Con drew a deep breath, a sign he was gathering his thoughts. “Cipher was shot. He’s been in hiding. Gone underground. How do we know these threats are from him?”
“Copycats happen, after all.” Chase had once been part of Echo, a team that Cipher wiped out in a devastating chopper accident. Chase hadn’t been with his team that day, and Cipher still had him in his sights. Which made himveryinvested in any intel on the terrorist.
The second agent swung his attention to Chase. “That’s why we set a trap. And we bait it with people who have the attributes he consistently goes after.”
Con didn’t move his stare from the agent when he gave the order. “Call in Elin.”
The first agent broke in. “Elin Lindgren? We don’t work with independent contractors.”
“She’s not independent. She’s ours. Mason, get Elin.” Con’s tone was like a crack of gunfire, and silence followed.
Mason pushed away from the table to go after Elin, a hacker who’d recently joined the team—and his bed.
And Sinner went back to studying the black-eyed woman.
From the corner of his eye, he noted that Con opened her file. He only skimmed the contents for a second before his head snapped up.
“Sinner, this is your op.”
He jerked his attention toward his commanding officer. “My op?”
“You’re uniquely qualified.”
Hell. He never thought it would come to this.
Across the table, Steele choked on a laugh. “What makes Sinner qualified?”
Chickie stifled a snort. “He makes the pizza. Maybe they’re looking for a new hand-tossed? A good garlic sauce?”
Sinner didn’t flinch at the jab. It was a running joke that nobody knew exactly what he did on the team. He was used to taking flak for being the guy who manned the outdoor pizza oven instead of the grenade launcher.
Con didn’t blink. “Sinner’s dual-trained.”
The room went dead still.
He braced for it.
“What?” Steele’s brows shot up.
“He’s trained,” Con repeated.
“Trained in what? Where?” Steele asked.
Sinner knew what was coming. He felt the air molecules freeze in his lungs.
“Quantico,” Con answered before Sinner could shut it down.
Silence throbbed through the room. Every set of eyes locked on him, including a certain pair of black ones.
Mason had slipped in with Elin standing close to his side. “Quantico? Why the hell don’t we know this?” he asked.
“It’s not relevant.” Sinner’s tone came out with an edge of grit. There was a reason that part of his life was buried. If he said too much, said the wrong thing, it would become a problem.
Chickie issued a shocked huff. “How did we not know this about you, Sinner?”
“Seriously.” Mason’s brows were creased but amusement twitched at his lips. “I bunked with you for three years. What the fuck, bro?”
“Well?” Dante leaned forward, waiting for Sinner’s explanation.
