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The minute the briefing was over, Fallon leaned over and whispered something to Cassandra.
She nodded. Even the nod looked like it cost her, which made no sense. Nothing about this woman made sense.
People stood, chairs scraped, conversations started up around the room. Cassandra was out of her seat and through the door before Ryder had pushed back from the table. She didn’t look at anyone on her way out or say a word.
Yeah, he’d definitely dodged a fucking bullet by staying away from her. Truth be told, she had too.
The room cleared. Ian stayed. Fallon stayed. Ryder stayed.
Ian closed the door. “Okay. Let’s talk about getting you inside.”
Fallon pulled her chair closer to the table. “The Diehls know your face. That’s our way in. You approach them as someone they used to work with who’s looking for a job.”
“Private security, logistics consulting,” Ian said. Ryder knew he was assuring him. Fallon had no idea what he’d done in his former life. Hell, what he’d done even working for Rogue. “You’ve been doing corporate work for the past few years, and you’re tired of it. You want back into their world. Where the real action is.”
Ryder shrugged one shoulder. “Arlo will buy it.” Hopefully. “Heath will take longer.”
“Which is why we need your cover airtight,” Ian said. “A full digital trail that holds up if either of them decides to look into you.”
“That’s not an if, that’s a when. Trust me. The Diehl brothers haven’t gotten this far by having a trusting nature.”
Ian nodded. “We’ll get you employment history, client list, the works. And once you’re inside, you need to be able to access their system and pull data without leaving a trace.”
“Cassandra handles both,” Fallon said. “She’ll build your cover identity and train you on the technical side.”
Ryder kept his face neutral. Great. Just what he wanted, hours one-on-one with Cassandra learning computer procedures while she sat sullen and silent in her obnoxious fashion statement.
“Sounds good.” What else was he going to say?
It didn’t matter if Cassandra wasn’t the woman he thought she was, as long as she could teach him what he needed to know about the computers and build a strong enough online profile that he didn’t get a bullet in the head five minutes after he walked into the Diehl brothers’ den.
Cassandra had kept Fallon alive for three years. Surely she could do this for him just once.
Ian stood. “Fallon’s running the overall op. I’m here if you need me, but I know you two can handle this.” He gave Ryder a nod that carried more weight than the gesture warranted, and he left. The door clicked shut.
Just Ryder and Fallon.
She dropped into the chair across from him and rubbed her eyes. “Long day.”
“Getting longer.”
“Yeah.” She almost smiled. “Thank you for doing this. I don’t know any specifics, but I know coming back here isn’t easy.”
He waved it off. “I know the Diehls. It’s a good play.”
“It’s the best play we’ve got.” Fallon straightened, and the fatigue fell away from her face. What replaced it was focus. “I’m running this from the outside, but you’re on the inside. I need us tight on communication, on timing, on everything. Anything goes sideways in there, I need to know as soon as you can safely get word out.”
“Will do.”
“Good.” She held his gaze for a beat. “I’m trusting you with this. And you’re trusting me to get you out if it goes bad. I don’t take that lightly.”
He hadn’t worked with Fallon directly before. They’d been through hell together during the situation with Isaac, but always orbiting, never as a unit.
She’d been Isaac’s woman. He’d been Isaac’s friend. The overlap had been crisis, not operations.
But she was solid. He’d seen that when her body was falling apart and she was still three moves ahead of everyone in the room. He could feel them both finding the rhythm now, testing the weight of the partnership, and it held.
“I don’t take it lightly either,” he said.
