"Apparently. Beth vouched for her. Says Quinn's the real deal. Says if anyone knows what happened to Steele, she will."
Joker asked, "And she's willing to share that information?"
Bulldog scrolled through the message. "Beth says Quinn is already aware of our situation. Says her team saw what happened. Saw Steele get taken. They're working the problem on their end."
Risk asked, "Working the problem how?"
"Sledge didn't get specifics. Just said Quinn wanted to establish secure communication. She's sending contact protocols."
Hawk read over Bulldog's shoulder. "When?"
"Now. Beth's passing along an encrypted chat link. Says Quinn will make contact within the hour."
The implications settled over the room. A civilian tech specialist for an unauthorized rescue operation was about to make contact with five Delta operators on a U.S. military base. If anyone was monitoring, if anyone caught wind of this, it would be a disaster. But it was also more than they'd had an hour ago.
"What did you tell Sledge?" Hawk asked.
"Told him we're standing by. Told him we're ready to coordinate. Told him to thank Beth for taking the risk." Bulldog looked around at the team. "I didn't make any promises. Didn't commit us to anything. Just said we're looking for information about our guy."
"Good." Hawk nodded. "We keep this tight. No one outside this room knows we're running a parallel investigation."
Joker repeated, "Parallel investigation. That's what we're calling it?"
Hawk's voice was steel. "That's what we're calling it in front of anyone who asks. As far as the colonel knows, we're following orders. Standing down. Waiting for official channels to produce results."
"And unofficially?"
"Unofficially, we're doing what we've always done. Taking care of our own."
They all nodded. It was the kind of understanding that didn't need to be spelled out. The kind that came from years of operating together. The kind that said orders were important but loyalty was more important.
Bulldog's phone buzzed again. He looked at the screen. "Chat link is live. Quinn's online."
Ghost went back to his tablet. "I'll keep monitoring communications. If Nazari's people make any moves, we'll know."
"Bulldog, you handle the chat with Quinn. Find out what they know. What they saw. Where they think Steele might be."
"Copy."
"Risk, Joker, get some rest. We might need to move fast when this breaks and I want everyone sharp."
Risk stood. "You think they'll actually help us?"
"I think they were there for the civilians. I think they saw Steele buy them time to complete their extraction. And I think people who do that kind of work understand debt." Hawk looked at each of them. "They'll help. Question is whether we can coordinate well enough to make it work."
Bulldog opened the encrypted chat on his phone. The screen showed a simple interface. No names. No identifying information. Just a blinking cursor waiting for him to type. He started with the basics.
"This is Bulldog. Delta. Our guy went down covering your exfil. We need to find him."
The response came almost immediately. "Quinn. I know. We saw. Working on location now."
"You have intel?"
"Three possible sites. Running analysis. Will have confidence levels within six hours."
Bulldog looked up at Hawk and showed him the screen.
Hawk read it twice, then nodded once. "Ask if they're planning a rescue."
