“Garnet is going to eat dinner, then we’re headed to the airfield and flying out.”
Their eyes narrowed, and one of them spoke up. “We need questions answered.”
“You have the reports. She doesn’t know who these people are who abducted her, and she doesn’t know why they think she can do what they want her to do, but she can’t. She doesn’t have the answers to your questions.”
“Are you sure?” Harris asked.
Bean was sitting close enough that Garnet pressed her knee against his before she spoke. “I don’t know where they got the idea in their heads that I can do what they asked. No one can. The security protocols won’t allow it.”
“She will be safe with us. We are looking into who is behind the attack. We’ll be gathering information, working on the problem.”
Agent Harris crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think you’re equipped.”
Bean grunted. “We’re uniquely equipped. We’ll be working with a counter terrorism unit. The information will be compiled by my unit, and we’ll be the ones responsible for dissemination.”
Foster shook his head. “I don’t think?—”
“No, it’s not up to you to think on this. We are doing it my way.”
Neither of the agents spoke. Instead, they stared at each other for a long minute before eventually nodding. “Okay, but we need to know what is going on to keep ahead of this.”
Garnet sat forward. “The person behind this has to be inside the government.”
Harris sat back, a deep frown marring his features. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I only spoke at government conferences.”
Harris shook his head. “What if someone dropped the information in a forum?”
Bean thought that sounded like a great idea. “Well, that gives you something to search for. Look for any information dropped in a chat group or forum. If you find something about it, we can figure out who was discussing.”
Harris shook his head. “This came out of left field. It’s too unwieldy. We need to be in charge of protection.”
“No!” Garnet said before he could respond.
“We’ll protect Miss Stratton. We are uniquely equipped for this task. And we can’t expect the government to protect, not when someone in the government is responsible in the first place.”
Garnet was relievedthat the agents would allow Bean and his team to take care of her. Bean would keep her safe. He and his team would make sure no one got to her.
“We will need access, though,” Harris said.
Bean shook his head. “We won’t tell anyone where she is located.”
Foster nodded. “That’s probably wise. This whole thing is crazy. There have always been spies and double agents inside our government, so I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m just surprised they jumped to this conclusion and think that Garnet can help them destroy DC.”
She didn’t like that she was in danger here in the USA. It was weird that someone had come to the conclusion that she had the ability to bomb DC. Maybe someone had access to her work. But she kept everything locked down.
Bean stood. “We’ll make sure they don’t get away with it. I guarantee it.”
Garnet wished she could be as sure as Bean was. The one thing she needed to figure out was how to correct the problem and make it so no one could ever do what she knew could be done.
She’d almost figured out the correction, but she needed more work on the issue before she was sure her solution would work. It wasn’t as easy as installing software patches or security fixes on so many systems at once. She had to come up with a novel solution that hadn’t been thought of before.
Also, if she released the solution, the people trying to use the vulnerability to attack DC might believe they could act on the information in the patch. It would take immaculate timing on her part and a whole lot of luck.
Chapter 19
Bean breathed easier oncethey were on the plane. He would keep Garnet safe. No one knew where they were going or where she would be staying.
