being employed."

"And alive."

Eric smiled slightly.

"We need someone who can get into places we can't."

"Someone who can disappear."

"Someone who notices details everyone else misses."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Are you trying to flatter me?"

"...Maybe."

"It isn't working."

Rafe stepped in.

"It should."

She looked at him.

"You're the best close-quarters operative in Vanguard."

"You've gotten us out of situations that should've killed us."

"If we're wrong..."

"We'll need someone who can keep us alive."

"If we're right..."

"We'll need exactly the same person."

For several seconds she simply looked between them.

Then she emptied her glass.

"I really hate both of you."

"We know."

She sighed.

"I'm in."

Relief spread across Eric's face.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me."

"If this blows up..."

"I'm blaming both of you."

---

A knock sounded at the door.

Tessa frowned.

"I wasn't expecting anyone."

She opened it.

Rebecca stood outside carrying a laptop tucked beneath one arm.

"You started without me?"

Eric smiled.

"I figured you'd come."

Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"I found something."

Everyone gathered around the dining table as she opened the laptop.

A string of genetic sequences filled the screen.

"I traced the viral signatures."

"They're proprietary."

"Meaning?"

Rafe asked.

"They weren't built by a dozen different labs."

"They all came from one source."

Eric leaned closer.

"Can you identify it?"

Rebecca shook her head.

"Someone scrubbed every public record."

"The authors."

"The funding."

"The facility."

"Everything."

"But..."

She opened another file.

"They missed something."

Old surveillance records.

Archived logistics manifests.

Supply routes.

Employee transport schedules.

Tiny details.

Harmless on their own.

Together...

A trail.

"It isn't enough to identify the lab."

Rebecca admitted.

"But someone with access to the city's surveillance network..."

"...could reconstruct where those shipments originated."

Silence filled the apartment.

Everyone looked at one another.

Then, almost at the same time, they reached the same conclusion.

Rafe groaned.

"Oh no."

Tessa smiled.

"I know that look."

Eric laughed quietly.

"There's only one person who can do it."

Rebecca closed the laptop.

"And he's going to make us regret asking."

Rafe rubbed his forehead.

"I already regret asking."

Eric grinned.

"Looks like we're paying Jin Park a visit."

Somewhere in the city...

The team's newest recruit had no idea that four people were about to drag him into a conspiracy that could bring down the most powerful military organization in the country.