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“Yes, sir.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Permission to address the problem with Hugo without limitations.”
“Granted. Off the books.” His gaze shifted to Bridget. “New hire, Brent?”
“This is Bridget Monihan, our new researcher. Bridget, meet William Martin, President of the United States.”
“It’s a pleasure, Mr. President.” Could he see her hands shaking?
“Bridget is also the sister of the woman Hugo kidnapped,” Brent said.
Martin scowled. “This guy is a real prince.” He stopped, eyes narrowing. “You planned to take on Hugo anyway.”
The Fortress CEO grinned. “And now we have your approval to act as your agents.” He held up a hand. “I know. Off the books.”
“Clever man, Maddox. Any idea where this snake is hiding?”
Brent glanced at Nico.
“Not exactly,” Shadow’s leader said. “We suspect the chemical plant hit in La Perla overnight is connected to Hugo’s campaign to be a weapons powerhouse.”
The president was silent a moment. “We need more intel. The DEA might be helpful.”
“No offense, Mr. President, but I don’t trust the alphabet agencies as far as I could throw them. His organization probably has moles in the federal agencies. I don’t want Hugo to know we suspect a connection between the chemical plant and his plans. If he realizes we’re onto him, he’ll go to ground and take his hostage with him. If he does, we’ll lose Ruth Monihan for good. Sooner or later, she’ll anger him. If he’s angry enough, she’s dead.”
“We have our own resources to tap, sir,” Brent said.
“All right. Let me know if you need help from me. Nico?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Turn over every rock until you find Torino, and do it fast. Failure means thousands of innocent people will die.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Trace shoved aside his empty mug as the screen went blank and silence descended on the conference room. Nothing like throwing down the gauntlet with an imminent disaster looming if you screwed up.
“That was fun,” Ben muttered.
“In an end-of-the-world-as-you-know-it-if-you-miss-a-step way,” Joe agreed.
Sam groaned. “We can’t catch a break. I wanted beach time with my husband.”
Trace had wanted time with a fishing pole in his hands. Looked like that would be put on hold for a while longer.
“Do we have assets on the ground?” Nico asked Brent.
“None I’m comfortable tapping for this kind of information. The leak risk is too great.”
“We have the best intel broker in the business in Phantom.” Trace folded his arms across his chest. The rest of them should have thought of her already.
Sam nodded. “Veronica Walker has connections all over Mexico. If anyone can learn what we need to know without alerting Hugo, it’s Veronica.”
“Phantom?” Bridget looked puzzled. “Is that the name of a team?” she asked Trace.
“It is. They spend most of their time in Mexico.”
