“And when did this new unit start up, according to Mitch?”That’s assuming we actually trust what he said.
“Four years ago.” Chandler dropped his hands to his lap as he added, “I had my best people, including my daughter, dig into everything after he was killed, but all roads were dead ends.”
“Because the only two people who knew what happened were literally dead,” I said in understanding. “Or fake-dead, and you didn’t have their names to track them down to question.”
“Precisely,” he confirmed.
Reed spoke up. “The man who helped shut down Stratos ... President Rydell clearly knew who he was since you do, and he must’ve trusted him. But given the fact we have a problem with dead men not being dead lately, you sure he is? If anyone would know how to fake his death, it’d be him.”
“No, he’s dead. And unfortunately, he betrayed President Rydell’s trust in 2018 and wound up in the same kind of CIA black site prison Beth’s in now,” he answered while shooting a quick glance Alex’s way. He paused and took a breath, then continued: “That man helped Rydell launch Bravo and Echo Teams. He practically wrote the handbook onthe units, promising him he’d apply what he knew from Stratos to prevent the same mistakes being made.”
“I’m sorry,what?” Ryder circled the coffee table to stand closer to the screen like he might reach out and grab the man’s tie, then use it to strangle someone.
I had a few ideas who’d make a great target. Mitch. Beth. Rhett. To name a few.
“Who was he?” my brother snapped when Chandler remained eerily quiet.
“Will Hobbs, alongside Bravo One’s sister, helped recruit Bravo One; then Will became a liaison for Bravo and Echo for five years before Bravo found out Will was a traitor.”
“You’re telling me this former Stratos guy was one of the architects behind the president’s teams, and he’s a traitor, and he’s also dead?” Ryder hissed, hands clenching at his sides. Ready for war.
“It gets worse,” Alex rasped, and I looked over at him as that bad feeling in my gut intensified. “Will Hobbs was a good friend of Beth’s.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Audrey
I replayed Alex’s words, realizing this man was only at the bottom of the ocean, ship sunk, because his ex was anchoring him there the way Mitch was trying to drag me down, too.
“Beth knew Will Hobbs?” Reed cut through my thoughts, moving toward Alex as if he might physically remove the words from Alex’s mouth, forcing him to take them back. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I was.” Alex stole a quick look around Reed at me before continuing, “Beth used to work with him. They were friends. He was almost fifteen years older than her, and she told me he was more of a mentor-type figure, but I started questioning if they were having an affair.” Those words came across as painful and bitter to hear as they had to have been to say. “Then, in 2018, Will went off the grid, and Beth never mentioned him again. It was like he’d become—well, like a ghost.” He peered at Chandler, probably waiting for him to shoot down that idea.
“Although Will went by the Ghost back in his SEAL days,” Chandler finally said, “he never became one himself. Or a ghost operative for Stratos—just their liaison. He betrayed our country and wasplaced in a CIA black site prison in 2018, but now he’s dead. I confirmed with my own eyes that fact in 2022. And when Echo Team puts a man down, he doesn’t get back up.”
“I’m guessing his death had nothing to do with Stratos and their revival, or you’d have led with that,” Ryder remarked.
“No, and believe me, after Mitch’s transport was hit on the way to the safe house, I dug deep into Hobbs’s past to ensure it didn’t, considering we found out in 2018 Hobbs was being blackmailed.” Chandler reached for his tie on his desk and began wrapping it around his hands, staring at it, not us. “And if Hobbs had any secret files hidden about Stratos or our current teams, we never recovered them.”
“What about Bravo One’s sister? Could she be of help?” Alex asked. “If she worked with Will Hobbs, maybe she can shed some light on—”
“She didn’t know anything about Stratos. She wasn’tallowedto know details about the previous program, or that one even existed. Per President Rydell’s orders. It was safer that way. I still talked to her after Mitch alerted me to the fact Stratos was active again. Hell, I spoke with everyone on the president’s SEAL teams. Nothing useful. First they’d heard that name.”
“Well, Mitch obviously knows something we don’t, and he’s still alive to share it. And we have half the key to unlocking whatever evidence he must have on Stratos,” Reed pointed out.
“This whole thing reminds me of what happened nine years ago, when Bravo Team found out Hobbs was a traitor the first time.” Chandler tossed his tie, shaking his head. “Hobbs’s fingerprints feel all over this, but I don’t know how that’s possible. I thought we were done with him.”
“Well, whoever’s working with Mitch now must have known Hobbs back when Stratos was first operational. Could be Rhett. Arlo, if he’s not really dead, too. Anyone in plain sight, even,” Reed said. “All I know for certain is, we need to get to Mitch before whoever’s running Stratos 2.0 does. We’re both after him now.”
“And you have one part of the key, and Mitch now has the other, which means Mitch needs you as much as you need him.” Not the most encouraging words from the secretary of defense.
“If Rhett was part of the OG Stratos, then why work with Mitch now? Why come out of hiding as a fisherman in the Maldives?” Alex asked. “Money really the motivator?”
“We’ll figure it out, and I’ll have my granddaughter go over all the files. She was working something else pretty big last year when this was going down, so we didn’t pull her in,” Chandler said. “If we missed something, she’ll find it.” He focused on me next. “In the meantime, the priority is keeping Audrey and that second key from getting into the wrong hands.” He didn’t bother to say goodbye. The screen simply went black.
“Well, shit,” Reed muttered.
You could say that again.“I think I aged ten years from that call,” I muttered under my breath.
