Six weeks later
Saturday, early morning
July 23 — 2:11 a.m. MDT
Pikes Peak National Forest, outside of Deckers Colorado

Alex sat in a wooden Adirondack chair under the summer night sky with a child on each leg. Maggie lay in her dog bed next to Alex’s chair. When Alex had heard the twins begin to wake, she’d decided to let John sleep. She’d been traveling so much that he’d done the lion’s share of these middle-of-the-night feedings lately. She looked down at the twins, who were midway through their two a.m. bottle, and grinned.

It was really nice to be right here, right now.

She and the team had spent the last week in New York. She and Max had been invited to speak at the United Nations Security Council. Working together, the team had put together all of the evidence they had gathered. Max had even created a coherent way to present everything. When he’d finished, the Council wanted to hear from Alex. They’d arrived home late last night. John and Wyatt had whisked Max and Alex away to Patrick’s mountain cabin outside of Deckers for a week of fishing and hiking.

“Your phone rang,” John said as he came out with her telephone. “Lovely night.”

He was wearing a thin T-shirt and cotton pajamas. Her smile indicated that she thought he was the lovely part of the night.

“How are they?” John asked.

“Good,” Alex said. “Almost done.”

“May I?” John asked.

She nodded and he picked up Máire. Cuddling the baby, he deftly dragged another Adirondack chair to where Alex was sitting.

“That’s impressive,” Alex said.

“Talents I’ve learned with having twins,” he said and smiled. His eyes scanned her face. “It’s nice to see you rested.”

Alex smiled. He leaned down and kissed her before sitting down.

“Are you sleeping?” John asked.

“Not a lot,” Alex smiled.

“Not at night,” John said.

She shook her head.

“Too many things to think about?” he asked.

“Maybe,” Alex said. “I had this horrible dream. I … I guess it’s when I had the seizure, but I … I mean it’s crazy, but I think the dream caused the seizure and … I …”

Joey yawned and wiggled. Alex looked down at her son. She held the bottle up to his mouth, but he pushed it away. She shifted him to rest his head on her shoulder. The baby fell asleep. When she looked up, John had done the same with Máire. She smiled at him. He looked up, and their eyes held.

“You like to look out, especially at night,” John said.

Alex nodded.

“I …” Her face flushed with emotion. Rather than speak, she nodded. He cocked his head to the side.

“What is it, love?” he asked.

“If I could, I would transport us back to that hotel in Santa Monica … You know the one we stayed in when we were first married? I …”

Alex gave an angry nod. John’s eyebrows furrowed with concern. She looked up at the stars for a moment and then back at him.

“I’d take your advice and not become a Green Beret,” Alex said. “I’d tell the CIA to stuff it. I’d …”

He gave her such a compassionate smile that her eyes filled with tears. She looked away to keep from sobbing.

“I’ve missed you,” he said. His voice was low, as if he were telling her a secret. She turned to look at him. “And … I …”

He raised his eyebrows in a way that made his cobalt-blue eyes look enormous. He nodded as if he’d made a decision.

“I’ve wished the very same thing,” John said.

“You have?”

“But in my wish, I’m not a surgeon,” John said. “I’m a nurse who can travel with you, or a doctor, but not one with a practice, or a medic on your team, or … And every night I wake without you, I curse myself for being so stupidly stubborn and vainglorious and …”

Tears rolled down Alex’s face. John’s long arm reached across the distance between their chairs so that his hand cupped her face.

“I can’t do it.” Alex’s tear-drenched voice seemed to echo in the tall pines surrounding the cabin.

“Oh love,” John said.

He got up from his seat and knelt in front of her. If he’d not been holding Máire and she Joey, he’d have hugged her. He touched her leg. She covered his hand with hers.

“You can’t do it alone,” John whispered.

“I can’t do it,” Alex said. “Period. No matter what I try, I can’t break down old Chinese. Max and Margaret have worked their butts off, but they can’t do it, either. I can’t even think straight anymore. The UN Security Council looked at us like we were completely nuts. They invited us to come to speak with them, to brief them about the Black Skeleton — that’s what they said — and …”

Alex gave an angry shake of her head.

“We don’t have a place to work. We can’t go back to Buckley and Howard …”

Alex clamped her mouth closed rather than speak of her injured friend and commanding officer.

“Please,” John said. “One minute. Just wait one minute.”

He took Joey from her and carried the twins inside. She wiped her face with the sleeve to her long sleeved T-shirt and tried to take deep, calming breaths while he put the twins down. He came out and knelt in front of her again. He put his hands around her face. His thumbs wiped the rest of her tears away. She couldn’t bear to look at him. He kissed her cheek.

“It all comes down to me, John,” Alex said. “And I … can’t do it. They win. That’s it. They win.”

“You’re right,” John said. “You can’t do it.”

Alex was so surprised by his words that she just blinked at him.

“Alone.” His head went up and down in a slight nod. “You can’t do it alone.”

She closed her eyes to keep from looking at him.

“Never thought of it, did you?” John asked.

“But I’ve been including people,” Alex’s voice rose with frustration. “Since the cricket told me and … I have been including everyone, I …”

John gave her a sheepish grin.

“I haven’t been?” Alex was so surprised that she put her hand on her chest.

“You haven’t been,” John said. “Not really. Not like you used to include Raz and Jesse … and well, me …”

“I haven’t included you?” Alex asked. “But you know that I’m struggling with that stupid Linear A and …”

“God, Alex, are you truly this … oblivious?”

She scowled and looked away from him.

“Raz told me that you feel like you ‘found North’ by finding out that stupid cow might be behind this,” John said.

She turned back to look at him.

“I am your North,” John said.

“What?” Alex asked.

“Our life, our family, our friends, we are the thing you have always navigated from,” John said. “I am your North.”

Stunned by his words, she pressed her hand toward him as if to push him away. Her palm landed on her dog tag, the one he wore over his heart. Her entire body shuddered with the impact. He covered her hand with his own. She looked into his face.

“What if this kills us?” she said in a soft voice.

“As opposed to disease or old age?” John asked. “We’re heading in that direction anyway. At least we used our lives and died for something important.”

“But … you aren’t a soldier,” Alex said. “You are a civilian. You are …”

“I am your life,” John said. “And you are mine.”

“But …”

“No buts,” John said. “We’ve already set sail — together. We just didn’t realize it was to save our world.”

He pulled back to look at her.

“But …”

“No buts. If I have you, here …” John squeezed her hand that remained on his heart. “I have every single thing I’ve ever wanted.”

“How can we do this together?” Alex asked. “You don’t know Linear A or old Chinese or some stupid nomadic tribe’s version of old Chinese or …”

“I know Steve Pershing,” John said. “He called to ask me about a procedure they want to try for Ji. While we were on the phone, I asked him about old Chinese. You know what he told me?”

“What?” Alex asked.

“Fong, his wife, is fluent in spoken and written old Chinese,” John said. “She also reads Xiongnu, the stupid nomadic tribe you mentioned. She just called to tell you.”

John nodded toward her cell phone.

“How do you know?” Alex asked.

“I spoke with her,” John said. “She’s on her way here. She’s bringing Ji and Steve. They are in New York. They’ll be here by mid-day.”

Afraid she was dreaming, she looked up again to see if the stars had moved. They had shifted their position in the sky. She looked back at him.

“Everything starts with us, our love,” John said. “Think it through, Alex. Everything you’ve accomplished, all of those great things, you’ve done after we were married.”

“I became a Green Beret,” Alex said. Her words were defiant, but her tone indicated that she knew he was right.

“And I survived Belfast,” John said. “I’m not saying we weren’t tough, bad asses when we met, I’m saying …

“Together we move mountains,” Alex said.

“Why would this mountain be any different?” John asked. “Our love is the source of our strength.”

“But how …?” Alex asked.

“Let me show you,” John grinned. He lifted her from her chair and carried her inside.

F

This is the end of Finding North, the sixth installment of the Alex the Fey thrilers.

Saturday morning
June 18 — 10:40 a.m. AFT
(June 17 — 11:10 p.m. MDT)
Between Kabul, Afghanistan and Denver, Colorado

Alex woke up with one thought on her mind.

She had to figure out those maps.

The thought glowed like neon in her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

Nope, she really had to figure out those maps. Raz shifted when she sat up. When she got up from her small couch on the private jet, he grabbed her hand.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Slept too much at Bagram,” she nodded. “Restless.”

She reached under the bench seat for her backpack.

“Would you like me to get up?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Sleep. We’ll land in a couple hours to refuel. We’ll eat and work out then.”

“Glad you got this plane,” Raz said. He pulled his blanket up and shifted to his right shoulder.

She smiled. Sergeant Dusty had worked almost all day trying to find a plane home for them. Every flight got them home late Sunday night or Monday morning. Since Sunday was Father’s Day, it was one day too late for every man on the team. Finally, she’d called her father to get the name of the charter service he’d used the previous fall to get in and out of Kabul. With Rebecca’s credit card, they were in the air first thing the next morning. Alex would argue over the bill later, after the men on her team had a chance to celebrate Father’s Day with their children.

She did her best to silently move to the front of the plane. Joseph opened his eyes when she walked by but went back to sleep. Closing the door to the cabin where they were sleeping, she moved into the tiny, well-stocked kitchen. She set her backpack down at the small table and started the coffee pot. She used the restroom while the coffee brewed. When she returned, she poured herself a cup of coffee, added cream, and sat down at the table.

She opened her laptop and took a sip of coffee. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment to center herself and then opened the scanned images of all of the maps. Sergeant Dusty had scanned the maps and also had them digitally redrawn in layers. Alex had spent hours working with the images to see if they fit together in any way.

They didn’t fit.

She laid the map images on top of each other and checked again. They did not go together. She made the map of Ultima Thule small and tried to fit the island into any of the ocean gaps of the maps. That didn’t work. She scowled.

For lack of anything more brilliant to do, she decided to print out the images on the painfully slow, tiny inkjet she carried around with her. She set up the printer next to the coffee pot and started printing. While she waited, Alex drank coffee and stared at the ceiling.

Five and a half years ago, her life as it had been ended in a blaze of machine-gun fire.

All these years later, she knew how they found them — the bookstore owner tipped off his client, his client got the Senator to figure out where exactly the vault was, and Cooper was brainwashed into letting the killer in.

She even had some idea why they were killed — her childhood interest in ciphers led the Black Skeleton to believe that she understood Linear A; her appearance at sunflower fields and her questions made it seem like she was onto their plan to profit in the world’s down cycle; and the team seemed involved because they had hidden the ugly honeybee pendant.

Now, she thought she knew who — Buffy Joiner, Cee Cee Joiner’s first wife — appeared to have paid for the hit on the Fey Special Forces Team. At this moment, everything pointed to Buffy as the ringleader. Finding Buffy and the evidence to suggest she was behind the conspiracy was like finding North on a map. Everything else fell into place. She would meet with Dex Zeno in a week to discuss Buffy and the group she led. For now, they would remain the Black Skeletons.

She also had an idea now why she, Alexandra Hargreaves, and her brother, Maxwell, had been targeted to stop the world from burning.

Alex dropped her head onto her hands and rested it on the table. Hearing a noise, she looked up. Zack was standing at the door to the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Zack said. “Were you sleeping?”

Alex shook her head. She gestured to the chair next to her. Nodding, he poured himself a cup of coffee and refilled hers.

“I was hoping to catch you alone,” Zack said.

Alex smiled.

“I just wanted to thank you for your help,” Zack said. “I … I know what I am and … it takes a lot of guts to stand up to me and …”

“I broke your nose,” Alex shrugged.

“Seems like forever ago,” he smiled.

“Simpler time,” Alex nodded. “I felt so …”

Alex sighed.

“Young?” Zack asked.

“That, too,” Alex smiled. “I was going to say ‘capable.’ How are the kids?”

“Good,” Zack said. “Really good. They made it through the hearing unscathed. I was worried, but they …”

“They’re troupers,” Alex said.

“They have good friends,” Zack said. “Whole lives. They’re happy — happier than I ever was.”

“They’re loved,” Alex nodded.

“‘Loved,’” Zack said. “That, too.”

He smiled at Alex.

“I have always loved you,” Zack said.

“Me too,” Alex said.

He put his hand on her shoulder. They drank coffee while the printer continued to print.

“When I was stuck in the Mariscal Mine — you know, Big Bend National Park?” Alex looked at Zack, and he nodded. “Bestat told me that I knew that I’d been tragically betrayed. I asked her who, but she said she wouldn’t tell me what I’d purposely forgotten.”

Zack nodded.

“Do you know who that might be?” Alex asked.

He gave her a long look.

“I’ve investigated everyone I can think of,” Alex said. “Tragically betrayed. I’ve even looked into the General, Ben, Dominic … you … I can’t find it. I can’t remember. It’s driving me crazy.”

Zack nodded.

“Do you know?” Alex asked.

Zack turned to face her. His blue eyes flicked across her face before he gave a slight nod.

“Who ‘tragically betrayed’ me?” Alex asked.

Zack pointed at Alex. She turned to look to see if someone was standing behind her.

“What?” Alex asked.

“You knew there was a group who used the world’s ‘natural rhythms’ — your phrase, by the way — to bring about the destruction of entire civilizations,” Zack said.

“When?” Alex asked.

“You talked to me about it … gosh, maybe a month before the assault,” Zack said.

“I did?” Alex shook her head.

“You don’t remember,” Zack said. “I know you don’t remember because I’ve reminded you of it a couple times.”

“When?”

“That year you were struggling with Eleazar,” Zack said. “You told me you didn’t know what I was talking about. You were pretty sure Eleazar wanted you dead — not the whole world in flames.”

Zack shrugged.

“Sorry,” Alex said.

“Don’t be,” Zack said. He gave her a soft smile, and repeated his favorite Patrick Hargreaves quote. “We can only know and understand things when we’re capable of knowing and understanding.”

Scowling, Alex focused on her coffee and wondered why Patrick’s quote was so similar to Dahlia’s “You can’t be responsible for what you don’t know.” She sighed and looked up at him.

“What did you tell me?” Alex asked.

“When?”

“When I asked you about the ‘destruction of civilizations’ thing?” Alex asked.

“Nothing,” Zack said. “I didn’t know anything then.”

“Do you now?” Alex asked.

“Only what you tell me,” Zack said. “Bestat won’t talk about it. She says it’s improper for she and I to talk about such matters.”

Alex nodded as if she understood, but she didn’t have a clue as to why it would be improper for Zack to talk to Bestat about anything.

“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Zack laughed. Alex smiled. “So you ‘tragically betrayed’ yourself by not taking yourself seriously enough. I get that the entire thing is … farfetched. But when you look at the evidence, it’s … overwhelming.”

“I killed everyone,” Alex said.

“No,” Zack said. “You didn’t.”

“But if I had taken myself more seriously …”

“The team still would have died,” Zack said. “They were way ahead of you then. You couldn’t have known it was coming, and you couldn’t have stopped it if you had known. Some things are just out of your control.”

“I wish …”

“I know,” Zack said.

“Do you think we can stop them?” Alex asked.

“If anyone can, it’s you, Max, the team …” Zack said. “Together. We’ll stop them together. That’s something I know is true.”

Alex nodded. Zack got up and set his cup in the sink.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am for you,” Zack said. “You are the best friend I’ve ever had. Thanks for never giving up on me, even when I’m a jerk.”

Alex smiled. The printer beeped, indicating it was done printing. Zack picked up the images and brought them to the table.

“Maps?” he asked. “You’re up in the wee hours looking at maps?”

He gave her a look that let her know he thought she was crazy. She smiled.

“They’re old maps that belonged to my grandfather at some point,” Alex said. “Mom’s dad. Ben had the exact same maps. They’re copies — very, very old copies. I don’t really know anything about them, except they were made at the same time as …”

Alex went through the nine sheets of paper and pulled out the map of Ultima Thule.

“I have a feeling they’re related — connected even — but I can’t figure it out,” Alex said. “You wanna take a look?”

Zack leaned over the table. She set the sheets of paper in the middle of the table. He pushed the maps back and forth for a few minutes. After a while, he stood up and shrugged.

“I …” he started to walk away.

He stopped and took two big steps to the table. He leaned over the maps again. He went through the maps to find the duplicates and set aside Ben’s maps. One at a time, he picked up a map, held the map near his eyes, and then set it down. He picked up the map of Ultima Thule and scowled.

“I’ve seen this,” Zack said.

“What?”

“In a U-2.” Zack turned away from the small table. He leaned his rear against the table. “I’m just not sure where.”

He picked up the map of Ultima Thule again and shook his head.

“I can’t …” Zack’s head shook back and forth for a moment. Then his head stopped moving. “Oh.”

He turned back to the table. He picked up one of the maps from the set, rotated it so that most of the ocean space was on the right side, and set it down. He picked up another map, rotated it so that the ocean space was on the left side, and set the map next to the first one. He nodded to himself and picked up the third map. He rotated the ocean space on this map to be on the top right corner. He set it below the other two maps. He finished the four-square with the fourth map, rotated so that the ocean space was on the top left corner. He looked at the maps for a moment and then switched the bottom left image and the top right.

The way he’d set the maps, the islands and continents created a border on the outside, with a large inner section of water, possibly an ocean or a very large lake.

“That’s it,” Zack said.

“That’s what?”

“The maps are pieces of a larger map,” Zack said. “These are islands.”

“And in the center?” Alex asked.

Zack picked up the map of Ultima Thule and set it in the middle of the ring of land. The map of Ultima Thule fit perfectly into the space.

“Wow,” Alex said.

“I’ve seen this,” Zack said. “I can’t tell you where specifically, but I have seen something on this planet that looks just like this. It’s a volcanic crater. You know, this is the volcano.”

He gestured to the islands.

“This is the center of it,” he said. “Or was the center of it.”

“In Afghanistan?” Alex asked.

“No, this is ocean.” Zack took off the map of Ultima Thule. “And this …”

Zack held the map of Ultima Thule out to her.

“The crater is underwater,” Zack said. “I saw this one from high altitude, probably in a U-2.”

“Can a dragon fly that high?” Alex asked.

“I haven’t,” Zack shrugged. “But maybe. I don’t know. I think things were different before there were planes. They had the skies to themselves.”

“But you think …?”

“I’ve definitely seen this place,” Zack said. “No bullshit or bravado. I’ve seen it … more than once.”

“Wow,” Alex said.

She moved the pieces of paper around the table in a variety of configurations until she returned them to the configuration Zack had worked out. She placed Ultima Thule over the space in the middle.

“Wow,” Alex repeated. “And it’s a volcanic crater?”

“That’s what it looked like to me,” Zack said. “What is this?”

“Bestat says it’s an archive,” Alex said. “It’s supposed to tell us everything we need to know in order to defeat these people. She said it’s been lost for centuries.”

Zack leaned over the table to look at it again.

“We’re going to find it,” Zack turned to Alex and nodded. “You and me, we’re going to find it.”

“And then what?” Alex asked.

“You’re going to stop them,” Zack said. “Make them pay for all the people they’ve killed and all the lives they’ve destroyed.”

“You seem so confident,” Alex said.

“I know you,” Zack said. “You’re going to do this, and I’m going to help. It’s what we were born for.”

“I appreciate your confidence,” Alex said. “It doesn’t feel that easy to me.”

Zack stood up, put his fists on his hips, and repeated what he used to say when they were children.

“We are super heroes!”

Alex laughed.

F

He nodded. Alex grabbed her phone.

“You should get something on,” Alex said.

Startled, he looked down. His own nakedness surprised him. Embarrassed, he grabbed clothing from his suitcase and went into the bathroom. Alex called Matthew and asked him to bring Troy. There was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Matthew, she yelled, “Come in.”

Colin stuck his head in the room.

“Hey, Col,” Alex said.

“I came to check up on you,” Colin said. “MJ said you had vertigo after the explosion, and I …”

Matthew and Troy came in the door behind him.

“Are we having a meeting?” Colin came into the room.

“No, I wanted to ask them something,” Alex said.

Colin went to where Alex had set out her medications.

“What?” Troy asked.

Colin counted her medications to make sure she’d taken them. Seeing she’d missed a few, he grabbed the pills and brought them to Alex. She scowled at him.

Raz came out of the bathroom.

“Oh, good,” Raz said. “You’re here. Do you have any idea where Marcos Ruiz is from?”

“It was in the file,” Troy said. “West Virginia.”

“I was asking Matthew,” Raz said.

“Yeah, like I could tell,” Troy said. “Hey, Alex, I’ll take your pills.”

“Very funny,” Alex said.

“The file does say ‘West Virginia,’” Matthew said. “But … you’re right. There’s something about that, isn’t there? Do you mind if I call Erin?”

“Go ahead,” Alex said.

Matthew took out his cell phone and walked out of the room. Colin nudged her to take the pills. She took the pills from him.

“Was I just his bodyguard?” Troy asked.

“What’s gotten into you?” Raz asked.

“Mechanics from Kandahar,” Troy said. “They corner me every time I’m in Afghanistan — Can you fix this? Can you make that? What about this?”

“Fix what?” Colin asked.

“Drones,” Alex said at the same time Raz said, “UAVs.”

“Any little thing can make them suck in the field,” Raz said.

“The technology is fantastic, and works wonderfully in air conditioned labs in the US,” Troy nodded. “But stick ’em out here in the billion degree heat and sand and sweat and intermittent electricity and … I mean, the electronics melt and …”

“Tell them you’re busy,” Alex said.

Troy sighed and gave her a hard look.

“You want me to tell them you’re busy?” Alex asked.

“No.” Troy shook his head. “They need help, my help. Ever since everybody found out about the nanodrones, they email me with questions all the time. I help when I can — I mean I redesigned the electronics on the … Never mind.”

Troy cleared his throat and looked at the wall.

“You mean, we’re the interruption,” Raz said.

Troy blushed and Alex laughed.

“I’ll get to it then,” Alex said. “I wondered if you know if your father ever worked in Texas.”

“He worked on White Sands for a while,” Troy said. “Does that count?”

Alex looked at Raz.

“New Mexico?” Raz asked.

“It’s just north of El Paso,” Alex said.

“White Sands Missile Range? Where the Trinity site is located?” Troy said. They gave him a confused look. “Where the A-bomb was tested?”

Troy shook his head.

“You know nothing!” Troy said in his best imitation of his father.

Alex laughed.

“What about Zutterberg?” Raz asked.

“He grew up in Texas,” Troy said. “Uh … Bovina, that’s right.”

“Bovina?” Alex asked.

“It’s just across the border from Clovis, New Mexico,” Troy said. “They had a cattle ranch. His mother worked on base, so they could make ends meet.”

“And you know this because …?” Alex asked.

“I slept next to him in SF training,” Troy said.

Alex frowned.

“In the asshole section,” Troy said. “Far, far away from the pristine …”

Jesse appeared out of nowhere to throw a ball of energy at Troy.

“Ow! Shit!” Troy hopped around as if he’d been injured.

Alex laughed. Matthew came back into the room. He looked at Troy’s wincing face and shook his head.

“What did I miss?” Matthew asked.

“We were talking about Zutterberg,” Alex said.

“He’s from Bovina, Texas,” Matthew said.

“Yes, Troy told us,” Alex said. “And Ruiz?”

“He’s an illegal,” Matthew said. “He was born in Juarez. Family crossed the border when he was five or six.”

“Where did they settle?” Raz asked.

“Out in the west Texas town of El Paso,” Matthew sang the opening line to Marty Robbins’ song “El Paso.”

“What are you talking about?” Colin asked.

“We’re finding a link between all the people we thought were behind all of this and are now dead,” Alex said.

“Oh,” Colin said. “I thought you were trying to figure out who’d been in Texas. I’ve been in Texas.”

“You have?” Alex asked.

“I was there with you for that rally,” Colin said. “Remember?”

“That doesn’t really count,” Alex said. “We were there for …”

Colin’s grin indicated that he’d little brother-ed her.

“I did six weeks at the NSA’s cryptology school,” Colin said. “It’s on a satellite campus at Lackland.”

“I took that course,” Matthew said. “When were you there?”

“I didn’t know that,” Alex said. “Mattie, do you know if Vince went?”

“He was in my class,” Matthew said. “Remember, I told you we’d taken a class together — that’s how I knew him.”

“Heath?” Alex asked.

“He took it,” Colin said.

“With you?” Alex asked.

“No,” Colin said. “He told me he took the class.”

“Why would he tell you that?” Alex asked.

“He wanted to know about the Kryptos statue. You know, the one outside the CIA building?” Colin asked.

“I do know the Kryptos statue,” Alex smiled.

“He wanted to know if you’d really deciphered it,” Colin said.

“Me and Max,” Alex said.

“That’s what I told him,” Colin said.

“Huh,” Alex said. She looked up at Jesse. “You wouldn’t happen to know if Jerome Brown or Jesus Lee went to that school, would you?”

Colin and Matthew were so surprised by the question that they gawked at Alex.

“What’s happening?” Troy asked. “What just happened?”

“Six men were picked up and held hostage,” Alex said.

“Tortured,” Matthew nodded.

“They were Matthew Mac Clenaghan, Colin Hargreaves, Heath Wheeler, Vince Hutchins, Jesus Lee, and Jerome Brown,” Raz said.

“Holy shit,” Troy said. “And you think they all went to that class?”

“It sounds like they did,” Raz said. “You’re all about the same age and military track. I wonder if you went around the same time.”

“Who was your teacher?” Alex asked.

“Some Russian guy,” Colin said. “I don’t know — I was drinking a lot then, and …”

“Oh, my God,” Matthew put his hand on his heart and weaved. Troy grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. Colin ran to Matthew. Troy and Colin helped Matthew into a chair. Raz went to Matthew’s side to support him, and Alex scooted to the edge of the bed. Colin grabbed Matthew’s arm to check his pulse.

“Oh, my God,” Matthew repeated the phrase over and over again.

“Racing,” Colin dropped down in front of Matthew. “Matt. Hey!”

Matthew fell silent. His eyes looked at Colin.

“Big guy,” Matthew said. Alex leaned forward to hear Matthew. “Blue eyes.”

“I don’t know,” Colin said. “I guess so. He spoke with a Russian accent. I mean, he was good and all, but …”

“You think it was the Boy Scout,” Troy said.

“It was the Boy Scout.” Matthew looked at Colin and then looked for Alex. Their eyes locked. “It was the Boy Scout. He was at … and …”

Matthew’s hand instinctively touched his chest and the scars he’d received from being tortured with electricity. Colin’s face blanched.

“And …” Matthew said. “Face redone. Before … Before he got us … New face … worked out … but I saw his eyes, and …”

Matthew began to visibly shake. Alex jumped across the room to him. She knelt down and held him while he shook.

“It’s okay,” Alex said in a low voice. “It’s okay. You’re okay. It’s okay. Come on, Mattie.”

Raz got out his cell phone and called MJ. Troy put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder.

“You’re in officers’ quarters. Bagram AB.” Troy started repeating facts to try to help ground Matthew. “Afghanistan. You’re my best friend. You’re Alex’s second. You married Erin. You have a baby …”

“You’re okay,” Alex said over and over again.

“I told you … I told you …” Matthew whispered. His mind was still locked in the memory. “Moment I saw him … I told you …”

“You told me,” Alex said.

“But I didn’t …” Matthew shook his head. “Not until … until …”

MJ ran into the room with his medical bag. Margaret was right behind him.

“How long has he been like this?” Margaret asked.

“Just happened,” Alex said.

“Shock,” Colin said. “He’s in shock.”

“PT … T … T … Ssss,” MJ said.

“Post-traumatic shock,” Margaret said. “Move back. We’ve got this.”

Troy, Raz, and Colin stepped back from Matthew.

“Sir?” Margaret asked.

Alex let go of Matthew and moved back. They watched while MJ talked with Matthew. He started with an injection of a vitamin cocktail. Margaret worked to try to calm Matthew with a deep-breathing technique Alex had taught them. When that didn’t help, MJ injected Matthew with barbiturates. They waited until Matthew was breathing deeply before MJ helped Matthew out of the chair.

“We’re going to take him back to his room,” Margaret said.

Margaret took Matthew’s other side, and they guided him out of the room. Alex, Raz, Colin, and Troy stood in stunned silence.

“What was that?” Troy asked.

“It took me a while to find them,” Alex said. She turned to Colin and said, “You. I’m not sure why. When we got there, I found Matthew. Jesse was with me. The guys went to see who else was there, because we didn’t know who — we only knew it was six US servicemen.”

Alex nodded.

“The Boy Scout, Robert Powell — or that’s what I thought his name was … He came in to tell me that they’d found Colin,” Alex said. “Matthew said, ‘Ambush.’ I don’t know how he could speak. His jaw was broken and teeth were gone … Tongue … This guy was coming around the corner, behind the Boy Scout, and I …”

Alex shrugged.

“You what?” Troy asked.

“The Fey killed everyone,” Raz said. “They found the other four hostages after every single captor was dead.”

“I didn’t kill everyone,” Alex looked at him.

“Jesse killed three individuals,” Raz said. “The man the Fey is referencing came around the corner shooting. If she hadn’t shot him, she and Matthew would be dead.”

Caught in the memory, Alex stared straight ahead. Troy touched her arm, and she looked at him.

“At the time, we thought we’d just surprised them,” Alex said. “Hostage retrieval is tricky business. You never know what you’re going to get. It was just some weird thing, an aberration. But we know now …”

Alex nodded.

“It was an ambush designed to kill the Fey Special Forces Team,” Raz said. “Zutterberg’s intel confirmed it as fact.”

“You don’t remember any of this?” Alex asked Colin.

“Bits and pieces,” Colin said. “I guess what was happening to me was so huge, so … awful … that I … uh … I wasn’t tracking what happened around me.”

Alex nodded.

“Most of the shooting happened around Matthew,” Raz said. “That’s some of the reason he was so disturbed afterwards.”

“Buffy Joiner,” Jesse said.

“Buffy Joiner,” Alex repeated. “She has to be …”

“Buffy Joiner,” Raz said. “That’s what I realized in the shower.”

“What?” Colin asked.

Alex looked at him for a long moment before nodding.

“Buffy Joiner is near or at center of this wheel,” Alex said. “I’ll bet Zutterberg knew Buffy.”

“And Ruiz,” Raz said.

“She probably paid Eleazar with Cee Cee’s money,” Alex said.

“The only exception is …” Raz looked at Troy.

“My father?” Troy asked.

Alex and Raz nodded.

“I’d bet Helen knows,” Troy said.

“I bet she does,” Alex smiled. “Go. Ask her.”

Troy ran out of the room. Alex hopped up and went the door.

“Before you go back to work on drones!” Alex yelled down the hallway. “That’s an order!”

“Duh.” Troy’s voice came from somewhere down the hall.

She shook her head at Troy and looked at Colin.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Alex said.

“Don’t be,” Colin said. “It’s not your fault.”

Alex nodded.

“Are you going to be all right?” Colin asked.

“I just need to rest,” Alex said. “You?”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine until I get triggered like Matt did,” Colin said. “ For now, I’m fine. Take your pills.”

Alex smiled at him. Her little brother hugged her and left the room.

“What is it?” Raz asked.

He put his hand on her shoulder, and she hugged him. For a moment, she closed her eyes and leaned into him.

“What is it?” he asked in a low, intimate tone.

“Just a feeling,” Alex said.

“Of?”

“We’ve just hit the very tip of a very large iceberg,” Alex said.

F

“No!” Colin yelled. He lunged toward her but was held in place by the man’s foot.

Raz tried to hold her in place.

“How can I be of service, sir?”

Alex bowed her head to keep the vertigo at bay. A man walked to her and looked her over. She could smell the sweat and dirt on him. But she didn’t smell desperation or fear. She took that as a good sign. He tilted her head up.

“You are wearing the wrong color of scarf,” he said.

“We traded,” Alex said.

The man ripped the headlamp off Margaret and went down the line to look at the each of their scarves.

“I do not see the bright-blue one,” the man said. “I see the dark-blue one.”

He grabbed Zack’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

“This creature is too scrawny to be her football-player partner,” the man said.

He threw Zack to the ground. Cliff and Leena grabbed him. He nodded that he was all right and returned to his knees. They linked arms again.

“We traded scarves, sir,” Alex said.

The man turned around to look at her.

“There is a bounty on your head,” he said.

“No, there isn’t,” Alex said.

A man near her punched her across the face for her insolence. She fell to all fours and gasped with the force on her right shoulder. She saw Raz’s eyes. His eyes seemed to smile at her. She nodded and got to her feet. She kept her head down.

“Okay, there is not a bounty on your head,” the man said. “I could make one for trying to infiltrate our camp.”

Alex didn’t reply. He nudged her with the tip of the machine gun, which she saw now was an AK-47. She looked up at the leader.

“You were trying to infiltrate our camp?” the man asked.

“The Fey Team never hides,” Alex said. “We never sneak in anywhere. Never have, never will.”

The man gave her a long look. He nodded to the man near her, and the man punched her again. She fell but remembered to catch herself with her left hand. She got up, adjusted her scarf, and returned to looking down.

“Why do you favor that arm?” the man asked.

“I was stabbed last year,” Alex said.

He nodded to the man near her. The man pawed through her scarf and balaclava to unzip her jumpsuit. He pulled the fabric off to reveal the healing scar. The leader nodded, and the man near her removed his hands. She zipped herself up.

“Who is Wafa?” the man asked.

“There are many great Wafas in the history of Afghanistan. Wafa Begum is the name of my favorite of the many heroines in Afghanistan,” Alex said. “She was the Pashtun wife of Shah Shuja ul-Mulk and saved Afghanistan many times with her good sense. It is also a good, solid Afghan name for a daughter.”

Any direct mention of Alex’s daughter would have met with immediate reprisal. Daughters were rarely acknowledged to strangers and never mentioned by name. The men around her shifted, and the mood lightened. The men looked at their leader.

“And Amir?” the leader asked before walking away from her.

“As with Wafa, there are many, many Amirs,” Alex said. “I named my son after Amir Kror Suri, who was a Pashtun poet, fighter, and ruler.”

“I knew it,” the leader turned around to look at her. “My brother thought it was for Amir Abdulla Khan Niazi.”

“No, sir,” Alex said. “I would never name a native son of Afghanistan after a warrior and governor in Pakistan.”

“He is Pashtun,” the leader said.

“Amir is a son of the new Afghanistan,” Alex said. “My hope is he will have the strength of Kror and the mind of a poet. It’s my belief he will need both.”

“That he will,” the leader nodded. “Why do they not bear their father’s name, Kohzad?”

“Legal reasons having to do with the adoption,” Alex said. “In the US, children are not named as they are in Afghanistan.”

“But he will know of his father?” the leader asked.

“And his mother, his grandparents as well,” Alex said. “When they are old enough, we will journey to Afghanistan so they can know their country. In the meantime, my twins are surrounded by those who love them.”

“Even in the US?” the leader asked. “With their family dead?”

“Ask him,” Alex nodded toward Raz.

He stood up.

“Who are you?” the leader asked.

“Arthur J. Rasmussen, US Department of Homeland Security, sir” he said. “I am the Fey’s football-player partner and a Godparent to the children. They have many people who love them. They are … wonderful. Would you like to see photos?”

The leader looked at Raz and laughed. He pointed to one of the men, and the man took the cellphone Raz offered. The man pushed Raz back into place. He dropped to his knees and hooked elbows while they flipped through the photos.

“What are you doing out here?” the leader asked.

“We got caught in a secret prison slated for destruction,” Alex said. “We kept our mission a secret to be able to interview the target.”

“An Afghan?” the man asked.

“An American,” Alex said.

“Torture?”

“I’ve never found it very effective,” Alex said.

“I’ve heard that,” the leader said. “Why were you in the tunnel?”

“We did not inform command of our mission and, in turn, were not informed that the site was slated for destruction,” Alex said.

The leader nodded to Alex. He looked at her for a long moment and then began pacing away from her. Alex saw Matthew and MJ peek out of the tunnel to see if they should intervene. She closed her eyes twice to signal no.

She waited and thought … about … Máire and Joey …and John … and Max … and the many days and nights she’d spent in this mountainous country. She smiled.

“Why do you smile?” the leader asked her.

She was so surprised that she jumped. He repeated the question.

“I was thinking of Afghanistan, sir,” Alex said. “I grew up in a mountainous region of the United States. Afghanistan is beautiful. When I feel like she cannot surprise me, I turn the corner and see something so stunning that it takes my breath away.”

The man scowled, and Alex gestured to the bright moon on the early spring grass. He scowled.

“I feel fortunate to have been able to see her,” Alex said.

He snorted a kind of laugh.

“My cousin’s cousin says that you are letting people live in the valley owned by your son,” the leader said.

“That’s correct,” Alex said. “We’re investing in returning the valley to farms and homes. People are allowed to move there to farm the land. We are supplying the seed, pomegranate root stock for orchards, rebuilding homes, facilities, and the infrastructure many homes require. But only for those who do not grow poppies — no opium.”

“That’s all?” the leader asked.

“Yes,” Alex said.

“What happens when Amir wants his land back?” the leader asked.

“Amir is six months old,” Alex said. “Our hope is that he and his sibling will grow up in the valley and know those who live in peace there. It is what their parents wanted for them.”

“But he holds ownership to the land,” the leader said.

“The tribe holds the land. Amir, his sibling, their aunt, uh …” Alex remembered just in time not to mention Felicia by name, “ …Emal’s widow and her charges — they own the land.”

The leader nodded.

“We are on our way there,” the leader said. “We are hoping to get land to work and raise our families.”

“Then you should go,” Alex said. “My guess is that there will be a lot of people wanting to farm the valley. The children are babies. You could live fifteen years or more before Amir or his sibling may be ready to consider changes in the valley. It’s a great opportunity for a quiet life.”

“If I bring you, it might help,” the leader said. “Negotiate land for your freedom.”

“If you take us, you’re likely to get killed,” Alex said. “Emal’s widow does not play nice.”

“She is Pashtun woman,” the leader nodded.

“Leave us here,” Alex said. “We will get back to Kabul. In exchange for our freedom, I will give you my scarf and a note for Emal’s widow. She will know my scarf — and my handwriting — and contact me.”

“I could get your scarf and note and kill you.”

“Emal’s widow will not do anything if she cannot contact me,” Alex said. “She is my children’s aunt. She is my family, and I am hers.”

The leader nodded, and Alex held her breath. Jesse followed the man back and forth as he paced. He stopped and faced Alex.

“There is a boy in the camp,” the leader said. “He works with the doctor and his wife.”

“Sher and his wife,” Alex said, making sure not to mention Khudija’s name. “They work with the Doctors Roy.”

“They say he is fairy born,” the leader said.

“He is,” Alex said.

“The woman helped my wife when she was with child and in trouble,” the leader said. “We had a healthy baby boy, but we can have no more children for a while.”

Alex held her breath. The men around her shifted and the tension rose.

“Why is that?” the leader asked.

“Girls often don’t survived childbirth or end up with injuries which make them unable to have children,” Alex said.

“She barely lived,” the man said.

The leader walked away from Alex.

“Nineteen,” the man said. The men around him mumbled around Alex. “And when she’s nineteen?”

“She can have as many children as you desire,” Alex said.

“That’s what the doctor said,” the man nodded. “But, how will we have sons to work the fields?”

The men nodded in agreement. Every eye focused on Alex. She felt more than saw her team shift, ready to defend her, and themselves, from attack.

“You will work on each other’s fields, harvest each other’s crops,” Alex said. “And when your children are grown, they will work the land after school. This is how it’s always been among the Pashtun. It’s how it shall be in the valley.”

The leader gave her a long look. She knew that this was the moment he would either decide to let them go or kill them.

“Congratulations on the birth of your son,” Alex said. “And the health of your wife.”

The leader nodded.

“Sher says that you are fair,” the leader said.

“If you let us go, I will be so grateful that I will overlook anything that’s happened here,” Alex said.

The man nodded. He made a gesture with his hand. The small group of men gathered their belongings and moved on. Alex signaled to Matthew. She took her scarf from him and wrote a quick note with the yellow pencil in her pocket.

“Go,” she said. She held out the package to Troy. He grabbed the package and a headlamp before heading out into the dark.

MJ jumped out of the tunnel and began to assess injuries. Leena was able to walk with help, and Colin’s arm was broken. Even though James said he was all right, his head wound was serious. They were just talking about how to get to Kabul when a Chinook flew overhead. Troy arrived from his mission.

“You didn’t really expect me to walk, did you?” Zack asked as the Chinook landed.

A team of medics hopped out to help. They were on their way back to Bagram Air Base. While James, Leena, and Colin went to the hospital, Sergeant Dusty found them a place to bunk. They split up into partners, with Joseph partnering with Sergeant Dusty. Alex was lying on the bed when Raz came in from reviewing the video feed of the Boy Scout’s last moments.

“Any word on what happened to the Sergeant that let us in?” Alex asked.

“He’s …” Raz started.

“Dead,” they said together.

“Rifle shot when he was exiting the helicopter we took to the black site,” Raz said.

“Of course he is.” Alex said. “Seems like they’ve outsmarted us on every op.”

“Hey, at least you didn’t have to hear him say, ‘The joke’s on you,’” Raz said.

“But he said it?”

“Just before the site blew,” Raz said. “In Russian, no less.”

“Eniac, Boy Scout, Zutterberg, …”

“Joiner,” Raz said. “Ruiz.”

“Hector,” Alex nodded. “Eleazar. Everyone we thought might be behind this is dead. Everyone we thought might know who is behind this is dead.”

“It’s a miracle we’re not dead,” Raz said.

“How long does that luck hold out?” Alex asked.

“We have fairy luck,” Raz said.

“I just wish I knew …”

“Knew what?”

“Who’s doing this?” Alex asked. “Who did the Boy Scout work for? Who would he so easily trade his life for? Who killed the MI-6 agent, whatever his name was? Someone was there, right there, and …”

Alex shrugged.

“They vanished,” Raz said.

Alex nodded.

“How’s your head?” Raz asked.

“It’s okay,” Alex said. “I took one of those pills.”

“The knockout ones?”

“The vertigo ones,” Alex said. “I don’t want to be too out of it. Never know when this place will blow up.”

“Good thinking,” Raz said.

He unzipped his black jumpsuit and took it off.

“Nice bruises,” Raz said about the bruises on her face from being punched.

“I’ve been icing them,” Alex said.

She held up the ice packs MJ had made for her. He went to his suitcase and threw a tube of arnica gel at her. She smiled, and he went into their bathroom.

She closed her eyes and tried to count the hours until John was off work. She started to drift off.

“Alex!” Raz shook her shoulder. He was naked and wet from the shower.

“Yes?” Her eyebrows furrowed with concern, and her head pulsed with pain. She grimaced.

“Go through the names again,” Raz said.

“What names?”

“Of the people we thought were behind this,” Raz said.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll tell you where they’re from,” Raz said.

“Can’t you just tell me?” Alex asked.

“I’m not sure,” Raz said. “Just say them.”

“Eniac.”

“Born in Pennsylvania,” Raz said. “Father worked at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.”

“Where the first computer, Eniac, was created,” Alex said.

“Exactly,” Raz said. “His father went to Texas Tech in Lubbock. Kind of a math genius. Recruited by Mauchly. His mother, too. Eniac spent every summer as a kid on his grandparents’ ranch just outside of Lubbock.”

“What?” Alex sat up.

“Go through the list,” Raz said.

“Eleazar,” Alex said.

“That’s what triggered it,” Raz said. “His specialty was psychological terror, right?”

“Sure,” Alex said.

“He grew up in Jerusalem, right?” Raz asked.

“Sure,” Alex said. “Neighbor to Sumit Roy.”

“Exactly,” Raz said. “Sumit told me that, for a time, their neighborhood was popular with Americans, especially from Texas.”

“Why?”

“Oil,” Raz said. “They were researching Israel’s oil fields.”

“Israel has always wanted to be energy independent,” Alex said. “They have a natural gas field that would make the Utes jealous.”

“Exactly,” he said. “We know Joiner paid him.”

“You think Cecil Joiner or someone from Pecos Oil spent time in Jerusalem when Eniac was growing up?” Alex asked.

“Exactly,” he said. “Who else?”

“Boy Scout?”

“We know he’s Buffy Joiner’s brother,” Raz said. “You checked his DNA against Tristan and that coffee mug Tristan stole from Buffy’s house.”

“Joiner is obvious,” Alex said.

“Texas born and bred,” Raz said.

“Ruiz,” Alex said.

“Haemon Jasper,” Raz said.

“We need to get Mattie and Troy in here,” Alex said.

She slipped out of the room and sent Margaret inside. The sound of Alex’s boots echoed off the concrete floors as she paced back and forth.

Had they been sold out?

Had someone on her team betrayed this mission?

Jesse appeared in front of her.

“What’s going on?” Jesse asked in Spanish.

“Feeling,” Alex said.

“Of?” Jesse asked.

“He’s ready for this,” Alex whispered. “Expected it, even.”

“That makes sense,” Jesse said. “He would have expected us to come to ask him questions.”

Alex shook her head.

“What’s going on?” MJ asked.

She’d forgotten he was standing outside the interview door.

“Nothing,” she smiled and nodded.

“Were you talking to Jesse?” MJ asked.

“Uh,” Alex said.

“Dad’s journals and shit said that the only reason Dad survived so long in the field was because of your ‘feelings,’” MJ said. “You just said that word — feeling. What’s going on?”

“Just a feeling,” Alex shrugged.

“Of what?” Jesse asked.

“Did he say something?” MJ asked.

“He asked me what I was feeling,” Alex said. She walked away from MJ and Jesse. “I have the feeling that … he expected us to be here, planned for it …”

Alex nodded and turned around.

“He’s always so self-assured,” Alex said. “Confident … He was afraid, just for a second, like … like …”

“He’s already given up his life,” Jesse said.

“We need to get out of here,” Alex said. “Now.”

MJ tapped three times on the door. The Fey Team quickly filed out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Joseph asked.

“He’s already given up his life,” Alex nodded.

“Fuck,” Matthew said. “How do we get out of here?”

“Sergeant?” Joseph attempted to raise the desk Sergeant on the ear bud communicator. “Sergeant, are you there?”

“Anything?” Alex asked.

Joseph shook his head. They ran to the elevator. The elevator cars were open on their level, and they filed in.

“They aren’t going to work,” Jesse said.

James pressed the buttons and nothing happened. The elevators were locked open. James called to the operative playing the Boy Scout’s friend. When he didn’t respond, James and Troy ran down the hallway.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Matthew said. “God-damned Boy Scout.”

“Don’t panic,” Alex said. “Sergeant Dusty?”

Troy and James returned with the news that the operative who was playing Idrisov was dead. His throat had been cut probably around the time they’d taken the Boy Scout. The soldiers looked at each other. They had been together the entire time they’d been on this level. They were supposed to be the only people in this part of the facility.

“There’s a stairwell over …” Sergeant Dusty turned in place in the elevator landing. “There.”

He pointed to an unmarked door. He went to the door. It was welded closed. Sergeant Dusty’s hand ran down the weld. He nodded.

“Troy?” Alex asked. “Leena?”

They shot down the surveillance cameras with their handguns.

“Cliff?” Sergeant Dusty asked.

Cliff was already digging in this backpack. He took out a portable plasma cutter and a pair of dark glasses. Sergeant Dusty plugged in the plasma cutter.

“No one ever checks pilots,” Alex said to James.

She nodded to Cliff, and he started cutting into the door. He was able to easily cut a panel out of the first layer of the steel door. He’d almost finished the second layer when the power went out.

“Zack?” Alex asked.

He took a small sledgehammer out of his backpack and banged at the panel. The metal shattered and they were able to get inside the stairwell. The team started moving into the stairwell.

“Zack?” Alex asked.

“USAF command says two bombers are inbound to this location,” Zack said.

“How did he …?” Margaret started.

“Power’s off,” Sergeant Dusty said. “The facility blocks all communication with the outside. That’s why we have their ear buds. It must have gone down when the power went out.”

“How much time do we have?” Alex asked.

“Ten minutes, max,” Zack said. “The entire base is slated for decimation. Rigged to blow in ten minutes. They had a report that we’d left with the remaining prisoners. The go-ahead was given by the desk Sergeant fifteen minutes ago.”

“When we had the Boy Scout in the infirmary,” Matthew said.

“They’ve started the launch and sent two B52s,” Zack said.

“How did we not know this?” Alex’s voice rose with fury.

“Messenger!” Zack said.

“Up,” Alex ordered.

“Count the stairs!” Sergeant Dusty yelled. “We need to go exactly thirty stairs.”

Troy and Matthew took the lead and began to count. Their voices echoed around the concrete stairwell. The team followed, with Joseph, Raz, and Alex in the back.

“Thirty!”

They heard Sergeant Dusty say something. There was banging on the wall. By the time they got there, Colin had taken over the sledgehammer, and there was a sizable hole in the wall. The team was ferrying pieces of concrete away from the small space of the thirtieth step. Joseph took over from Colin.

“What are we doing?” Zack asked.

“We’re connecting into the Afghan tunnel system,” Alex said. “How many headlamps do we have?”

The team went through their pockets and packs.

“They were created during the war with Russia,” Sergeant Dusty said. “We just have to get out of the blast radius. This tunnel will take us to Kabul.”

“How do you know this?” MJ asked.

“Four headlamps,” Matthew said.

“Pass them out so we have one at front, middle, and end,” Alex said.

“I was on the tunnel crew my first tour here,” Sergeant Dusty smiled. “We mapped the entire system. Most of the tunnels aren’t used. A few of them up in the mountains are a real pain in the ass.”

“I thought that was a Marine team,” Margaret said.

“Clearly not,” Joseph said and gave the sledgehammer to Raz.

Raz took a turn pounding on the rock wall behind the concrete. Within minutes, they were looking at the side of a thin tunnel.

“Go!” Alex said.

Sergeant Dusty went first, and Alex followed. The rest of the Fey Team squeezed into the small tunnel behind them. With just enough space to belly-crawl, the tunnel seemed to go straight up toward the surface. They moved at a fast, aerobic pace and were soon covered in sweat and dirt. They were nearly a half-mile away and only a foot or two from the surface when they heard the deep rumble of the black site exploding.

The shock wave knocked them onto their bellies. Alex hunched her back and tucked her head to keep falling rocks and dirt from injuring her. Her mouth and nose filled with dust and smoke. She felt the shock wave ripple through the mountain. With each wave, the sand and rock shifted around her. She covered her mouth with Vince’s scarf, but every breath sucked more dirt into her lungs.

The smaller blasts were followed by one large, earth-shattering blast. For a moment, Alex felt the dizziness she’d felt before when her head was out of whack. She closed her eyes. When she opened them, she wasn’t seeing double anymore.

“Report!” Joseph screamed.

Raz scrambled to Alex to make sure she was all right. She touched his face and felt him smile.

“Fey and Rasmussen,” Raz said.

“Dusty,” he chuckled.

“Leena’s legs are in a cave-in!” Margaret screamed.

“My arm’s probably broken,” Colin said.

“Margaret, it’s going to have to be you,” Alex said. “Can you get her out?”

“The tunnel fell in,” Margaret said. “The rest of the team is behind her.”

“That’s okay,” Alex said.

“We are elite soldiers,” Joseph said. “We can handle this.”

Alex put her hand on Sergeant Dusty’s leg. He turned around to look at her, and his headlamp shone in her face. She pushed him forward and nodded. He continued on through the tunnel.

“Colin, can you bind your arm?” Alex asked.

“Done,” Colin said. “Margaret and Leena are right behind me.”

“Is she responsive?” Alex asked.

“Margaret is …” Colin started.

“I’m here,” Leena said.

“Yea!” Alex cheered. Joseph and Raz joined her.

“She thinks she’s reinjured her knee,” Colin said. “She can feel her toes. She says that Troy was right behind her. He’s tickling her calves.”

“That’s wonderful news,” Alex said. “Do we know anything about the rest of the team?”

“Wait,” Colin said. “She says Troy’s tapping out Morse code on her legs.”

“She says they’re alive,” Margaret yelled. “James is injured but not badly. And …”

“Shit,” Colin said.

“What?” Alex asked.

“There was a cave-in,” Margaret said. “They’ve captured Zack and Cliff.”

“Shit,” Alex said.

She looked ahead to see Sergeant Dusty’s headlamp coming back in her direction. At the same time, she heard the sound of shovels digging overhead. She directed Sergeant Dusty to stop and pointed up. He looked up and nodded. He retreated further down the tunnel.

“What do you want to do?” Joseph asked.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Alex said. “We need to …”

“ …trust that some of the goodwill we’ve tried to create will return in the face of strangers,” Joseph and Alex repeated in unison what Charlie, their old CO, used to say.

Alex dropped her head into her hands to rest for a moment. Raz reached up and held her hand.

“Have they killed Zack and Cliff?” Alex asked.

She waited while Colin relayed the message to Margaret, and Leena used her feet to communicate to Troy. Every moment, the shovels came closer and closer to her. Alex bit her lip to keep from screaming her impatience.

“She says they have not killed Zack or Cliff,” Margaret said. “Troy’s just been taken. They are in the tunnel at Leena’s feet.”

“Matt and MJ seem to be hidden,” Colin said.

“I sent Dusty on,” Alex said.

“So we have backup,” Joseph said.

Alex felt the fresh air before she saw the moon. Hands grabbed at her and pulled her from the tunnel. They pulled her onto her feet and then screamed for her to kneel down. She saw only the bottom edge of the men’s cotton kameez. Glancing up, she noted their long beards. A tip of a machine gun came into her view.

“Head down!” the man yelled in Arabic.

Alex reached out her arm and hooked it with Raz’s. She felt him reach Joseph. She knew that Joseph would follow suit. Soon, they would be hooked together for support, connection, and communication. About ten minutes after she’d hooked elbows with Raz, she felt him inform her that they’d rescued Leena, that James had a head wound, and that they still had not found Matthew or MJ.

She felt a hand on her head. A young girl, maybe fourteen, was arranging her scarf so it covered her head. The girl went to Margaret and Leena to do the same thing.

“Who are you?” a man yelled in Arabic.

She heard someone get kicked. Their linked arms bent with the blow.

“Fey Team, sir,” Colin coughed.

He was the tallest and heaviest of them, so it made some sense that they would go for him.

“Where is the fairy?” the man asked in Arabic.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man stick the machine gun in Colin’s face. When he didn’t respond, the man kicked him again. Colin grunted, and their line of elbows absorbed some of the blow.

“Where is the fairy?” the man screamed.

To prove his point, he fired the machine gun into the air. He placed the muzzle against Colin’s shoulder. She knew he would blow out Colin’s shoulder with ease. A non-life threatening injury, Colin would survive. However, he’d keep doing this until he got what he wanted. She looked up, as if to find inspiration from the stars, and saw the glimmer of something enormous soaring with ease above them. Jesse appeared beside her, ready to support her in whatever she did.

She stood up and immediately felt dizzy. She realized that her actions were contrary to standard training. She knew also that standing up just might get her killed.

But it was what Captain Charles O’Brien would do. If it was good enough for Charlie, it was certainly good enough for her. She bit her lip to keep from throwing up.

“I’m the jinniyah,” Alex said in English using the Arabic word for fairy.

Four days later
Wednesday morning
June 15 — 10:13 a.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado

“That’s what I know,” Alex said.

She was standing in front of the Fey Team and everyone connected to the rooming house. They had assembled in the basement of the rooming house. Vince and Royce were in wheelchairs near the back of the open area. Neev and Jack were sitting next to Cian and Margaret. Trece and White Boy had hobbled in on crutches. Troy was sitting next to Matthew and Erin, and Samantha was tucked into the end of the long couch against the wall. Fionn and Helene were sitting near the laundry room. MJ was standing with Zack, Bestat, and Cliff near the hallway to the bedrooms. Colin was sitting on the stairs with John near Alex’s office. Joseph was standing to her left, and Leena was sitting cross-legged near Vince’s wheelchair. Max was standing just behind her on her left.

“Would you like to add anything?” She looked at Raz, who was standing on her right next to Sergeant Dusty.

“Just to say that this isn’t a joke,” Raz said. “It doesn’t seem real. In fact, it seems cartoonish and far-fetched to me. I’ve personally checked and rechecked everything we’ve gathered. As far as we can tell, the world has a natural cycle, and these individuals use the downturn cycle to decimate cultures for their own gain. It’s likely that our culture will be next.”

“Why are you telling us?” Helene asked. “We are not soldiers. Neev and Jackie, either. Why are we here?”

“Because if you stay here at the house, your life is at risk,” Alex said. “They have proven that they care nothing for human life. We are expendable chattel. If you stay here or are around me, even for lunch at a restaurant, your life is in danger.”

Alex looked at her Goddaughter and gave her a sad smile.

“You aren’t a soldier or a spy,” Alex said. “Fionn’s a medical student. There’s no reason for you to risk everything.”

“I will not live in fear,” Helene said.

Helene gave Fionn a fierce look, and he looked confused.

“For those of you on the Fey Team, you have families and careers,” Alex said. She gave a stack of envelopes to Sergeant Dusty, who began passing them out. “These envelopes contain glowing recommendations for each of you. If you choose not to stay on the team, I will understand. The recommendation will get you onto any team in any service. The Admiral has guaranteed placement. There is no downside to not being on this team.”

“Except that you’re not on the Fey Team,” Margaret said.

“And you might live!” Alex said. “You and Cian are getting married in August. You could get a much safer assignment and live very happily. You will always be in our family and in our hearts.”

“But I wouldn’t be on the Fey Team,” Margaret said.

“That’s correct,” Alex said.

Alex looked from face to face, friend to friend. Her eyes stopped with Joseph. He winked at her.

“This is not a time for bravado,” Alex said. “This is a time to think. You saw Ruiz blow himself up. You know that we were attacked in New York City. For God’s sake, I was attacked in my office in a secure building on one of the most secure military bases in the world.

“If you live in this house, you put yourself and your family in grave physical danger. If you stay on this team, you put yourself and your family in even graver physical danger.”

She nodded.

“This is the line in the sand,” Alex said. “There is no going back from this point. If you choose to be on this team, we are moving into uncharted territory that could very easily take your life and the lives of those you love. If you choose to leave, you may take your recommendation to the Admiral, and he will personally place you on a new team without prejudice. You will also take my love and deepest respect. There is nothing lost by leaving the team. Not one thing.”

“Except you’re no longer on the team,” Margaret said.

“That’s correct,” Alex said.

“If you live in this house, we will do everything within our power to protect you,” Alex said. “But at the end of the day, you are in grave physical danger by staying here. Your children, as well. These Black Skeletons, or whatever they are, will not discriminate between a child and an adult. Human life is simply not something they care about.

“The smart thing would be to move out. We’ll help you find affordable housing. This includes you, Erin and Samantha. Whatever happens here will easily spread to your homes. Do you really want to risk your life on my stupid puzzle?”

“For how long?” Erin asked.

“How long would we have to move out?” Samantha asked.

“A couple of years,” Alex shrugged. “Maybe less.”

Erin shook her head and whispered to Samantha.

“This is it,” Alex said. “Now is the time for you to decide.”

Alex put on her bravest smile.

“Max and I are going upstairs,” Alex said. “Feel free to speak to each other.”

“What if we need more time?” Leena asked. “My mom …”

“I don’t have any more time to give you,” Alex said. “I’m sorry.”

Leena gave Alex a curt nod.

“I …” Alex’s eyes welled with tears. She cleared her throat. “It’s been my greatest pleasure to serve with you.”

Alex nodded and started up the stairs. Max followed close behind. John gave her a “well-done” nod, and Colin touched her leg as she went up. They were on the landing when Joseph began speaking.

“You have in your possession a piece of paper and a pen,” Joseph said. “Please write down your decision and your name. While I think we’d all prefer if things were anonymous, we need written documentation for the file. For those of you who live here and are not on the team, you can just tell me.”

Alex and Max got to the top of the stairwell.

“You have an hour,” Joseph said.

Max closed the basement door. Alex held her arms out, and they hugged.

“I’m sorry,” Alex whispered.

“For what?” Max asked.

“Wyatt wasn’t here,” Alex said.

“Oh,” Max chuckled. “He told me to fuck off this morning.”

“He’s already moved out?” Alex asked.

“No,” Max said. “He was offended that I asked the question. He said that he’d have to be a complete moron not to know his life was in danger when he moved in. Last year just sealed the deal.”

“He does have a point,” Alex said.

Max smiled. He held out his hand, and Alex took it. The twins went out into the backyard. They walked to the back of the lot where they kept their honeybees. They sat down in plastic Adirondack chairs in the shade to watch the bees fly in and out of the hives. An oddly meditative practice, time passed while the bees worked. When Alex looked up, John was standing next to her.

“Are you moving out?” Alex asked.

“Are you?” John laughed.

Alex scowled.

“Whither thou goest, I will go. Whither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall always be my people,” John said in a low tone.

He put his hand on her shoulder, and she reached for his hand. They held hands and watched the bees fly in and out of the hives. Worker bees, full of flower nectar, landed on the lip of the hive and gave their nectar to house bees waiting for them. The house bees retreated into the hive, and the worker bees took off for another round. Bees weighted down with heavy pollen in their leg pouches were relieved of their precious protein source by house bees. The early summer day was filled with the sound of bees, the fertile smell of the hives, and the warmth of the season.

“It’s time!” Joseph called from the doorway to the backyard.

Alex, Max, and John looked at each other. For a moment, they stood still. No one wanted to make the first move.

“Shall we?” John asked.

They walked back to the house. They stopped at the door. Max and Alex hugged, and, together, they hugged John.

“Shall we?” John repeated and opened the door.

Joseph was waiting for them in the kitchen.

“How many?” Alex asked.

“All of them,” Joseph gave a curt nod.

“We’ve lost them all?” John asked.

“They’re all staying,” Joseph said.

Alex’s right hand swiped away her sudden flood of tears. John put his arm around her, and Max grinned.

“We’re the Fey Team after all,” Joseph said.

She bit her lip to keep from crying.

“Your team awaits.” Joseph stepped back and nodded toward the basement.

“Let’s do this thing,” she said under her breath, and went down the stairs.

FFF

Two days later
Friday, early morning
June 17 — 1:24 a.m. AFT
(June 16 — 1:54 p.m. MDT)
Near Kabul, Afghanistan

“Fey Team!” Joseph yelled as Zack landed the helicopter.

Although the CIA black site was only ten minutes by car from Kabul, they took a helicopter in case they needed to make a quick exit.

“Sir!” the Fey Team called.

“We leave this vehicle ready for anything!” Matthew yelled.

“Sir, yes, sir!” the Fey Team called.

Raz raised his eyebrows at Alex, and she shrugged. He smiled.

“Listen,” Raz held out two unopened envelopes. “With the party and everything, I haven’t worn my body armor until today. We were asleep until Kabul, and …”

“I completely forgot about these,” Alex said, and took the envelopes.

Zack landed the helicopter, and Joseph yelled something to the team. The team responded. Alex opened the envelope from Waltry, the Admiral’s personal bodyguard. She nodded and opened the note from Ji. She took both notes and tucked them into her duffle behind her seat. Raz nudged her. The Fey Team was waiting for them on the tarmac. They’d worn their straight-black jumpsuits with their balaclavas around their necks. Raz took out his weapon, and she put on her Ray Ban sunglasses.

Raz got out and helped her from the helicopter. Surrounded by the team, they went into the CIA black site. This black site served as a secret CIA prison where the agency could perform acts that were not legal inside the continental United States. Over the course of the last few months, the prison had slowly been cleared of detainees. A month ago, the CIA building team had remodeled a series of cells deep below the ground to look exactly like a high-security prison in the United Kingdom. Unbeknownst to the Boy Scout, MI-6 had moved him to these new cells two weeks ago.

“So what did they say?” Raz asked as they reached the building.

“In,” Alex said. “That’s what the Admiral and Waltry said.”

“And Ji?”

“Yin and Yang symbol on the front,” Alex said. “You know, something he got at the gift store.”

“But?”

“Ji circled the black dot in the middle of the white,” Alex said. “He circled the black dot on the white side.”

“I saw he wrote something on the front in hanzi,” Raz said.

“Expect,” Alex said.

Raz nodded.

“And we think that means?” Raz asked as he opened the door.

“It means that Ji thinks that we will be betrayed,” Alex said. “He may know who, or he’s giving us a general warning — you know, you can’t have light without dark, that kind of thing — or he may just be talking about what happened to him.”

Alex shrugged.

“Keep your eyes and ears open,” Joseph yelled.

“Yes, sir,” the Fey Team yelled.

“We won’t know until we see him,” Alex said.

Leena and Colin stopped and did an about-face at the security station. They stood guard while Alex talked to the security team.

“We are ready for you, sir,” the young man at the counter said. “You should find everything you requested ready and waiting for you. If not, feel free to ring this bell, and we’ll bring you what you need.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Alex said.

“Sir,” the young man said. “Your coffee.”

Alex smiled and took the cup from him. He nodded and pressed a button. A buzzer went off on the door to their left. Troy opened the door for Margaret. They went through the door to check the security. They waited until Troy gave the signal. In the meantime, Zack and Cliff joined them from the helicopter.

“Ear buds,” the desk Sergeant said.

MJ took the ear buds from the young man at the counter and gave a set to Colin. Normal military or civilian communication devices did not function in CIA black sites. They would be able to communicate only within the facility. Outbound communication was managed through the office. Of course, this meant that everything they did was recorded, but that would have been true anyway. MJ and Colin nodded in unison and passed them out to the team.

“Sir.” Sergeant Dusty and Margaret came from inside the prison. “We are ready for you.”

“Thank you, Sergeants,” Alex said.

Sergeant Dusty and Margaret had arrived the day before to check to make certain everything was set up according to their specifications. The Fey Team hadn’t left Denver until Alex and Raz had done a detailed review of Sergeant Dusty’s video and Margaret’s report.

“Sir?” Leena asked.

She gestured toward the door. James Kelly, MI-6 agent and John’s older brother, was standing in the doorway. She went through the door and into the prison. The Fey Team followed her inside.

“We are ready for you,” James said. “As far as we can tell, he is unaware of the move. Stupid bugger.”

“He’s not as dumb as he seems,” Alex said.

“Maybe prison has made him stupider,” James shrugged.

Alex, James, and Raz stepped into an elevator. Joseph, Leena, and Colin followed them inside. They waited until another elevator car arrived for the rest of the Fey Team, before heading down five floors. The elevator opened to light-grey concrete halls that tunneled under the old brick factory. They stayed on their elevator car until the Fey Team got out of theirs. The Fey Team surrounded Alex, Raz, and James and moved down the corridor.

“As you know, he’s had no visitors,” James said. He took a black jumpsuit from Sergeant Dusty and nodded his thanks. “No packages. No phone calls. As far as he’s concerned it’s just another day.”

They reached the observation room to the Boy Scout’s cell. A large man, the person she knew as Robert Powell lay on the prison cot with his feet hanging off the end. They had lain cinderblocks over the cement walls of the prison to match the Boy Scout’s usual prison cell. Everything else in the room had been taken from his cell in the UK.

“I will tell you,” James said as he put on his jumpsuit. “It’s weird to see you without your usual jewelry.”

“Jewelry?” Alex asked.

“Trece,” James said.

“A lovely accessory, isn’t he?” Raz asked.

“Sparkles like the hope diamond,” James laughed. The team laughed with him, and Alex smiled. Just the sight of the Boy Scout set her on edge.

“He’s not fit for travel,” Alex said. “White Boy, either.”

“How is Vince?” James asked. “Royce?”

“Healing,” Alex said. “Just going to take time.”

“So, tell me,” James said.

The Boy Scout roused from his sleep. He got up and urinated.

“Did you lose anyone in your recommit-or-leave?” James asked.

Alex shook her head but kept her eyes on the Boy Scout.

“Clearly, I’m here,” James said.

“They all said what you said,” Alex glanced at him.

“Oh, yeah?” James said. “What’s that?”

“You knew your life was in danger when we started working together. Nothing’s changed.”

“Very true,” Raz said.

“Leena was concerned about her mother,” Alex said. “Her mother has Alzheimer’s, but she realized that her situation would be harder if she weren’t on our team. Take the good with the bad, I guess.”

Alex didn’t take her eyes off the Boy Scout. After all that time she had spent near him, she knew that he was agitated and ready to go off. She stepped back just a second before he pounded the mirrored glass.

“I know you’re there,” the Boy Scout said.

“He cannot hear us,” James said. “He cannot know we are here. He just thinks we are.”

“Is he ever wrong?” Raz asked.

“About half the time, actually,” James said. “UK protocol is to acknowledge the visit. Of course, we’re under no such pressure here.”

“Hey, Grozny,” the Boy Scout said. “You got visitors?”

“That’s his friend, Aslan Idrisov, from Grozny, Chechnya,” James said. “He calls him ‘Grozny.’”

“He wouldn’t happen to be related to Abukhazhi Idrisov, would he?” Troy asked.

“Grandson,” James nodded.

“Why?” Alex asked.

“Abukhazhi Idrisov was a Chechen soldier for the Soviets in World War II,” Troy said. “He has more than three hundred and fifty confirmed kills. Sniper. They rewarded him with a frosty death in a Siberian concentration camp.”

“The grandson is a thug,” James said. “We were holding him for threats against the state.”

“Were?” Alex asked.

“He was the Boy Scout’s neighbor for a few months to create the bond,” James said. “He was downgraded and is doing the rest of his time in the north. We replaced Idrisov with one of our own. Chechen born, London raised. He’s there now.”

“What you want?” a voice yelled in response to the Boy Scout’s yell.

“You have visitors?” the Boy Scout asked.

“No, no visitors,” the voice yelled back. “Just sleep. You sleep?”

The Boy Scout grumbled and went back to his cot.

“Sergeant Dusty?” Alex asked.

“Sir?”

“Can you check to see if there’s a link between the Boy Scout’s grandfather, Josef Yakovlev, and Abukhazhi Idrisov?” Alex asked.

“Yes, sir,” Sergeant Dusty said. “I will start our list.”

“Thank you,” Alex said.

“It’s a good question,” James said. “I doubt there’s a direct connection, but plenty of Russians went over with Operation Paperclip. You do know that the Boy Scout speaks fluent Russian.”

“No,” Alex said. “I knew he spoke multiple languages like we all do, but no, I didn’t know he spoke Russian.”

“He prefers English,” James said. “But according to our language experts, Russian is most likely his native tongue.”

They watched for a few minutes. The Boy Scout lay back down on his cot.

“Shall we?” James asked.

“Fey Team, cover up,” Matthew said.

The Fey Team pulled up their balaclavas. On Alex’s instruction, they had rotated their scarf colors from their usual color. Alex wore Vince’s white scarf with chartreuse lines of thread. She’d planned to stay in the background. Matthew wore Alex’s usual white-and-bright-blue scarf, while Leena wore his usual white-and-burnt-orange scarf. Matthew gave James a black balaclava and Royce’s white-and-maroon scarf. Raz traded his white scarf with deep-navy-blue thread lines for Trece’s white-and-cherry red. Zack took Raz’s scarf and gave his white-on-white scarf to Margaret, while Cliff wore White Boy’s white-and-forest-green scarf.

She didn’t think the change of color would throw off the Boy Scout. He would know her the moment she walked into the room. She only hoped to disorient him enough to see if there was a human being behind the rage and bravado.

“Let’s do this thing,” Matthew said when everyone was covered up.

Raz and Colin entered the Boy Scout’s cell.

“What the fuck?” the Boy Scout yelled.

Raz and Colin grabbed him by the arms and pulled him off his cot. The Boy Scout started screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Strip,” Colin said in Russian.

“You can’t do that!” the Boy Scout said.

Matthew and Troy came into the room. Together, the men removed the Boy Scout’s clothing. They shackled his legs and chained his hands behind his back. After dropping a black hood over his head, they dragged him, kicking and screaming, to the infirmary. They chained him to the table, and Colin gave him anesthesia to knock him out. When he was under, MJ used an ultrasound wand to check him for explosives. Finding him clear, they dressed him in loose sweats and a sweatshirt. They dragged him into an interrogation room with a one-way glass wall. They locked his shackles to the floor and his wrist to the table. In this room, the table was bolted to the floor. The team filed into the room.

“Ready?” Alex asked.

Matthew sat down across from the Boy Scout. Alex and Raz stood behind him. Zack, Cliff, and Troy stood behind them. Leena, Colin, and Joseph stood behind the Boy Scout. Margaret and MJ remained outside the room to help if needed.

“Yes, sir,” MJ said.

He shot the Boy Scout full of amphetamines. The Boy Scout came around with a jolt. He started screaming for his lawyer.

“You’re no longer in the UK,” Matthew said.

Startled, the Boy Scout looked at Matthew.

“You’re in the first class accommodations of the Central Intelligence Agency,” Matthew said.

The Boy Scout became eerily quiet. Matthew let the silence drag.

“Where?” the Boy Scout asked.

“Afghanistan,” Matthew said.

The Boy Scout started screaming for his friend. Rather than blow the work of MI-6, they let the Boy Scout scream. After a few minutes, he stopped screaming. They waited. Matthew cleared his throat, and the Boy Scout attacked. The shackles and ties held him down. Joseph pushed him back into his seat and held his handgun to the Boy Scout’s head.

“We have a few questions,” Matthew said. “We don’t really care how we get the answers.”

He nodded to the one-way glass. The light went on in the room behind, showing a sophisticated interrogation room. The room was set up for every form of “advanced interrogation.”

“In fact,” Matthew said. “I don’t think I’d be over-stating it, but most of us would like to see you strapped to a car battery.”

“Water boarded,” Raz said with a snort.

The Fey Team played along by nodding their heads.

“Prove it,” the Boy Scout said.

Leena took out a knife and sliced off his right earlobe. The Boy Scout screamed. MJ came in to sprinkle anti-coagulant on the wound. He left without bandaging it.

“Your family has been told that you are gravely ill,” Matthew said. He nodded to Joseph.

“Full-blown AIDS,” Joseph said.

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” the Boy Scout screamed.

“Mmm,” Matthew nodded. “I think we already have. You see …”

Matthew looked at the Boy Scout.

“No one knows you’re here,” Matthew said. “No one cares if you disappear forever. You’re in prison for the rest of your life. If we make you a eunuch, who would know?”

A flicker of fear flashed across the Boy Scout’s eyes before he sniggered. His entire presence exuded arrogance.

Alex’s stomach dropped. Something was wrong.

Alex gave him a long, assessing look. He nodded to encourage her to tell him.

“The conspirators …” Alex started.

“The Black Skeletons?”

“That’s the name we’re using for the group of individuals behind all of this,” Alex said. “They seem to have believed that I was on to what they were doing.”

“Why?”

“Thanks to the General, it is commonly thought that I can translate Linear A, the language they use to interact with each other,” Alex said. “When we started looking into sunflower fields and bees, they thought we’d figured out what they were doing. But actually, Jesse found this weird book about old churches in that bookstore in Paris. I found one on beekeeping. We were tracking what was in the books.”

“French Intelligence apologized again,” the Admiral said.

“Good to know,” Alex said. “I’m just glad they’re not apologizing for someone’s murder.”

“Indeed,” the Admiral said. “What about this Dex Zeno character? Your trip to northern New York?”

“Again, a coincidence,” Alex said. “We found some maps that belonged to my grandfather, Rebecca’s father. They had a symbol on them that Raz had seen before. His old NYPD partner was connected to the other side of the Black Skeleton.”

“The white skeleton?” the Admiral asked.

“They call themselves the ‘Ambitum Rosa’,” Alex said. “The compass rose.”

“After the symbol on the map,” the Admiral said.

“Yes,” Alex said. “They are families dedicated to thwarting those who use the natural bust cycles of the world to enhance the destruction of the world.”

“What do they call them?” the Admiral asked.

“According to Dex, they don’t have a name,” Alex said. “He says they move like a fog or cloud, infiltrate existing groups, and use the groups’ natural lust for power and wealth to get them to destroy the world. Giving them a name only focuses on the specific group they’ve co-opted to their purpose.”

“What happens to the group?” the Admiral asked.

“The group is destroyed — think Third Reich — and those who whipped it into a fervor slip away to start over somewhere else.” Alex shrugged. “The group fades to memory while these Black Skeletons soak up the power and wealth. This is what history tells us.”

“And now?”

“According to Dex and the Ambitum Rosa, we are due for another round,” Alex said.

“What do you think?” the Admiral asked.

“I don’t really know, sir,” Alex said. “I find the entire thing … ridiculous. If I wasn’t smack dab in the center of it, I’d think I was crazy. I wonder about my sanity often. But when I listen to Dex lay out the facts, and I reflect on my own findings and experience, I can’t help but think that we need to be prepared.”

“Or go after these Black Skeletons?”

“If that’s possible,” Alex said. “We’ve been told there is an archive. The Ambitum Rosa have never heard of it. This archive gives details on who is behind all of this and why. It’s my belief that pursuing the location of this archive is crucial.”

“Or?” the Admiral asked.

“Be prepared to fight them where we live.”

“You think it will happen on US soil?” the Admiral asked.

“Where did the people in the ancient pueblos go? What happened to the great societies at Tenochtitlan?”

“Well, Cortes …” the Admiral started.

“Moctezuma was at the height of his power when Cortes came. He ruled over five million people in Central and South America,” Alex said. “The Aztec nation was enormous, wealthy, and prosperous. By the 1500s, Tenochtitlan was the largest city in the world, with close to three hundred thousand inhabitants. Five hundred years later, the descendants of that great nation sneak across our border and feel fortunate to be able to pick fruit for five dollars a day.”

The Admiral raised his eyebrows and looked at Alex. She gave him a slight nod.

“That’s what this is about,” Alex said. “Why would the great nation of America be any different than the Aztecs?”

“We have vaccines?”

Alex smiled.

“I get your point,” the Admiral said.

“Sir, how is Howard Gordon?” Alex asked. “I’ve stayed away for his … safety.”

“Oh, Howard,” the Admiral smiled. “We stopped by to see him when we got into town. He was in bed reading a story to a toddler while a baby slept in the crib nearby. Grandchildren. His wife was in the kitchen baking cookies with a few older grandchildren.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“He was happy,” the Admiral said. “He’s in great pain, but healing. The doctors are hopeful.”

“Will he retire?” Alex asked.

“He’s adamant that he will not retire his post until you have seen this mission all the way through,” the Admiral said. “That’s what he told me.”

“Does he know about all of this?” Alex asked.

“Like myself, I think he’s always known,” the Admiral said. “We knew something was going on when your team was murdered. We spent hours arguing over it when you were flying back to the States. While none of us could have expected … this, nothing you say comes as a huge surprise. It’s a little … odd, but not a surprise.”

Alex nodded.

“I’ve been informed that you moved out of Buckley,” the Admiral said.

“If they can reach me there …” Alex nodded.

“Will you stay at the Federal building?” the Admiral asked.

“We’re looking at office space in downtown Denver or possibly out by the airport,” Alex said. “In our own space, we can lock it down so only people we know and trust are admitted.”

“Plus, you’ll never be kicked out,” the Admiral said.

“Yes, sir.”

“About that …”

Alex watched the emotion work across the Admiral’s face.

“There’s nothing you could have done, sir,” Alex said. “I never would have thought that I was vulnerable on base. Never. But there I was, stuck under my own conference table, fighting for my life with a plastic spoon, after my Colonel was shot and my guest murdered. If The Monk hadn’t been there, I would be dead. Period.”

The Admiral turned to face Alex on the couch.

“Getting kicked off base and in the manner it was done …” Alex nodded. “That was just icing on the cake. If we are to continue, we need a more secure location.”

“I’m sorry I was used as a weapon to hurt you,” the Admiral said. “You must believe that there was nothing I could have done differently.”

“You didn’t have to call the cab,” Alex smiled. “Or give me money to get home or a phone.”

The Admiral gave her a fatherly smile.

“What are you going to do with The Monk?” the Admiral asked.

“He’s staying with us for a while,” Alex said. “He’s … mentally shaken. Zutterberg was his only living relative — and his friend. Ethan feels like he killed Zutterberg by bringing him to Buckley. He needs time to breathe.”

“Where is he now?” the Admiral asked.

“Hiking the Colorado Trail,” Alex said.

“In the snow?” the Admiral asked.

“He is The Monk, sir,” Alex said. “We see him every week for a supply drop. We have eyes on him at all times via the team at Peterson. The space and solitude seem to be helping.”

“The Major General has approved his loan to the US Army,” the Admiral said. “He said you made a strong case for the loan.”

“He needs time,” Alex said. “Not vacation time. Time to grieve in the air and space of the world. He can get that here, with our support.”

“And when he’s ready?”

“We’ll absorb him into our team,” Alex said. “If that’s what he wants. He may want to retire.”

“And you think he’s reliable?” the Admiral asked.

“Why?”

“There’s a theory that The Monk set the entire thing up,” the Admiral said. “Paid the driver. Brought Zutterberg to Buckley to get the deed done and you out of Buckley.”

“Could be,” Alex shrugged.

“You’re not going to defend him?” the Admiral asked.

“I’m at a place in my life when I’m open to anything,” Alex said. “But I’d be surprised if Ethan was behind anything.”

“Why?” the Admiral asked.

“Planning’s not his strength,” Alex said. “I’d trust him in any firefight. But planning? He usually has no idea what day it is, let alone be able to create some elaborate scheme. That’s why we bring him food every week. He can’t plan for what he needs one week to the next. But who knows?”

“You’re growing up,” the Admiral said.

“I’m scared,” Alex said.

The Admiral nodded at the simple honesty of her statement.

“The Senator and Haemon Jasper?” the Admiral asked.

“The Senator gave us the name of the person he told about the vault,” Alex said.

“Dead,” the Admiral said.

“That’s correct,” Alex said. “The Senator outlined the money transfer, who approached him, and the entire deal. He was very forthcoming. Of course, everyone is dead. He believes that if he wasn’t in prison, he’d be dead, too. So he’s oddly grateful to Samantha.”

“Cretin,” the Admiral said. “And Haemon Jasper?”

“He believes he is near the center of what we’re calling the Black Skeleton,” Alex said. “He may even be a mastermind of the entire thing. Helen was able to convince him that she would do his bidding. So now we wait to see what he wants.”

“Helen is incredibly brave,” the Admiral said.

“It’s always the little people who change the tide of the war,” Alex said.

“Tolkien?”

“My father, the General, sir,” Alex said. “It’s never great armies or brilliant strategists who win wars. It’s little people doing miniscule things that bring about a change in the tide of war. Never underestimate the power of individuals doing the right thing at exactly the right moment.”

Alex gave him a soft smile.

“Troy’s son, Hector James, told me, ‘It only takes one person to stop a freight train, but only when they have help.’” Alex nodded. “It’s kind of the same thing.”

“The little people and their miniscule actions are the help?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes, sir.” Alex nodded.

The Admiral gave her a thoughtful look.

“The boy’s going to be a General?” the Admiral asked.

“A baker,” Alex said. “Or a pirate. Depending on the day.”

The Admiral smiled. He glanced at Alex.

“Your father …” the Admiral said. “He really is a great man.”

“Right now, he’s a pain in my ass.”

“The half-birthday party was his idea?” the Admiral asked.

“Of course, it was!”

The Admiral laughed at her indignation, and she smiled.

“I saw your report about John and the Afghan,” the Admiral said. “That was well done.”

Alex nodded.

“His children — two boys and three girls — are coming in a couple weeks,” Alex said. “They will go camping, learn to fish, stuff like that. They plan to work at the bakery to learn how that type of commerce works. They want to see UFOs, so we’ll probably head out to the San Luis Valley and watch the drone base.”

The Admiral laughed.

“Cian is hoping to learn how to cook roht, Afghan sweet bread, and bolani, their unleavened bread. You remember bolani?”

“Those pumpkin and potato turnover quesadilla things you used to bring me?” the Admiral asked. “Fabulous.”

“Cian wants to add them to the bakery,” Alex said. “Colin’s hoping to learn how to make the bread while they’re here.”

“How long are the children staying?” the Admiral asked.

“Couple weeks,” Alex said. “Honestly, I think the Afghan is hoping Joseph’s Alex will fall for one of his girls. Certainly, he’s pretty enamored with Alex.”

The Admiral smiled and then scowled.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“Besides surviving a ridiculously large half-birthday party?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” the Admiral said.

Alex scowled. She looked up at Raz, and he nodded to her.

“I need to talk to the Boy Scout,” Alex said.

“What?” The Admiral jumped out of his seat. “Why?”

“You know why,” Alex said.

The Admiral began pacing in front of her. She waited for him to do a few rounds before she encouraged him to sit down again.

“Why?” the Admiral asked.

“Because he’s a part of this,” Alex said. “He’s a thread.”

“No,” the Admiral said. “Go home. Have a birthday party. Work on … whatever … but …”

“Why are you upset?” Alex asked.

“Just a feeling,” the Admiral said. “The bookstore owner was poisoned, as was Philippe Doucet and this Dex Zeno. Hank Zutterberg was murdered on a US Air Force base inside a secure building. Marcos Ruiz blew himself up inside a maximum security Navy prison on an island, for God’s sake.”

“Everyone who gets too close gets dead,” Alex said.

“Send someone else,” the Admiral said.

“It needs to be me,” Alex said. “I won’t say there’s no risk. I will only say that we’ve worked to even the odds a bit.”

“Do I want to know?” the Admiral asked.

“Probably not,” Alex said.

“But you’ll keep me apprised?”

“I’ll do my best, sir,” Alex said. “Thank you for meeting me today.”

He smiled at Alex.

“Steve gets his team back …”

“July,” Alex said.

“And Max?” the Admiral asked.

“Max who?”

“Good,” the Admiral smiled and stood up. He signaled to his personal bodyguard and started walking down the aisle he’d come from.

“Sir.” The bodyguard held out an envelope to Alex.

“Thanks, Waltry,” Alex said.

The bodyguard put his heels together and gave her a quick bow. Without saying another word, he took off in a fast clip to catch up with the Admiral. Alex gave the envelope to Raz, who put it with the envelope from Ji.

Alex waited until Matthew, Troy, Joseph, and Leena came to her. Together, they went down the aisle Alex had come from. Matthew and Troy left first, followed by Raz. Leena slipped out the door, leaving Joseph with Alex.

“Did you ever think …?” Alex started.

“No,” Joseph said. “Never. You?”

“No.” Alex gave him a soft smile.

She slipped through the door and into the warehouse club store. Raz stacked five loaves of bread in her arms and grabbed the rest of the bread Cian had requested. They went into the store to look for John, Samantha, Wyatt, and Max. They found them arguing in the ice-cream aisle.

Alex smiled. She tossed the bread in the basket and picked up Joey. She rubbed his cheek with hers in hello. He laughed and patted her face. She was going to set him down to pick up Máire when she saw that Raz was holding her on his hip. She smiled.

For all the worry and danger, there were moments in which her life was truly wonderful. John leaned over to give her a kiss. When they started walking again, his hand rested on her rear.

This moment was pretty great.

F

One and a half weeks later
Saturday morning
June 11 — 9:05 a.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado

Laughing at John, Alex pushed the shopping cart into the warehouse club store. The twins were sitting on a quilted shopping-cart cover in the front compartment of the shopping cart. The babies loved the warehouse club store.

“Hey!” Max called from the door. “I forgot my card.”

Coming from behind, Wyatt flashed his card and walked past Max, who was rooted at the door.

“Hey!” Max said again.

Alex pointed to Wyatt, and Max laughed. He jogged to catch up. They were early enough that the store wasn’t crowded. Leena and Joseph were walking in front of them with a cart. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Margaret and MJ sitting with Ooljee at a white plastic table outside the snack shop. She heard Trece’s distinctive laugh near the pharmacy. They walked past Matthew and Troy arguing over an enormous flat-screen television. Alex smiled.

She loved it when everything came together.

“What adorable children!” an elderly woman wearing a headscarf said in a thick Persian accent.

“This is Joey,” Alex said. “And his sister Máire.”

Her husband stopped to say hello to the twins. The husband’s large, dark eyes took in the children and Alex. He gave her a white, toothy grin.

“They are very sweet,” he said in his deep voice. His accent matched his wife’s.

“Makes me want to have a dozen more,” the woman said. “What do you say, Heydar?”

The man laughed, and they moved on. As they walked away, Alex could have sworn the man had a bony ridge down his back. One minute the ridge was there, and the next it was gone. He turned to smile at Alex. She smiled back.

“Our list,” John said. He made a show of taking out his smartphone.

“It’s huge, I know,” Alex said. “Cian is in total freak-out mode.”

“It’s our babies’ birthday,” Wyatt said. “He should be.”

Raz came up from behind them.

“Sorry I’m late,” Raz said. “Sami’s parking the car. We got stuck in traffic picking up …” Raz leaned in as if he were telling a big secret. He mouthed, “the cake.”

“There’s a special half-birthday cake?” Alex asked.

“Of course, there is — a half-cake,” Raz said.

“We’ll get a regular cake for their birthday,” John said. “In December.”

“But really, it’s such a mess with the holidays,” Wyatt agreed.

“They need their own celebration,” Raz said.

Max and Alex looked at each other and then looked at John, Wyatt, and Raz. The twins laughed. They continued walking along the wide concrete aisle toward the back of the store. The warehouse seemed cold, so Alex checked the twins. They were warm and happy.

“Do we need another couple of carts?” Alex asked.

“Oh,” John stopped walking. “You think so?”

Alex laughed. John leaned forward and kissed her.

“Let’s get one cart at a time and only if we need them,” Max said.

“Good thinking,” Raz said.

“Sorry,” Samantha said as she jogged up. Samantha leaned over to say hello to Joey and Máire. “How are the birthday twins?”

Joey grabbed Samantha’s long auburn hair, and Máire laughed. Alex stepped back from the cart so that Samantha could free her hair. Samantha took over pushing the cart.

“Bread,” Alex said. “We need seven loaves or something. Is he really making a bread pudding?”

“I’m afraid so,” John said.

Alex looked up and saw that Peggy, Sergeant Dusty’s wife, and Sergeant Dusty were standing near the meat section. Their middle child was sitting in the cart on a quilt that looked suspiciously like her twins’ cart quilt. Peggy’s mother was carrying their youngest. Their oldest son took off running, and Sergeant Dusty ran to catch up. Alex pointed down an aisle.

“I’ll get the bread,” Alex said.

“I’ll help carry,” Raz said.

John stepped close to Samantha to show her the list. Wyatt and Max moved closer to the cart. Halfway down the aisle, Alex turned to look. John and Samantha looked like they were taking their twins for a day out. Raz put his arm around Alex, and they moved quickly down the aisle. The shopping aisle ended at a wall of the store. Leena was kneeling down to get bread from the bottom shelf in the corner of the store. Colin was standing next to her with a cart. They didn’t acknowledge Raz and Alex.

Alex and Raz walked past Colin and Leena to a door. Raz pushed open the door, and Alex walked through. Raz followed. They were standing on the edge of an open storage area. Alex took out her handgun, and Raz had his hand on his. He pointed to his left, and they went between two aisles of stacked pallets of kitchen appliances wrapped in cellophane.

Zack was standing in the middle of the aisle. He nodded to Alex and gestured behind him. Alex and Raz continued down the aisle. They found Matthew and Troy standing in the middle of the aisle. They were both holding machine guns.

“He’ll meet you back there,” Matthew said. He pointed with the weapon toward the aisle behind him.

Alex nodded. Looking where Matthew indicated, she saw that a brand-new leather couch had been pulled from a stack of couches and set up along the end of the aisle.

“You’re to get there first,” Matthew said.

Alex nodded that she remembered. She gave Matthew and Troy a vague smile before she and Raz went to sit on the couch. Raz put his arm on the back of the couch. Alex gave an involuntary shiver, and Raz scooted next to her.

“Cold,” she said. “I can’t seem to warm up after …”

“After seeing an energy-absorbing skeleton?” Raz asked under his breath. “Gosh I don’t know why.”

She smiled at him.

“I’ve missed you,” she said. “We should hang out.”

“I’ve been there,” he said. “More than the others. I took you to the hospital.”

She smiled to acknowledge the gift of his friendship, and his eyes scanned her face.

“You think my father …”

“Who knows?” Alex shrugged. “I’ll find him. I promise you that.”

Raz nodded.

“Do you think I’ll meet him?” Raz asked.

Alex smiled.

“What?” Raz asked.

“You’re not worried about whether or not your mother was a dragon rider,” Alex said. “You just worry about the dragon.”

“Oh, Momma …” Raz sighed. “She had everyone tamed. It’s not too surprising that she could tame a creature such as that.”

He looked at her and nodded.

“I’m a little surprised that you’re not a dragon rider,” Raz said.

Alex smiled.

“What?” Raz asked.

“Max and me, we’re fairies,” Alex shrugged. “In Ireland, fairies are a different kind of being, a separate, possibly older, species of human. Any archeological remains are commonly thought to be fairy mounds. Move a fairy mound and you risk utter ruin. Many people believe that fairies were a different species, something unique.”

“What happened to them?” Raz asked.

“Inter-bred with humans,” Alex said. “Killed outright. Those folks from Rome didn’t like anything they couldn’t control. They set a lot of Irish ‘snakes’ on fire.”

Alex shrugged.

“Here he comes,” Raz said.

Alex and Raz stood from the couch. They watched the Admiral in Charge of Special Operations and his bodyguards walk toward them. When he arrived, his security team went to join the Fey Team. His personal bodyguard, Waltry, stood by one end of the couch, and Raz stood by the other end. Alex gestured to the couch, and the Admiral sat down.

“How’s the fishing, sir?” Alex asked.

“Good,” the Admiral said. “The trout are eager but wily.”

“That sounds like a good thing,” Alex said.

“My wife appreciates the chance to spend time with the grandkids,” the Admiral said. “Thank you for the use of your family cabin.”

“Thank the General, sir.”

The Admiral looked over Alex’s face and arms.

“Your wounds have healed well,” the Admiral said. “How’s the brain?”

“Better,” Alex said. “I still go on the fritz when I’m too stressed out, but I’m working on my Zen practice.”

The Admiral laughed at the idea.

“We’re fortunate to be alive,” Alex said.

“Yes,” the Admiral said. “Please start with Marcos Ruiz. Did we have any idea he was affiliated with …?”

“No,” Alex said. “Honestly, in the last few years, I haven’t had much time to think of him. When we realized we were going to see him, I contacted Gitmo and reviewed his therapy and medical notes.”

“Nothing?”

“There’s a mention that he ‘thinks he’s a jihadist,’” Alex shrugged. “The doctor thought he was full of it. I would have, too.”

“What have you found?” the Admiral asked.

“We went to talk to his family,” Alex said. “Turns out, he was in and out of mental institutions since he was in elementary school. He spent a couple summers in Pakistan with his church youth group. His family thought he was there building schools. Pakistan’s special forces, the SSG, have been able to track his movements there.”

“And?”

“He was building schools at a jihadist training camp,” Alex said. “He appears to have come back to the US only to prepare to himself for an assignment. He told Erin he knew who she was and that his mission’s target was always me, the Fey.”

“How is Erin?” the Admiral asked.

“Better than you’d think,” Alex said. “Neev used mind-control techniques to set up barriers in her mind. She didn’t take in what he said.”

“How did he pull it off?” the Admiral asked. “That’s what I don’t get. According to every report, he’d been a model prisoner. Yes, he grew his hair out. Yes, he started openly practicing Islam, but everyone there is Muslim. It seemed normal for him to want to fit in with the rest.”

Alex looked at the Admiral. His face was a wash of guilt.

“You can’t possibly know what you don’t know,” Alex smiled when she repeated Dahlia’s words.

“It’s my job to know,” he grimaced.

“We believe his lawyer brought Marcos Ruiz the bomb,” Alex said. “Since he was killed, we assume the lawyer wasn’t aware it was a bomb. The explosives were coated with chocolate and appeared to have come from Marcos’ mother. They were small, about the size of your pinky, and attached to each other via some kind of coated wire or thread. They took a photo of them at the desk. You couldn’t see the wires because they were tucked under the plastic. They looked like a box of chocolates.”

“Nice mother,” the Admiral said.

“Oh, they weren’t from his mother,” Alex said. “We think they were built in China, possibly near the Pakistan border. Very sophisticated. We haven’t found the manufacturer, and the SSG has found no evidence of the explosive being made or handled in Pakistan.”

“How many of these chocolate-covered exploding sausages did he swallow?” the Admiral asked.

“Twenty-five, maybe thirty,” Alex said. “The entire set-up was enteric coated. They were specifically intended for swallowing. The explosives would move right through the stomach and settle in the small intestine. They might not even show up on an x-ray.”

“How did he detonate them?” the Admiral asked.

“Forensics is unclear,” Alex said. “Possibly with a remote, but that’s a guess.”

“But he detonated them himself?”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “We believe the lawyer was just a convenient patsy. Ruiz lured Erin to Gitmo in order to kill her. He knew I’d never let her go there alone. He hoped to kill me, as well.”

“My other confusion has to do with the room they were in,” the Admiral said. “Why did you create your own interrogation room rather than use the secure facilities they have there?”

“I thought he might pull something,” Alex said. “I wanted to control the room’s security. The walls were made out of N-rated cinderblock. There were blast shields around the viewing room as well as the hall. We set up surveillance cameras and tried to ensure the very best safety for Erin and the team.”

“Blast shields?” the Admiral asked. “Did you expect this kind of trouble?”

“No, sir,” Alex said. “My superior officer tells me to expect the very worst. A bomb in that room was my very worst outcome. If I’d expected anything, it was something from the outside. An RPG, maybe.”

“Your superior officer is brilliant,” the Admiral said.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “We spread the rumor that it was an advanced interrogation chamber, but, really, the room was set up to interview Ruiz. “The table and chairs didn’t arrive until we were already there. That’s why they weren’t bolted down.”

“Hutchins and Tubman owe their lives to that unbolted table,” the Admiral said.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “As I said, we were very lucky. Trece and White Boy are still on leave but are healing remarkably well.”

“I saw them in the parking lot,” the Admiral said. “White Boy was with this tiny woman …”

“His wife, Yvonne,” Alex said.

“She looks like a mouse to his elephant,” the Admiral said.

“She’s tough as nails,” Alex smiled.

“She’d have to be,” the Admiral nodded. “They know about the …”

“Women, drugs, travel, party lifestyle?” Alex asked. “Yes. They signed waivers to that effect when Trece and White Boy entered that service.”

“How …?” the Admiral asked.

“I doubt they like it, but many women live with a lot worse,” Alex said. “They like that it happens away from the family. And Trece and White Boy are both remarkably loyal. They send their paychecks home. They don’t keep girlfriends. They’re careful about diseases. And, honestly, their lives revolve around their families. So, to their wives, it’s just work their husbands do in service of their country.”

“Takes all kinds,” the Admiral said.

“Exactly,” Alex said. “I have not been able to get updates on Ji Fong.”

“That’s because he’s been tucked away in a private hospital,” the Admiral said.

“How is he?” Alex asked.

“Healing,” the Admiral said. “He’s out of bed and walking, sort of. He wants to speak with you, but you can understand why that’s impossible right now. I received this to give you.”

The Admiral gave Alex an envelope the size of a greeting card.

“Get-well card?” Alex asked.

The Admiral smiled. Alex gave the card to Raz, who tucked it in his pocket.

“Zutterberg?” the Admiral asked.

“Murdered by someone from the driving pool,” Alex said. “The Monk killed the driver, so we’ll never really know for sure why he did it. We postulate that it was for money to cover his gambling debt.”

“Did you get information from Zutterberg?” the Admiral asked.

“He took a job to follow me the eight months before everyone was killed,” Alex said. “He reported on some kind of plot …”

“A plot?”

“To make me and Jesse look like we were insane,” Alex said. “With his notes, I was able to piece together that Jesse and I went to apiaries around the world that year. This Colony Collapse Disorder thing was just starting to happen in Denver.”

“I remember you talking about it,” the Admiral said.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “I was hoping to find out what was happening to the honeybees. On at least three occasions, two documented by Zutterberg and one he references, we went to an apiary and saw beekeepers slaughtered while working their hives. We believe they were pretending to be dead. Fake blood and everything.”

“Sounds crazy now,” the Admiral said. “Any idea why someone would do that?”

“Theories,” Alex said. “Nothing concrete.”

“What’s your most likely theory?”

She opened the door to the bathroom and found herself floating over an operating room. Her body lay on the operating table. There was a huge hole in the left side of her where her hip had been shot away. Her face was covered in an oxygen mask. The machines were squealing. The surgeon was screaming orders at a bevy of agitated nurses.

In the corner of the room stood a black skeleton. As if it felt her stare, the black skeleton looked up at her and sneered. When it moved, she saw that it absorbed the light and color around it. The skeleton tiptoed on boney feet to the bed. When it leaned over her body, Alex could see through its black ribs to the misery of her own shredded and bleeding flesh.

The skeleton looked up at her and laughed a deep, blood-chilling laugh. The room vibrated with the terrible sound. As if he’d heard it, the surgeon pointed his scalpel at the skeleton.

“Not today,” the surgeon said.

He glanced up at Alex floating above him.

“You will not die today,” he said to her. “You are needed here.”

Over the surgical mask, Alex saw his gorgeous hazel-grey eyes. His eyes were large and almond shaped. Although he was wearing a surgical cap, Alex could have sworn he had a bony neural ridge starting at his head and going down his back.

“A dragon,” Alex said.

The surgeon looked up at her. He pointed his scalpel at her.

“Get back here,” he said.

She tried to get back into her body, but the horrifying skeleton blocked her path. The closer she got to it, the bigger it became. It opened its mouth, and the stench of rotting flesh filled the room. The creature’s hard, bony hand reached around her wrists. She looked down, and the hand had blotted out the color and form of her hand. All that was left was the grey-black of nothingness. It stretched up to consume her whole, blot out her very existence.

She screamed in terror.

And she opened her eyes.

The room was dark. Maggie was not lying on the bed next to her. She looked at the chair. No one was sitting in the chair and John wasn’t in bed with her. A golden light shone from the mostly closed bathroom door.

“John?” Alex asked.

Raz came out of the bathroom. He walked across the room and sat on the side of the bed. For a moment, his hazel-grey eyes just looked at her. He leaned forward.

The black skeleton came through his body. Obliterated by the skeleton, Raz crumpled onto the bed. The terrible black skeleton circled the bed. She screamed and reached for Raz. Her fingers caught the silky fabric of the shell of the man she’d known. She fell back and the horrible black skeleton dropped down on her. The black skeleton pressed on her, stealing her energy. Reeking of death, the creature smothered her breath. She tried to scream and …

She opened her eyes.

The room was dark. Maggie was not lying on the bed next to her. She looked at the chair. No one was sitting in the chair, and John wasn’t in bed with her. A golden light shone from the mostly closed bathroom door.

Too petrified to say anything, Alex watched the door. She hugged her knees against her chest.

“Bad dream?” she heard inside her head.

Alex looked around the room. There was no one there. Frozen with fear, she shut her eyes tight. She felt the skeleton near her.

“You may open your eyes now,” the voice said.

Alex opened her eyes. The room was bright, and she was cold. She could hear the rhythmic beep that meant she was in the hospital. She smelled freshly brewed coffee. Drawn by the smell, she sat up and looked around. She was in her own private hospital room. Wearing her usual linen outfit, Bestat was sitting in the blue plastic chair next to her bed. Her dark hair hung loose to her waist.

“How …?” Alex asked.

“You had a seizure,” Bestat said.

“I did?”

“You were rushed here last night,” Bestat said.

“I was?”

“The dream?” Bestat nodded.

Alex gave an involuntary shiver.

“Am I better?” Alex asked to avoid her fear.

Bestat gave her a broad smile.

“What did you see?” Bestat asked.

“I saw the surgical room after the assault,” Alex said. “The surgeon … He …”

“Yes,” Bestat said. “He is Josh’s father. He is also my kin, one of two even older than I. Amam was his … student when he knew Sasha Peretz.”

“Josh’s mom,” Alex said.

“He is also one of the top trauma surgeons in the world. You were lucky to get him.”

“Lucky?” Alex asked.

“You’re right,” Bestat said. “Luck has only the smallest sway in these matters.”

Alex nodded. She fell silent and wondered if this was real. Would the skeleton come out of Bestat? Terrified, she glanced at Bestat.

“What did you see?” Bestat asked again.

“Skeleton,” Alex shivered with fear. “Terrible, scary … like it was terror itself or some horrible version of death. Smelled like rotting blood, flesh. I …”

“Seemed black or possibly the color of ash?” Bestat asked.

“Seemed to absorb the light around it,” Alex said. “Dreadful. It grabbed my wrist, and …”

Alex looked at her left wrist. Her wrist was blistered and red, as if a burning hand had grabbed onto it. The sight of her burned wrist was almost more horrifying than the skeleton. She tried to move her right arm but found it anchored to her side with tape. Bestat came to her side of the bed. When Bestat put her hand over the burns, Alex felt instant relief. She leaned forward to Bestat.

“What’s happening to me?” she whispered. “Am I brain damaged?”

“There is an area of your brain — Max’s, too — which is a little different from most humans’,” Bestat said.

“Different?”

“Ever wonder how you see Jesse? Or my real shape, for that matter? Or ‘just know’ where a hostage is and what the captors desire?” Bestat smiled. “It’s from a part of your brain which gets a little … out of whack sometimes. You start seeing and interpreting other bands of light.”

“Out of whack?” Alex asked.

“When you get knocked around too much,” Bestat said. “It’s one of the reasons I came to you in the Mariscal Mine.”

“What is?”

“You needed some help getting it back into …”

“Whack?” Alex asked.

Bestat smiled. Alex was struck by Bestat’s loveliness. She watched the crinkles at the edge of Bestat’s mouth when she smiled and the glint of Bestat’s teeth. Somehow, just looking at Bestat made Alex feel better.

“Why do we have this thing?” Alex asked.

“It runs in your mother’s family,” Bestat said. “Recessive gene. Her father had it. Benjamin’s father had it as well.”

“We were bio-engineered,” Alex said.

“No one imagined there would be two,” Bestat said. “That is something you did yourselves.”

“Why were we made?” Alex asked.

“You’ve guessed why,” Bestat said.

“Will you tell me?” Alex asked.

“The easiest way to say it is that the black skeleton you saw in your dream is real,” Bestat said. “It absorbs everything light, everything good, and leaves only suffering and struggle in its wake.”

“It was horrible,” Alex said. As if to protect herself, she pulled her thin hospital blanket up around her throat.

“Yes,” Bestat said.

“Max and me?”

“Very simply, you and Max are its opposite.”

“We emit light?” Alex frowned with disbelief.

“No one has ever told you that you are a bright light?” Bestat smiled at Alex.

Rather than confess that Bestat was right, Alex scowled. Bestat gave her a toothy grin.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen the black skeleton?” Bestat asked. “In dream world or the living world?”

“Is it always a skeleton?”

“No,” Bestat said. “It can be a shadow or a feeling of dread or quite possibly a flash of terror for no reason.”

“I’ve seen a shadow,” Alex nodded.

“I’m not surprised that he’s come to you now,” Bestat said. “You will have to watch for him.”

Alex shivered at the thought of having to see the dark creature again.

“Can you tell me who is behind all of this?” Alex asked. “We’ve found the families, like Josh’s old partner Dex, who’ve kept track and watched for everything to fall apart again. We’ve even heard of people who ‘want to watch the world burn.’ But I don’t know who is behind this or why they want this to happen.”

“It’s a good question,” Bestat said.

“And the answer?”

“Is complicated,” Bestat said. “As for why, the clearest answer, is that when the world is poorer, and people are hungrier and more desperate, some rise in wealth and have more power. This has always been true. As for who is behind this? That is much less clear.”

“To whom?”

“To me,” Bestat said. “I once had an answer. I believed it was one man. He created a world of evil and … That was a long time ago. He and his world are long forgotten, and I … I’m not sure what to believe. I’ve seen the world cycle through this pattern more times than I’d care to describe, and, still, I have no idea who is behind it.”

“Why?”

“I no longer believe in simple answers,” Bestat said and gave a sad smile. For the first time in knowing her, Alex felt like she was seeing the real being that was Bestat. Alex touched Bestat’s hand.

“How long has this been going on?” Alex asked.

“All of my long life,” Bestat said. “As soon as there is more liberty, more freedom, and more food, they unleash pain upon the world.”

“The way you say it …” Alex said. “Is it humans doing this to other humans?”

“Of course,” Bestat shrugged. “But remember, you are not the first species to burn to death on this planet. I’m not sure it’s not some kind of natural cycle for this planet. They are merely using it, enhancing the suffering, in order to bring about their own ends.”

Bestat put her hand over Alex’s and smiled.

“You are a dear friend. I’m grateful to know you.” Bestat smiled and leaned forward, “Where is the key?”

“What key?” Alex shook her head.

Alex blinked against the pain the simple movement caused.

“Good girl,” Bestat said. She put her hands on Alex’s head, and Alex felt immediate relief. “Have you found all of the components?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure,” Alex said. “What’s that have to do with this skeleton?”

“The key opens the lock to an archive,” Bestat said.

“Archive?”

“In Linear A, no less,” Bestat smiled.

“What is in this archive?” Alex asked.

“How to make it stop,” Bestat said. “Answers to the riddle of who forces the world to suffer so much. It’s an amazing place. I was there a long, long time ago. You will love it.”

“But no one knows where it is,” Alex said.

“No,” Bestat said. “I was young at the time I was there, and … No, no one knows. They want to get there as badly as we do.”

“Why?”

“Because we stole a few things from them,” Bestat said. “Without them, the world stays in balance. They want their items back; we want the information. There are many, many people, scholars, who say the archive doesn’t exist. It’s a dream or a myth. Linear A and the location of the archive have been lost. But I … I remember the archive. I know it exists.”

“I think my brain damage washed Linear A out of my brain,” Alex said.

“Did it?” Bestat asked.

“No, not really,” Alex said. “Oddly, I think it fell into place while I was sleeping. Or maybe, I’m now receptive to learning it.”

“Imagine that,” Bestat smiled.

“Did I …?” Alex asked.

“Would you believe me if I told you that you’ve known it all along?” Bestat asked.

“And I had to tap my heels three times to make it come to mind?”

Alex smiled.

“What are you saying?” Bestat asked.

“Never mind,” Alex said. “No, I would not believe you.”

“That’s good, because it was not true,” Bestat smiled.

“Then how …?”

“You’ve been working on the puzzle with a singular focus for almost six months,” Bestat said. “My guess is that you could figure out anything if you gave it that amount of time and effort.”

“Is it going to take me as long to figure out the maps?” Alex asked.

“Maps?” Bestat became very intense. She leaned forward. “What maps?”

Alex held up her hands as if Bestat were holding a loaded gun.

“I’m sorry,” Bestat leaned back. “I was surprised.”

“My grandfather had some maps,” Alex shrugged. Bestat’s reaction kept her from saying anything about the map of Ultima Thule. “I’m a cartographer. Why would you be surprised by maps?”

“The location of the archive has been lost,” Bestat said. “I thought maybe you had found a map to that location.”

“I memorized a map from a bookstore in Paris,” Alex said. She again avoided telling Bestat that she had the map. “It was of Ultima Thule.”

Bestat raised her eyebrows.

“It had a mark on it,” Alex said. “May I have a piece of paper and pen?”

“Draw on my hand,” Bestat said.

Alex scowled, but Bestat nodded to assure her.

“Let me finish it before you look,” Alex said.

“As you wish.”

Alex drew the compass rose using her finger. As she drew, lines appeared on Bestat’s hand. Alex nodded when she was done. Bestat looked down and gasped.

“Where did you see this mark?” Bestat asked.

“The maps Rebecca’s father gave her and Ben,” Alex said. She nodded, and, then, as almost an after-thought, she said, “And the map of Ultima Thule.”

Shaking her head, Bestat put her hand over her heart.

“I found a cartographer’s set at the bookstore,” Alex said. “One of your kin was there.”

“Who?” Bestat asked.

“Eloise Le Grande,” Alex said.

“No,” Bestat said. “You are mistaken. She is …”

“Living in Paris, apparently,” Alex said.

“Think of her,” Bestat ordered.

Alex envisioned Eloise Le Grande as the older woman she’d appeared to be, and as the young, beautiful woman Alex had met inside the store. Bestat rested her hand gently on Alex’s wrist. Bestat gasped and leaned back. Bestat’s eyes welled with tears.

“I don’t know what to say,” Bestat said. “I’m not sure if you got caught in a time loop — that bookstore has been there for a hundred years at least and has always been a mess — or, if she’s really alive. But, why …”

“There was a man there,” Alex said. “He used to be in French Intelligence. I didn’t realize he had left their service. He met her there.”

Bestat described the man perfectly. Alex nodded.

“Her rider,” Bestat said. “I thought he’d killed her.”

“Controlled is more like it,” Alex said. “Dominated.”

She told Bestat about getting trapped in the bookstore by Eloise Le Grande. Bestat nodded.

“He wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference,” Bestat said.

“Josh knew something happened,” Alex said.

“Exactly,” Bestat nodded.

“Oh,” Alex said.

Bestat leaned forward and kissed Alex’s cheek.

“It heartens me greatly that Eloise Le Grande is still here,” Bestat smiled. “She’s still fighting our fight. It must have taken a tremendous strength of will to pull off the time jump without her rider knowing. She has given you an enormous gift.”

Alex smiled because she didn’t know what else to say.

“This cartographer’s set …” Bestat said.

“It has that mark on every piece in the set,” Alex said. “And a book in Linear A, but get this.”

“What?”

“Three of the pieces were out of the set,” Alex said. “One of them, Max and I inherited from Mom’s father. Another I got from Ben. The books was the third.”

“Good Lord,” Bestat said.

“Do you know it?” Alex asked.

“No,” Bestat said. “But it’s been a very long time since I’ve been this close to the struggle.”

“Why are you now?” Alex asked.

“Just my turn, I guess,” Bestat said.

Alex knew that Bestat was not telling the truth, but she was too tired to confront her.

“How is Ji a part of this?” Alex asked.

“You will have to ask him,” Bestat smiled. “You are tired and have been very ill. I’m going to take my leave.”

“But …” Alex started.

Bestat disappeared.

Alex was so desperately tired that she could only blink. A nurse came in and chatted while she took Alex’s vitals. Alex could only nod in agreement. She struggled to keep her eyes open so that she wouldn’t see the skeleton again.

Before the nurse left, Alex fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

One week later
Tuesday morning
May 31 — 10:07 a.m. MDT (12:07 p.m. Cuba DT)
Denver, Colorado

Alex woke with a gasp. She sat up and unhooked the IV from the cannula in her arm.

She was sitting in her own bed, in her own bedroom. Maggie was lying on the bed next to her. Instinctively, she looked toward the French door to the porch. There was light outside. It was daytime.

She looked at the clock. It said 10:07 a.m. May 31.

Holy Crap! She’d lost an entire week!

What about Helen talking to her father? She’d promised Sami she would be there when Sami talked to the Senator! Alex felt a wave of guilt.

Then she remembered.

She was supposed to be in Alexandria on May 31st to hear Bestat’s story. She’d hoped to find out what the hell was going on!

Alex threw off the covers and tried to get up. The room spun.

She lay back down on the bed. The last thing she remembered was retreating from the blood and dust of the explosion to the executive suite. They’d had an hour before they would travel back to the states. Erin and Samantha had gone into the bathroom.

Alex looked up to see Jesse. She tried to use her right arm to point to her ears, but the arm was taped to her side. She pointed at her ears with her left hand.

“Your ears are better,” Jesse said. “I don’t think you hear me that way, anyway.”

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“The explosion bounced your brain around,” her mother’s voice came from somewhere.

Alex looked around and found Rebecca standing in the bathroom door. Alex noticed that a romantic suspense novel was face down on the bed near the green stuffed armchair. A soft cotton blanket was draped on the bed. Rebecca appeared next to her.

“How do you feel?” Rebecca asked.

“Disoriented.” Alex flipped her legs around to get out of bed and felt instantly dizzy. “Woozy.”

Rather than lying back down, Alex forced herself to sit up.

“Here,” Rebecca said. She held out a few white pills and water.

“What are those?” Alex gave the pills a suspicious sniff.

“Ibuprofen,” Rebecca said.

Alex took the pills and the water. She emptied the glass.

“Where are Máire and Joey?” Alex asked.

“Downstairs.” Rebecca gave her a beaming smile. “They have so many people who love them. When you were injured, your father and I rushed over to take care of them and found … Well, they didn’t need us at all.”

“We’re very lucky,” Alex said.

“I’m a little jealous,” Rebecca said.

“How are Vince and Royce?” Alex asked to change the subject.

“Alive,” Rebecca said. “They have quite a ways to go until they are better, but they’re alive and that’s a miracle. Trece and White Boy, too.”

“Are they home?” Alex asked.

“No, they’re here,” Rebecca said. “Neev is here, too.”

“Here?” Alex asked.

“In the basement,” Rebecca said. “Colin can keep an eye on them that way. John, too. They’ve hired nurses to help. It’s like a hospital ward down there.”

“Wow,” Alex said. “Full house.”

“You’re supposed to stay in this bed,” Rebecca said.

“I’m itchy,” Alex said.

Alex scratched her right arm and opened one of the remaining small cuts on her forearm. Rebecca blotted at the cut until it stopped bleeding.

“How did I get here?” Alex asked.

“You mean, you don’t remember what happened after saving everyone’s life?” Rebecca asked.

Alex nodded and then groaned at the motion. She had to bite her lip to keep from throwing up.

“Why do I feel like I had surgery?” Alex asked.

“Your scapula,” Rebecca said. “You have a few screws to hold it together. They took advantage of you being unconscious. They thought you wouldn’t complain too much.”

“Figures.” Alex nodded.

Rebecca smiled and sat down on the bed.

“I’m not supposed to tell you anything,” Rebecca said. “But I wanted …”

Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears. She leaned forward and kissed Alex’s cheek. Her thumb automatically rubbed off the lipstick print.

“What?” Alex asked.

“Philippe,” Rebecca said. “Thank you.”

“He was murdered?” Alex asked.

“Poisoned,” Rebecca nodded. “The hanging was just …”

Rebecca’s voice broke, and tears dropped down her face.

“I made Benji tell me,” Rebecca said. “You’d have been proud of me. I forced him to tell me why Philippe was killed. Benjamin said you think he and I were supposed to get together to take him out of the intelligence game. He said that he thought I was … Well, he said ‘tricked’ — I think he meant mind-controlled like those poor girls you worked with last year — into going to Chicago.”

Alex felt a wave of compassion for her mother.

“That’s a lot to hear,” Alex said.

“I made him tell me,” Rebecca said. “Do you think the same thing?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “I was supposed to meet with someone this week who promised to tell me.”

“Bestat?” Rebecca looked at the door. “She’s playing with the twins downstairs. Did you know Zack is having custody issues with that awful Tina?”

“I remember something,” Alex said. “Seems like she finally did a paternity test on the kids? Is that right?”

“Right,” Rebecca said. “Sami found this really tough lawyer to help. The lawyer said that because there is no other father coming forward, and the current father wants to parent, there’s no reason to disrupt the children’s lives. That’s what she said. She’s filed with the court, and …”

Rebecca nodded.

“Just another thing you’ve done,” Rebecca smiled.

“Me?” Alex scowled. “I told him to talk to Sami.”

“I know,” Rebecca said. “But if he hadn’t, there wouldn’t be this resolution.”

“It’s resolved?”

“Oh, I didn’t say that?” Rebecca looked puzzled. “I guess I didn’t. The lawyer filed. Zack had to go to a hearing — Bestat, too. The kids testified that they are really happy with Zack as their dad. They didn’t think of him as their part-time dad. Britney said, ‘Every dad works. I bet if you added up every dad’s time, it wouldn’t be any more than my Dad’s. Plus, my dad flies airplanes to keep us safe.’ The judge stopped the hearing after that. Turns out, Zack’s never lied to the kids. They know that he’s probably not their biological father. Did you do that, too?”

“I thought it was a good idea,” Alex said. “They’re smart kids. They know what their mother was.”

“Well, the judge threw out Tina’s motion,” Rebecca nodded. “‘If a father comes forward, we’ll address this again,’ he said, but really Tina has no idea who their fathers might be. Oh, you should have heard the judge’s remarks about Tina’s whole ‘A military father is no kind of father at all.’”

“Didn’t like that?”

“Not one bit,” Rebecca said. “So, everything stays the same.”

Rebecca smiled. Alex shook her head to try to clear it and then grabbed her head with her left hand.

“That looked painful,” Rebecca said.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Listen … I don’t mean to offend you or anything …”

“But?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Alex asked. “Usually you just tell me what to do and go about your life.”

Rebecca laughed.

“Am I dreaming?” Alex asked.

She glanced up at Jesse. He was laughing, too. She scowled and lay back down. Her mother touched her arm.

“When you couldn’t go, your father and I went with Sami to talk to the Senator,” Rebecca said. “I was behind that glass, and … I realized the enormity of all you had done. It was like a cloud lifted, and I … saw how much you do, for everyone. I don’t know … maybe my heart grew.”

“Five times that day?” Alex asked.

“I am a mean one …” Rebecca smiled.

“Did you say that Sami talked to the Senator?” Alex asked.

“And Helen talked to her father,” Rebecca nodded. “Helen’s mom came with us that time.”

“They did?” Alex asked. “How …?”

“After what happened in Cuba, they were adamant that they were going to get what they could from those awful men,” Rebecca said. “And they did. They did a good job. They got the information you wanted, and they didn’t put up with anything. We were there for both interviews, and the girls were fabulous.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” Rebecca said.

“Can I use the bathroom?” Alex asked.

“Oh, sure,” Rebecca held her arm out. Alex shuffled to the bathroom. She shooed her mother out and promptly threw up. She collapsed to the floor and threw up again.

When she woke, she was lying in bed again. Maggie was lying on the bed next to her. She sat up and looked at the French door. It was dark out.

She heard a noise near her and looked. John was sitting with his back against the headboard on his side of the bed.

She grinned, and he smiled.

“You are a sight for very sore eyes,” Alex said.

“It’s lovely to hear your voice,” John said.

“Miss me?”

“I told you to skip those Cuban rum joints.”

Alex smiled.

“Thanks for coming home to me,” John said. “Again.”

“Did I pass out in the bathroom?” Alex asked.

“You did,” John said. “You got up to use the bathroom because …”

“I didn’t want to throw up in front of my mom,” Alex said.

“I see.”

“She was being so nice, and …” Alex looked at him. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Very little, surprisingly,” John said.

Alex scowled.

“What is it?” John asked.

“Can you kiss me?” Alex said.

“I feel like you’re very fragile, and I …” John started. He glanced at her, and she was smiling her crooked smile. “Now, that’s very unfair.”

He scooted over to kiss her.

“Why was I unconscious for a week?” Alex asked.

“Your body needed rest to heal,” John said. “We agreed that you wouldn’t get it if you were awake. You lost consciousness in Cuba, and MJ decided to keep you that way. We met at Craig Hospital and concurred.”

“Craig Hospital?” Alex asked.

“Brain specialists,” John said. “They knew exactly what was going on and suggested rest as the best treatment.”

“Was I in the hospital?” Alex asked.

“Just for tests,” John said. “Mostly, you’ve been right here, though.”

“In our bed?” Alex asked.

“I wanted to keep you close,” John nodded.

Alex wasn’t sure why, but his desire to keep her close seemed very sweet to her. She touched her heart, and her eyes welled. She kissed him.

“Love you,” she whispered.

He leaned into her, and she closed her eyes. He leaned back.

“Are you awake?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Why do my brain and spine hurt?” Alex asked.

“Think of it as whiplash,” John said. “Your system was rattled in the explosion.”

Alex looked at him.

“How are you?” Alex asked.

“Good,” John said. “It’s been lovely to know exactly where you are and what you’re doing.”

“Control everything,” Alex said. “Your master plan for my life.”

John laughed.

“Sorry,” Alex said. “I don’t mean to belittle how hard it is to have all this going on all the time.”

“That’s nice of you, but really, it’s our life,” John said. “I imagine that, ten or twenty years from now, God willing, we’ll do something different. But for now, it’s our life.”

“How is Howard?” Alex asked. “I asked Mom about Vince and Royce and Andy and Chris, but I forgot Colonel Gordon.”

“And your children?” John chided.

Alex gave him a pained look.

“Going in order of what I know you care about,” John said. “Joey and Máire are with Max and Wyatt tonight because I’d hoped you would wake up again. They have been here with you while you slept. They are growing, happy, and really lovely.”

John gave her a proud smile, and she grinned.

“Howard is healing. He’s home for now.”

“And his injury?” Alex asked.

“He has a colostomy bag for the next month or so while his intestines heal,” John said. “His surgeons expect to reattach everything, and he’ll be right as rain. In the meantime, he’s on leave.”

Alex nodded.

“I’ll let the others tell you about what happened on base,” John said. “But, suffice it to say, your offices have been restored, for now. Joseph thinks you need to move.”

“I do, too,” Alex said.

“The team is working out of your office at the Federal building,” John said.

Alex smiled.

“What?” John asked.

“It’s nice of you to get all these details for me,” Alex said.

“I didn’t want you to move,” John said. “I knew that if you didn’t know about the team and everyone’s health, you’d get up and start calling or emailing or …”

The phone on his bedside table rang. John let it roll over to voicemail.

“Andy and Chris are bruised,” John said. “Andy cracked a vertebra, and Chris broke his wrist. They both broke small bones — ribs, fingers, toes. They are the miracle patients, because they’re healing very quickly.”

“It’s part of their thing,” Alex said. “That whole team is selected for their ability to heal. It’s some blood thing.”

“Good to know,” John said.

“Vince?” Alex asked.

“He says he’s had worse injuries,” John said. “I guess we know that.”

Alex smiled, remembering the long months at Walter Reed with Vince as her roommate.

“Vince and Royce … Well, truthfully, they are lucky to be alive after being that close to such a big explosion,” John said. “They were lucky that they were on a medical base and received treatment within minutes. They are lucky that table wasn’t bolted to the floor. But, it’s going to be a long road for both of them.”

Alex’s eyes welled with tears.

“They are both clear that they will do what they need to get healthy,” John said. “They are coming back to the Fey Team. That’s what they say.”

“But?” Alex asked.

“You know how it is,” John said. “Anything can happen.”

Alex nodded.

“You should take your meds,” John said.

He held out two white pills.

“The last time I took those, I fell asleep for twelve hours,” Alex said.

“It’s what they do,” John said.

“Mom said they were ibuprofen,” Alex said.

“That’s what I told her they were,” John smiled.

“Sneaky,” Alex said.

“You need to sleep,” John said. “These breaks are for you to move a little bit, eat something …”

He held out an Ensure for her.

“ … drink water, use the toilet, and go back to sleep.”

She opened the container and drank as much as she could.

“I can’t stay here forever, John,” Alex’s voice rose with impatience. “I have to figure this out, or …”

“The world will burn,” John said. “Yes, I know. Thing is, that if you don’t get well, the world will burn anyway.”

Alex looked at him and blinked.

“I’m more injured than I feel,” Alex said.

“Your brain,” John said. “We’re not sure if it’s this explosion, years of strain, the assault, last year’s stabbing, the accident last week, multiple concussions, or … You know those headaches you get? They may be caused by this injury.”

John shrugged.

“You need rest,” John said. “The neurologists are confident you will heal with no noticeable injury with rest, quiet, and lots of love. Rest first.”

Alex saw the pain and worry on his face. Knowing that she put those creases on his face was like a knife in her gut. She smiled her crooked smile and raised her eyebrows.

“Lots of love?” she asked.

John grinning and shook his head. She nodded and took the pills.

“Bathroom?” Alex asked.

He came around to help her out of bed. He went with her into the bathroom. He helped her with the toilet and then helped her back to bed.

She lay down and was out. When she opened her eyes again, it was daylight, and Samantha was sitting in the green chair, working on her laptop. Maggie was lying on the bed next to her. Alex sat up.

“This is a great room,” Samantha said without looking up. “It’s so quiet and peaceful. How did you do that?”

“Ghost hunters came and cleaned out the space,” Alex said.

“No really,” Samantha said.

“Really,” Alex said.

“What about …” Samantha leaned forward and whispered, “Jesse.”

“He’s not stagnant energy or a stuck spirit,” Alex smiled.

Samantha gave a thoughtful nod. She got up and gave Alex an Ensure drink. When Alex finished the container, Samantha gave her some water.

“While it’s just us …” Samantha said.

Alex looked at her sister and smiled.

“I wanted to say thanks,” Samantha said. “When you yelled, ‘Get down!’ Helen and I … We froze. If Art hadn’t grabbed us, we’d be …”

Samantha nodded.

“He told me that you ordered him to take care of me and not you,” Samantha said. “His job is to take care of you, but you ordered him not to.”

Samantha gave a soft smile and nodded.

“I realized …” Samantha turned away from Alex and walked to the dresser, where Alex’s pills were laid out. “ …that I’m mad at Mom.”

“Oh?”

“She’s the one who left me,” Samantha said. “When she came back, she wasn’t available to me because of stuff with dad, and then you guys came along. I’ve kind of taken it out on you and Max since then. I apologized to Max, but …”

Samantha walked back to the bed and sat down.

“I’m sorry,” Samantha said. “Mom and I went to a couple of therapy sessions while you were in New York and then again this week. It’s helping, especially since Mom found out that she might have been tricked into leaving me. I don’t know why, but that feels so true to me, so real. Anyway, I now vow to be mad at Mom and not take it out on you.”

Alex smiled.

“Let’s get you to the bathroom,” Samantha said.

Alex rotated her legs to the side of the bed and sat up. For the first time in a while, she felt less woozy. She let Samantha help her to the bathroom. With Samantha’s help, Alex attempted a shower, which was a moderate success. While Alex brushed her teeth, Samantha changed the sheets. Samantha helped Alex into a clean pair of pajamas and got her settled in bed before giving her the white pills. Alex settled back and fell asleep again.

She opened her eyes. The room was dark. Maggie was not lying on the bed next to her. She looked at the chair. No one was sitting in the chair and John wasn’t in bed with her. A golden light shone from the mostly closed bathroom door.

“John?” Alex asked.

“In here,” John’s voice came from the bathroom.

She got out of bed and went to the bathroom door.

“I had the most amazing dream,” Alex said. “I had a brain injury and was in bed. It was like a movie. Every time I opened my eyes someone else was there. And they were really nice to me.”

“Oh, yeah?” John’s voice said.

“Even my mom and Sami,” Alex laughed. “Some crazy dream.”

John didn’t respond. She waited a minute.

“John?”

Two days later
Tuesday afternoon
May 24 — 1:17 p.m. Cuba DT (11:17 a.m. MDT)
Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Alex glanced at Neev, who was standing on her left. They were looking through a one-way mirror at Erin’s face. Her long red hair was brushed up into a French knot. She wore casual but elegant clothing that accentuated her early pregnancy. Her new diamond wedding ring was matched by her mother’s diamond earrings. Using a language he’d understand, she wanted Marcos to know that she’d moved on.

Behind Alex and Neev, Helen and Samantha were whispering about something. Alex looked at them, and they blushed. Clearly, they were whispering about her. Raz came into the room and nodded to Alex.

In order to record the interaction, they’d set up their own surveillance cameras. One would show Marcos’s face, while the other was outside the door. Alex planned to manage the interview and team, while everyone else was told to focus on taking care of Erin.

“We’re ready,” Alex said into a microphone feed to Erin. “Are you?”

Erin gave an almost-imperceptible nod.

“You can back out at any time,” Alex repeated what she had said over and over again.

Erin gave the same imperceptible nod.

“Okay, Erin, love,” Neev said. “Let’s take a breath …”

Erin’s chest rose with her deep breath.

“Hold it,” Neev said. “One, two, three, four. Who are you?”

“Erin Hargreaves-Mac Clenaghan,” Erin said. “Safe and protected.”

“Safe and protected,” Helen and Samantha repeated. Neev nudged Alex. She joined the chorus, “Safe and protected.”

Erin’s head moved in a nod. Alex looked up at the surveillance monitor.

“He’s outside the door,” Alex said. “Remember, Royce and Vince are bringing him because they are Navy. You won’t recognize them, but it’s them. Trece and White Boy are at the door and can be inside in one second flat.”

“Colin?” Erin asked.

Because Matthew was too close to the situation, he’d agreed to stay in Florida. Colin was Erin’s key support person.

“He’s …” Alex paused. Colin slipped into the room. “He’s right here beside me.”

“Safe and protected,” Erin said.

“We’ve pulled straws to see who gets to kill Marcos,” Raz said. “Colin won. But we think he rigged the straws.”

Erin chuckled.

“All right,” Alex said. “Here we go.”

There was a knock at the door, and Erin jumped to her feet. Royce and Vince dragged Marcos into the room. Royce and Vince were dressed in black jumpsuits with balaclavas and their colored scarves wrapped over their heads. They wore black gloves over their hands and black shoes. The skin around their eyes was tinted dark green, giving their brown eyes, the only exposed part of them, an unearthly look. There was a hood over Marcos’s head. His legs were shackled together, as were his hands. He wore a loose cotton shalwar kameez.

Royce and Vince dropped him into the chair across from Erin. His back was to the mirror. Alex checked the surveillance camera to make sure they had a good view of his face. They locked his leg shackles to eyelets in the floor and his wrists onto the metal table in front of him. Royce pulled off the hood. Erin gasped.

Marcos’s hair was long. His long beard fell to his chest. He looked every bit the radical extremist. Erin smiled to cover her surprise.

He spit at her. Erin hopped back, and the spittle landed on the table.

“You asked me to come all this way,” Erin said in an even tone. Then she said what they had practiced. “I came all this way because of our history. That’s all. If you are nasty, I will leave. If I leave before you answer questions, you’ll void your sentence reduction.”

He gave her a fierce scowl, but his head moved up and down in a nod. He leaned back in his chair. Erin sat down. Vince and Royce went around the table to stand behind her. Marcos’s lawyer came into the room and sat down next to Marcos.

“What did you want to tell me?” Erin asked.

He looked at her for a long moment. His eyes reviewed her hair, her face, and her body.

“You look different,” he said.

“New cheeks, new jaw, new teeth, and new nose — courtesy of your fists,” Erin said.

He snorted and lifted an edge of his mouth in a proud sneer.

“Safe and protected,” Neev said into Erin’s ear.

“Okay, well.” Erin got up to leave.

“My lawyer told me I had to do this,” Marcos said. “But I wanted to. You have no idea how much I wanted to be here. Your sister’s back there, isn’t she?”

Marcos nodded toward the glass. Ignoring his question, Erin sat down.

“‘Reduces my sentence,’ he said,” Marcos said. “Looking at you …”

He gave her a vicious sneer.

“I used you, fucked you, beat you because you’re a filthy whore,” Marcos said. “The target was always the Fey.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” Erin said.

She got up and started toward the door.

“That’s it,” Alex said. “She’s coming out.”

Alex pushed Colin toward the door. Through their surveillance camera, Alex watched Colin meet Erin on the other side of the door. His six-foot-five-inch bulk wrapped her tiny frame in a bear hug. He carried Erin away from the door, and down the hallway. Marcos’s attorney rushed out of the room and met a wall made of Trece and White Boy.

Inside the room, Marcos started screaming at the top of his lungs.

“I need to talk to her,” the lawyer said.

Trece and White Boy didn’t respond.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Neev asked.

“Something’s going on!” Alex said. “Fey Team — be alert!”

“He has a bomb!” Jesse screamed as he flew through the one-way mirror.

“Bomb! Get down!” Alex screamed and dropped below the window. She pushed Neev hard enough that she bounced off the wall and fell to the ground. Raz dove for Samantha and Helen. “Get down!”

“The joke’s on you!” Marcos screamed.

Marcos exploded.

Shards of glass, blood, and fragments of his body rained down on Alex, Raz, Samantha, Helen, and Neev. Smoke filled what was left of the rooms and the hallway. Alex jumped over the broken half wall into the interview room.

Vince and Royce had been standing against the other side of the room. When Alex shouted her warning, Vince had flipped the metal table on its side and pulled it to the wall. Together, they’d ducked behind the table. Their bodies had blown into the corner near the door. Marcos’s torso, fused to the back of his metal chair, lay against an exposed side of the table. Plasterboard and pieces of cinder block were blown into the corner with them. Alex grabbed Marcos’s torso and threw it off Vince and Royce. Raz appeared and began tossing plasterboard. Together, they lifted the table from Vince and Royce’s bodies.

“Talk to me! Talk to me!” Alex yelled, but her ears only heard the high-pitched ringing from the explosion. “Talk to me!”

She felt a hand on her shoulder. MJ was kneeling next to her. He pointed to the ground. She looked down and saw a pair of feet. He nodded. She picked up the feet and pulled one of them out from under the other. The scarf was Vince’s color. Alex ripped off the scarf and balaclava.

She glanced back at the corner. MJ was working on Royce. Raz helped her move Vince to a clear area of the floor. Blood and dust ran together onto the ground. His left calf was broken in a compound fracture. Some part of the metal chair had impaled his shoulder. He was bleeding, unconscious, but alive. Feeling movement, she looked up to see Navy medics.

She jumped up and went to where MJ was working on Royce. MJ was stitching up a wound on the back of Royce’s head. Royce must have tried to keep from hitting the wall, because both of his arms were broken. His legs looked fine, but at least one ankle was broken.

Marcos’s torso and the table seemed to have protected Vince and Royce from the lethal blast. Raz grabbed Alex’s shoulder and pointed to the door. Joseph was standing in the doorway, gesturing for her to come to him. She walked to the door.

Hearing her warning, Marcos’s lawyer had attempted to return to the room. He’d opened the door a foot when the explosion went off. His hand, attached to his arm, still gripped the door handle, while his body lay at Joseph’s feet. The open door exposed the hallway to the force of the blast. The hallway was blackened from the flame and smelled like burned bodies.

Both Trece and White Boy were cut up and bruised. They’d miraculously missed most of the blast by choosing to jump from the open door and move down the hallway. Colin had carried Erin down the hallway. They were dazed and dirty but otherwise uninjured.

The medics were taking Neev out of the observation room on a stretcher. She was holding gauze against a gash on her shoulder. Inside the room, Samantha and Helen were dirty and cut up but otherwise alive.

Joseph pointed toward a female Navy medic. Alex shook her head. The medic pointed to Alex’s arms. Her hands and arms, where Alex had pushed up her long-sleeved shirt, were covered with tiny cuts from the glass. She assumed her face bore the same damage. She let the medic escort her to a quiet corner of the hallway, where her cuts were cleaned and stitched. When the medic finished with Alex, the medic ran to help move Royce to the hospital ward. Vince was just behind him.

Still unable to hear, Alex stood in the hallway and watched them go. Erin touched her arm. Alex hugged her sister and tried not to grunt with pain at her return hug. Colin gave Alex a hug and turned to hug Samantha.

Erin said something, and Alex pointed to her ears.

“Why?” Erin said, exaggerating the word so Alex could read her lips.

Alex pointed to herself and then shrugged.

Someone touched her arm. Alex turned to look. Margaret Peaches was standing near her. Alex pointed to her ears, and Margaret signed that Royce, Vince, Trece, and White Boy were in the base hospital. Neev and Helen were being stitched up. The Jakker said to be ready to travel in an hour.

Erin touched Alex’s arm again.

“How?” Erin said in the same exaggerated way.

Alex shook her head. She had no idea how Marcos had pulled it off.

“No,” Erin shook her head. “How did you know?”

Erin pointed to Samantha and back at herself. Alex smiled and nodded but pretended not to understand the question.

Margaret touched her arm. Alex turned back to look at her. Margaret waved for Alex to come with her and bring Erin and Samantha. Alex gestured to her sisters. Margaret escorted them down the hallway to the executive suite that was their base.

Alex indicated for her sisters to use the bathroom. They made gestures for Alex to go, but she insisted. Not wanting to cross her, they went into the bathroom.

The moment the door closed, Alex was suddenly too tired to hold up her body. She collapsed to the floor. Margaret dropped down beside her. Seeing Margaret’s concerned face, Alex tried to smile.

It was the last thing she remembered.

F

“They do?”

“Sure,” Hector James said. “I wanted to get one, but Dad won’t let me. When I’m eighteen, I’m going to get a big sunflower, like yours.”

While she’d like to think he wanted one because of her, Hector James was a deeply personal and practical boy. If he wanted the tattoo, it was for some special reason of his own.

“Why?” Alex asked.

“It looks like wings,” Hector James said.

He folded the scan of the Serbian map’s compass rose. The pedals of the flower looked like feathers.

“Plus, mom liked it,” Hector James said.

“You saw this sunflower when you lived with your mom?” Alex asked.

“This one. With the eye,” Hector James pointed to her scanned copy of the ancient compass rose. “Mom had a pin that she wore on her sweaters. She used to wear it all the time. I think Dad gave it to her, but I don’t know that. Isn’t that why you have the tattoo? Because of Dad?”

Alex shook her head.

“Why do you have the tattoo?” Hector James asked.

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “Something I don’t remember.”

Hector James nodded. Alex made hot chocolate, while Hector James looked around her office.

“Look at that,” Hector James picked up the cardholder. “You figured it out.”

Alex smiled.

“Know why I’m up?” Hector James asked.

“You met someone special, and you don’t know what to do about it?” Alex asked.

Hector James’ mouth fell open with surprise.

“How’d you know?” he asked.

“I know what your dad looked like when he was confused about your mom,” Alex said. “We met when he was only a few years older than you are now.”

She held out a mug of hot chocolate for him.

“Hey, you made some for yourself,” Hector James said.

She smiled. Because he was too big to sit in her lap now, Alex had replaced her two armchairs with a small loveseat. He sat down next to her. She brought her laptop over in case he wanted to see the slide shows.

“The thing is …” Hector James took a drink of cocoa. “I was going to ask Jesse … Is he still here?”

“He left,” Alex said. “But I can get him back.”

“Well, let me ask you first,” Hector James said. “Don’t you think Mom will be mad if I grow up? I guess that sounds stupid, ’cuz I can’t really stop it, but …”

“I know what you mean,” Alex said. “She died when you were ten, and you’re not ten anymore. Are you hurting her by moving on? Growing up?”

Hector James nodded.

“I know how that feels,” Alex said.

“I don’t want to leave her,” Hector James said.

“It feels like you’re betraying her,” Alex nodded.

“Betraying her.” Hector James sniffed and looked away. “I don’t want to betray Mom.”

Tears formed in his eyes, and he leaned against Alex.

“I still miss her so much,” Hector James said. “I tell her my whole day start to finish, like I did when she was … here. Every night. Before bed. I tell her. I miss her as much as I did when …”

Alex blew on her hot cocoa and waited for him to continue.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Hector James said in a low voice. “But sometimes … I get so caught up in my life that I don’t remember how sad I am.”

Hector James nodded.

“I’m ’sposed to be sad for the rest of my life,” Hector James said. “But sometimes I’m not sad, and I feel guilty.”

“Me, too,” Hermes said from the door. He ran into the room. The small boy squeezed onto the couch on the other side of Alex. She gave him her cocoa, which he drank down in a steady series of gulps. “Sometimes I don’t feel sad at all, but I still miss Mommy … I don’ want to hurt Mommy’s feelings. She’d be so sad if she thought I …”

Hermes sniffed and started to cry. Hector James began to cry. Alex put her arms over the boys’ shoulders and let them cry in her lap.

She’d never found an answer to their question for herself. She wasn’t sure what to do except listen and love them. She rubbed their backs and let them cry. When the boys stopped crying, Alex leaned over to look at them. Hermes had cried himself to sleep. Hector James was staring straight forward. He gave her a little smile when he saw that she was looking at him.

“I wanted to ask Jesse if Mom would be mad,” Hector James said.

“Jesse?” Alex asked the air. He appeared in front of them. He pointed to the boys, and Alex shrugged. “Hector James wants to know if Dahlia would be mad if he grew up.”

“And didn’t miss her all the time,” Hector James said. “Wasn’t sad, like crying, all the time. Would that hurt her feelings?”

“No,” Jesse said. “I think it would make her happy. It makes me happy to see my kids living their lives even if it means they are leaving me behind.”

“That’s weird,” Hector James said. “The air kind of sparkled.”

Alex nodded.

“What did he say?” Hector James asked.

“He said it would make her really happy,” Alex said.

“Why?” Hector James asked.

“Because she loved you,” Alex said. “She wanted you to be happy in your life.”

“Because she gave you life,” Jesse said. “She wants you to enjoy it, live it well.”

“What did he say?” Hector James asked.

“He said that your mother gave you life,” Alex said. “She wants you to live it, enjoy it, have fun, be happy.”

“Like a present,” Hector James nodded. “If I’m sad all the time, I’m kinda not appreciating her present.”

“Right,” Alex said. “I think that, by remembering your mom, missing her, you get to carry her with you.”

“Like in my pocket?”

“Exactly,” Alex said. “You get to spend your whole life with her because you love her. She’s a part of you, so she’s a part of your life.”

Hector James hugged Alex.

“Do you want to talk about Patrice?” Alex asked.

Hector James’s eyes went wide, and he gave a fast shake of his head. He blushed bright red. He drank his cocoa to avoid looking at her.

“When you’re ready,” Alex said. He nodded but didn’t look at her. “Do you want to see the pictures?”

“Just the happy ones,” Hector James said. “The ones with mom.”

Alex smiled. She leaned over Hermes to get her laptop. She started the slideshow and set the laptop on Hector James’s lap. She’d recently added some old photographs of Troy and Dahlia when they were in high school. Hector James grinned at his parents goofing around and smiled at the images of the happy times he’d spent with his mother. After a few minutes, he was asleep.

Alex took the laptop from him. She was about to close it when she realized she could look at Hank Zutterberg’s reports. She wiggled her hand around in her pajama bottoms’ pocket trapped under Hermes’ head. She was able to grab the drive with the very tips of her fingers and not wake the child. She stuck it into her laptop.

Like something out of a movie, a square box came up on the screen and said “scanning …” The dots extended for each second. The webcam on her laptop flashed on. Alex reached for the USB drive to pull it out when the box said, “Scanning complete. Viewer approved.”

Alex blinked.

“Welcome, Alexandra Hargreaves,” the square read. “Click here to see files.”

Alex clicked. A directory opened with a list of thirty-three dated document files — one a week, with an extra file on October 8th. Alex clicked that file first.

Zutterberg thought she was dead. Alex winced. The file included a series of images Zutterberg said he bought from the man who brokered the assault. Alex thought something was different in these photos from the photos Joseph had taken, but she wasn’t sure what. She leaned in to see if Paul was wearing those mysterious dress shoes. She couldn’t tell from the photo. She closed the file and went to the earliest file in his listing.

One at a time, Alex opened Zutterberg’s files. She was pleasantly surprised that his notes were thorough and thoughtful. He had assigned a team of four men and one woman to help him track Alex. She noted their names so she could talk to them individually.

Each report contained photos of Alex and the team. Although he’d documented her time with John or Max, he had kindly not included photos of their private time. Alex had to drag herself away from the laughing photos of the team.

He and his team were there when she’d rescued Matthew and Colin. They’d locked down the entrances for the Fey Special Forces Team when everything went south. Alex winced. He noted that she had single-handedly killed almost every one of the captors. He guessed that the entire episode was a set-up from the beginning. At the end of that report, he’d noted that the team was so skilled that someone needed to catch them in a place where they felt safe to cause them “any real harm.”

He had photos of Alex and Jesse in the CIA hospital in Costa Rica. Alex grimaced at the photos of each of the men who’d been captives. She’d forgotten how gaunt and sick Matthew had been. Her stomach turned over when she saw Colin. Upset, she closed the file.

Looking across the office, she gathered her courage and opened the file again.

She had assumed the next report would cover their rescue of Cee Cee Joiner, but the next report was about a trip to Serbia. They’d heard that Cee Cee was looking for oil leases from the Naftna Industrija Srbije, the Serbian national oil company. The Fey Special Forces Team had followed him to Kosovo. Because Alex and Jesse didn’t want to relive old memories of Kosovo, they’d taken off to see the oldest church in Serbia, the Church of the Saint Apostles Peter and Paul. The church was located in Stari Ras, the first capital of the medieval state of Raška, near modern Novi Pazar. According to Zutterberg’s report, the trip was about four hours one way by car. They’d had to travel through Montenegro and then return to Serbia to reach the mountainous Stari Ras.

“Do you remember going to Stari Ras in Serbia?” Hoping not to wake the boys, Alex whispered to Jesse.

“I remember the church,” Jesse nodded. “Uh … The Church of the Saint Apostles Peter and Paul. There are amazing frescoes there. It’s a part of the UNESCO Heritage site. Stari Ras, Petrova church, and a monastery …”

“Zutterberg says it’s called ‘Sopoćani,’” she said. “It’s west of Novi Pazar by ten miles or so.”

“Right,” Jesse said. “Deserted in the thirteenth century. The roof fell in or something like that. The monks were there when we visited. They’d come back to rebuild the monastery. You don’t remember?”

Alex shook her head.

“Both the church and the monastery were in that book.”

“The one from the bookstore?” Alex asked.

Jesse nodded.

“Wow,” Alex said. She scowled. “I wonder what I did with the book.”

“It should be here in a day or so,” Jesse said. “Dusty secure-shipped it and the beekeeping book from Paris.”

“That’s right,” Alex nodded. “I gave it to Dusty to ship.”

“You don’t remember Stari Ras?” Jesse asked again.

Alex shook her head.

“You’ll remember this,” Jesse said. “You have to hike up to Stari Ras from the road. It was an easy hike. We’d stopped on the road. We had gone about five minutes when we saw what we thought were cliff dwellings.”

“Cliff dwellings …” Alex squinted as a vague image came back to her. “They weren’t cave dwellings, though.”

“Right,” Jesse said. “I knew you would remember that part. It was the cave of the monastery of Archangel Michael.”

“But it looked like cave dwellings,” Alex nodded. “I remember. But I feel scared … something happened. Not there, but … Do you remember anything?”

“What does Zutterberg say?” Jesse asked. His head went up and down in a nod.

Alex looked down at the laptop.

“Let’s see — we left about midday and started back to Kosovo,” Alex said. “When we were in Montenegro the first time, we saw a honey stand. Beekeepers. We stopped on our way to Novi Pazar, but it was too early. They weren’t open yet. Do you remember that?”

Jesse nodded.

“I remember something …” Alex shook her head. “Zutterberg says I was looking into why our bees had died. I was checking with beekeepers around the world, wherever I was working, to see if they had any ideas.”

“Sounds familiar,” Jesse said and then shrugged. “But I don’t really know.”

Alex nodded and kept reading.

“He said we’d stopped at the honey stand on our way back,” Alex said. “And … uh … ‘The targets ran into an identical situation as a month before. Targets entered, stayed for five minutes, and left visibly shaken.’ Any ideas?”

“We saw …”

“Bodies,” Alex said at the same time Jesse said, “Corpses.”

“I remember blood,” Alex nodded. “The beekeepers had been murdered at their hives. There were sunflowers …”

“The honey stand was in a sunflower field,” Jesse said. “And the beekeepers were dead.”

Alex nodded. She scowled and looked off into the end of the room. Squinting, she looked up.

“I think it happened before.” Alex rubbed her head. “I can’t remember.”

“Sounds like Zutterberg thought it did,” Jesse said. “What does he say about this incident?”

“He says that we went another mile and pulled over,” Alex said. “Zack came to get us, and the team left Serbia. He lost us, so he went back to the sunflower field.”

Alex fell silent as she read. She closed her eyes for a moment and then squinted.

“What?”

“He said that, like the last time, he went back to the sunflower field and found nothing amiss,” Alex said. “The beekeepers were working their hives, and the honey-stand attendants were coming off break. He was confused as to what had spooked us. ‘Sergeant Hargreaves and Sergeant Abreu are trained, experienced soldiers. I saw no reason for their immediate extraction.’”

“It was a set-up,” Jesse said.

Alex nodded.

“But why?” Jesse asked.

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “Clearly, it freaked me out. Do you think it was a joke? You know, like the lighter?”

“You mean, people we don’t know pretend to be dead to trick us?” Jesse asked. “No way.”

“Then, why?”

“I don’t think we ever knew,” Jesse said.

“Creepy,” Alex nodded.

“Totally creepy,” Jesse said. “What are you thinking?”

“Right now?” Alex asked.

Her voice was a little loud, and she glanced at the boys. They were still asleep. Jesse nodded.

“I think I collected all of this sunflower stuff to remind me,” Alex said.

“Of?”

“Of the puzzle,” Alex said. “I don’t think I ever figured it out. I mean, I clearly got the sunflower and the compass rose, but …”

Alex’s head bobbed up and down in an unconscious nod.

“The tattoos. The graves,” Alex squinted and looked up at Jesse. “The sunflowers … whatever Charlie saw in all those cases that I … add that to Linear A, and you get …”

“They thought you knew,” Jesse said. “They thought we were on track to uncover their plan.”

“I …” Alex swallowed hard. Horrified, she couldn’t finish her statement. Her eyes stared straight ahead.

“You realize that means the ugly bee must be a part of this,” Jesse said.

“I …” Alex nodded. “ …killed everybody.”

“No, you didn’t,” Jesse said. His tone was mocking, almost cruel. “They killed everyone …”

“ … because they couldn’t risk anyone finding out,” Alex nodded.

“Right,” Jesse said.

“That’s why they killed Eniac, Zutterberg …” Alex said. “Philippe …”

“It’s why they want to kill you,” Jesse said.

“Human life means nothing to them,” Alex whispered.

Jesse nodded.

“Listen,” Jesse said. “Maria just woke up and is looking for me.”

“Go,” Alex said.

“You’ll read the rest of it? See if anything else comes back?” Jesse asked. “I’ll be back when the kids get to school.”

Alex nodded.

“Don’t you give up,” Jesse said.

“I won’t,” she said, and he disappeared.

Alex settled in to read about her own life. Some of the information came from Zutterberg himself. Some of it was collected off satellites and drones, or from his agents. There were pictures and audio files. With the sound off, she watched a video of a time she’d confronted Zutterberg. Alex smiled at her own arrogance. The girl on the video thought she was invincible.

She touched the image of her own young face and sighed. In a few short weeks, lessons wrought by bullets from the AK-47 would shatter her life and age that girl beyond her years. In a few short weeks, she would change so radically as to be unrecognizable to herself only a few years later.

But the girl on the video knew she was smart, strong, and extremely capable. She was unafraid and righteous in her indignation. Alex gave herself a sad smile and returned to the files.

When she finished going through Zutterberg’s file, she compared his version of her life with the transcripts from the large team journal she’d saved. Zutterberg was able to fill in missing details in the team journal, and the team journal filled in missing information in Zutterberg’s file.

“Hey,” Troy poked his head in the door. “Any idea where my sons are? They managed to disappear overnight.”

Alex lifted her arms to show Hector James and Hermes sleeping on her lap.

“God, I knew I shouldn’t let them sleep down here,” Troy said. “Sorry.”

“They’re wonderful,” Alex said. “Don’t worry. Everything is fine.”

“Come on, guys,” Troy said.

He woke Hector James and then Hermes.

“Call the bathroom!” Hermes said and ran out of the office.

“Hey!” Troy ran after his son.

Hector James looked at Alex for a moment.

“I had this wonderful dream,” Hector James said.

Alex smiled.

“I dreamed of Mom,” Hector James said. “She was so beautiful. Even the photos don’t show how pretty she was. She kind of radiated beauty.”

“She did,” Alex smiled. “What did she say?”

“She told me that I was beautiful, perfect, and that she would always love me,” Hector James said. “She used to say: ‘Hector James, you are beautiful, perfect, and I love you.’ But this time she said, ‘Hector James, you are beautiful, perfect in every way, and I will always love you.’ She said I was perfect in every way, and she’d always love me. Always. No matter what.”

The boy nodded.

“Of course,” Alex said. “Me, too.”

Hector James looked toward the door when Troy called his name.

“She said to tell you …” Hector James looked at Alex’s face. He smiled, “She used to say this, too.”

“What?”

“She used to say, ‘You can’t be responsible for what you don’t know.’ She said I should tell you that.” Hector James smiled. “Then she said, ‘It only takes one person to stop a freight train, but only when they have help.’ Isn’t that weird?”

Alex hugged the boy. Troy called Hector James again, and he got up.

“Everything depends on you remembering,” Hector James said.

“What did you say?”

“It’s just something I remembered,” Hector James turned at the door. “Everything depends on you remembering, Alex.”

Alex blinked.

FF

She was freezing cold. She saw the old one-by-eight joists supporting the first floor. She was lying in the doorway of her office, bleeding to death. Her right shoulder screamed with pain.

Dahlia was standing over her. Jesse was standing beside her.

“We’re here to remind you,” Jesse had said.

“Everything depends on your remembering,” Dahlia had said. “Remember, Alex.”

FF

Alex gave a quick shake of her head, and the image vanished. Hector James was gone. She let out a breath.

She was sitting on the loveseat at the end of her office. The gas fireplace was going. Her lap was warm from the computer and the boys who’d rested against it.

After all this time, Alex finally understood.

F

Saturday evening
May 21 — 5:33 p.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado

For the last hour, people had trickled home to the rooming house. Troy’s boys ran across the floors above. Ooljee and Paddie played video games in the shared living area while Cian and Neev started dinner. The water turned on and off a few times as people took showers or baths.

Alex and Max sat together in their twin room.

At some point, they would start living again. They would talk about what Max had found in New York and the trip to China. Eventually, they would get around to what had happened in Alex’s office and to all the implications of her removal from base.

But right now, they were enjoying the silent community of each other. Alex closed her eyes and sighed.

“Yeah, it’s probably a good time to get moving,” Max said.

“When are you going to have a crisis?” Alex asked.

“Have something planned?” Max asked.

Alex smiled.

“I had a crisis last year,” Max said. “A big freakin’ life crisis, remember?”

Alex shrugged.

“I seem to be the one who does all the crying,” Alex said.

“You’re the girl,” Max smirked. “Boys don’t cry.”

He repeated what he used to say when they were children.

“Girls are crybabies,” they said together and laughed.

“I can make you cry,” Alex repeated her usual line.

Max laughed. He patted his lap. Alex put her head on his lap.

“I think the world has been after you these last few years,” Max said. “You’ve had a lot to cry about.”

“I guess,” she said. “Did John call you?”

“After he yelled at you on the phone,” Max said. Imitating John’s London accent, he said, “I was a complete arse. God’s sake, I didn’t even ask her if she was injured.”

“God’s sake,” Alex said. “What did you tell him?”

“You cracked your scapula and had a flesh wound,” Max said. “Two stitches?”

“Three,” Alex said. “I bet that made him feel bad.”

“He asked,” Max laughed. “Did he …?”

“Full rant,” Alex said. “Then he hung up on me.”

“Ah,” Max said. “Well, he’s sorry.”

“Hmm,” Alex scowled.

Max laughed. He bounced Alex’s head until she laughed.

“You ready to hear what happened today?” Max asked.

“Did something happen today?” Alex asked.

Max laughed. She smiled at him.

“Do I have to give up pouting?” Alex asked.

“No,” Max said. “But you just might feel better.”

“Go ahead,” Alex said.

“First off, you should know that Dusty was lucky to make it off base,” Max said.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“If he’d been even ten minutes later, the new commander would have stopped him,” Max said. “As it was, the Security Force officers went to his house and asked for your belongings. He gave them something — clothing, stuff like that. Stuff he had.”

“That was smart,” Alex said.

“I don’t think we’d have gotten as much done if they hadn’t come to harass him,” Max said.

“We?”

“I took command of your team,” Max said.

“You did?”

“I pretended to be you,” Max said. “Fooled them completely.”

Alex laughed.

“No,” Max said. “When Dusty called Joseph, we did some quick shuffling so that the team wasn’t under the interim commander’s jurisdiction. It’s tucked into my team for now.”

“Why?” Alex sat up.

“I’d tell you, but we have to go in order; otherwise, you’ll get mad,” Max said.

“Fine,” Alex lay back down so her head was on his lap.

“They went to Dusty about fifteen minutes after he left the base,” Max said.

“He lives right there,” Alex said.

“Exactly,” Max said. “He called Joseph when they left. Like I said, we wouldn’t have had any idea the shit was coming down the pipeline if they hadn’t come to his house.”

“Huh,” Alex said. “Do you think …?”

“Yes,” Max said. “I think they were sent by your friend, the captain in charge of the Buckley Jail, to let the team know this was going down. But get this.”

“What?”

“They started trying to get into your computer system around the same time,” Max said.

“They did?”

“They tried from your office and the team room,” Max said.

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“The node shut down,” Max said. “X had it set up to release a virus back to the hacker. That’s what shut off the power to the building.”

“Did they try to hack the other teams?” Alex asked.

“They did,” Max said. “But they were connected to the Intelligence Center and the national center. The CIA should be touching down …”

Max looked at his watch.

“Oh, they’ve been there for an hour already,” Max said.

“Doing what?” Alex asked.

“Kicking ass and taking names,” Max said. “Turns out the CIA doesn’t like it when you kick their teams out of their offices for no reason. Especially when they pay good money for secure, guaranteed leases on an otherwise declining base. They like it even less when you try to hack into their computers.”

“Who knew?” Alex smiled.

“It’s actually a good question,” Max said. “Why raise the ire of the CIA?”

“They want something,” Alex said. “Probably something from the team.”

Max nodded.

“What’s the team doing?” Alex asked.

“They are working on the intel on the drive Zutterberg gave you,” Max said. “His cane had some interesting items in it.”

“Like what?” Alex asked.

“Another USB drive,” Max said. “A video-and-audio recording device that was running the entire time he was in your office. You can see and hear most of the entire thing go down. Did you throw a spoon handle at the shooter?”

“Poked his eye out,” Alex said.

“Now that is impressive,” Max said. “But I have to tell you. The wet, naked Monk stole the show.”

“Yes he did,” Alex smiled. “Where is he?”

“Sleeping, I think,” Max said. “He was beat. I guess they’d been out some place working. They flew directly here. He said he usually sleeps for at least twenty hours when he’s off.”

“We should check on him when we’re done,” Alex said.

“Sure,” Max said. “Did I tell you that our lawyers have presented the interim commander with a suit saying you were denied your rights as a prisoner?”

“Right to medical attention?”

“Exactly,” Max said. “Our minds are so alike. Imagine that.”

Alex laughed. He smiled.

“I don’t know, Max,” Alex said. “I keep thinking that it can’t get worse, but it seems to get harder and harder. Every safe place has been invaded.”

“I know,” Max said.

“How is the Colonel?” Alex asked.

“He’s doing surprisingly well,” Max said. “The shot was in the gut. The bullet lodged in his hip. The driver seemed to be intentionally trying not to cause too much harm.”

“Gut injury?” Alex grimaced.

“Yeah,” Max said. “But he was in surgery less than a half-hour after being shot. They were able to get it cleaned up. He’s going to be out for a couple months, at least. Barring infection, they expect him to recover completely. Turns out he’s in top physical condition.”

“White Boy,” Alex said.

“It will help him heal,” Max said.

“He wasn’t the target,” Alex said.

“No,” Max said. “You and Hank were the targets.”

Alex shook her head.

“Did you hear Hank talk about the people who could stop the mysterious ‘them?’” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Max said. “The team has informed your friend JS. He’s on his way here to discuss details.”

“I suppose that means I need to work,” Alex said.

“You do,” Max said. “But it’s okay if you want to rest. I gave the team tomorrow and Saturday off. We’ll work on Sunday.”

“Oh?” Alex asked.

“Erin goes to Guantanamo on Tuesday,” Max said. “Helen is going to talk to her father on Wednesday. And Samantha is going to talk to the Senator on Thursday. They’ve asked for team support. They’ve been working here with Eoin and Neev. They’ll travel with Neev, of course.”

“Too risky for Eoin to travel,” Alex said. “He barely survived the trip last fall.”

“Exactly,” Max said. “I thought you and Raz would like to go with them.”

“We need to support them,” Alex said. “They’re doing our intelligence work.”

“Exactly,” Max said. “So you have a few days off.”

“Starting tomorrow,” Alex said.

“Right,” Max said. “Today, you need to, at least, see a doctor, if not go to the hospital. JS wants to talk, and you need to check in with the team.”

“I need a shower,” Alex said.

“I wasn’t going to mention that,” Max smiled. “How did your Glock break your scapula?”

“It wasn’t my Glock,” Alex said. “I had Matthew’s .45. He couldn’t take it to Hawaii, so he left it with me. I stuck it in my duffle bag and forgot about it. I left my 9 MM in Paris because I didn’t want to lose it in China. We stowed our bags on the private jet. They didn’t look at them. I guess that’s the benefit of flying diplomat class. When I saw the .45 in my duffle, I figured I’d hit the range with it — you know, see how it compared with mine. I found the clip, and I tucked it in my holster.”

“How does it work in comparison to our 9 MMs?” Max asked.

“It has quite a kick,” Alex said.

“I’d guess so,” Max smiled.

They retreated into the silence of their connection. Max sighed.

“I think you need to go to the hospital,” Max said.

“For my shoulder?” Alex asked.

“For John,” Max said.

“I was thinking of getting the babies and hanging out here,” Alex said. “Let him suffer.”

“No, you weren’t,” Max said.

“I’m considering it,” Alex said.

“It would take at least an hour for them to get home,” Max said. “There’s no way you’re going to disrupt our kids so that you can get back at John. Sorry, I’m not buying it.”

“You wanna drive?”

“We’ll get Trece to do it,” Max said. “He’s outside the door.”

Alex nodded and sat up. Max got up, and she followed. At the door, she said, “Thanks.”

Max smiled.

FFF

Sunday, early morning
May 22 — 3:51 a.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado

Alex padded across the floor of her secure office to turn on the gas fireplace. Ben’s curious maps were sitting on her map table next to the stack of her own set of puzzling maps. Maggie scratched at a spot on the rug before lying down. Alex opened her safe to set the metallic point Eloise Le Grande had called a “key” inside. Seeing all of the mysterious objects she’d collected over the last few years, she decided to keep out the key to see if any of this mess fit onto the metallic point.

If, as Bestat said, she had obtained one of the items that went on the key, it was probably in this junk.

As she ferried the items to her desk, she thought about the evening.

She’d seen John sitting with Mrs. Gordon and her son from across the waiting room. Mrs. Gordon put her hand on John’s knee, and he looked up at her. She pointed to Alex, and …

She wasn’t sure what had happened. Did he float across the room like she remembered? Or had she run into his arms like in some dumb romance movie? She remembered him looking up, and she remembered being in his arms. He’d covered her face with kisses and held her tight enough to make her shoulder hurt. If other people hadn’t been there, she’s pretty sure they would have had awesome makeup sex right there.

Instead, he called one of his orthopedic surgeon friends. One friend became three — or was it four? —orthopedic surgeon friends. She was x-rayed and worried over. The doctors — John and the orthopedists, that is — decided she probably didn’t need surgery. The doctors encouraged her to take time off, get some rest, take her calcium supplement, and see one of them in a month or so.

Through the whole thing, John had held her hand, kept his hand on her back, kissed her ear, and was generally awesome. Mrs. Gordon had sent him home with a promise to call if she needed him. They’d come home and had that great makeup sex. When their babies came home from Colorado Springs, they were back on track.

Alex smiled. It was a nice night. When the babies went down, she’d attempted, with Max and Margaret’s help, to translate old Chinese into something usable. JS had arrived an hour into their work. She’d talked with her old friend, while Max and Margaret struggled away. After an hour, she’d left him to continue plugging away at old Chinese. Plus, Troy had arrived with a bottle of whiskey and a deck of cards. They were nice enough to ask if she wanted to play but were relieved when she said no. The Monk had ventured out of his room to take her place.

She’d fallen asleep in John’s arms and woken up to pain and nagging doubt. Rather than wake him, she’d gotten up and come down to her secure office. After a week of travel, it was nice to be in her own office, in her own basement.

She’d spent the last hour comparing Ben’s maps to her maps. They were identical. Someone had gone to great trouble to copy these maps. She’d compared them to the map they’d taken from the bookstore. The copy of the map of Ultima Thule seemed to be about the same age. It had the same mark, which meant it was most likely copied by the same person. But the map of Ultima Thule depicted a different land.

Unless the bookstore owner counted the compass rose as a name, his buyer’s name was not on any of these maps. It’s possible that the original map of Ultima Thule, the one she’d obsessed on at the bookstore, held the book buyer’s name. But then, anything was possible. She shook her head.

She looked down the line of objects on the edge of her desk. The shiny gold-colored card holder with the sunflower etched on it was sitting next to her old Fey Special Forces Team lighter, the micro-SD card, the map of Serbia, and plastic pieces of someone’s black security token. She made a post-it for the gold and the vault video before setting the ugly diamond-encrusted bee on the end of her table.

She didn’t bother getting the journals this time. After all, she hadn’t had a chance to review Hank Zutterberg’s reports on the last eight months before everyone was killed. She’d check the journals tomorrow.

She felt a wave of sorrow for Hank and his family. His wife was devastated by his death. She’d told Alex that Hank had longed to make things right with her. She seemed relieved when Alex told her that they had talked. Alex had promised to bring Hank home as soon as his body was released.

“You know …” Jesse said in Spanish. Surprised, Alex gasped and looked up. He grinned at her. “This sunflower looks an awful lot like that compass rose.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

She picked up the gold-colored card case with the sunflower and took it to her map table to compare it with the maps. Sure enough, the sunflower was almost an exact replica. Alex went to her desk and looked at the objects. She opened the map of Serbia. The map’s compass rose was a sunflower.

“That one, too,” Jesse said.

Alex went to her desk. She scanned the compass rose from the map of Serbia. She enlarged the image of the Serbian compass rose and printed it out. For good measure, she enlarged the compass rose with the eye in the center to the same size and printed out a copy. She took the sheets to her map table. With a pencil, she filled in the Serbian compass rose until it was one solid color.

“Holy crap,” Alex said.

The Serbian compass rose was almost an exact replica of the compass rose on the ancient map. She absent-mindedly drew the eye in the center of the Serbian compass rose. She was about to set the images aside when she saw the card case. She picked up the gold-colored case and set it on the image of the Serbian compass rose and the image of the ancient compass rose.

“Huh,” Alex said.

The sunflower on the card case matched the outlines of both the ancient compass rose and the one from the Serbian map.

“Exactly the same,” Jesse said.

Alex nodded. She put the card case under her adjustable round magnifier and turned on the light. There was a vague, almost imperceptible outline of the eye with the eyebrow in the center of the sunflower on the case. Shaking her head, she went back to her desk to look over the other objects.

“Whatcha’ doing?” Hector James asked.

Startled, Alex spun in place. Maggie got up from her spot on the rug and went to the boy. He hugged the dog.

“Sorry,” Hector James said. “We gave Neev and Jack our room. I’m sleeping down here.”

Alex opened her arms. He rushed to hug her. She saw tears in his much-more-guarded eyes. Alex smoothed his hair, while he held on tight.

“How ’bout some cocoa?” Alex asked. She kissed his forehead and went to turn on her espresso machine.

“Is Jesse here?” Hector James asked.

“He is.” Alex’s brow furrowed with concern for the boy. “What’s going on?”

Hector James went to the map table and looked at the compass rose from the map of Serbia and the compass rose with the eye on it.

“Hey! These look like the tattoo on your back,” Hector James said.

As Colonel Gordon fell to his right, the shooter fired across the office and hit Hank. Alex dove under the conference table and pulled her weapon. Hank rolled off the couch and onto the floor.

“I know you’re in here,” the man said.

Alex heard him move into the room. Jesse wadded up a ball of energy and threw it at him. The man yelped, but kept coming.

“It’s your god-damned office!” the man said.

From her position under the table, she saw that Hank had been shot in the torso but was alive. She put her fingers to her lips, and he nodded. He gestured to his cane, which she pulled under the table.

Alex tucked her knees under her to ground her. The man fired in her direction, but Jesse shocked him at the same time. He missed. When the man got close, she fired her handgun with her right hand. The weapon bucked on recoil. Her injured arm rebelled. There was a sharp burst of pain from her right shoulder blade. She screamed with pain. Her shot went wild.

“Gotcha,” the man stood over her and fired.

Alex dove to the side and the bullet grazed her left side before hitting a chair. He fired again, but Jesse grabbed the handgun, and the bullet went wild. The shooter dropped to his knees.

“There you are!” the man said.

The Monk erupted from bathroom with an automatic weapon in each hand.

Naked and dripping water, he fired at the shooter from both hands. The shooter jumped behind Alex’s armchair for cover. The naked Monk ducked into the bathroom again. They began a firefight in her office.

Unwilling to risk the handgun again, Alex reached up to the table top with her left hand and found her plastic spoon. She broke the spoon off the end. Jesse gave her a nod.

Weaving back and forth from behind the armchair, the shooter was focused on The Monk. She waited until the shooter weaved in her direction. With her left hand, she threw the plastic projectile as hard as she could. The spoon handle tumbled end over end and, with Jesse’s help, speared the shooter’s left eye.

The shooter screamed, and The Monk flew across the room. He shot twice, and Alex crawled to Hank. He was losing blood fast. She grabbed a quilt from the back of the couch. She used her body weight to press the fabric into his wound. She lifted his body and saw a baseball-sized wound through his ribs.

“I’m okay,” Hank said.

The Monk ran to Colonel Gordon.

Alex grabbed a handful of quilt and pressed it into the hole in Hank’s body. In her trauma-heightened state of awareness, she could feel the pounding feet of people running to their aid.

“He’s alive,” The Monk said of Colonel Gordon. “Oh Mary, please save the Colonel and my brother, Hank.”

“Help is coming!” Alex yelled to The Monk.

Hank grabbed her hand, and she looked down at him.

“I have a family,” Hank said. “A wife, kids, good life, happy, really happy, tell them … tell them …”

Alex took his hand with both of hers. She looked deep into his eyes and saw death waiting there.

“I will tell them that you were incredibly brave,” Alex said. “I will tell them how handsome you were when we were in training. Women used to work our KP just to be around you.”

“Not you?” He coughed, and blood splashed onto his lips.

“I didn’t have time for men,” Alex smiled. “But I will tell them I tried to woo you with my cookies. You loved my peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies, but you never said, ‘Thank you.’ Not even once. You’d stuff your gorgeous face, scowl at me like you were tough, and stomp away.”

“Huh,” Hank chuckled. His face was blanched white.

“Then I’ll make up the most outrageous lies about your accomplishments,” Alex said. “They will believe them because I’ll order Mac Clenaghan and Olivas to make up even more outrageous lies.”

She gave him a warm smile.

“They will remember you as a great man,” Alex said. “I will, too.”

He looked at her for a moment.

“They took KP to see me?” Hank asked. “Really?”

“It’s the truth,” Alex nodded.

“Hey, Jesse,” Hank grinned. “How …?”

Hank lost consciousness. The next thing Alex knew, she was surrounded by soldiers and agents of every rank from various corners of the building. They dropped down to give Hank first aid. Alex heard The Monk scream her name. She jumped to her feet. The Monk had been tackled by a number of soldiers.

“He saved me!” Alex yelled. “Get off of him! Get off!”

She ran to the door and pulled at a few of the men. The paramedics arrived with Air Force Security Forces. She was able to free The Monk in time for the officers to take him into custody. For good measure, they arrested her, too. They were marched down the hallway and shoved into the back of a car. In the car, Alex gave The Monk her fatigue jacket. He put it over his shoulders.

“We need medics,” Alex said.

“We’ve already called,” said the officer in the passenger seat.

The officer driving turned on their siren and took off across the base.

“Hank was alive when we left,” Alex said in a low tone to Monk.

“He knew,” The Monk nodded. “He just knew. He told me last night that he wouldn’t survive the day.”

The big man’s eyes welled with tears.

“He was my friend, my brother,” The Monk said. “My only family …”

In the pre-dawn light, Alex saw tears roll down The Monk’s face.

“Hey,” Alex kicked the back of the driver’s seat. “Can you check on our friends? Did they survive?”

The driver gave her a dark look in the rearview mirror, before asking about Hank and the Colonel’s status over the radio.

“En route to Anschutz,” the radio replied. “Touch and go. The civilian arrested, but they were able to get him going again. The Colonel is responsive.”

They arrived at the Buckley Air Force Jail. They were led into the building and into the same cell Alex had spent quality time in a few years ago.

“Did you punch out the shooter’s eye with a spoon?” The Monk asked after the officers left.

“I have skills,” Alex said.

The Monk chuckled. They sat down on the cot, and Alex put her arm around him.

“Sir,” said the captain in charge of the Buckley Air Force Base jail as he walked toward the cell. Alex remembered him from her last visit to this jail. “We were just informed that the civilian has died. I thought you’d want to know.”

“What?” The Monk asked. “Hank’s dead?”

The Monk began to wail. He rocked back and forth on the cot.

“The colonel is in surgery,” the captain said.

“Thank you, Captain,” Alex said.

“I need your clothing and weapons,” the captain said. “But, wait until I can bring you warm clothes.”

“Blankets,” Alex said. “Coffee.”

“Yes, sir. I took the liberty of calling Dusty,” the captain said. “He should be here in a minute. If you have things you don’t want pawed through, I won’t stop you from giving it to him. We just need your clothing, shoes, and weapons — that’s all. I also took the liberty of retrieving your friend’s property, his cane, from the scene. I’ll give it to Dusty.”

“Do you know who shot Colonel Gordon and Hank?” Alex asked.

“The colonel’s driver,” the captain said. “Funny thing is that he came highly recommended from Lackland. He had the appropriate security clearance. He was here only to cover the colonel’s usual driver’s R and R week. This would have been the second time he drove the colonel.”

“It’s not your fault,” Alex said. “No background check would have uncovered his motives.”

“He did not survive to tell us, either,” the captain said.

Alex nodded.

“And, sir?” the captain asked. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Alex nodded.

Alex turned to The Monk and grabbed on to him. In his intense grief, he fought with her.

“It’s Alex, Ethan,” Alex said. “It’s just Alex.”

His entire body relaxed against her, and he wept in her arms.

FFF

Saturday afternoon
May 21 — 2:54 p.m. MDT
Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado

Alex shivered and hunkered down into her thick Fey jacket. She had not been able to stop shivering since the Buckley jail. It was as if a cold wind had blown up her back and not let go. It didn’t help that the heat had been turned off in the building. She wished she had her warm scarf.

Of course, her right scapula had cracked when she’d tried to shoot the driver. The medics had shot pain medication into the site and given her a sling. She had three stitches on her left side where she’d just managed to miss a bullet. They encouraged her to get to the hospital when she was released.

She was sitting in this frigid building instead.

Everything was a big mess.

She swallowed hard and looked around the team workroom. She’d never been here by herself. The acting Colonel suspended her team while “the incident” was investigated by Air Force Security Forces.

It didn’t matter that the driver wasn’t on their team.

It didn’t matter that she was attacked.

It didn’t matter that Hank was killed.

It didn’t matter that her team had immediately jumped into gear and found that the driver owed more than a hundred thousand dollars in gambling debts.

It didn’t even matter that the driver was paid out of an account that had paid for terrorist acts around the globe.

What mattered to the interim commander of Buckley Air Force base was that she was not Air Force.

She should be glad that she wasn’t still in Buckley Jail. She was released to meet with the Admiral, who was currently meeting with the interim commander.

She bit her nails and wondered how that meeting was going. She shook her head like her dog Maggie did when she came out of the river. She couldn’t afford to worry about that now.

She forced herself to continue her life review. John had received a call from Colonel Gordon’s wife while the Colonel was en route to Anschutz. Mrs. Gordon wondered if John would mind helping her with all the medical mumbo-jumbo.

John, in turn, was furious with her for not calling him to let him know what had happened. Or, at least, he seemed furious when she was finally able to speak with him two hours later. There, in the Anschutz waiting room, he’d repeated the same words he’d said when they were twenty years old. “You are a member of a family, not some lone warrior.” “How could you not consider that I’d be worried?” “How dare you be so careless?”

She still had no answer to these questions.

Yes, she knew she was a part of a family. Yes, she’d known he’d been worried. No, she hadn’t tried to be careless. She’d been arrested and kept from a telephone. They would have continued their usual fight, but White Boy came to tell John that Colonel Gordon was getting out of surgery. He’d hung up on her.

Alex sighed and wondered exactly how mad he was.

Was he “at the moment” mad? Was he “worried” mad? Was he “one-day mad” or a week-long “you suck” mad? Was he “you need to leave the Army” mad? Or maybe an “I can’t do this anymore” mad?

She dropped her head to the table in front of her and replayed all the times he’d been these different kinds of mad. She couldn’t tell which mad he was. If she had a phone, she would have called and asked him, but Dusty had her cell phone, and she was locked out of her office. Anyway, the phones in this building were shut off.

As soon as the interim commander had been assigned, Alex was cut off from her team, her family, her friends, and even the Intelligence Center. Raz and Trece had been thrown out of her cell. The interim commander had also shut down the other intelligence teams by saying the entire building was closed due to “the incident.” He was going to rid Buckley of intelligence teams, or at least that’s what he’d told her.

And The Monk.

She’d managed to get Ethan Samson Fitzgerald out of the Buckley Jail. Joseph had called the Major General in charge of Australian Special Operations. According to Joseph, he’d lit a fire under the interim commander’s arse. The Monk was stripped of the clothing they’d given him. The Security Forces officers had dropped the naked Australian off at the gate. Colin and MJ had picked him up and took him to her house. At least that’s what she thought had happened.

She had no idea what would happen next.

According to the interim base commander, the life she had enjoyed had ended the moment the driver had shot Colonel Gordon. He’d rambled some idle threats that she had been too stunned to listen to. She’d just stood at attention until he’d vented his spleen.

Alex refused to think of her friend Colonel Howard Gordon. She’d met him when she was in Special Forces training. He’d been her friend her entire career and her champion these last few years. When she was barely surviving, he’d created a safe, warm valley for her to rest in. She said a silent prayer to whatever God that was listening that he’d survive his injuries.

She heard footsteps in the hallway and got up to see who was coming. The Admiral and his personal bodyguard, Waltry, walked down the darkened hallway. The Admiral’s personal bodyguard indicated that she should join them in the hall. Rather than stopping, they continued walking. She had to jog to catch up. They went out the back. They got into a waiting limousine. For the first time in the entire time of knowing the Admiral, his personal bodyguard got into the back of the limousine.

“What …?” Alex started.

The Admiral shook his head. The limousine drove off the base. Alex turned to look as the metal bar fell.

She was being escorted off base. It was likely she’d never be able to return.

She looked at the Admiral. His face was impenetrable. The limousine turned left at Sixth Avenue and took an immediate right at Airport Avenue. The limousine pulled into a civilian car wash, and the Admiral’s bodyguard got out of the vehicle.

“You need to exit the vehicle,” the bodyguard said. “Lieutenant Colonel?”

Alex was so surprised that her eyes spontaneously welled with tears. Rather than make a scene, she scooted out of the car. She was about to step out when the Admiral grabbed her left arm. Their eyes caught.

Alex felt the depth of his rage and indignation in her gut. She nodded. He slipped an inexpensive cell phone and a hundred-dollar bill into her hand. Alex got out of the car. The limousine pulled through the car wash. Alex watched as the limousine pulled back onto Sixth Avenue and headed toward the highway.

She stood, shivering in the wind, and watched the Admiral’s limousine until it was out of sight. Stunned and more than a little confused, she stared in the direction the limousine had gone.

Maybe her team would show up.

Maybe her father.

She stood in the wind for fifteen minutes.

No one arrived.

She was alone.

A taxicab pulled up in front of her. Maybe this anonymous driver would take her home.

She opened the back door and got inside.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

When she leaned forward to tell him, she realized that she knew him. He was the Somali taxi driver who lived in the apartment building two blocks from them. He smiled, and she relaxed.

“Take me home, please,” Alex said in Arabic.

Speaking in Arabic, they argued over Somali politics and commiserated about khat, the drug that they agreed was behind the destruction of Somalia. In the end, he refused to take her fare. He dropped her at his apartment complex and took off toward downtown.

She waved as he drove off and walked the rest of the way home.

She let herself into her side of the rooming house. The house was dark and quiet. Everyone was off living their lives or resting from the last adventure. Unsure of the level of threat against them, John had sent Quince and the twins to Colorado Springs. Alex was standing in the middle of the kitchen when Max came in from his side.

He hugged her. Taking her hand, they went downstairs to the basement room they’d set up when Wyatt moved in. This was their room. Without saying a word, they went into the room, locked the door, and sat down on the couch. He tugged on her until she rested against him.

Only then did she allow herself to cry.

F

Saturday, early morning
May 21 — 3:10 a.m. MDT
(5:10 p.m. China Standard Time)
Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado

The moment her foot hit the Buckley Air Force Base parking lot, Alex’s phone rang.

“We’re going home,” Raz said.

Raz was walking beside her, and Troy was standing next to her Jeep CJ. Because it was so early in the morning, Alex had insisted that they could make their way home without a driver. Alex looked at her phone and groaned.

“No! No! No!” Troy said. “I know that groan. Do not answer …”

“Good morning, Admiral,” Alex said.

“Lieutenant Colonel,” the Admiral in charge of Special Operations said.

“What can I do for you?” Alex asked.

“I’m wondering why the Fey Team has been flying all over the globe, and I …”

Alex stopped walking. She waved for Raz and Troy to head home. Raz gave a “What?” gesture, and she pointed to the phone.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said.

She turned in place and started back to her office. Raz jogged back and took her duffle bag from her. She smiled her thanks while she waited out the Admiral’s rant. She went down a flight of stairs and started down the cold hallway where her office was located.

“Are you out of the parking lot?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said.

“In the hallway?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said.

“Stay there,” the Admiral said.

Alex stopped walking and leaned against the cinderblock wall. She waited through a series of clicks while the Admiral changed to a more secure phone.

“Good work retrieving your target,” the Admiral said. “Fong and Ji were not to leave the country.”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said.

“They eliminated the rest of his team,” the Admiral said. “Any idea why they disbanded the team?”

“None,” Alex said. “The younger target has severe, life-threatening injuries. We were fortunate that he survived the trip. He would not have survived a plane change, so the pilots switched planes rather than the team.”

“Good thinking,” the Admiral said.

“Our host,” Alex said.

“Yes,” the Admiral said. “I’ve received a report which says the younger target has survived his first round of surgery and that his father is with him.”

“That’s very good news,” Alex said. “I’m relieved.”

“Yes,” the Admiral said. “Fort Leonard Wood, five o’clock. Don’t be late.”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said.

“Bring the kids,” the Admiral said. “I haven’t seen my Godchildren in a while.”

“The husband spoke with the Afghan,” Alex said.

The Admiral gave a heavy sigh.

“And?”

“It went better than expected,” Alex said. “The Lebanon solution helped.”

When Joseph’s adoptive son, Alex, was an infant, he was at the center of a tricky hostage situation involving his grandparents. Alex’s solution was to bring the child to the US. In agreeing to the plan, the child’s grandfathers — one a powerful Imam and the other a powerful Christian cleric — made the first agreement which would eventually lead to years of peace in Lebanon. Alex’s code name for the boy who bore her name was “The Lebanon solution.”

“Better bring the husband, too,” the Admiral said. “While you’re at it, bring Rasmussen. I want to hear about this goddamned NYPD partner.”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “Shall I bring dinner?”

The Admiral laughed and hung up the phone. Alex sighed. She would meet her boss’s boss at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to review their last missions. Since Dom’s assistant was killed in Paris, she and the Admiral had met in person whenever she briefed him or he had something he needed to relay to her. It was the only way she’d been able to keep him in the loop while keeping their conversations private.

She’d have to wake Zack to get him to fly them and round up Trece to be her bodyguard. So far, the three of them had managed fifteen private conversations in almost six months. Hopefully, today’s visit would go off without a hitch.

She unlocked her office door and stopped in the waiting area. Someone had been smoking cigars in her office. She made a disgusted face. She looked up at the ceiling while she weighed her options. Making a decision, she walked toward her office. And then she smelled the beer.

Alex looked at her watch before picking up the phone on Sergeant Dusty’s desk and dialed Australia.

“Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves,” Alex said.

“What’s he done this time?” the Major General asked.

“Broke into my office,” Alex said.

“Cigars?”

“And beer,” Alex said.

“I’ll talk with him,” the Major General said.

“Permission to use deadly force, sir,” Alex asked.

The Major General laughed and hung up on her. Two for two. She’d managed to vaguely amuse the head of the United States Special Operations and his Australian counterpart.

Her office door opened.

“What’d he say?” asked the large, red-haired man known as The Monk.

“He said I could kill you,” Alex said.

Ethan Samson Fitzgerald tipped his head back and laughed. He looked like he’d just come off a long mission. His hair was a wild, red, curly mess and his beard long. His pants were torn in a way that made it look like his muscular thighs had torn through the fabric. His shirt was sweat stained, and he had beer foam in his beard. He gave her his most charming grin, and she grimaced.

“Did you have to smoke?” Alex asked. “Here? In my office? I’m going to catch hell about if for months. This is a …”

“Non-smoking building,” The Monk said. “Yes, I know. But, I couldn’t exactly meet you at home. What would the husband think?”

“That you stink?” Alex asked.

“He might just see how much you fancy me,” The Monk said. “Irish Republican — a Kelly, no less — might just end an old Pict like me.”

Alex laughed. The Monk held out his arms, and Alex let him hug her. He laughed and kissed her cheek. He was called The Monk for his ability to work complicated assignments by himself. Of course, his solitude had led to his capture on more than one occasion.

“What do you want?” Alex asked.

“You’re unusually cranky,” The Monk said. “Rasmussen falling down on his job? Should I step in as your personal gigolo?”

“Very funny,” Alex said. “We just left China, and I have to get to Missouri.”

“Meetings?” The Monk nodded.

“Missouri,” Alex said. “Doing my job in China.”

“Did you ever think we’d be the ones widening our arses in meetings?” The Monk shook his head.

“Last few years, I haven’t been all that sure I’d make it at all,” Alex said.

The Monk hugged her until she protested.

“No, really,” Alex said when he let her go. “Why are you here?”

“I was assigned to kill you,” The Monk said.

In one fluid movement, Alex jumped back and pulled her handgun.

“I was joking, Hargreaves,” The Monk said with his hands raised. “Jeez. What’s got you so wound up?”

“I don’t like being threatened,” Alex said.

“Even by your old mate The Monk,” he said.

Scowling, Alex holstered the handgun and pushed past him to get in her office.

“Sorry,” The Monk said. “I didn’t mean to … I don’ know, Alex. I’m an arsehole.”

She nodded.

“I finished your whiskey while I waited,” he said.

“There are two glasses here.” Alex pointed to two glasses sitting on her long conference table.

“That’s why I’m here,” The Monk said.

Alex turned to look at him.

“I was in the bush with someone you know,” The Monk said. “He told me a story that … I thought you should hear.”

“Who?”

“Hank Zutterberg,” The Monk said.

Alex pulled the handgun again. The Monk took a step toward her, and she flipped off the safety.

“I know he can be difficult,” The Monk said. “But, you’ve got to hear him out.”

“Why?”

“For your sake, mostly,” The Monk said. “He says he’s in trouble, and I believe him. I brought him with me because I’d be surprised if he survived the week.”

Alex raised her eyebrows.

“You’re not the only one who wants to kill him,” The Monk said. “I took a chance you’d be here without Mac Clenaghan or Olivas.”

“He doesn’t want to see them, either?” Alex asked.

“It’s not that,” The Monk said. “You need to hear his story.”

“Where is he?” Alex asked.

“Toilet,” The Monk said.

Alex looked at the bathroom door.

“He’s being set up,” The Monk said.

“What?”

“You just have to hear him out,” The Monk said. “I thought I’d take a shower while you talked. When I’m done, I’m taking him home with me. Safer there.”

“Why are you his babysitter?” Alex asked.

“Because I know what it’s like to have everyone against you,” The Monk said. “To be alone. He’s alone now, and in trouble. It’s a kind of hostage taking by rumor and inference. It will likely end in his death.”

Alex rubbed her head.

“Plus he’s family,” The Monk said. “My family.”

Alex scowled.

“Will you listen?” The Monk asked.

“No,” Jesse appeared next to The Monk. “No. Alex — don’t do it.”

Alex’s eyes flicked to Jesse. She blinked to indicate that she’d heard him.

“Can I get rid of you any other way?” Alex asked.

“Not a chance,” The Monk laughed.

“Fuck,” Jesse continued in Spanish. “Let’s roll out the lies.”

The Monk laughed and tapped on the bathroom door. Hank Zutterberg opened the door. He was dirty and thinner than she remembered.

“Did you get Ji?” Hank asked.

“I did. His mother, too,” Alex said. “He’s in Yokohama. Looks like he’ll survive.”

“Ji’s safe?” The Monk asked. “Now there’s some very good news — and a fine start to your chat.”

The Monk pushed and prodded Hank out of the bathroom before going in and locking the door behind him.

“Hank,” Alex said.

“Alex,” he said.

“Have a seat,” Alex said. “I’ll make coffee.”

She ground fresh beans and set up the drip coffee maker.

“I don’t like this,” Jesse said. Alex nodded.

“We drank all of your whiskey,” Hank said.

“How likely is that?” Alex grinned.

Alex took a fresh bottle from the air conditioner.

“We have to hide it because there’s technically no alcohol on the base,” Alex said.

“How do you get away with it?”

“This whiskey belongs to the Fey,” Alex said. “It’s his.”

For the first time in all the years of knowing Hank Zutterberg, Alex noticed him actually smile. Not a big smile, not a laugh, but a small, private smile.

“You always had a way of working the angles,” he said.

“Dick,” Jesse said.

“Childhood training,” Alex said.

He smiled.

“I won’t ask you about your family,” he said. “Or insult you with polite conversation. I know what you think of me.”

“What do I think of you?” Alex asked.

“I’m a lazy crybaby who is endangering your missions and your team,” Hank said. “How’s that?”

“I’ve heard that opinion,” Alex said.

“And you?”

“Honestly?” Alex glanced at the bathroom door. “I don’t know. The evidence looks pretty clear cut.”

He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something.

“I don’t like it when everything lines up,” Alex said. “Usually means that good people are going to wind up dead for no reason.”

“So I have a chance?”

“I promised Ethan I’d listen,” Alex said.

“Ethan,” Hank smiled. “Not many people know his name.”

“You do?”

“We’re related,” Hank said. “Same great-grandmother.”

Alex nodded and walked back to the coffee maker. She set out mugs and waited for the last drops of coffee to fall into the pot.

“I’m standing here wondering what to say to you.” Alex glanced at him. “How did we go through the hell of SF training together and not know each other at all?”

“You were always with Jesse,” Hank said.

“You were such good friends with Enrique Garcia.” Alex didn’t bother keeping the contempt from her voice.

“Friends?” Hank shook his head. “Did we seem like friends?”

Alex looked at him.

“Yes,” Alex said. “You spent every moment with him.”

She turned back to the coffee.

“You both treated me like crap,” Alex said while she poured the coffee. “You goaded the other guys into abusing me when they could. You stood by when our Captain tried to rape me. Yes, you seemed like best friends.”

She held out the cup to Hank.

“Cream?” Alex asked.

He looked into her face.

“That’s it?” Hank asked. “You stand there telling me of all the ways I’ve hurt you, and your next word is ‘cream’?”

“It was a long time ago,” Alex said. “We were twenty years old. Have some cream. I don’t trust anyone who drinks his coffee black.”

She poured cream in his coffee.

“Chocolate?” Alex asked. “I’ve recently taken up the habit. My partner, Raz, loves a little chocolate in his coffee.”

“Sure, fine, whatever,” Hank said.

Alex smiled. She gave him the coffee and stuck a spoon in it for him to stir. She did the same with her coffee cup.

Using his cane, he limped over to the couch and sat down. Miraculously, he managed to not spill the coffee. Alex turned a chair around from the conference table and sat down. She stirred her coffee so she didn’t have to look at him. They drank coffee in silence.

“I think …” Alex started at the same time Hank said, “I wanted to …”

“Please,” Alex said. “Ethan says I need to listen to you. I can do that.”

“I’m sorry,” Hank said. “I was under Garcia’s thumb. I don’t know why or even how, really, he … took over my life, but he did. He told me a lot later that I was a blond, rich kid who deserved to be taken down a notch.”

Alex gave an indignant snort.

“What?” Hank asked.

“He said something like that to me,” Alex said.

Hank nodded.

“I sat next to Garcia on the bus to Fort Bragg,” Hank said. “I feel stupid saying this, especially to you, but he bullied me. I was terrified of him. I couldn’t fight like you. I didn’t know all the answers. I certainly wasn’t born to it like Mac Clenaghan or a genius like Olivas. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but Garcia took over my life.”

His words were so foreign to her experience at SF training that she watched his face to see if he was fabricating the story. He seemed to be telling the truth.

“Think about it,” Hank said. “Do you ever remember hearing me say anything?”

Alex cocked her head to the side to think.

“Anything? Any word?”

Alex looked at Jesse, who was hovering by the coffee maker.

“I don’t,” Jesse said. “But I still don’t like him.”

“I don’t remember you saying anything,” Alex said.

“You thought that since I was with him, I agreed with him,” Hank said. “And to be completely honest, I did. I didn’t like that you were there. I didn’t like how strong you were, how capable, and how fearless. I … Garcia, he … I mean, it was subtle. It started on the bus and … A few days later, he … owned me completely.”

Hank swallowed hard and nodded. Alex blinked. She’d seen the same haunted look in Leena’s eyes.

“Holy crap,” Jesse said. “Is he saying Garcia …? At our training?”

Alex gave a small nod.

“What happened when we were in Uwharrie?” Alex asked. After being intentionally lost, deprived of food, water, and sleep, the last test for being a Green Beret is to find your way out of the Uwharrie National Forest. “When you were injured?”

Hank looked at his coffee cup.

“I was with my team,” Alex said. “We got lost. Jesse’s team got lost, too. He found me after we …”

“You divined a well,” Hank said. “The amazing Alex.”

He shrugged.

“Always working the angles,” Alex said. “What else did I have? I wanted to be a Green Beret, and …”

“I did, too,” Hank said.

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“Your team made it out first,” Hank said.

Alex nodded.

“They blew the horn when you won. My team … they … blamed me,” Hank said.

“Why?”

“Garcia was on my team, of course,” Hank said. “He turned on me. Destroyed me. He … The guys were pissed, anyway. They … and I … couldn’t defend myself. I tried, but they were too angry, too many.”

Hank nodded. Alex felt a rush of empathy for him. She knew what it was like to face overwhelming violence with the sure certainty that you couldn’t stop it. Jesse made a sound, and Alex’s eyes flicked to him. He looked like he felt as she did.

“They left me,” Hank said. “To die, I guess. Mac Clenaghan’s team passed about a foot from where I was. I tried to signal but … They broke my leg, two vertebrae, every bone in both of my hands, and … inside … I wanted to die. Alex, I wanted to die right there. But I didn’t. Somehow. I was discharged on a medical and sent home.”

Alex nodded. She knew what it was like to be sent home with a severe injury.

“Mac Clenaghan thinks I made the whole thing up,” Hank said. “I … uh … My dad was a brute like Garcia. I guess I was programmed to just take it. It sounds stupid, even as I say it, but that’s what happened.”

“I understand,” Alex said.

“I’m really good at my job, Alex,” Hank said. “I would have made a great Green Beret.”

“How did you become a … uh …” Alex wasn’t sure what to call him.

“A soldier for hire?” Hank asked.

Alex blushed.

“My business card says ‘Contractor,’” Hank said.

He smiled. She gave him an embarrassed grin.

“I wasn’t always someone’s …” Hank said. “I had a friend from Airborne. He wanted to start this business and asked me if I would join him. I wasn’t doing anything and had a hunk of change from the lawsuit. Turns out, I’m not the first person to be left for dead by his team in Uwharrie National Forest. I put the money in, and … that was that.”

Alex nodded.

“I’ve never been in North Korea,” Hank said.

“Why are you telling me this?” Alex asked.

“Because you found the ball cap with my DNA on it,” Hank said. “You saw me with the President’s team in Afghanistan.”

“The boys say you told them to fire at the convoy,” Alex said.

“Not me. It wasn’t me,” Hank said. “No way, and I can prove it. I have records for everywhere I’ve been in the last five years. That assignment was to guard the president. I was with the president. Whoever they talked to, it was not me.”

“And Pakistan for the award ceremony?” Alex asked.

“I was there to protect a diplomat,” Hank said. “The moment I saw your guy — Hutchins, I think his name is — I knew I’d been set up.”

“Why you?” Alex asked.

“You hate me,” Hank said. “Gives you someone to focus on while the person pulling the strings can continue to hide.”

“Who’s behind this?” Alex asked.

“You know about Eniac,” Hank said.

Alex nodded.

“Do you know he’s dead?” Hank asked.

“What?” Alex and Jesse asked at the same time.

“He was killed after he was unable to execute that computer virus,” Hank said. “You didn’t know?”

“I thought he was behind all of this,” Alex said.

“He did, too,” Hank said.

“How do you know so much?” Alex asked.

“Good question,” Hank said. “I’ve spent a lot of time surveilling you. It was my job off and on for … years.”

“Me?” Alex asked. “Why me?”

“It was a job,” Hank said. “Our first contract was to protect the kids of politicians.”

“I thought Trece and White Boy’s team did that,” Alex said.

“Only when the target gets into trouble,” Hank said. “Most of the work goes to contractors. We’re good at it. About a year before your team was killed, I was assigned to watch you. I was requested by name, paid extra because of my seniority. All I had to do was keep tabs on you.”

“Did you send them in to kill us?” Alex asked.

“No,” Hank said. “But I can see by your face that you already know that. Who did?”

“One of those CIA MK-survivors,” Alex said. “Cooper. A teammate’s ex-wife. She was manipulated to let them in. They found out about the vault from the bookstore owner. You know about him?”

Hank nodded.

“My sister, Samantha, was drugged and manipulated into telling a Senator where the vaults were,” Alex said. “The rest fell like dominoes.”

They heard the toilet flush in her little bathroom. They both looked at the door. They turned away when the water turned on for a shower. Hank reached into his pocket.

“This flash drive contains all of my reports on you for the year prior to the assault on the Fey Special Forces Team.” Hank held out a USB drive to her.

Alex was so surprised, she could only gawk at him.

“Including the time you confronted me,” Hank said. “I assume you don’t remember.”

“I don’t remember anything from that time,” Alex said. “And I’m learning that other parts of my memory are also spotty.”

“Too much trauma,” Hank said.

“I guess,” Alex said. “Who ordered you to watch me?”

“At the time, I thought it was your father,” Hank said. “Now, I’m not so sure. I’ve made a few attempts to track payment, but I’ve never been successful at finding out who hired me.”

“Thank you,” Alex said and tucked the drive into her pocket.

The Monk started to sing the Catholic hymn “Immaculate Mary” at the top of his lungs. Alex shook her head and sent Hank a questioning look.

“It’s how he tells time,” Hank said. “That song is exactly six minutes long.”

“Good to know,” Alex said.

“There’s more I need to tell you,” Hank said.

“You’ve already told me a lot,” Alex said.

“There’s a list of people capable of stopping their plans,” Hank said.

“Oh?”

“You’re on the list,” Hank said. “Of course.”

“And the team?” Alex winced at the idea.

Hank nodded.

“JS and a couple of his teams,” Hank said. “Seal Team Eight, and another SF team.”

“How do you know this?” Alex asked.

“I’ve seen the list,” Hank said.

“Where?” Alex asked.

“The last assignment,” Hank said. “With Ethan. We were supposed to be protecting our asset, but everything fell apart. We ended up taking out a few guys. We relieved them of their possessions, of course. One of them had a hit list in an email on his phone.”

“A hit list?” Alex asked.

“That’s what it seemed like to me.” Hank nodded. “Ethan, too. It was in an email chain listing who could stop them. Team in India, of course. The Monk. Ji. You guys. JS … Ethan has the phone.”

“Is Garcia involved in this?” Alex asked.

“I think so,” Hank said. “That’s just a feeling. It has all the hallmarks of him. He hates you, me, JS, everyone on that list. But …”

“He’s not smart enough to be behind all of it,” Alex said.

“He’d use any excuse to vent his rage,” Hank said.

Alex nodded. There was a tap on the door to her office.

“Sorry, it locks automatically,” Alex said.

She stood up and walked to the door.

“Garcia is evil, Alex,” Hank said. “To the core.”

She turned to look at him.

“He had help getting through SF training,” Hank said.

“Wasn’t me,” Alex said.

There was another knock at the door, and Alex pointed at it. Her hand went instinctively to her handgun. Colonel Howard Gordon was standing on the other side.

“I saw the light …” he said. “I thought I’d drop by and see how the trip went.”

“You’re here early, sir,” Alex said.

She stepped aside so that he could come into the office.

“I’m coming home from Washington. Had to attend one of those stupid hearings,” Colonel Gordon said. “Yes, Senator, we are wiping our asses with money. Yes, Senator, we like to use the one-hundred-dollar bills to light our …”

He leaned his head forward and took an exaggerated sniff.

“Cigars?” He nodded. “Beer and whiskey.”

“The Monk,” Alex asked. “For the record, I called the Major General, and he told me I could kill him.”

“Kind of messy,” Colonel Gordon said.

Alex smiled.

“Have you met Hank Zutterberg?” Alex asked.

Colonel Gordon raised his eyebrows at her, and she nodded that she and Hank were on good terms.

“Only by reputation. Don’t get up.” Colonel Gordon walked to the couch to shake Hank’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I can tell by my LC’s pinched face that you’re not having an easy go of it this morning.”

“We went to training together,” Alex said.

“Ah,” Colonel Gordon said. “It was the worst of times and the …”

“Worst of times,” Alex said along with him. Colonel Gordon laughed. “Would you like a drink?”

“Nah,” Colonel Gordon said. “I need to get home. I had to stay for some moronic Senator’s dinner. I kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe I spent three years in covert intelligence training to sit here listening to this baboon.’ But, dinners with morons come with the bird.”

Colonel Gordon smiled, and Alex laughed.

“How did it go?” Colonel Gordon asked.

“We were able to get Ji and Fong to Yokohama,” Alex said.

“That’s very good news,” Colonel Gordon said.

“Ji was in bad shape when we got there,” Alex said. “He’s been in and out of surgery, so we still don’t know why this happened.”

“He was on the list,” Hank said.

“Really?” Alex asked.

“What list?” Colonel Gordon asked.

Hank opened his mouth to explain, but there was another knock at the door.

“Hold that thought,” Colonel Gordon said. “That’s my ride. I need my wife and the solace of my own bed. You can brief me later. Monday?”

“Of course,” Alex said.

He gave Alex and Hank a nod and went to the door. He lifted his left hand to wave goodbye and opened the door with his right.

“Sorry, sir,” a man said.

There were two silenced handgun shots, and time slowed.

Friday mid-day
May 20 — 7:22 p.m. China Standard Time
Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, China

“This way,” Amam Ibn Hinna hissed.

Alex swallowed hard and looked to her left. Nodding, she followed him through the darkened plaza. Unsure of the situation, Jesse lingered close. They were taken by car from the Dunhuang Airport to the Mogao Caves compound. She and Raz were instructed to leave the team at the Mogao Hotel, a thousand feet across the plaza from the caves.

They hurried across the bridge over the wide, sandy riverbed that separated the hotel from the large Mogao complex. They moved in near darkness, as the moon hadn’t risen yet. On the bridge, Alex could hear the flow of spring melt-off in the riverbed below. They reached the entrance of the park and hurried under the classic Chinese wooden archway. Raz touched her arm.

“They’ve made the roof,” Raz said in her ear.

She looked back and saw Leena, Vince, and Margaret’s headlamps as they set up on the roof of the Mogao Hotel. While they had to leave their firearms on the plane in Beijing, Leena, Vince, and Margaret were setting up to videotape anything that happened.

Entering the park, they traveled across the concrete path past groves of white birch, cottonwood, and other deciduous trees. Many of the trees were in full bloom, while the non-flowering trees were just beginning to leaf out. She heard the soft whistle of Troy, Royce, and Joseph. They were following close but using the trees and bushes as cover.

As they passed a white stone statue of Quan Yin, the goddess of compassion, Alex pointed to the beautiful statue of a maiden standing on a dragon.

“She saved that one from being eaten as a fish,” Alex said.

“What?” Raz said.

Alex shook her head.

“This way,” Amam Ibn Hinna turned and smiled. “We are almost there.”

For a moment, Alex caught an unholy gleam in his eye. She wished Zack or Bestat were there to deal with this creature. As if he could hear her wish, he gave her a jagged-toothed grin and continued forward.

“He looks like the Cheshire Cat,” Raz said in her ear.

“He looks like he wants to eat us,” Alex said.

Raz laughed, and Alex smiled.

“This way, this way,” Amam Ibn Hinna said as they passed under another ornate gate. “This way.”

“Willy Wonka,” Raz said.

Alex laughed.

“This way,” Amam Ibn Hinna said.

They had to jog to keep up. In front of them lay a complex of close to a thousand caves carved into the sandstone cliff by Buddhist monks. Each cave was a celebration to Buddha in the manner of the time. Sealed and abandoned in the 15th century, the caves were rediscovered in the early 1900s. In modern times, the Chinese government had stabilized this series of caves with cement, brick, and mortar. With the rise of tourism in China, the government had created easy walkways to discourage people from invading the unexplored caves further to the north.

Fong Song’s life work was opening new caves. There were still more than four hundred caves that had yet to be explored. Alex and Raz stopped for a moment just to look at the sheer number of caves.

“Fong wanted to meet you in the library cave,” Amam Ibn Hinna said. He hopped the wooden fence in front of the structure. They followed him over the fence.

There was a complex of caves called the library cave. Originally stacked floor to ceiling with rare manuscripts, the library cave had been “discovered” by French and British explorers in the early 20th century. They returned home with more than a hundred thousand manuscripts, including original texts of the Christian Bible, the Koran, and the I Ching.

“Come along!” Amam Ibn Hinna said.

He waved to his right and picked up the pace. They jogged down a brick lined path past three stories of individual caves devoted to the worship of Buddha.

“There is a really big Buddha back there,” Amam Ibn Hinna said, as they ran past. “Carved by hand inside the nine-story building. You’ll have to see it sometime. Truly incredible.”

He went to a stairwell and started climbing.

“Come along,” Amam Ibn Hinna said. “This is the way.”

Alex stopped walking.

“The library cave is on the first level,” Alex said.

“Yes, but Fong and Ji are up here,” Amam Ibn Hinna said and pointed up the stairwell.

Alex gestured for Amam Ibn Hinna to go up the stairs first. Raz followed him, and Alex came last. Their guide continued to the third floor. He stopped to make sure they were following before he plunged into the dark sandstone cave ahead. Raz stopped at the entrance to wait for Alex. They entered the dark cave together.

“Five people.” Alex took a deep breath to smell the air. “At least two military. Fong’s perfume. Fear.”

“Suffering, blood,” Amam Ibn Hinna hissed in a low voice. “I hope we’ve come in time.”

Raz nodded, and they stepped into the grotto. They saw only the inky black.

“We are here,” Amam Ibn Hinna said to someone they could not see.

Three freestanding floodlights came on. Alex had to shade her eyes from the bright light.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Amam Ibn Hinna’s eyes seemed to adjust immediately. His voice was indignant. “We mean you no harm. We are here on an errand of diplomacy. We were invited here by your government.”

Amam Ibn Hinna’s protestations didn’t get them to dim the lights. After a few moments, Alex saw that they were standing in the middle of a cave, surrounded by five soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army. There was a three-foot-high brass Buddha on an altar on the right side of the cave. The rest of the cave was set up as meditation space.

“Where are Ji and Fong?” Alex asked in Mandarin.

The Chinese soldier near the back of the cave gave a partial bow and indicated that they go further into the cave. Alex stayed rooted in place. She looked from face to face. The Chinese soldiers were armed and edgy.

The Chinese were ready for battle.

The soldiers intended to kill them.

Alex glanced at Raz. By the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing. They shifted their positions to be ready.

“Let me go first,” Amam Ibn Hinna said.

Alex followed Amam Ibn Hinna to the back of the cave. She got to the edge of a hallway and stopped.

“Cigarette,” Alex said under her breath.

Raz nodded.

Amam Ibn Hinna started down a low, rough-hewn hallway in the very back of the cave. Alex glanced at Raz. She had to bend over at the waist to make it down the hallway. With his hand on her back, Raz followed right behind her. Passing rooms on either side of the hallway, they went nearly fifty feet before Amam Ibn Hinna turned left into a room. Alex followed him into the room, where she was able to stand. Raz remained hunched over in the doorway.

“Ah, you are here,” a man said in Mandarin.

Another set of floodlights came on. Alex was standing near the doorway of a small room. A large statue of Buddha took up most of the back of the room. Fong and Ji were tucked to one side of the statue in a corner. Fong stood defensively in front of Ji. Alex caught Ji’s eyes. Her old sparring partner was terrified.

A colonel in the People’s Liberation Army stepped forward. He dropped a cigarette butt on the ground, and Fong gasped at the impropriety of his simple act. The colonel chuckled and crushed the flame with his foot.

“I have met your father,” the colonel said. Alex shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to be introduced to his daughter.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Alexandra Hargreaves, sir,” Alex said. Because he’d addressed her directly, she took authority in the conversation. “This is my partner, Department of Homeland Security Agent Rasmussen. We are here with Egyptian diplomat, Amam Ibn Hinna.”

“Yes,” the colonel said.

The colonel held out his hand to Raz, who shook his hand. The colonel smiled at Amam Ibn Hinna and gave him a little bow.

“I took it upon myself to secure Ms. Song and her son,” the colonel said.

The colonel got close to Alex, and Raz shifted his body between them. The colonel raised his hands as if he meant no harm. Alex indicated for Raz to back off.

“Mister Fong is in great danger,” the colonel said in a low tone. Alex swallowed hard. Ji had been stripped of his rank. “There are many after him. He is injured. You brought your famous medics?”

Alex gave a curt nod.

“Did the colonel cause these injuries?” Amam Ibn Hinna asked in English to Fong.

“No,” Fong said in English. “My son was injured when the colonel brought him here. The soldiers out there beat him, and I … The colonel told them he was taking us to this cave to murder us.”

Amam Ibn Hinna looked like he was going to eat the colonel.

“Ji!” Alex said in English. “Are you able to get out of here?”

“No,” Ji grunted.

Alex nodded.

“If you’re finished …” The colonel scowled at Alex. “I will show you out.”

“It’s very dark,” Alex said. “I’m wondering if you would mind if Agent Rasmussen assisted Mr. Song.”

“Of course,” the colonel said.

Raz went toward Fong, and she moved away. Alex gasped. Ji’s right ankle was broken, and he was bleeding from missing toes on his left foot. His knees looked as if they had been destroyed. His face was a mottled mess of healing and fresh bruises. He moved as if his ribs were broken, like each of his fingers. His eyes held the haunted look of someone who had been tortured. Raz put his arm under Ji’s shoulder to see if he could tolerate it. Ji groaned.

“I’ll need to carry him,” Raz said.

The colonel nodded.

“Mr. Ibn Hinna?” The colonel asked. “There are two …”

The colonel gestured behind the statue. Amam Ibn Hinna went behind the statue.

“Lieutenant Colonel, if I may?” Amam Ibn Hinna asked for Alex’s help.

Raz shook his head, but Alex shrugged. She jogged behind the statue. She found Amam Ibn Hinna standing over two dead bodies. The male had similar injuries to Ji. Amam Ibn Hinna pointed to the woman’s arms. They carried the body of the woman into the center of the cave. They jogged back behind the statue. Together, they carried the body of a man.

“Murderers,” the colonel said. “Executed this morning. We must leave.”

Fong was so relieved that she lost her balance. Amam Ibn Hinna grabbed her before she hit the floor.

“You are dead, Mrs. Pershing,” the colonel said, emphasizing Fong’s married name. She was no longer Fong Song, resident of China. Fong nodded that she understood. “You will never return.”

“Thank you, father.” Fong gave him a low bow.

“Don’t thank me,” the colonel said. “Thank her.”

The colonel gestured to Alex.

“The debt owed to her is large,” the colonel said. “This is only a small gesture of gratitude.”

“And Ji?” Alex asked.

“He is dead,” the colonel said. “Killed trying to escape capture. But Joe Pershing will leave China tonight and never return.”

The colonel nodded.

“I will show you out,” the colonel said.

He strode out of the small room and turned left at the door. In order to avoid injuring Ji’s further, Raz scooped him up like a lover. They followed the colonel out the door. Alex put her arm around Fong to help her. They bent over and ran down the hallway. Slumped over and carrying Ji, Raz was able to keep up with the colonel. Amam Ibn Hinna followed behind. They stopped on the edge of an open room. The colonel turned his back to the room.

“There are security cameras from here forward,” the colonel said.

Alex nodded. She flicked a switch in her pocket that would scramble the security cameras in the entire building.

“Thank you,” the colonel said.

He went out into the room and down a wide-open modern cement stairwell. He stopped at the two modern metal doors at the base of the stairwell. He waited for them to catch up before opening the door.

“Call your men,” the colonel said.

Alex whistled, and Joseph materialized out of the darkness. She gave Fong to Joseph. They started moving across the plaza to the hotel.

“You need to stay, Agent Rasmussen,” the colonel said.

Alex whistled again, and Royce appeared. Royce took Ji from Raz and ran across the plaza. Amam Ibn Hinna followed Royce. Alex waited until they were halfway across the complex before turning to the colonel.

“Why take the risk?” Alex asked.

“You don’t remember me,” the colonel said. “I can’t expect you to. I was only eight when you rescued me from …”

“I remember now,” Alex nodded.

“I never knew why you did it,” the colonel said. “Why would you care if a Chinese orphan is beaten to death?”

“I cared,” Alex said.

“Yes,” the colonel said. “And the woman you placed me with?”

Alex smiled. On their way to rescue the child of a politician, she had saved a young boy and a young woman from the clutches of a brutal man. Because she didn’t have time for another solution, she told the young woman that the boy was now her son. They had left together for her hometown.

“How did that work out?” Alex asked.

“She cared for me every day since then,” the colonel smiled. “It turned out very well.”

“I’m so glad,” Alex said.

“I have something else for you,” the colonel said.

Alex watched Trece greet Fong as she made it to the hotel. The colonel followed her eyes, and, for a moment, they watched White Boy take Ji from Royce. The colonel took a small cloth-wrapped package from his pocket.

“You’ll need this,” he said.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“It is an aid to translate old Chinese to Linear A,” the colonel said. “It may not be one hundred percent. It was most likely translated into old Chinese from nomadic Xiongnu.”

Alex was so moved that she touched her heart.

“You can use it?” the colonel asked.

Alex nodded.

“Good,” the colonel said.

“Thank you,” Alex bowed to him, and he smiled.

“I went to college,” the colonel said. “I have everything — a home, a wife, even a young mistress. My mother is grandmother to my son. All because of what you did.”

“I’m so glad,” Alex said.

“To repay you even a little bit …” the colonel said. “You have made me very happy.”

The colonel turned to Raz.

“We must hurry,” the colonel said.

The colonel jogged up the steps. Alex and Raz followed close behind. They bent over and jogged to get down the hallway. The colonel turned right into the small room where they had left the bodies. Alex and Raz slipped in behind him. To their surprise, Amam Ibn Hinna was waiting for them there.

The colonel started yelling in Chinese. He nodded to Alex, and she yelled at him in Mandarin. Amam Ibn Hinna got involved in the yelling. After a few moments, the colonel pulled out a large-caliber revolver and shot the male body in the face. The large-caliber bullet destroyed most of the man’s head. Playing her role, Alex screamed. Raz yelled, “No,” and the colonel shot the female body in the face. The colonel grabbed Alex by the arm and marched her toward the cave with the waiting soldiers.

He threw her out of the main room. She landed wrong and collapsed to the ground. Raz ran to her side.

“You have not heard the end of this!” Amam Ibn Hinna yelled at the colonel.

The colonel sneered, and the soldiers shifted to ready. Raz helped Alex to her feet. Amam Ibn Hinna grabbed her other side, and they ran down the stairs. They hurried across the plaza and were in the back of the private car in minutes.

“That was close,” Amam Ibn Hinna said.

Alex nodded and then scowled.

“Did you know?” Alex asked.

“I was told he would kill Ji and Fong,” Amam Ibn Hinna said. “I knew of your connection to him. I thought maybe that might keep him from killing the Songs. Seems like it worked.”

“That was quite a risk,” Raz said.

“Not really,” Amam Ibn Hinna said. “Did you get the codex?”

“What?” Alex asked.

“Good,” Amam Ibn Hinna said. “I’ll tell you, Lieutenant Colonel. You are much smarter and braver than I’d ever hoped you would be.”

Aman Ibn Hinna nodded.

“You just might pull this off,” he said.

“Pull what off?” Raz asked.

Aman Ibn Hinna just smiled. He didn’t say another word about it. At the airport, he said his good-byes, leaving Alex and Raz to wait by themselves for the team. Most of the team arrived in taxis, while Colin and White Boy appeared on camels. Within an hour of Fong and Ji’s mock murder, they were on Amam Ibn Hinna’s plane and on their way to Beijing. Rather than change planes in Beijing, Bestat’s pilots took the place of Amam Ibn Hinna’s pilots. They refueled and flew out of China.

They cheered when they were out of Chinese air space. Amam Ibn Hinna’s plane landed on the US Navy Base at Yokosuka. The team grabbed their gear and left the plane. The team met medics, who escorted Ji and Fong to the Naval Hospital, the same hospital Ji’s father, Steve Pershing, had been in six months ago. When Ji was rushed into surgery and Fong was settled, they boarded a Hercules C-130 and headed for home.

Friday afternoon
May 20 — 1:35 p.m. China Standard Time (7:35 a.m. CEST)
Between Beijing and Dunhuang

Alex looked around the private jet. Most of the team was sleeping or reading. Margaret was helping Joseph with his Chinese at a round table near the front. They had flown on Bestat’s private jet to Beijing, where they had met her “friend” and Egyptian diplomat to China, Amam Ibn Hinna. While Bestat treated Amam Ibn Hinna like an old friend, Amam Ibn Hinna was almost reverent to Bestat. Amam Ibn Hinna greeted every member of the team by name.

Amam Ibn Hinna stiffened when he met Zack. The tension between the men was palpable as they sized each other up. Zack’s stance was aggressive, and his sharp blue eyes stared at the man like he was a dog or beast. Alex was about to intervene when Amam Ibn Hinna smiled and moved on to the next person. When he met Raz, Amam Ibn Hinna’s eyes lingered on Raz’s face.

“It’s a great pleasure,” Amam Ibn Hinna had said to Raz. His heavy Egyptian-accented English had a subtle hiss, which made every word he spoke seem menacing. “I’ve waited a long time to make your acquaintance.”

“Sir,” Raz had said.

Amam Ibn Hinna opened his mouth to say something and then looked at Bestat. He gave Raz a wide smile and moved on to say hello to Vince. The entire interaction took less than a minute total, but Raz was so unnerved that Alex had steered them away from Bestat’s “friend.” They had changed planes in Beijing and were now flying to Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves on Amam Ibn Hinna’s private jet.

Alex leaned into Raz and put her right hand in the palm of his left. Feeling her hand, his hand closed over hers.

“You okay?” Alex asked in a low tone.

“No,” Raz said. He opened his eyes. For a moment, he stared straight ahead of him before glancing at Alex. “I am not okay.”

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“Which time?” Raz asked. “When we were almost killed by the French military or now that we’re flying seven hours into the interior of China with a madman?”

“Madman?” Alex smiled.

“Did you see how he treated Zack?” Raz whispered. “You know, I’ve heard for years that Zack trained with you as kids, but I’d never … It wasn’t until that moment that I saw the Patrick Hargreaves in Zack.”

“Take-no-prisoners body language,” Alex nodded.

“You and Colin do it,” Raz said. “Samantha, too.”

“We are sexy,” Alex said.

She nudged him with her shoulder, and he smiled.

“At least we’re not on a freezing fucking cold C-130,” Alex said. She stretched out her legs to demonstrate the room. “No numb feet or ear-bleeding noise. This is comfy.”

“Sure, keep the people comfortable so they don’t get freaked out,” Raz said. “Anxiety ruins the taste of the meat.”

Alex laughed, and Raz smiled.

“You know his name means …” Raz nodded, “Man eater.”

“Watch out boy — he’ll chew you up,” Alex said.

Raz raised his index finger and pointed at her.

“No,” he said in a stern voice.

Alex burst out laughing. He chuckled.

“And the ‘Ibn’?” Alex asked. “Is that just to throw us off his true purpose?”

“You mean because Ibn means ‘son of?’” Raz raised his eyebrows. “I’m not buying for a moment that he’s the son of the man eater.”

“He’s the man eater,” Alex nodded.

Raz gave an involuntary shiver.

“It is a little horrifying,” Alex said.

“You should be sleeping,” Raz said.

“How can I sleep when, at any moment, I might have to slay a dragon?” Alex asked. “I didn’t even bring my sword.”

“Sword?”

“Dragons are always killed with swords,” Alex said. “Prince Charming uses a sword.”

“An arrow in The Hobbit,” Raz said.

“Shit, I left my bow in Beijing,” Alex said. “And look around you. You are definitely on the ‘Most Likely to be Eaten’ list.”

“Trece’s got to be first,” Raz smiled. “He’s our prize bull.”

“He has an impenetrable defense,” Alex said.

“Which is?” Raz gave her a skeptical scowl.

“He can talk the dragon to death,” Alex nodded.

Raz laughed. Alex smiled.

“Talk to me,” Alex repeated something he often said to her. “Tell me what’s going on. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.”

He grinned at her. As he usually did, she stretched up to plant a kiss on the top of his head. She kissed the scar where they’d opened his skull last fall to relieve the pressure of his swelling brain. Laughing, he swatted her away.

“What did Eloise Le Grande say to you?” Alex asked.

“She said that my father was anxious to meet me,” Raz said.

“And that freaked you out?” Alex asked.

“Sort of,” Raz said. “She said, ‘Your mother is such a love.’”

Raz let out a breath.

“Momma.” Raz didn’t attempt to mask the sorrow in his voice. “She spoke as if Momma were alive. I … felt like a hole had opened, and I’d fallen into … my desperate loss, my grief, those dark days after losing her … and Vicki, if you can believe it. That darkness just … closed around me. And then I looked at you. I knew you’d figure it out, or kill this creature who’d said these wonderful and horrible words to me. You’d fix it. I just knew it.”

Raz put his hand over his heart.

“Will you kill her?” he asked.

“Of course — with my sword.” Alex held out her right hand as if it held a mighty sword. After a few slashes at the air, she grabbed her right chest with her left hand. “Maybe an arrow. Yes, an arrow would be easier. We’ll barbeque her for dinner. Lucky we got that big grill.”

Raz smiled, and Alex laughed.

“She … my mother …” Raz shook his head. “I’m a grown man, and I still miss her. I wish you’d known her. She was … so beautiful and loved me … so much. I’ve never gotten over losing her.”

“I know.” Alex squeezed his hand.

“We were such great friends,” Raz said. “I didn’t know that then. I thought every boy and his mother … Now I see that she was my mother and we were friends. It probably wasn’t great parenting. But for me …”

“She was everything,” Alex said.

“Do you know if she’s alive?” Raz asked.

“I’ve never seen any record that your mother is still living,” Alex said. “I asked Ben about your father when I saw him.”

“You did?” Raz asked.

“Just trying to figure everything out,” Alex said. “He said your mother never told anyone. ‘Took that secret to the grave,’ Ben said. But if she’s alive …”

Raz snorted a sad laugh.

“If she’s alive …” Raz took a breath, which made him seem taller, bigger. “That would be very good.”

“I find it very hard to believe that she would be alive and not … connect with you in some way,” Alex said. “No, I’m sorry, Raz. I’d never believe that your mother was alive and not in your life. And if she were, I’d know about it. I believe she’s gone.”

“She’s gone.” He gave a sad nod. “Did Ben tell you who put up my name to work with him?”

“He said he didn’t know and would look into it,” Alex said. “I heard from him before we left. He said your name was on a list of five people. He’d asked the person who sent the list. They didn’t recognize your name. Ben said that he was so desperate for a good candidate that he didn’t think much about it at the time.”

“What if she’s … alive?” Raz asked.

“Sasha Peretz? Your mother?”

Raz nodded.

“I think we have to be careful,” Alex said.

“Because I want it so much,” Raz said. “She could be an imposter or someone trying to kill us.”

“Or one of these creatures,” Alex said.

Raz nodded.

“And your father?” Alex asked.

“Who cares?” Raz shrugged. “I never did. There’s more to being a father than fertilizing an egg. Why would I care now?”

Alex nodded.

“Sami’s asked me about it,” Raz said. “When we were talking about having a child. She thought my father might be important to our child. I told her that our child will not want for males in his or her life. Patrick, as grandfather, of course, John, Wyatt, Max, Cian, Eoin, and now Jackie … the team … Like the twins, our child will have a village of men and women ready to love him or her. That’s my family now — and all that really matters to me.”

Raz nodded.

“I like your family,” Alex said.

“Me, too,” Raz said. “Your turn.”

“My turn?” Alex looked at him.

“What was the book?” Raz asked.

“Something Eloise Le Grande gave me,” Alex said.

“When did she give it to you?” Raz asked.

Alex told him about the first time she and Jesse went into the bookstore. Raz’s brow furrowed, and he swallowed hard. He shook his head.

“You think that was real?” Raz asked.

“I have the book.” Alex shrugged. “Jesse was there, too.”

“I remember something …” Raz nodded. “A feeling of panic of ‘Alex!’ — like when we couldn’t find you after hearing you and the team were dead. Full-blown panic. It was like a blink. Panic over you, and, then, wham! You were standing right next to me. My heart was racing and I wanted to run into the building, but there you were. I felt … crazy.”

“Sounds crazy,” Alex nodded. “We need to be attuned to these kinds of discrepancies. These feelings, human feelings, may be the only way we know when things aren’t right.”

“Their manipulation of time isn’t perfect,” Raz said. “I wonder if anyone else felt that.”

“Let’s ask,” Alex said. “Quietly.”

Raz nodded.

“So, what is this book?” Raz asked. “Did you look at it?”

“Page after page of Linear A,” Alex said. “Eloise Le Grande said that I would get the codex from Bestat — at least that’s what I took her to mean.”

“Weird,” Raz said. “This whole thing is …”

“Weird,” Alex said. “Get this.”

Raz looked at Alex.

“The book fits into the slot in the cartographer’s tool kit,” Alex said. “I’m sure the caliper fits, too.”

“The one that was your grandfather’s?” Raz asked. “The caliper in your safe?”

“Ben’s directional compass, too,” Alex nodded.

“Ben has a directional compass that fits into that box?”

Alex nodded.

“It’s all just so weird,” Raz said. “This cartographer’s tool kit, the pocket watch, and cufflinks, finding the books at the store, the map … Was it the map you’d looked at before?”

“The map Colin found?” Alex nodded. “It was a copy of the map of Ultima Thule. It seems very old and very detailed but definitely a copy.”

“It’s not the one you went to see all those times?” Raz asked.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the same information and picture but not the map that Jesse and I used to look at,” Alex said. “The one we used to visit was an original. The funny thing is that I must have spent a lot of time with the map because I could probably draw it right here.”

Alex took a yellow pencil from her pocket and took the napkin from under her coffee cup. She quickly and easily outlined the map of Ultima Thule.

“All those times I went to ‘see’ the map?” Alex asked. “I think I was memorizing it.”

She shaded in mountains and filled in points for cities.

“Why would you do that?” Raz asked.

“I have a sense that it was a challenge for me,” Alex said. “Something to keep my mind sharp. Dad used to have us memorize maps as kids. This one was such an oddity that I probably liked the challenge. I’d just started making the Fey maps for the Intelligence Center. I’m sure I was trying to stay sharp.”

“Stay sharp?”

“Jesse and I were so much younger than the guys, inexperienced,” Alex said. “I always felt like I had to be at the top of my game. Jesse felt that way, too. We worked hard in our off time — went to college, took skills courses, practiced all the time, memorized maps — just to try to catch up.”

“To stay on the team,” Raz said.

Alex nodded.

“Do you think it’s a real … place?” Raz asked.

“Not that I’ve ever seen,” Alex said. “It’s possible that the map is so old that it’s a place that existed before the European glaciers melted.”

Alex shrugged.

“It’s a place that doesn’t exist in modern life,” Raz said.

“Not based on satellite imagery or any modern cartography,” Alex said. “But I need to carefully compare this map to other maps. It might be a part of a continent, like the Gobi desert in China or the northern-most portion of Canada or Brazil, for that matter. In fact, it could be some place really small like the Colorado plains or Jerusalem in one of its incarnations or … one of the Indonesian islands.”

“Really big or very small,” Raz said.

“It could be anywhere,” Alex said. “I have to show it to Max. I’m sure we’ll figure it out, but … Right now? I think it’s nothing.”

“But it has the mark,” Raz said.

“The compass rose with the eye?” Alex asked. “The symbol is the actual compass rose of the map.”

“On the front?”

“Front right,” Alex said. “It must be where I’d seen the mark before.”

Raz nodded.

“I wish we were home,” Alex said under her breath.

“Me, too,” Raz said. “I’m missing my Joey time. I’ve been teaching him how to throw a perfect spiral.”

Alex laughed.

“He’s good at it!” Raz said. “Tiny ball. He almost has the hang of it.”

“But not Máire?” Alex asked.

“I always just want to baby her,” Raz blushed. “Pretty-baby stuff, not little-rugged-man stuff.”

“Kinda sexist,” Alex said.

“That’s me,” Raz said.

Alex smiled. Raz leaned his head against hers.

“We’ll figure this out,” Raz said. “Right?”

“We will,” Alex said.

“You have no idea how much it means to me to know that you’re on my side,” Raz said. “You’ll help me with any situation.”

“Always,” Alex said.

He smiled.

“There’s something else,” Alex said.

He cocked his head. Alex took the metal point out of her pocket.

“Bestat called this a ‘key,’” Alex said. “She said that many humans had lost their lives protecting it.”

Raz scowled and took the point from her.

“The cufflinks go here,” Alex pointed to the small holes.

“The ring?” Raz pointed to the piece of metal on the flat end of the point.

Alex nodded.

“Your pocket watch,” Alex pointed to the hole in the middle.

“That’s why you told me to hold on to the watch,” Raz nodded. “I don’t have it with me. I must have left it in Paris.”

“I put the watch, Ben’s directional compass, the cufflinks, and even the ring in the safe in the vault,” Alex said.

“That’s why you went down with Trece?” Raz asked.

“You were getting changed and packed.” Alex nodded.

Raz nodded.

“Bestat said there are two more items to make the ‘key’ functional,” Alex said. “She said I have one of the items. I have to find the other. She thought it would be in China, in the Mogao Caves.”

“In the caves,” Raz repeated. “Does she know about the package you got last year?”

“The ugly bee?” Alex asked. “I don’t think so, but who knows what she knows?”

Raz nodded. Alex shrugged.

“She said she would explain everything,” Alex said. “We still need to get to Egypt.”

“With the current turmoil …” Raz said.

“It’s going to be no easy trick,” Alex said. “We won’t be able to go in as a US military team, that’s for sure.”

“Let’s just focus on what’s right in front of us,” Raz said.

“Good idea,” Alex said. “When I think of the larger picture, I just want to go home and play with the babies. Let the world sort itself out. My life is pretty good. Stuff like that.”

Raz nodded.

“What do you expect at the Mogao caves?” Raz asked.

“No idea,” Alex said. “You?”

“Another adventure,” Raz said.

Alex gave him a tired smile.

“Rest?” Raz asked.

“Sure,” Alex said. She held onto his arm and put her head on his shoulder. “I’m really glad to be doing this with you.”

“You know what?” Raz smiled.

Alex leaned back to look at him.

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” Raz said.

“Wherever ‘here’ is,” she said.

They laughed.

F

Thursday morning
May 19 — 7:23 a.m. MDT (4:23 p.m. CEST)
Denver, Colorado

Helen took Stefan’s hand and got out of his car. She looked at the duplex and then at Stefan.

“Are we sure this is the right place?” Helen asked. “Troy says it’s safe, like guarded, and …”

“The address is correct,” Stefan said. “We’ll go together.”

He held out his hand, and Helen took it. They walked hand and hand to the porch.

“Which door?” Helen asked.

“I’d guess it doesn’t matter much,” Stefan said.

They stood looking at the building for a moment when a woman came out of the house next door carrying a small boy. She came across the front lawn and went to the left side of the rooming house.

“Hi,” the woman said. “Are you here for …?”

“We are meeting Niamh Mac Kinney here,” Stefan said.

“Neev?” the woman asked. “She’s right inside.”

The toddler squirmed in her arms and got away.

“Paddie!” the woman yelled.

He ran off the porch. Helen stepped in front of the boy, and the child ran right into her. He looked up at Helen with enormous blue eyes.

“I’m Paddie,” the child said.

“I’m Helen,” she said.

“Are you in trouble, too?” Paddie asked.

“I don’t think so,” Helen said. “Are you?”

Paddie nodded.

“I have to stay here rather than go to school,” Paddie said.

“Sorry,” the woman said. “I’m Julie Hargreaves. This is my son …”

“Paddie, the sick one,” the little boy hung his head.

“Hey, that’s pretty good,” Stefan laughed.

Paddie gave him a grin out of the corner of his mouth and then hung his head.

“Paddie can’t go to school today because he has a little bit of a fever,” Julie said. “Neev’s husband Jack said he’d keep an eye on him.”

“I could go to Katy’s house,” Paddie’s voice brightened at the idea.

“His best friend,” Julie said. “Paddie, you know you can’t go to Katy’s house. She’s sick, too, and …”

Julie looked at Stefan and Helen.

“It’s always hard when the team’s gone,” Julie said.

Julie picked up Paddie and carried him up the stairs. Stefan looked at Helen, and she shrugged.

“Come on in.” Julie unlocked the front deadbolt with a key from her pocket.

“You didn’t even ask who we were,” Helen said.

“You’re Troy’s sister, Dr. Helen Olivas, and he’s Dr. Ebo Stefan Atta,” Julie smiled. “I got the email with your photos.”

“Email?” Stefan asked.

“Alex sends them out when new people are coming around,” Julie said. “We can keep an eye out.”

“Who’s at the door?” Jack said in a loud voice. He stomped to the front door. “And who might you be?”

“I’m Paddie,” the boy said from his mother’s arms. The boy looked at the giant of a man and turned back to his mother.

“I’m Jackie,” the man said. “Come on, lad — let’s see what we can find to do.”

Before Julie could say a word, Jack plucked Paddie from her arms and went back into the house. Julie gave Helen and Stefan a little wave and left the porch. She was across the front yard when she turned around.

“Go on in,” Julie said. “They should be expecting you.”

Helen shook her head.

“Why don’t we sit down for a moment?” Stefan asked. “Catch our breath.”

Helen bit her lip but stayed rooted in one place. Stefan helped her to a porch chair and sat down next to her.

“This is very nice,” Stefan said.

“Aunt Helen!” Hermes came out from the other door. “What are you doing?”

Helen and Stefan turned around to look at them. The boys were standing on the small porch on the other side of the building. An English Springer Spaniel came out of the house to dance around them.

“We’re over here!” Hector James said.

“We have everything ready!” Hermes said.

“We made breakfast and …” Hector James said.

A dark-haired man came onto the porch and shooed the children inside. The dog zipped inside before he closed the door. When they turned back, there was a grey-haired, blue-eyed, middle-aged woman standing in front of them.

“Was that a trick?” Helen asked.

“No,” the woman said. “I’m Niamh Kelly Mac Kinney. You can call me Neev.”

“Helen,” she said. She stood from her chair and shook Neev’s extended hand.

“Stefan,” he said.

Neev gave him a big smile and shook his hand. She threaded her hand through Helen’s elbow and led her into the house.

“He’s very handsome,” Neev said in a low voice to Helen. They went through Max and Wyatt’s private living room.

“I know,” Helen said. “He wants to marry me.”

“Aren’t you the lucky one?” Neev patted Helen’s hand.

Neev put her hand on the door to the shared living space.

“There you are!” Hermes threw himself at Helen to hug her. She held him against her legs. “Who’s that guy?”

Helen smiled at Hermes and looked at Stefan.

“I’m Stefan,” he said. “Who are you?”

“I’m Hermes,” he said. “That’s my brother, Hector James. You don’t look Irish. I don’t think Uncle Cian’s going to …?”

“Who said my name?” Cian came into the shared living space. He glared at Helen and at Stefan.

“He said you wouldn’t like me because I’m not Irish,” Stefan said.

“I don’t like you because you’re damned awful at lománaíocht,” Cian sniffed.

“You know him?” Hermes and Helen said at the same time.

Cian laughed.

“We’re on the same Hurling team,” Stefan said.

“But you’re not Irish!” Hermes said. “Only the Irish are allowed to play the holy game of lománaíocht.”

“I may have exaggerated a bit,” Cian said.

“I had Irish roommates who taught me the game at college,” Stefan said. “I played all four years. Alex told me about their team, and … It was a nice way to pass the time.”

“You must be Helen,” Cian said. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

She nodded and smiled.

“It’s a real pleasure,” Cian said. “Please, come in. The boys have been beside themselves, and …”

Cian led them into the dining room.

“We’re glad you’re here,” Cian said.

Cian helped Helen with a chair, and Stefan sat next to her. Neev sat next to Helen.

“Alex asked me to help you,” Neev smiled.

In Neev’s smile, Helen saw a terrible pain equal only to the one she felt inside.

“I might understand where you’ve been,” Neev said, as if she could hear Helen’s thoughts.

Jack came into the room with Paddie Hargreaves on his shoulders.

“I think we can find a way out together,” Neev said.

“I hope so,” Helen said. “Because I have to …”

“Yes,” Neev said. “I’ve heard.”

Helen nodded. Seeing Erin standing in the doorway, Helen got up to hug her.

“You know each other?” Neev asked.

“We met through Troy,” Erin said. “I’m a virologist, and Helen is …”

“Was,” Helen said.

“Once an internationally renowned theoretical physicist, always an internationally renowned theoretical physicist,” Stefan said.

“Stefan!” Erin said. “I’m so glad to see you.”

Erin looked from Helen to Stefan.

“Did you?” Erin asked.

Helen held up her ring.

“Yea!” Erin said. “Sami! Helen and Stefan are engaged again!”

Samantha came into the dining room to hug Helen.

“You know Samantha, too?” Neev asked.

“Our parents are friends,” Samantha said. “And, of course, Troy’s been a fixture at our house forever.”

“You knew about Stefan?” Helen asked.

Samantha and Erin nodded.

“Troy told us,” Samantha said. “When you moved here.”

Helen nodded.

“Are you here …?” Erin gestured to Neev.

“Alex said she thought Neev could help me,” Helen said. “I have to talk to my dad … and … He’s evil.”

Stefan put his arm around Helen’s shoulder.

“I need to speak to the Senator,” Samantha said. “He drugged me and … used me … and …”

Samantha shook her head.

“Next week, I have to go to Guantanamo Bay to talk to my horrible ex-boyfriend,” Erin said. “He’s the reason I have a fake nose and plastic cheekbones and capped teeth and …”

“Alex wants us to see what we can do together,” Neev said. “Eoin has already developed something that might work.”

“First, you have to eat breakfast,” Hector James said.

“It’s the most important meal of the day,” John said.

He came in holding the twins. Erin grabbed Joey, and Samantha took Máire from him. He sat down next to Paddie. Hector James sat next to John, and Hermes next to him. Cian came in with Ooljee on his shoulders. Ooljee went to sit with Paddie. Their similar ages and temperaments made them close cousins. Paddie moved over, so Ooljee could share his chair.

“Where’s Grace?” John asked.

“She went to school, so I could focus on what we’re doing with Neev,” Erin said.

“Grace got to go to school?” Paddie asked. “How come I don’t get to go to school?”

“Katy’s not at school, love,” Neev said.

“Oh, never mind,” Paddie said.

They settled into eating. Eoin came in the back door and slipped into a chair next to Cian. With her head down, Helen peeked at the people around the table. She felt Stefan lean into her.

“You okay?” he said in her ear.

“Yeah,” Helen smiled. “I think I am.”

FFFFFF

Thursday evening
May 19 — 5:55 p.m. CEST (8:55 a.m. MDT)
Paris, France

Alex closed the door to the room they’d drawn — Raz’s bedroom. Trece and White Boy had drawn Alex’s room, and Zack and Cliff had Max’s room. They had sent Matthew on his way to his honeymoon in Hawaii around midday. The rest of the team had pushed the furniture in the main room to the side and were planning on sleeping in the middle. Everyone was having a great time. Alex smiled.

She’d spent the last three hours in a meeting with British and French Intelligence. No one was sure what had happened today. CNN ran with a story of the upset caused by a joint French-American military exercise performed in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The other news services followed their lead. There was a lively debate on the safety of such urban military exercises on the political talk shows. To Alex’s surprise, the world had bought the story, and still, no one in intelligence was sure how their wires got crossed.

Alex went to the bedside table and began unloading her pockets. She took out the pocket computer Sergeant Dusty had given her, a yellow pencil, and a piece of paper with a note from Dom. She balled up the note and threw it in the trash. From her other pocket, she removed her identification badge, a set of keys, and the cufflinks and ring she’d gotten from the bookstore. Scowling, she bent down to pick Dom’s note from the trash. She smoothed out the wrinkles and set it with the rest of her junk. She set her Leatherman Freestyle knife on the table. She removed her Glock 9 MM from her sacrum holster. She checked that the safety was on and the chamber empty. She removed the clip and set the weapon on the table.

She was about to take off her pants when she felt something in the back pocket. She took out the odd metal point that Margaret had found. She held the piece up to the light. It looked solid and sturdy. She set the metal point next to the cufflinks and went into the bathroom. This was her designated time to receive her senior-officer privilege of a hot shower. When she saw the bathtub, she changed her plan. Turning the water on for a bath, she sat down on the toilet.

The metal point weighed on her mind. Was it the key? Where did it come from? Why had the mysterious Eloise Le Grande been so weird about the metal point? And the cufflinks? And the ring? And Raz’s watch?

Alex flushed the toilet and went back into the bedroom. Sitting down on the bed, she looked at the cufflinks. The metal bar was too thin to hold an actual cloth cuff. She picked up a cufflink and the metal point. She threaded the cufflink through a small hole near the square end of the metal point and swiveled the bar into place. The cufflink was a perfect fit. She threaded the other cufflink through the second hole. The metal point now had two small compass roses facing one side and the bars from the cufflinks on the other.

Alex picked up the ring. The ring was small, possibly a child’s ring. The compass rose was delicately etched into a flat gold piece on the top of the ring. The band was also gold. Unless her grandfather had been very small, he could not have worn this ring. She slipped the ring over the half-inch metal piece on the end of the point. The ring fit perfectly.

She held up the point to look at it more closely. With the addition of the ring, the metal point held three small versions of the compass rose and eye. Setting the point down, she went to the pile of stuff Raz had taken out of his pockets when he’d showered. She picked up the pocket watch and brought it back to her side of the bed. As she’d suspected, the watch fit perfectly into the hole in the middle of the metal point.

“What the hell?” Alex asked out loud.

It was only then that she remembered the book. She went to Raz’s side of the bed and found the book on top of the dresser. She sat down on the edge of the bed and flipped through the vellum pages. The book was line after line of Linear A. Shaking her head, she carried the book to the cartographer’s tool kit and slipped it into the slot. The book clearly belonged with the case.

She went to her dresser and took Ben’s directional compass from her drawer. She tried it in the cartographer’s tool case. It fit perfectly, as if the case had been created for this compass. Puzzled, Alex shook her head.

As fascinating as this mystery was, Alex did not want to miss out on her chance to take a bath. She closed the case and set the cartographer’s tool set down next to the bedside table. She finished undressing in the bathroom.

Before stepping into the bath, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her left hip remained a horror show of scars and shrapnel. The surgical scars on her left forearm, where she’d broken her arm and then survived sepsis, were pale in color and almost unnoticeable. She had a large purple bruise on her left leg from when the SUV had hit the police cruiser. The more recent knife scar and subsequent surgical scars on her right chest were red and looked as inflamed as they felt. Anxiety and a strict exercise regimen kept her bone thin. She put her hands on her protruding hips. Since working on Linear A, she’d lost all the weight she’d gained in the last few years. She looked like a skeleton. Shaking her head at herself, she stepped into the warm bath.

The warm water embraced her. She slid down until her head was underwater. For a moment, she let the quiet warmth invade her sore and tired body. She stayed underwater until her lungs ached and she longed for breath. She pushed her way out of the bathtub only to find that she was not alone in the bathroom.

Zack’s girlfriend Bestat was sitting on the end of the tub. She was impeccably dressed in a linen skirt and light-blue silk blouse. Her long black hair was in a single braid down her back. Her almond-shaped auburn eyes, with their long eyelashes, had the most delicate touches of makeup. Even in this bathroom setting, she was stunning.

“Bestat,” Alex said.

“You must leave Paris tonight,” Bestat said.

“What?” Alex sat up in the bathtub. “Why?”

“Ji Song, son of Steve Pershing and Song Fong, has been arrested for treason,” Bestat said. “We have arranged for him and his mother to stay with my kin. The government of China has agreed to let you, and only you, remove Ji and Fong from China. They are telling the press it’s a return courtesy. Did you help them with a hostage situation?”

“A few,” Alex said. “China’s a big country.”

“Well, the government of China would like to avoid scandal,” Bestat said. “The arrest is not personal. They are secretly disbanding his entire team. It seems they ran some missions over the last few years that the Chinese would like full deniability on. His team is being allowed to emigrate as long as they don’t emigrate to the US.”

“Only Ji,” Alex said.

“They can’t prevent him,” Bestat said. “He has dual citizenship.”

“Why are you here?” Alex asked. “In my bathroom?”

“The message came through the Egyptian embassy,” Bestat said. “My diplomatic group has worked out the details of the deal.”

“Why you?” Alex asked.

“I think they are aware of my ties to your team,” Bestat said. “To Steve. If they weren’t already aware, I made them aware. They will turn Ji and Fong over to you. You and your team will travel with my diplomatic team to China. I will brief you on the plane. My kin will ensure your safety in China. You will travel home with us.”

Alex nodded.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Bestat asked.

“What does it mean?” Alex asked.

“You will not have free access to the Mogao Caves,” Bestat said.

“Did I want free access to the Mogao Caves?” Alex asked.

Bestat gave her an exasperated sigh, and Alex smiled.

“My kin works with Fong,” Bestat continued without answering her question. “My kin has arranged for you and your Rasmussen to spend one hour in the caves.”

Alex nodded. Bestat got a towel from the rack and held it out. Alex wrapped herself in the towel. For a brief moment, Bestat was close to her.

“You found the key,” Bestat said in her ear. “You haven’t completed it yet. You still need two more items — one of which you already possess, and the other you will have to find in China, in the caves.”

Alex scowled.

“Keep the key with you at all times,” Bestat said in her ear. “Many humans have died to protect its secrets. I will explain everything. I will. But for now, you must trust me. Fong and Ji’s life depends on it.”

Bestat patted Alex’s shoulder and walked out of the bathroom. Alex scowled at the reflection of Bestat’s back. Every fiber in her being wanted to climb back into the warm tub. Alex sighed and followed Bestat out of the bathroom.

“I was standing …” Alex walked to where Margaret was kneeling.

“ … here,” Alex said. “Jesse was there.”

Raz went to where Alex pointed. Jesse floated to his right.

“He was reading from that book,” Alex held out the book to Raz.

“In the days after Christ’s death in Jerusalem, pilgrims fled to Ultima Thule,” Raz read.

“I said, ‘That’s weird because Ultima Thule is a mythological land,’” Alex said.

“Borders of the known world,” Raz said. “Virgil described it as a far-off land or an unattainable goal.”

“That’s right,” Alex said. “It was on every medieval map. No one knows if it was shorthand for the places they hadn’t explored or if they actually thought it was a place.”

“It’s Sweden, isn’t it, sir?” Margaret asked.

“Norway,” Alex said. “But that’s just a guess. It could have been Sweden or Scandinavia in general. It’s the Latin name for the island of Greenland while ‘Thule’ is Latin for the island of Iceland.”

Alex nodded.

“We bought these books because of that passage,” Alex said. “Read the next line.”

“Christian pilgrims found a safe haven in Ultima Thule,” Raz read. “Christianity blossomed in the safe harbor, and pilgrims went out into the world to spread the Christ’s word. Joseph of Arimathea left Ultima Thule for England, where he consecrated the Chalice Well with a few precious drops of Christ’s blood, which he’d preserved in a tube he wore around his neck.”

“And Jesse said …” Alex started.

“That’s ridiculous,” Jesse said. “Joseph of Arimathea was never in Ultima Thule.”

“What did Jesse say?” Raz asked. His eyes searched her face to see if she was all right.

“Joseph of Arimathea was Jesse’s favorite saint,” Alex said. “He knew everything about him. We went to every known site, including the Chalice Well. Jesse said that he was never in Ultima Thule, Norway, Scandinavia, Greenland, or whatever. He was dubious about the Chalice Well story, too.”

“It’s a long way from Jerusalem, where he’s buried,” Raz said.

Alex nodded. She turned around to look at the alcove and then turned back to Raz.

“Check and see if this is right,” Alex said. “The book says that Joseph of Arimathea went on to what is now Afghanistan and started a church in the valley where Nazo and Emal were raised.”

Raz read the book. He looked at Alex and nodded.

“We bought these books,” Alex said. “There’s something in this bee book about that valley, too.”

“Had you been …?”

“No,” Alex said. “That’s the thing. We’d never been to the valley. A year or so after we found these, we were in Afghanistan looking for someone who’d been kidnapped in Pakistan. Because Jesse wanted to find this church, we went to that valley and met Nazo’s father, the twins’ grandfather. He kept bees.”

Alex looked at Raz.

“The border at that time was almost non-existent. People moved back and forth at will. There were enormous Pashtun refugee camps in Pakistan left over from the Russian war. The camps served as home base for every kind of tribal commerce — legal and illegal. We needed a place to gather intel, and Nazo’s father welcomed us. He’d heard about the work we’d done in the tribal areas and wanted to help. He was so proud of his family, his land … Emal, the doctor, and his amazing Nazo. That’s what he called her.”

Alex gave a sad smile.

“He was a wonderful man,” Alex nodded.

“Did you find the church?” Raz asked.

“We found something,” Alex said. “Nazo’s father showed it to us. He loved Jesse.”

Alex smiled at the thought. Then she scowled. She cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment.

“I think Farooq is the one who was kidnapped,” Alex said.

“What?” Raz put his hands on his hips in disbelief.

“Joseph?” Alex asked.

Joseph stuck his head out from an alcove.

“Did we stay at Nazo’s father’s farm while we were looking for Farooq?” Alex asked.

“We did,” Joseph said. “Jesse wanted to see if he could find one of his beloved churches. Something about Joseph of Arimathea, not Jesus’s father, and … I don’t know what else. Churches.”

Joseph shook his head and shrugged.

“But it was Farooq?” Alex asked.

“It was,” Joseph nodded.

“Thank you,” Alex said.

“Sure.” Joseph pointed back into the alcove, and she nodded.

“Huh,” Jesse said. “It was Farooq.”

“Weird, huh?” Alex nodded. “And that map? The one we’re looking for? It’s a map of Ultima Thule. We found all three on the same day. We couldn’t afford the map.”

“The map’s got to be here,” Jesse said.

“That map has to be here,” Alex said. “We have the books …”

“How did these books get here?” Raz asked. “No one has had access to your books. No one. What the hell is this place?”

Alex looked at Raz. He looked furious, which meant that he was afraid for her.

“We need to leave,” Raz said. “Now.”

“We have a map of Ultima Thule over here,” Colin said.

Alex moved toward Colin’s voice.

“I don’t like this,” Raz said. “Not one bit. It feels like a set-up.”

“A set-up?” Alex asked.

“We conveniently find everything we could possibly hope to find,” Raz said. “We find a connection to bees, a connection to Nazo’s valley, the cartographer’s tool set …”

“The bookstore assistant has disappeared,” Joseph said.

“French Intelligence is nowhere to be found,” Matthew said.

“That can only mean …” Raz said.

“They’re coming for us,” Alex said in a low voice.

“I agree with Rasmussen,” Trece said. “We’re sitting ducks here. They can get us when we leave. They can get us inside this fucking store. We can’t get to our vehicles without exposing ourselves.”

“We’ve been set up,” Raz said.

Joseph looked up at Trece and then glanced at Alex. She caught his eyes, and nodded.

“Lock and load, ladies,” White Boy yelled from the back door. “We’ve got company.”

“Who came up with the plan?” Alex asked.

“Sir,” Vince said. “Leena and I have developed a strategic defense plan which …”

“Sir?” Margaret asked in an uncharacteristically loud voice.

Vince turned to look at her. Margaret’s entire face was red with a flush.

“That thing I found,” Margaret said. She held up what looked a two-inch-by-four-inch piece of golden-colored metal. “That Eloise Le Grande said to hold onto it — that we might need it.”

“You,” Alex pointed to Vince and Leena. “You have command. Set up. Rasmussen and I will follow this lead. Colin, bring me the map.”

“You heard the Fey,” Joseph said.

“Let’s do this thing,” Matthew said.

A laser beam appeared in a gloomy corner of the store.

“GET DOWN!” Alex yelled.

The team dropped onto their bellies only a second before bullets shattered the glass windows and tore through the door and walls. Alex and Raz dropped down next to Margaret and MJ. Shots followed any movement in the room.

“These are pros!” Matthew yelled.

“Looks like French military,” Trece said.

“Stay down,” Joseph said.

“They’re firing in a military pattern,” Trece said regarding the shooters’ tendency to fire two rounds in quick succession.

“Sir!” Margaret yelled.

Alex looked at Margaret. There was a loud crash as White Boy pushed a bookshelf over to hold the door closed.

“She spoke to me in Navajo,” Margaret said. “Good, clear Navajo, like my grandmother’s Navajo.”

“Do you have the object?” Alex asked.

Margaret held out a pointed piece of gold-colored metal. The pointed end seemed to be an exact match to the point of the compass rose in the floor. There was a round hole near one end of the metal. There were two small holes about a quarter of an inch from the non-pointed end. There was an inch-by-half-inch piece of the same metal attached to the non-point end of the metal. Alex reached into her pocket, and her head rose off the ground. Raz’s hand pushed her back down. Two rounds nipped the edge of her jacket as they flew over her.

“Stay down,” Vince said. “We haven’t set the perimeter yet.”

Alex looked toward his voice. He, Leena, Royce, and Trece were working moving furniture and bookshelves to secure the building. Colin was moving from team member to team member to make sure everyone was all right. White Boy was building a defensive station out of books. Colin yelped, and Alex looked in his direction. His right arm had been grazed by a bullet.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” Colin yelled.

MJ belly-crawled over to Colin’s location to wrap his arm. Alex tapped Raz, and he looked at her.

“What is it?” Margaret asked.

“It’s a key of some kind,” Alex said. “Do you mind if I hold on to this?”

Margaret shook her head. Alex tucked the metal object into her pocket.

“Move!” Trece said.

Alex, Margaret, and Raz belly-crawled away from the wall. From where they were, she saw that Vince, Leena, White Boy, and Trece had built defensible positions in the open bookstore. White Boy belly-crawled over to them. Pressing himself against the bookshelf, he knocked the books off the shelf at the end of the alcove under which MJ had found the maps. Trece belly-crawled to him and joined him in knocking the books off. Together, they moved the shelf away from the wall, exposing the small cinder block room with no windows where MJ had found the maps.

“Sir,” Vince pointed to the room.

“I’ll stay to …” Alex started.

“Rasmussen,” Vince said. “Get the Fey into the room.”

“Cover me!” Raz said.

“You heard the man!” Vince said. “Troy — over here.”

He pointed to a position behind a bookcase near the back door. Troy scrambled to the door. He set up his MK 12 Mod 0 sniper-enhanced machine gun. Troy looked through the scope to see who was out back.

“Jakker, keep him loaded,” Vince said.

“Done,” Zack belly-crawled to where Troy had set up.

“I see … at least thirteen combatants,” Troy said. “You want me to take them.”

“Not yet,” Vince said. “Leena, take the front.”

Currently their second-best sharpshooter, Leena belly-crawled to the station near the front door. She took out her Mark 12 Mod 0 sniper-enhanced machine gun.

“Cliff!” Vince said.

“On it, sir,” Cliff moved to help keep Leena’s weapon loaded.

“Rasmussen, why haven’t you …” Vince started.

“You need my guns,” Alex yelled.

“Sir, we have another fifteen combatants on this end,” Leena said. “And sir, they arrived in what look like French military vehicles.”

“No,” Vince yelled. “I need you to get ahold of French Intelligence. I need Rasmussen to negotiate a truce, and I need Sergeant Dusty to call in help. Now get into the safe room.”

“Olivas, Carmichael,” Vince said. “Engage. Return fire. Non-lethal only. If this is French military, we don’t want to start an international incident. You copy?”

“Return non-lethal fire only,” Troy said at the same time Leena said, “Return non-lethal fire, sir.”

Troy and Leena began firing their rifles.

Hunched over, Raz grabbed Alex’s right arm, and Sergeant Dusty grabbed her left. They dragged her into the room.

“Trece — with Carmichael,” Vince said. “White Boy — with Olivas.”

Trece set down the sixteen-pound M249 SAW he’d been carrying next to Leena and began firing. White Boy set up station next to Troy.

Alex moved to get up.

“I’m a Green Beret, God damn it!” Alex yelled at Raz.

“So am I, sir,” Sergeant Dusty said. “But command asked us to connect to the authorities.”

Alex scowled at Sergeant Dusty, and he gave her one of his “You’re acting crazy” smiles. She shook her head.

“They have to believe that someone will lead when they can’t,” Raz said. “They need you in here.”

Alex looked out. Vince had assigned the rest of the team to positions around the shop. They were taking non-lethal fire and returning the same. Glass, metal, and cinder flew through the air along with bullets.

“Something is not right here,” Alex said. “I’m calling Dom.”

“Incoming!” Trece yelled.

Three flash-bang canisters flew into the shop. The team had just enough time to look away before they went off. Their eyes were protected from the flash by their sunglasses, but their ears took a beating. The canisters began to smoke.

“Dom!” Alex yelled into her cell phone.

“Where the fuck are you?” Dom asked in an explosion of angry Parisian French. “My men have been looking for you all over the city! You were supposed to …”

“Pick up our vehicles and meet you at the store,” Alex yelled. “That’s the message you left on my cell phone this morning at zero-three hundred hours.”

“What?” Dom asked.

“We met your men and the shop assistant at the store,” Alex said. “Your assistant was here.”

“No, you did not, because the fucking shop assistant is fucking sitting right next to me,” Dom said. “My fucking assistant is out right now looking for you. Where are you?”

“We’re at the store!” Alex yelled.

“God damn it,” Dom said.

The phone went silent. A few seconds later, the chaos in the store ended.

“They’ve stopped firing!” Matthew yelled.

“Hold!” Vince yelled.

The only sound in the store was the hiss of gas from the flash-bomb grenades.

“Dom?” Alex asked into her cell phone.

Raz looked over at her. He was on his cell phone to the Paris police. She glanced at Sergeant Dusty who was on the phone to US European Command. She shrugged.

“Alex?” Troy asked. “Your uncle is walking across the back parking lot. Would you like me to shoot him?”

“Wing him a little,” Trece said. “Fucker.”

Alex got up from the floor of the little room and walked into the store. All of the windows were gone. Glass and brick fragments littered the wood floor. She stepped over the grenades and walked to what had been the back door.

“Oncle Dominic,” Alex yelled to Dom from the door. She held her arms open wide as if he were coming to visit her at her summer cottage. “Comment allez-vous?”

He scowled at her but kept walking in her direction.

“We got word that a combat military team had taken over the store,” Dom said. “After the arson attempts, French command assumed, I assumed …”

“Bonjour Oncle Dominic!” Alex said and attempted to hug him.

Shaking his head, Dom scowled at her.

“They looked in at you,” Dom said. “You could have indicated who you were, and …”

“You didn’t honestly expect that, upon seeing laser targeting from military weapons, a combat-ready military team would pass out flowers and sing songs, did you?” Alex asked.

Dom scowled at her.

“You told us to come dressed like this,” Alex said. “’Come armed to the teeth,’ you said. ‘Look like American thugs,’ you said.”

Dom’s scowl darkened.

“‘Shake something loose,’ you said,” Alex said.

“Yes, but I never said to meet us at the store,” Dom said. “That message is not from me.”

“Then why was your assistant here?” Alex asked.

“Since you killed the last one, I’m not sure which assistant you mean,” Dom said.

Stunned by his cruelty, Alex’s mouth dropped open. She shook her head at him.

“Fuck you,” Alex said. “Fey Team, clear out. Let’s leave the French to their own problems.”

“Your vehicles have been disabled,” Dom said.

“Mine haven’t,” Sergeant Dusty pointed to the helicopters hovering in the parking lot. Sergeant Dusty said into his cell phone, “Yes, sir, it looks like it was a miscommunication between intelligence officers. That’s correct, sir.”

Sergeant Dusty gave Dom a dirty look.

“French Intelligence screwed up,” Sergeant Dusty said into his phone. “Yes, sir, I will, sir.”

Sergeant Dusty looked at Alex.

“They want you to call,” Sergeant Dusty said.

Alex gave Dom a curt nod and followed the team out the back door. Vince, Matthew, and Joseph waited for her at one of the US Air Force Pave Hawk helicopters, while the rest of the team got into the second.

“We need to talk,” Matthew said.

Alex nodded to the helicopter and got inside. Matthew and Sergeant Dusty followed her inside. Raz and Joseph got in, and Trece stepped inside last. Trece was just closing the door when Dom tried to get onto the helicopter. Trece sneered at him and looked at Alex. She thought for a moment before giving a slight nod. Trece let Dom onto the helicopter. Matthew moved over, so Dom could sit next to Alex. He sat down, Trece closed the door, and the helicopter took off.

“What the hell, Dom?” Alex asked in French.

“‘What the hell’ is right,” Dom said. “What are we going to tell the world?”

“Training exercise,” Alex said.

“No one was injured?” Dom asked.

“Colin was wounded.”

“Oh, Christ,” Dom said in French. “That’s going to start World War Rebecca.”

“You know it,” Alex said. “Any of your men?”

“No,” Dom said. “Thank you for that. They noted the special care taken not to wound or injure them. I should have thought … I didn’t.”

“I got that,” Alex said.

She smiled, and he chuckled.

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know what happened,” Dom said. “We have been looking for you. You can ask your command because they have been looking for you.”

Alex nodded to Raz. He took out his cell phone and played the message they’d received from Dom last night. Dom shook his head.

“It’s not me,” Dom said.

“We were instructed to go down to the US Embassy, pick up vehicles, and meet you at the bookstore,” Alex said. “We did just that.”

“We went to the apartment to pick you up,” Dom said.

“At the bookstore, we found your assistant,” Alex said. She looked at Raz and asked, “Do you remember his name?”

“Frenchy?” Raz said.

“Frenchy?” Dom asked.

“Something like that,” Raz said.

“Frenchy … French …” Dom repeated. “You mean Françoise.”

“That’s it,” Raz said. “He told us to call him Françy. I never got the hang of the pronunciation.”

“Yes, I see that,” Dom said. “He doesn’t work for me anymore. He left our agency … three years ago, maybe more.”

“He was at the store,” Alex said. “He was with a woman who said she was the bookstore owner’s assistant. I’ve never seen her before. Who did you have with you?”

“The girl who worked for the bookstore owner,” Dom said. “She said she talked to Raz this week.”

Raz nodded.

“We got a call,” Dom said. “A neighbor, I think, but I’d have to check. They said they saw an armed military team breaking into the bookstore. The store is in a residential neighborhood. The caller said there were terrorists setting to explode the store. We arrived and saw military and …”

Dom shrugged.

“You failed the exercise,” Alex said.

“Obviously,” Dom said. “Did you get what you were looking for?”

“We found some maps,” Alex shrugged. “We found some books that belonged to me and my Weapons Sergeant, Jesse Abreu. We purchased them in the store years before the assault. To my knowledge, they were in the vault.”

“That’s disturbing,” Dom said.

“Yes,” Alex said. “It’s been a disturbing morning.”

Dom nodded.

“If you don’t mind,” Alex said, “I think we’ll have them drop us at the apartment.”

She nodded to Sergeant Dusty, and he got up to relay the information to the pilots.

“I’ll talk to NATO and US European Command,” Dom said.

“Let me know what I need to do,” Alex said.

“Is Colin going to be all right?” Dom asked.

“Just a scratch,” Alex said.

Dom nodded.

“She’s still going to kill you,” Alex said.

“I know,” Dom said. “I might not survive it this time.”

“Damn straight,” Alex laughed, and Dom smiled.

“Listen, we’re looking into Philippe’s suicide,” Alex said. “We have some questions which need answering.”

“For the record, I never thought he killed himself,” Dom said. “I was still living at home, going to Notre Dame.”

“Who found him?”

“Our mother,” Dom said. “I called the police.”

Alex nodded.

“Why would someone murder Philippe?” Dom asked.

“We think it’s possible they were trying to remove Ben from service,” Alex said. “Stop him from doing whatever he was doing.”

“What was he doing?” Dom asked.

“He doesn’t remember,” Alex said. “Philippe’s death blocked out everything else.”

“I’ll see what we have,” Dom said. “Do you need my permission to exhume Philippe?”

“Do I?” Alex asked. The helicopter banked and landed on the helipad of the apartment building.

“Yes,” Dom said. “I am the executor of his estate.”

“Raz is taking the case,” Alex said. “You’ll hear from him.”

“Good,” Dom nodded.

They got up and walked off the helicopter. The helicopter with the team landed on the roof nearby. They weren’t there more than a minute before a small black helicopter came to pick up Dom. Without saying another word, he stepped onto the helicopter and was gone.

“What now?” Matthew asked.

“Lunch?” Alex shook her head to indicate that she had no idea what was next.

Matthew nodded and dismissed the team. Still carrying their heavy weapons, they clomped down the stairs to Alex, Max, and Raz’s apartment below.

F

Jesse looked as distressed as she felt. She blinked.

The French Intelligence officers stepped out of their vehicle.

“Lieutenant Colonel?” said the man Alex recognized as one of Dom’s assistants.

“Oui,” Alex said. She put her hand to her lower back. The antique book was still there.

“We are ready to open the bookstore,” Dom’s assistant said in Parisian French.

“Where is Eloise Le Grande?” Alex asked.

He motioned to something behind her. Alex and Raz turned to see an elderly woman shuffle toward them. Eloise Le Grande had returned to her elderly form. This time, she came right up to Alex.

“I’m so glad you made it, dear,” Eloise Le Grande said in clear Parisian French. She took Alex’s hands. “I was heartbroken when I heard about your friends. I’m so grateful you survived.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Alex said out of years of military practice.

Eloise Le Grande patted Alex’s hands and shuffled to the bookstore. Alex, Jesse, and Raz followed.

“Let’s take a look and see if we can find that map,” Eloise Le Grande continued speaking in Parisian French.

This time, she threw the door open and waited there. Trece and White Boy went into the building to ensure it was safe while Alex, Jesse, and Raz stood to the side. Eloise Le Grande went in the bookstore only after Trece and White Boy gave the all-clear.

Alex waited for her entire team and the French Intelligence to go into the bookstore before stepping through the door. Following her lead, Raz stayed at her side. Raz entered the shop, looked around, and then indicated that it was safe for Alex to enter.

This time, she stepped into the shop she remembered. The oak shelves were vibrant tan in color, with rose tints. The yellow sun glinted off multicolored books. The warm morning light splashed upon the rich-brown parquet floors. Alex walked to where she’d seen the compass rose. Now that color had returned, she could see only the faintest lines of the compass rose detailing. She knelt down to touch it. The compass rose was virtually invisible to the naked eye.

Inside the shop, Eloise Le Grande had the Fey team looking through every bin and under every cabinet. Trece stood guard at the front door, while White Boy guarded the back door.

“We are looking for any maps,” Eloise Le Grande said as she walked from room to room in the shop. “If you find one, bring it to the front so Ms. Hargreaves can take a look.”

Eloise Le Grande looked at Alex and smiled.

“May as well get all these young people to do the dirty work,” Eloise Le Grande winked at Alex.

Alex gave an involuntary shudder.

“I think I found something,” Troy said in French.

“Good, good,” Eloise Le Grande said as she rushed off to take a look. “That’s very good.”

Alex and Raz stood in place. Alex looked at Jesse, who shook his head. He had no idea what was going on, either.

“You look like you don’t feel well,” Raz said in Irish Gaelic. “Shall we head back?”

“It’s just weird to be back here,” Alex replied in Irish Gaelic. “Did we ever come here?”

“A couple of times,” Raz said. “You were always looking for unique maps. Jesse wanted to know about churches.”

“And you?” Alex asked.

“I’d follow you to the ends of the earth,” Raz said.

“There was a girl who worked here …” Alex squinted. “Small waist, large …”

Alex held her hands a foot in front of her.

“A gentleman never discusses …” Raz started and laughed.

“I wonder where she is,” Alex said.

“Cote d’Azur,” Raz said. “When I realized we were coming here, I looked her up.”

“They didn’t bring her back?” Alex asked.

Raz shrugged.

“Odd,” Alex said.

“Oh, yes — this is lovely,” Eloise Le Grande’s voice came from near the back of the store. “Bring it up, dear.”

“Did you notice …?” Alex pointed to the floor.

Raz knelt down. His fingers ran over the surface of the compass rose.

“Proposing? In the middle of a bookstore?” Zack said to Raz as he came in the door to the shop.

“Kneeling down before my queen,” Raz said.

Zack dropped to his knees. Laughing, Raz got up and helped Zack up.

“Sorry I’m late,” Zack said. “I was on the phone with the lawyer when Bestat came in. She came as soon as she heard about Tina and the kids.”

Zack smiled at the idea that his life partner would come all this way for him.

“What’s a rider?” Alex asked.

Zack flashed her an odd look and then covered it with a scowl.

“I have no idea …” Zack started. Just then, Eloise Le Grande came from the back. She smiled at Zack and zipped into another alcove. “Why is there a dragon here?”

“A what?” Alex asked.

“That woman … she’s … uh …”

“She called you a rider,” Alex said.

“It’s a long story,” Zack said. He shifted uncomfortably.

“We have time,” Raz said.

Jesse created a small ball of energy and sent it in Zack’s direction. Zack jerked as if he’d been shocked. He sneered in the direction of where he thought Jesse was standing. Jesse laughed.

“What’s a rider?” Alex asked.

“There are certain people who …” Zack started. He scowled. “I guess it’s genetic.”

“Your father?”

“His father,” Zack said. “A rider is a dragon rider. We can ride dragons. In modern times, most of us are pilots. Human. We each have a desperate longing for the wide-open sky and very little fear. There’re two other guys on the U-2 corps who are riders. The Wright Brothers were, for sure. I’ve met a couple women riders. I guess there are more women riders than men.”

“And this woman?” Raz asked. “This Eloise Le Grande?”

“I’ve never met her,” Zack said. “She’s definitely one of them. Not as old as Bestat, of course, but there aren’t many that are. This … what did you call her?”

“Eloise Le Grande,” Alex said.

“She’s not young,” Zack said. “She’s powerful. Dangerous. Who is she?”

“She’s supposed to be the bookshop assistant,” Alex said. “I’ve never met her before.”

Zack nodded.

“That’s got to be why Bestat is here,” Jesse said in Spanish.

“Is it possible Bestat came here because of …?” Alex gestured to Eloise Le Grande.

“I love the woman,” Zack shrugged. “I don’t try to fathom why she does one thing or the other. I make up stories that it’s about me, but your guess is as good as mine.”

“Are we in danger?” Raz asked.

“Nah,” Zack shook his head. “I mean, I don’t think so. Do you?”

Alex shook her head at Zack. He pointed toward the back of the store and wandered in that direction. As he passed the shelf-lined middle alcove, Eloise Le Grande came out, carrying a brown leather-wrapped box that looked something like a briefcase. Raz gave Alex a worried look.

“That handsome young man …”

“That was me!” Royce said from the end of the alcove.

The team laughed.

“Yes, Royce Tubman found this inside a bench,” Eloise Le Grande said. “I thought you’d like to see it.”

She held out the box to Alex, and Raz stepped in front of Alex. Eloise Le Grande laughed. She leaned into Raz and said something in a low tone. Raz was so surprised that he stepped back.

“It’s just a little cartography tool set,” Eloise Le Grande said in a louder voice. She patted Raz’s chest. “I thought our cartographer would love it.”

Eloise Le Grande went to the front counter. With her forearm, she cleared the miscellaneous flyers, mail, and remnants of bookstore business onto the floor. She set the box down on the dusty countertop.

“Ma’am?” Eloise Le Grande waved Alex over to come to the counter.

Alex glanced at Raz. His brows were furrowed, and he was lost in thought. Feeling her gaze, his eyes flicked in her direction. A smile started in his eyes and worked its way across his face. She smiled in return.

“Ms. Hargreaves?” Eloise Le Grande asked.

“You’ve got to see this,” Jesse said in Spanish.

Alex touched Raz’s arm and went to the counter. Raz moved in behind her. Eloise Le Grande flipped up the metal latches. The case opened on brass hinges set into the leather on one side. Eloise Le Grande smiled at Alex and allowed the two sides of the case to fall into her hands. In the center of the case, over the hinges, was the now-familiar sixteen-point compass rose with its eye in the center.

The case was padded on the inside with slots to snugly hold a set of metal cartographer’s tools. One side of the case held drafting tools, including a ruling pen and an empty ink bottle. There was a metal ruler on the side and a T-square near the bottom. There was another caliper as well as a slot for the caliper Alex had in her safe. The same side of the case held an astrolabe for determining the locations of stars. The tools were gorgeously detailed with roses and stars around the top and the sixteen-point compass rose with the eye on the side.

On the other side of the case, there was both a mariner’s astrolabe and a sextant. Both used in navigation of ships, it held the practical tools of navigation, including a lead and line.

“What a shame,” Eloise Le Grande said and pointed to the box. “The directional compass is gone. Looks like it’s been missing for a long, long time.”

Alex looked up at her. She was tempted to tell the woman-dragon, or whatever she was, that the compass had been in Ben’s safe for all these years. But her natural reticence to talk kept her from saying a word. The elderly woman gave her a bright smile.

“Gosh, the book is gone as well.” Eloise Le Grande pointed to a slot behind the drafting tools. “That’s a shame. I wonder what it was.”

“Notebook of some kind, I’d guess,” Alex said.

“Was that common?” Eloise Le Grande asked.

Wondering what the woman was asking, Alex gave her a puzzled look. Eloise Le Grande smiled.

“Common?” Alex asked. “I’d guess so. Most of these kits came with a journal to write on. We’d have to take this to an expert to find out how old the set was. That would determine whether the book was in calfskin or in paper. Then it depends on how the book was stored as to whether it would be readable now.”

Alex nodded.

“Any idea who this belonged to?” Alex asked.

“Why the bookstore owner, of course,” Eloise Le Grande said. “I’m sure it was a family heirloom.”

Alex felt Raz’s hand on the small of her back. Feeling the book, he slipped it out from under her shirt and tucked it into his back pants pocket. Alex shifted toward him for comfort.

“Thank you for sharing this with us, Ms. Le Grande,” Raz said.

Eloise Le Grande smiled.

“Too bad it’s missing a few items.” Eloise Le Grande’s fingers touched the spot where Alex’s caliper and Ben’s compass would go. “This is a very useful set. But only when it’s complete and used together.”

Alex smiled.

“Oh look,” Eloise Le Grande said. She gestured to the inside of the glass counter the cartographer’s set was sitting on. “Isn’t that the same symbol?”

Alex bent over to get a better look. Raz knelt down. A man’s ring with the compass rose and distinctive eye was sitting on a shelf. Surprised, Alex took a quick breath. The cufflinks sat next to the ring.

“May I take a look at that watch?” Raz asked.

He pointed to what looked like an antique, gold-covered pocket watch. The watch’s gold cover had a multi-colored gold image of the compass rose and eye.

“You have good taste,” Eloise Le Grande said.

She went around the cabinet and took out the antique pocket watch. Raz gave Alex a soft smile. He turned the watch over to show that the compass rose design was duplicated on the back in the same multicolored gold. In the center of the eye was an empty monogram space. Raz pressed the stem, and the cover opened to show a simple watch face with a smaller dial for the second hand.

“Wind it,” Eloise Le Grande said. “It keeps time. Not perfect time, but you know how these antiques can be.”

Raz nodded. He wound the watch and then held it to his ear to listen to it tick. He smiled.

“Are we able to purchase items from the store?” Alex asked. “I’d love to get the ring and cufflinks for my father, and I know Agent Rasmussen would love to add this watch to his collection.”

“I don’t see why not,” Eloise Le Grande said. “I can write them up right here …”

Vince hooted, and Leena cheered.

“We found some maps!” Margaret yelled.

The team cheered.

“Looks like they found something important,” Eloise Le Grande said. “Why don’t you hang onto these?”

She set the cufflinks and ring in Alex’s hand.

“For safe keeping,” Eloise Le Grande said. “Keep the watch, too, Agent Rasmussen. You never know what could happen.”

Raz looked confused, but stuck the watch in his pocket.

“Why don’t you go see what they found?” Eloise Le Grande asked. “I’ll close up the case and be right there.”

Alex and Raz walked to the back of the store, where MJ was lying on his stomach under the bookshelf on the end of the alcove. Alex glanced at the molding where Eloise Le Grande had gone and then back at MJ. A lanky man, MJ’s entire body was under the wide oak bottom shelf. Margaret held onto his bony ankles while Vince and Leena grabbed rolled-up maps from MJ’s finger tips.

“Uh,” Alex gasped and then covered her mouth with her fingers.

Surprised, Margaret, Vince, and Leena looked at her.

“What did we do?” Margaret asked.

“It’s not you,” Colin said as he walked past Alex and Raz to where Margaret was standing. “It’s the maps.”

“The maps?” Vince asked.

Vince held up a rolled-up map and raised a questioning eyebrow. The team had gathered behind Alex and Raz at the end of the alcove.

“They are rolled up.” Colin shook his head. “Very bad. Very bad.”

Colin knelt down.

“Do you see any maps that are not rolled up?” Colin asked.

“They’d be lying flat in a stack,” Alex said.

“Yeah, give me a second to get over there,” MJ said.

“We should check under the bottom shelf of all three alcoves,” Alex said. “It looks like there is a deep space there.”

“You heard the Fey,” Matthew said. “Troy, you work with Colin and Joseph. Royce, you work with Zack and Cliff.”

“Who goes under?” Zack asked.

“Work it out,” Matthew said. “Sergeant Dusty?”

“Sir,” Sergeant Dusty came out from a closet opposite where they were standing.

“Where are we with our search?” Matthew asked.

“We’ve looked everywhere,” Sergeant Dusty said. “We found the cartography tools and this stash of maps. Margaret found … well, we’re not sure what she found. The bookshop assistant said she should hold onto it. We’ve taken a cursory look at the books, but without an idea of what we’re looking for, they’re just old books.”

Matthew nudged Alex with his elbow. He nodded his head to where Jesse was looking at books. Alex walked over to Jesse.

“Did you find something?” Alex asked in a low voice in Spanish.

“I thought I bought this book.” Jesse’s glowing finger pointed to a book on ancient churches. “God, I could swear I own this book. And look, it’s next to …”

He pointed to an old book on beekeeping.

“I’ll be damned,” Alex said.

Alex took the book on beekeeping off the shelf. She flipped through the pages before turning the book over and shaking it. Nothing came out. She took down Jesse’s book on ancient churches and shook it. An index card flew out of the book and skidded across the floor. Raz bent down and picked it up. He looked at the writing and scowled.

“It’s your handwriting,” Raz said. He gave the card to Alex. “How did these books get here?”

Alex shook her head. She looked at the card and scowled.

“What is it?” Raz asked.

“It’s the longitude and latitude of the valley where Nazo, Farooq, Felicia, and Emal lived,” Alex said. “This is the exact location of their home.”

“What?” Raz asked. “Let me see that.”

She gave him the card. He looked at the numbers and nodded.

“This is the location that you used to set up the satellite to make sure the opium dealers don’t move in,” Alex said.

Raz widened his eyes and gave her a firm nod.

“Look in the book of ancient churches,” Jesse said. He jumped up and down. “Look in the …”

Alex picked up the book Jesse had owned. She flipped through to Afghanistan.

“There was an ancient church on that site,” Alex said. Reading from the book, she said, “In the days after Christ’s death in Jerusalem, pilgrims fled to Ultima Thule.”

Alex shook her head.

“What is it?” Raz asked.

“Just this weird feeling of déjà vu,” Alex said.