Page 7 of North

“Are you sure⁠—”

“No. But...sort of. Maybe. I don’t know, but we were on the phone and then...everything went crazy and there was screaming, the phone falling—and then it died. I’m in Chiang Mai, and I...You were my first call.”

Of course he was. Okay then. “When did this happen?”

“An hour ago.”

“Let me see what I can find out. I’ll be in touch.” He hung up.

West’s phone was already putting a call through. Of course Ham answered.

“Boss, North just got a call from Chloe Silver, who thinks her sister⁠—”

“We’re already on it. Apparently, the Empire Builder derailed east of Leavenworth.”

“Has anyone gotten ahold of Selah?” North said.

Silence. Then, “Not yet, North, but we can’t get through to any local emergency response either, so⁠—”

“I’m heading to my room to pack. Get me on a plane to⁠—”

“North—wait.” Hamilton’s voice stopped him by the stairs. “York and RJ live about sixty miles north. I’ll get York on the road to her. Take me off speaker, West.”

West listened a moment before handing the phone to North.

He took it, pressed it to his ear.

“What I’m about to tell you stays with you.”

North grunted and took the stairs up to his room.

“The reason we know about the wreck is that...well, the Caleb Group had security on that train. It was carrying a refined mineral used in DOD hardware to a remote storage location in Washington State⁠—”

“An Amtrak train carrying freight?”

“Under the radar, yes, but...apparently not.”

North had pulled out his go bag, was throwing in an extra phone charger, some cash. “So this was an attack on the train.”

“Possibly. But more important...Coco Marshall, the Caleb Group’s white hat hacker, has been running image traces on everyone getting on the train since it left Chicago. She pinged on a person embarking in Spokane.”

He’d zipped the bag shut and now stilled. “Who?”

“We think it’s Alan Martin.”

Alan. Martin.

Spy, assassin, and global terrorist.

Nice, so very nice.

Selah, what have you gotten yourself into?

Apparently, it was time to break some promises.