Finding hard evidence of the collaboration between multiple criminal enterprises the world over was a tedious, difficult process. The MDF, along with the agency’s international counterparts, was still playing catchup. It put them all at a disadvantage they couldn’tafford.
“Alpha Team, clear out,”Jamiesaid.
Madison, Alexei, and Donovan immediately headed his way, falling into step behind him. The SF Corps remained behind to deal with the mess and the two prisoners. Jamie had no use for the cartelmembers.
The nighttime raid hadn’t produced exactly what they needed and had offered up more bodies than anything else. The compound was little more than a graveyard with ghosts wandering its impersonalhalls.
The mission was over. It was time togohome.
2
See RightThroughMe
Kyle priedhis hard helmet off, tossed it on the floor of the locker, and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. Like everyone else in the ready room getting out of their gear, he needed a shower. With that in mind, he swiftly divested himself of his tactical body armor and combatuniform.
“Debrief in twenty, then Medical,” Jamie said from the other side of thereadyroom.
Kyle sighed, moving his head from side to side to crack his neck. “Soundsfun.”
“Sounds exhaustin’” Annabellecorrected.
Everyone must have been too tired to argue because no one piped up after that. Kyle grabbed a clean towel from the top shelf in his locker before striding naked for the showers. The military had long ago killed any sense of body shyness for the group as a whole, so no one even blinked as he walkedonby.
The showers at the end of the ready room were small, but the water was hot, and that was all Kyle cared about. He ducked under the spray and reached for the shampoo, getting clean as the others straggled into theshowerarea.
His rapid healing ability meant he carried no bruises on his lightly freckled skin. The brief, bone-jarring ache in his knees during landing had long since disappeared, any minor hint of injury healed before he could even really process it. Most days Kyle appreciated the lack of wounds he came away with during a fight. It meant less time spent in Medical, but he couldn’t completely escape Dr. Gracie Gold’s domain. None of themcould.
Ten minutes later found the entire team cleaned up and dressed in service uniforms, ready for the mandatory debrief with their superior officers. Kyle lengthened his stride to catch up to Jamie as the group walked down the hallway, glancing over at the taller man. Jamie’s expression was difficult to read, but Kyle had been his lover for almost a year and a half now; he knew Jamie wasn’thappy.
“What’s wrong?” Kyle asked in a low voice as they headed for theelevator.
“We’re chasing useless leads and it’s getting us nowhere,” Jamie replied, no hint of his frustration showing up in his voiceorface.
“Something has topanout.”
“We’llsee.”
They’d been chasing this problem for as long as he and Jamie had been lovers. Kyle enjoyed that milestone far less than the more pleasurable one of waking up to Jamie. Unfortunately, those moments were starting to decrease over the past month or so as Jamie’s father’s presidential campaign ramped up, despite the oncoming holiday season. The Callahans were demanding Jamie’s presence in their lives more and more lately, which was creating a strain on Jamie. Kyle could see that, even if no one elsecould.
“Destination,” Ceres, the MDF’s smart-building AI, asked as two elevators opened theirdoors.
“Level 36,”Jamiesaid.
The ride up to the command level was quick, the place bustling despite the late hour—or early, depending on how one read the chrono. Dawn was a handful of hours away, and Kyle honestly couldn’t wait to go home and sleep off themission.
Jamie led the way to the conference room where Alpha Team always conducted their briefings and debriefings. Inside they were greeted by MDF Director Amir Nazari, a three-star Army general who was used to long days and even longer nights monitoring Alpha Team’s more delicate missions. In his mid-fifties, Nazari’s brown eyes were sharp and piercing beneath trimmed black hair slowly growing gray. Stress from the job rarely filtered through his calm demeanor, the product of a veritable lifetime of being a commander in some form oranother.
Kyle joined the rest of the team in saluting their commanding officer before taking seats around the long conference table. Terminals were up and running, and Kyle logged in using the RealIdent chip connected to the bioware embedded in his left hand and wrist. Command windows snapped open in front of him, some of the data there duplicated in the center of thetable.
“Welcome back,”Nazarisaid.
“Sir,” Jamie acknowledged forthemall.
“I watched the raid in real time through your helmet cams. You didgoodwork.”
“We didn’t come back with muchevidence.”
“You still came back with something, and that’s worth the effort we put into this mission. Especially if it means we’ve destroyed a possible Splice lab.” Nazari leaned forward, tapping at a command prompt on his terminal. “The solid-state drives are currently with our hackers and analysts. I’ll update you on what information is extracted when I have it. In the meantime, I thought you’d be interested in the latest development concerning North StarInternational.”
