That timeframe was mere minutes after Kyle had spotted the sniper targeting Jamie’s dad. Kyle felt weirdly lightheaded as he realized he’d been on the other side of the country when his brother needed himthemost.
“Why didn’t you inform meearlier?” Kyle demanded, forgetting any sense of decorum and honorifics in the riptide of emotions swirling through him at themoment.
“Because the director wanted you clearheaded enough to give your debrief and we both know you wouldn’t be in the right headspace if you knew DvorkinwasMIA.”
Stirling didn’t sound apologetic about the command decision to keep Kyle in the dark. Part of him wanted to rage at Stirling for doing so, but he beat his temper into submission. Yelling at his commanding officer was a good way to end up benched, and like hell was he going to be held back on thismission.
“What do you have for us, ma’am?” Katie asked, stepping into the leadership void since Jamie was heading to Boston with his family for the campaign rallytomorrow.
“Agent Flores was notified by the monitoring agent on duty that Dvorkin and Delaney’s trackers went dead within a minute of each other. Their last known locationwashere.”
Stirling adjusted the holoscreens hovering over the table into a new order, bringing up a satellite map of an area in the Washington, D.C. megacity. It zoomed down over a parking garage tower squeezed in between a pair ofskyscrapers.
“They went to your apartment before heading to the city center. They were taken in the parking garage,”Stirlingsaid.
“Do we have security feed?” Kyle wanted to know, as a few more command windows started topopulate.
“Unfortunately, not in the parking garage tower. Cillian’s people hacked the system and deleted the period of time Dvorkin and Delaney were on thepremises.”
Kyle dragged one window closer, watching as a bright blue line rapidly mapped out the route Alexei or Sean had driven once they left the base. It wasn’t direct, and tracking them on the ground would’ve been difficult. Both Alexei and Sean were skilled in knowing when they had a tail. He looked up from the map, catching Katie’s attention. For a few seconds, all they could do was stare bleakly at eachother.
“If they weren’t followed,” Katie said slowly, “was Cillian lyinginwait?”
Kyle closed his eyes, leaning his weight against the work table, ignoring the quiet buzz of conversation as agents and analysts worked around them. If Cillian knew where to wait, the only person who could have given him that information wasStanislav.
“We need to end this mission,” Kyle ground out. “We can’t outplay aprecog.”
“The mission is still green,”Stirlingsaid.
“Forfuck’ssake—”
“When are you updating Callahan?” Katie swiftly asked, cuttingKyleoff.
Stirling kept her focus on the holoscreens. “Later. We’ve ordered him to call when he has a secure line and is finished handling his family’ssecurity.”
“He needs to knownow. He wouldwantto know,”Kylesaid.
Stirling leveled him a look that slid off Kyle as if it were water. Whatever punishment they’d end up putting into his personnel jacket didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was saving his brotherandSean.
“The director is trying to mitigate risk to Callahan’s identity. When he is in a secure location, we’ll give him asitrep.”
Kyle opened his mouth to argue, but Katie rather firmly ground her boot heel onto the top of his foot to get him to shut up. Kyle didn’t feel any pain, but it stopped him from saying something he wouldregret.
Katie caught Stirling’s attention. “What about theirfamilies?”
Kyle’s mind screeched to a halt so hard he swore it was like getting hit overthehead.
“We recalled the field teams guarding the Dvorkin and the Delaney families and their charges once we confirmed the attack.” Stirling held Kyle’s gaze, the surety and calmness in her dark brown eyes something he wanted desperately to feel himself right about then. “Your family is being tended to on a residential level of the base.They’resafe.”
Kyle wouldn’t believe that until he got eyesonthem.
“Permission to leave, ma’am?” heasked.
“Granted.”
Call Jamie,Katie telepathically told him as he saluted the deputy director and spun on his heels.Run the encryption program whenyoudo.
I already had plans to. He needstoknow.
