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A collective sigh and smiles were shared all around. Montana pulled out a chair for Kate and waited while she sank into it. Then he sat beside her. Now that everyone was in and seated around the large table, he had a chance to study the people Fontaine had gathered.
“I want to start by introducing everyone,” Fontaine said. “You’re all to be part of the team in one fashion or another.” He pointed to the man who entered carrying a laptop. “The heart of this group is Geek, our computer guru and all-around technical genius.” The white-haired man waved his hand toward the man helping Geek with wires and switches. “Lance will be working with him in the office or in a communication van, wherever we need him to support the operation.”
Fontaine waved next at a woman Montana knew from their failed attempt to vacation in Cancun, Becca Smith, who worked directly for Fontaine as one of his SOS agents. “Becca Smith has a stake in this operation. Whoever is behind all the assassinations and attempts killed her father and tried to kill her father’s close friend, Oscar Melton. Both of them were top-notch CIA agents working with the congressional Subcommittee on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking and International Operations.”
Turning to his left, Fontaine held his hand out to a nice-looking woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She, too, had been involved in the chaos of Cancun. “Natalie Layne is another SOS agent who has been a part of the ongoing issues we’ve encountered thus far. Her sister was one of the women abducted, with the intent to sell her in a human trafficking ring located out of Cancun, Mexico.”
Fontaine continued around the table. “Besides the SOS operatives, please welcome Kate McKenzie, an agent with the CIA. We’ve also been augmented by six Navy SEALs, on loan to us from Stennis, Mississippi.”
Starting around the room, Fontaine introduced them. “Dutton Callaway, who goes by Duff. Sawyer Houston, Quentin Lovett, Jace Hunter, Cord Schafer, who goes by Rip, and Benjamin Raines, nicknamed after his home state of Montana.”
Montana nodded acknowledgment.
“A six pack of SEALs,” Geek muttered, as he connected the laptop to an Ethernet cable and clicked a remote that lit a projection screen at one end of the long room.
“Are we planning to start a war with all of these people in the room?” Duff, one of Montana’s SEAL teammates, asked.
Fontaine shook his head, his jaw tightening. “No, but by the looks of it, we might be stopping one that’s been going on longer than we knew.” He turned to Geek. “Ready?”
Geek nodded. “Someone get the door.”
Navy SEAL Quentin Lovett, standing near the back of the room, shut the door.
At the same time, Geek clicked a handheld remote control device and the image on his laptop projected onto the screen. He touched the keyboard and the screen filled with a lot of what appeared to be random numbers.
“This is what we have so far,” Fontaine said. “Thanks to Becca’s father, God rest his soul, who knew he was in trouble and might not live to tell about it.”
“All I see are numbers,” Montana pointed out. “Do they represent something?”
“Geek has spent the past week crunching these numbers, trying to decode them, thinking they were a special message.” Fontaine nodded toward him. “Tell them what you discovered.”
“Well, I couldn’t make secret messages out of them, and I was getting really frustrated, until I took a step back and just stared at the groupings. Then it hit me.” He stood and pointed to the wall. “This half of each sixteen-digit number is a date.” He pointed to the other half. “The other eight digits could have been bank accounts, safe-deposit box numbers or anything else in the world. Given that they were all eight digits in length, I made a calculated guess and ran a program, entering them as coordinates.”
He walked back to the computer and clicked another key. A world map replaced the numbers. Bright red dots overlaid the map.
Montana leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, and studied the information depicted on the image.
Geek zoomed in on the map, focusing on Europe. He walked toward the screen again. “On the date for this location, in Paris, France, a terrorist attack took place, killing everyone in a certain restaurant, including Harmon Whitlow, his wife, son and daughter-in-law.”
“I heard about that,” Sawyer said. One of the six SEALs at the table, he knew the most about politics. As the son of a former US Senator, he kept up with the political scene, though he claimed he couldn’t care less.
He always amazed Montana with his insight on what was going on in Washington, DC.
After the fiasco in Cancun, where someone had attempted to kill him and his father, Sawyer had been a little less adamant about his distaste for politics. With his father now in the equivalent of the witness protection program, starting a new life as someone else, Sawyer had volunteered for this mission, determined to find the person or persons responsible for trying to kill them. “Harmon Whitlow was the undersecretary for political affairs in the US State Department,” he stated.
Geek nodded and pointed to another dot, this time on the map of the US. “On this date in New York City, a bomb went off near a set of bleachers during the NYC Marathon. Two people died in that attack, over two hundred people were injured and one went missing.”
“Who?” Kate asked.
“Emily Brantley, daughter of Trevor Brantley, multimillionaire.” Geek pressed a key on the laptop, displaying a photo of a pretty young lady standing between a man in a suit and a well-dressed woman. “She was running the marathon. When the smoke cleared, she was gone. Her bodyguards had been killed not by the bomb, but by bullets that expertly pierced their skulls.”
Montana knew about Brantley’s missing daughter. It had been all over the news, with pleas and a reward posted from the Brantleys for their daughter’s safe return.
Fontaine interjected, “The authorities assumed it was a terrorist bombing by members of ISIS, a copycat of the 2013 attack at the Boston Marathon. We think it was a diversion allowing the bombers to kill the bodyguards and nab the Brantley woman.”
“How soon after the bombing was Trevor Brantley murdered?” Montana asked.
Geek pointed to a larger dot on the map in the vicinity of Washington, DC. “On this date, at this coordinate, less than two weeks later, Trevor Brantley was gunned down in his mansion here.”
Sawyer pointed at the double dots on the Yucatan Peninsula. “Were those the dates and locations of the attempts on my life and my father’s?”
Geek nodded. “Yes. Obviously those attempts weren’t successful.”
Becca Smith, her face pale, asked, “Was one of those dots on the nation’s capital the day my father was killed near his apartment here? Is that why there are more dots in the DC area? Multiple killings?”
Geek’s lips twisted. “The date your father died and the date there was an attempt on his colleague Oscar Melton’s life were both on that list, with the coordinates of the attacks.”
Montana’s teammate Quentin Lovett slipped an arm around Becca’s waist. “We know the connection between Marcus Smith and Oscar Melton. What connection is there between them and all the others?”
“Besides investigating the drug and human trafficking issues worldwide, the two CIA agents were investigating these codes. I can only assume they thought they were connected. Marcus Smith was able to mail the disk containing the information to Becca before he was killed. Oscar Melton is still in critical condition in a coma.”
“We suspect Sawyer’s father, Rand Houston, was targeted because he was on the Subcommittee for Terrorism, Drug Trafficking and International Operations,” Fontaine said. “What we can’t connect is Trevor Brantley and his family to the others. Which leads me to one more introduction, for those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her.” He turned toward the door, smiled and held out his hand. “Perfect timing. Please, come in.”
A woman with long dark hair, wearing a tailored gray skirt suit, stepped into the room. Montana remembered her from their operation to rescue women in Cancun. She’d come undercover as a potential buyer. Montana recognized the man following her as Rex, her bodyguard.
Fontaine took the woman’s hand. “This is Mica Brantley, Trevor Brantley’s widow. Since her husband’s death, she’s made it her mission to find and bring her stepdaughter, Emily Brantley, home.”
Mica nodded at the roomful of people. “Thank you for volunteering for this mission. I won’t rest until Emily is home safe and my husband’s killer is brought to justice.”
“Mrs. Brantley was not in the country on the date her husband was murdered in their home,” Fontaine said. “She’s had multiple attempts made on her life but managed to get here despite her pursuers.”
Mica nodded. “Since Trevor’s death, I’ve lived aboard my yacht and traveled, searching for Emily. I’ll never give up hope of finding her. I love the girl as if she were my own.”
Fontaine nodded. “She’s taken a huge risk to come back to DC, offering herself as bait to catch the killer.”
Mica gave a brief, sad smile. “I’ve spent a lot of money and time searching and thus far haven’t found the source of all the tragedy. Royce has been in contact with me since the incident in Cancun. When he learned about the disk, he thought I should know.” She lifted her chin. “I’m tired of running. If I can put myself up as the target, maybe we can flush out the killer, or catch one of his hit men and interrogate him.”
“That’s a dangerous proposition,” Kate said. “You’re willing to risk your life for this effort?”
“I am.” Mica turned to Fontaine. “With the understanding that, should I die in this attempt, someone continue to look for Emily.”
Fontaine nodded. “We’ll do our best to keep you alive and find Emily.” He glanced around, making eye contact with everyone in the room. “We’re all in this together. We have to stop those behind all the murders and attempted murders in this case.”
As one, everyone in the room nodded.
Montana’s sense of justice refused to let him back down from this mission. He’d seen the women held captive for auction. No woman, or her family, should be subjected to the horror of human trafficking. He wanted to get to the bottom of the case as much as Mica Brantley did.
Montana tipped his head toward the screen, ready to get on with solving the case. “What about the rest of the dates and coordinates?”
“We connected the dots with a couple of ‘accidents,’” Geek said. “Richard Giddings drove off a bridge into the Potomac. He worked with Senator Houston on the same subcommittee. Percy Beardon, an avid cyclist, fell from his bike at this coordinate on the date indicated.”
“What’s the deal on Beardon?” Duff asked.
Fontaine shook his head. “His claim to fame was that he was one of the survivors of the Syrian attack on the US Embassy in Turkey a couple of years ago.”
“Most of the dates are past,” Sawyer said.
“Like notches on a bedpost?” Quentin asked.
Montana’s lips twitched. Trust Quentin to make it about sex. The man was an expert ladies’ man and charmer. At least until he’d met his match. Becca had been good for him. She made him work to woo her. And now that they were in a committed relationship, they were seldom apart.
Montana was glad for his friend. Quentin had needed someone to come home to. He’d settled down and quit going out as much. Too bad they worked so far apart, with Becca based out of Virginia and Quentin out of Mississippi. But then Fontaine didn’t care where his SOS operatives lived, as long as they could deploy at a moment’s notice. Montana suspected Becca would soon base out of Mississippi, to be closer to Quentin when she wasn’t working an assignment.
Familiar with those conditions, Montana didn’t envy Quentin and Becca’s relationship. As often as SBT-22 was deployed, and given the nature of Becca’s work, the two would be hard-pressed to get together on a regular basis, even if she was based out of Mississippi.
Montana had always considered that as long as he was on active duty as a Navy SEAL, he’d be better off steering clear of entanglements. Being a bachelor was the safest bet.
He glanced at his new partner, Kate McKenzie. The woman seemed no-nonsense and decidedly kick-ass. He shouldn’t have a problem sticking to his intent to stay single and emotionally unavailable to women. Especially one who’d tackled him before they’d been properly introduced.
Those steely eyes didn’t inspire him to lose himself in her. Her athletic body and shoulder-length, straight, sandy-blond hair didn’t make him want to run his hand through it to ascertain just how silky the strands were.
Well, maybe just a little. And her eyes were a startling steel-gray, rimmed with a darker pewter outline.
When she’d lain on top of him, protecting him from potential shrapnel, he hadn’t been all that turned on by the rounded swells of her breasts against his chest.
Okay, so maybe he had noticed her breasts. They had been smashed against him for what had felt like an eternity. When he’d rested his hands on her hips, his body had naturally reacted to having a female on top of him. A lot of time had passed since he’d been with a woman.
He turned to study his new partner and frowned. It was so much easier to work with men. They didn’t threaten his determination to remain footloose and single.
Dragging his attention from Kate, he focused on Fontaine. “Most of the dates are past. That means some of them are in the future. Like a schedule of events to come. You agree with that, don’t you?”
Geek and Fontaine nodded simultaneously.
“That’s exactly what we’ve learned,” Fontaine said.
“So how do we fit in with this mission?” Kate asked. “Why did you need me when you had all of these people to run your operation?”
Fontaine faced Montana and Kate. “Becca tells me you are an expert chameleon, able to change your appearance to look like anyone you want.”
Kate shrugged. “I did a lot of theater in high school and college. My skills with makeup came in handy as a field agent with CIA. I had a knack for transforming into whomever I needed to be.” Her lips thinned and her jaw tightened.
Montana noted this little change in her expression. That she spoke in the past tense made him curious. Wasn’t she still an agent in the CIA?
Fontaine nodded and his gaze shifted to Montana. “Raines, your team considers you the best at camouflage and bombs.”
Montana frowned. “Sure. I can blend in with any tree, bush or desert location. But nothing like Kate.”
“Your abilities to blend in were only part of the reason I chose you two for this assignment.” Fontaine waved his hand. “If you could please stand, I’ll show you the other reason.”
Montana stood and held Kate’s chair while she rose as well, her brows pulling together.
“Mrs. Brantley, I’d like you and your bodyguard to please stand by Raines and McKenzie.”
The two complied.
Fontaine smiled. “Perfect. Kate, you’re almost the exact height as Mrs. Brantley. And Raines, you’re pretty close to Rex Masters’s height and build.”
“So?” Montana challenged.
Geek pointed to a dot on the map. “One of the dates indicates tomorrow at the yacht club.”
Fontaine picked up from there. “Mrs. Brantley is listed as keynote speaker at the annual fund-raiser the club sponsors for the children’s hospital.”
“I’ve canceled every other engagement I’ve had since my husband’s death,” Mica said. “This was one I couldn’t. The children’s hospital is near and dear to my heart. After losing my baby to leukemia, I realized how much the hospital does for desperately ill children and their families. I’ll be there.”
“Based on the date and coordinates, someone knows you wouldn’t miss the event,” Fontaine said. “We can’t be certain just who will be targeted, but we wanted to make sure you’re safe. Raines and McKenzie will go as your guests. We created identities for them as newly rich recent members of the yacht club.”
“Are we to supplement Mrs. Brantley’s bodyguard support?” Kate asked.
“Yes, and more,” Fontaine said. “I’ll have several of the other SEALs and some of my agents augmenting the waitstaff at the club.”
Geek added, “We can’t be certain who they will target. Because whoever is orchestrating these attacks doesn’t seem to be going after just the politicians and federal agents...” He paused. “They’re taking out the family members, too.”
Mrs. Brantley’s face paled. “Perhaps I should call and cancel my speech at the fund-raiser. I’d hate for a bomb, targeting me, to take out innocent bystanders.”
“That’s why we’ll have the SEALs and SOS team in place,” Fontaine assured her. “I’ll also have bomb-sniffing dogs make a thorough sweep of the entire building before the event commences, and we’ll have security cordon off the area to keep vehicles from getting close.”
Mrs. Brantley chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t want people hurt because of me.”
“We don’t know who they will be after,” Geek said. “And as far as we can tell, nobody knows we have the list of dates and coordinates.”
Fontaine turned to Montana. “Raines, you and McKenzie will be there not only to protect Mrs. Brantley, you are to watch and listen closely to the people she interacts with. If we determine she is a target, you two might have to take Mrs. Brantley’s and Masters’s places in the DC scene as their doubles for a while.”
Montana exchanged glances with Rex Masters. It made sense that he would replace the man. They were similar in build and he could have his hair lightened to match Masters’s dark blond cropped hair. Kate and Mica were the same height and close to the same build. Mrs. Brantley might have a tinier waist and bigger breasts, but Kate, if she was as good as she said she was, could make her face up to look just like Mica’s. Colored contacts would help match Mica’s dark brown irises.
“Why aren’t you using your SOS agents instead of the SEALs?” asked Navy SEAL Jace Hunter, the youngest member of the SBT-22 team.
“I’m short staffed,” Fontaine said. “They’re on critical missions throughout the country and the world. Considering the successful kill rate of that list, we might need all the security and waitstaff we can get. The future dates and locations are in or around the DC area at major events. Geek and I conducted a thorough background check on the six of you SEALs. You all have exemplary records. I’d trust you with my life and that of Mrs. Brantley. Add to it the fact that most of you have already been involved in the attacks, and I think you have a stake in seeing it to a satisfactory conclusion.”
“We usually work in combat environments,” Duff said. “Mingling with the rich and famous might be a bit out of our league.”
“Again,” Fontaine said, “I don’t know who else I could trust. When we took down the assassin after Oscar Melton, we found a mole in the CIA orchestrating some of the assassinations. We don’t know how deep into our nation’s security the problem exists.”
Montana’s fists clenched. They were all supposed to be on the same side. When the organization had bad seeds within it, people lost faith, and the infrastructure of that entity crumbled from within. After all they’d been through in Cancun, and the multiple attempts on his friend Sawyer’s life, he would be happy to see this operation to the bitter end. “I’m in.”
* * *
“WHY ME?” KATE faced Royce. “I’m with the CIA. As far as you know, I could be as rotten as the deputy director you brought down.”
Her friend Becca stepped forward. “I vouched for you. My father and Oscar only had good things to say about your work and your integrity. They trusted you.”
Kate’s cheeks heated. “Even after my demotion?”
Becca nodded. “Especially after. You couldn’t know your partner was a double agent. I’m betting you learned a valuable lesson from the whole affair.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Montana’s face jerk toward her.
Well, to hell with him. People made mistakes. Unfortunately, she’d made a double-whammy mistake. Falling for her partner was bad enough. Not doing her homework to learn the man she was sleeping with was actually a Russian double agent was worse. Kate was lucky she hadn’t been kicked out of the CIA. Being demoted from field agent to desk duty had been bad, but not the end of her career.
With a sigh, she pushed the past behind her and glanced at Mica. “I’ll need to get inside your head and know your moves, expressions, likes and dislikes, as well as who your friends are, and known enemies.”
Mica smiled. “I like the way you think.” Her smile faded. “But if I am a target, and you take my place, you’ll become the target.” She shook her head and turned to Royce. “I can’t put Kate in that position.”
“If it helps uncover who’s after you, I’m in,” Kate said. “Hell, if it gets me out of desk duty, I’ll do just about anything.”
Royce glanced at Montana. “What about you, Raines? Are you up for playing dress-up and body-double?”
Montana shrugged. “As I said, I’m in.”
Mica Brantley nodded. “Thank you both. I hope nothing bad comes of the yacht club fund-raiser. It’s supposed to be all about the children and raising money for them.”
“Our aim is to make certain nothing happens,” Royce assured her.
“Then I’ll see you all at the event.” Mica stared around the room. “In some form or fashion. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. I was running out of alternatives. I’m hoping with your help to recover my stepdaughter.”
“We’re looking into that. Geek and Lance have been searching the internet and backtracking through all the footage of the marathon.”
Mica’s eyes widened. “Anything new?”
Royce shook his head. “Nothing yet, but we’re not done.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Thank you for all you’ve done thus far.”
With a dip of his head, Royce squeezed her hand. “Until tomorrow.”
After Mica left the room with Rex, Royce returned his attention to the group. “Any questions?”
Her mind already ten steps ahead, Kate raked her gaze over Montana. “We’ll need clothes and shoes.”
“I have clothes and shoes,” Montana said.
Royce grinned. “Trust Kate. You’ll need new clothes and shoes. And they won’t be cheap. Don’t worry about budget or what to buy. I have one of my agents on standby at a local high-end clothier. She’ll guide you two on selections and then arrange for your makeover.”
Montana’s brows dipped, and the SEALs around the table chuckled.
“Going preppy on us, Montana?” the man Royce had introduced as Jace Hunter asked.
“Don’t go hookin’ up with some rich hoochie mama,” the one nicknamed Rip said. “Your country needs you as a SEAL, not a bonbon-eating gigolo.”
Rip’s comment had all the guys laughing.
Kate got a strange amount of enjoyment from Montana’s discomfort. At the same time, she couldn’t wait to see the big man decked out in a suit and tie. Then again...if she thought he was ruggedly handsome in jeans, with a T-shirt stretching tautly over his massive chest...she might have palpitations over this SEAL’s magnetism in a suit or tuxedo.
Get a grip.
Kate squared her shoulders. “When do we start?”
“There’s a company car pulling up to the back of the building now.” Royce turned to the others in the room. “We could use some help clearing the building and moving to our disaster recovery site.”
Everyone rose at once, talking and moving toward the door.
Kate went through first.
Becca caught up with her. “I’ll show you the way out the back.”
Once Montana joined them, they headed along the hallway, dimly lit by emergency lighting. Becca opened a door to a stairwell and they descended to the ground level.
When Becca reached for the exit door, Montana covered her hand with his. “Let me go first.”
Becca snorted. “At this point, we’re all tactical. Male or female, we’re trained in urban warfare.”
“You and Kate might be trained in urban warfare, but I’ve survived urban warfare. And if that’s not good enough, my mama taught me to open doors for ladies.” He winked and stepped around her.