Page 46
Fallon didn’t flinch. “She’s also the only option. We’ll have a team get her on property. Then you get her to the room, she does the extraction, you get her back out.”
Ryder muttered another round of curses. He wasn’t questioning her ability. She knew that. He was afraid for her. And some part of her wanted to cross the room, pick up that phone, and tell him she was afraid too. That she agreed this was a terrible plan too.
But another part, older and sharper and built from a lifetime of being told she couldn’t handle things, straightened her spine against the doorframe.
“She has no field experience,” Ryder continued.
“I’m aware of her background, Sutton. And more than that, she’s my best friend. But she knows computers better than anyone.”
Ryder wouldn’t give. “No.”
“The alternative is pulling you out entirely and starting over. New approach, new timeline, no guarantee we find another way in.”
“Don’t use those kids to sell me on putting Cassie in fucking danger.”
Fallon crossed her arms. “I’m not selling you on anything. I’m telling you what the options are: Cassandra goes in, or we pull you out and find another way.”
Ryder didn’t say anything for a while. His breathing was tight, controlled. She wondered what he was looking at. How he was doing. Her safety wasn’t really at risk. She’d be out before there was any real danger. But if she couldn’t do it, if she left some sort of signature on the system, it would be Ryder who paid the price.
Maybe this really wasn’t a good idea. She stepped forward to say as much.
“Tonight?” he asked before she could get the words out. The fight was still in his voice, but something under it had given way.
“The longer we wait, the higher the risk. Your cover could slip. The Diehls could get their transport logistics and relocate.”
Another long pause. “Okay. Tonight. I’ll make sure she’s safe.
“We’ll coordinate with Isaac and Nolan within the hour,” Fallon said. “I’ll text you the details. She’ll only be in that room fifteen or twenty minutes, Ryder. It’s worth the risk.”
“Copy.”
The line went dead.
Cassandra looked over at Fallon. “He’s scared.”
Fallon pocketed the phone. “No agent likes to bring an untrained civilian into potential danger.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You will be.” Fallon leaned forward. “Because you’re going to walk in, sit down, do your thing, and walk out. And then you’re going to come back here and sleep for two days.”
“I should go prep. Figure out what tools I can fit in a pocket.”
“Eat something first.”
Cassandra waved that off. “I ate.”
“A granola bar twelve hours ago doesn’t count.”
She had no idea how Fallon knew that but wasn’t going to ask. “It does if you eat it with conviction.”
Fallon’s mouth twitched. “Eat. Prep. Isaac and Nolan will be here within the hour.”
Cassandra stood up. Her legs were unsteady enough that she put a hand on the table. Fallon noticed. Fallon always noticed. Neither of them said anything about it.
She walked back to the lab, sat down at her workstation, and started making a list of everything she might need for a system she’d never seen. Thumb drives, boot loaders, a basic hardware toolkit. Her hands had stopped trembling. Apparently they just needed a task.
She pulled up the air-gap research and started reading again. This time, every word mattered.
