Page 107 of Jonas

“If you’d like a demonstration, it can be arranged,” Cash shot back.

“You two can play grab ass after the briefing,” Zane cut in. “Trent Graham is furious. He’s also feeling cautious, not wanting to publicly point fingers at the Chinese. He’s worried if the intel is wrong, it’ll pour gasoline on an already volatile situation. He’s also a man who wants to believe the best in people and doesn’t want to accuse a senator of wrongdoing unless there is ironclad proof.”

“The intel isn’t wrong,” Lore angrily clipped. “Charlie and Pidgeon laid it all out for him.”

“And the only person who could’ve corroborated Pidgeon’s intel is dead,” Zane pointed out.

Lore shrugged. “Sometimes it takes a deathbed confession to get what you need.”

The smile Cash flashed Lore was frightening. “A woman after my own heart.”

“What did he have to say about the power outage and the bridges?” Theo inquired.

“He knew they were terrorist attacks before we laid out what we think Maddon’s blueprint is. He was pissed as fuck, I didn’t come to him earlier with the intel that he had a rogue CIA officer selling secrets. I’m sure I’ll catch more shit about that when this is over. But eventually he’ll understand why it was better he didn’t know. The only good thing that came out of the meeting is he agreed Gold and Blue will stand guard at the nuclear plants, and he’s pulling in eight nuclear instructors stationed in Goose Creek and Ballston Spa to monitor the plants. They’re outsiders with experience running power plants on carriers and subs.

“He was less than thrilled when I told him his fleet was more than likely compromised. Not that it mattered, because he flatly refused to leave the White House in the event of a nuclear meltdown. He did agree to limit his exposure to only his inner circle. But that still leaves the vice president and the speaker exposed.”

“Where does that leave us?” Smith joined.

“Graham requested forty-eight hours. He wants time to think.” Zane spat the last word. “That means we have two days to get proof Rutte is in bed with the Chinese. We have two days to find Keith Mitchell. And Shep has two days to get us intel on Bolin Chen and his brother. My buddy Mark called last night while I was meeting with POTUS. By the time I called him back he was busy. I’ll connect with him today and hopefully he’ll have an update on the Wu’s and what the fuck is going on up in Canada.”

Forty-eight hours was not a lot of time to get dirt on people who made it top priority to keep their shit hidden.

“What about Karen White and her husband?” Derrika asked.

“Fuck those two. They’re running. With any luck, the bad guys will find them and take out their trash. We’re beyond whatever light they could shine on the situation. We need Rutte and if possible, Jun De Chen.”

Derrika nodded. “Got it.”

“First Penny Cox,” Kira started. “Forty-five. She did her undergrad in computer science at USC, then moved to Berkeley for her master’s in cybersecurity. She’s been with the NSA for fifteen years. Before that, she bounced around Fortune 500 companies, mainly banking.

“I still need to dig deeper, but from what I have now, Operation Freebird is not an op but coordinates to a farm in Sherill, Iowa. Someone turn on the monitor, I’ll show you the map.”

Theo reached for the remote and clicked on the big screen mounted on the wall. A map of farmland filled the screen.

“I will say, I’m really freaking good at my job, but it took me five minutes to find this. I had a name so it made it easier, but if the NSA meant to keep this location a secret and they’re running cybersecurity for the country, someone needs to be fired.”

“Hiding it in plain sight?” Derrika tossed out an idea.

“Could be,” Kira allowed, and backed up the view on the map.

Nothing but large farms that skirted the banks of the Mississippi River.

“Who owns the farm?” Zane barked.

“A corporation, The Vicksburg Group.”

“Motherfucker,” Zane exploded. He snatched his phone off the table and stabbed at the screen.

The man was going to need a new phone if he kept abusing the one in his hand.

“Um, is he going to tell us what’s happening?” Derrika whispered.

“Yeah. I’m gonna explain, all right, as soon as I…” Zane trailed off when someone answered the call he’d made.

“Is there a problem?” President Graham asked.

“Does Operation Freebird ring any bells?”