Force shrugged. “Meh.”
Fury spiraled up Raider’s spine, and he breathed deep, holding on to his temper with sheer will. “Meh?”
Force’s green eyes glittered. “You’ve been playing at being an easygoing Fed for over two months in my unit, and you think you have a right to be pissed?”
“Yes,” Raider said evenly.
Force snorted. “Fair enough. When I discovered the case, my research led me to Brigid, who was serving time for hacking. I may have requested her release, and I might’ve ensured you were made aware of her possible transfer to this unit.” He flattened large hands on the dented conference table. “The bait was there—but you jumped at it faster than a trout spotting a worm.”
Raider aligned the new information with his plans, which didn’t change one iota, really. It was good the gloves were off with Force, because now he could drop the pretense. “You already knew about the Coonan family. This case didn’t just arrive on your desk.” Sometimes he wanted to shoot Force between the eyes.
“Yep.” Force slid a manila file toward him. “I have several cases I’m looking into, and this is one of them, and you were a necessary piece on the chessboard. So tomorrow, you be here with your files, since I’m sure you kept copies. We’ll add those to the records I’ve compiled, and we’ll come up with a plan.”
Yeah, Raider had records. “Do our handlers know about this?” The unit, unfortunately, had a couple of HDD handlers who wanted nothing more than for them to fail.
Angus scratched his chin. “Agents Rutherford and Fields may or may not know. I’m not sending them reports, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t keeping track.”
Oh, those two were definitely keeping track. One problem at a time, though. Raider cleared his throat. “I don’t need Brigid to go undercover with me. She’s untrained, Force.” Plus, he liked the redhead. She was sweet, and even though she’d followed the wrong path and gotten in trouble, he fully planned to help her find a good second chance. The woman deserved it.
Force shook his head. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for her.”
Raider snorted before he could stop himself. “For a wild hacker who keeps getting in trouble with the law? Um, no.”
Force’s gaze narrowed, and his upper lip tipped. “Not your type?”
“Not even close.” Sure, she was pretty and had that fragile underside, but his type was a nice girl with a calm life and no criminal record. One who’d fit in with his life and ambitions at the agency. Someday. Not now. “Regardless, I don’t require Brigid on this case.”
Force shook his head. “Yes, you do. There’s a time crunch, and you need to get through to her father. She’s an asset. But to work with her, you need to understand her. Here’s when Brigid first found herself on the wrong side of the law.” He pushed the manila file folder even closer.
Raider ignored the folder and fought against the curiosity grabbing him. “I already know she was caught hacking into a secure governmental server, sentenced, and yanked from prison by you to work for the unit. Free pass.”
Force rolled his eyes. “She’s too smart to get caught. Look beyond the pretty face that irritates you so much.”
That pretty face kept him up nights, but he’d never admit it. Raider flipped open the folder to quickly read an arrest warrant from years ago. Her first of many arrests. “She was seventeen.” He frowned, reading more. “She hacked into a hospital system to research a new drug trial.”
“Yep. Her mother had esophagus cancer, and Brigid was looking for hope. Thus began her life of crime,” Force said, sliding a second folder his way. “This one is on the arrest three months ago that sent her to federal prison until I pulled her out. Can have her returned any time I want.”
Raider glanced at the contents, but he’d already read these. She’d been working for a nonprofit and had hacked into a computer to bust a guy downloading child pornography, but he worked for the Pentagon, and the computer was on a federal server.
“Of course.” Force slid the third and last folder, this one a light blue, across the table. “Here’s the profile our shrink and I created for Brigid.” Once again, he apparently refused to use the name of Nari, the HDD shrink who had been assigned to the unit. What was his problem with her? “To sum up, Brigid’s mother died shortly after she was first caught hacking, and her father, a farmer, basically turned away. She left home and has had problems ever since.”
Yeah, Raider knew all of that. “What else?”
“Her choice in men. She definitely has a type, and your cover as a criminal who might want to do business with the Coonan organization is perfect.” Force cracked his neck.
Raider wanted to look inside the folder, so he purposely kept the top closed. “Has my cover been created?”
“Not yet. I have the team working on it, and we should have it in place within the next couple of days. Brigid will create an online presence for you.” Force smiled. “You’ll have to lose the suit. Definitely not the type of guy she has gone for in the past, and her daddy will know that.”
Figured. “Don’t tell me. I have to become a computer geek who gets a hard-on for Comic-Con every year.” Raider tapped one finger on the blue folder.
Force snorted. “First of all, Comic-Con is awesome. Secondly, um, no.”
Curiosity overcame him, and Raider opened the file to read profiles of three men. One Brigid dated in high school, the other in her early twenties, and the final one just before getting caught this last time. “They’re all assholes.”
“Apparently, so are you,” Force returned. “Read the entire file.”
Raider read through the entire file, finally looking up. “All right. She likes rule breakers. The first kid was a petty thief, the second guy a computer hacker who stole credit cards, and the third a vigilante going after bad guys. Forget rule breakers. She likes criminals.”
