Page 107 of What Remains

“Another deepfake false trail? I’m getting sick of this shit. Miss the old days when what you saw was what you got. They could have set this lead up for us, which is why they chose a trafficking ring on that island as a front in the first place.” I drum my fingers on the table. “But then why tell Zoey the traffickers might have a connection to Preston’s alleged killer?”

“To really screw with us. Two false leads.”

“So we miss the truth right in front of us. We’re dealing with someone who wasn’t your enemy back then, but a friendly. Someone with firsthand knowledge of those missions in 2011 to set everything in motion.”

“Which rules out Jezebel as the mastermind behind this. She’d never run the risk of pulling in Bodhi and the others if they could identify her from before. She’s probably just another tool, reporting to someone else.”

I nod. “Any chance that op in Yemen wasn’t misdirection, but it was the first time they tried to grab Gwen? Maybe the island was plan B.” Realizing how ridiculous that sounds, I shake my head, answering my own question. “They went to too much trouble to draw us there if they could’ve snatched her in Yemen.”

“They wouldn’t be stupid enough to go after her with all of us there to protect her, either. That’s why they needed her away from The Sapphire and in a place we thought was low-risk and safe.”

“But how the hell could they have predicted a girls’ trip would inevitably happen? Even if they know us well enough to know Gwen was holed up here and sad . . .” My fault, dammit. “That’s a reach for them to just assume that vacation would happen. And these people don’t seem like the type to wait and hope everything works out in their favor.”

“Doesn’t square up.” His eyes shoot to the table. “We need to find out if Molly was in Somalia in 2011. Gwen only hacked the Americans and the Australians. We can ask her to do a deep dive into the Brits’ case files.” He stands. “In the meantime, I’ll wake up Zoey and see what she knows. She might be able to fill in some blanks.”

I rise as well. “Someone went through a lot of trouble to set things in motion for whatever is on Gwen’s laptop. That also means they had to have insider knowledge about what’s on her damn laptop to begin with. But I don’t think this is about a vendetta. Not against you.”

He looks away, and I turn to follow his gaze.

Gwen’s hovering inside the main entrance, dressed in workout clothes and holding her laptop. “Am I interrupting? You both look tense.” She lifts one shoulder, tugging her mouth to the side. “Forget I said that second part. You’re both always uptight.”

“I’ve got some calls to make.” Carter faces me and gives me a silent command I easily read: Fill Gwen in and get her help.

After I acknowledge his silent order with a nod, he takes off, leaving me with two cold cups of joe and the woman who has the ability to jumpstart my heart and wake me up without caffeine.

“I thought I’d find you here,” she says softly.

“Liar.” I smirk. “You checked the cameras.”

“Caught me.” She shrugs. “Something told me if I was struggling to sleep, you were, too.”

“You stalking me now?” I joke.

“Now?” She grins.

Every step closer, she stirs something inside me. Something I’m pretty confident I can no longer shut off.

“Been keeping an eye on you for months, all the way back in Kansas City.” She leans in and pokes my chest with her free hand. “And you know it.”

CHAPTER 36

Easton

“Wow, that’s just . . . wow.” Gwen blinks a few times, brows pinched as she tries to process what I shared.

I info dumped everything Carter and I discussed in the space of a minute, barely stopping to breathe as I filled her in. Hell, I didn’t even give her a chance to sit.

I told her everything. From the news Carter was in Somalia in 2011 to the fact our enemy might be someone who was on our side back then. Sure as hell isn’t now. And I don’t buy that some terrorist from back then crawled out of a cave to mastermind all of this.

She sets aside her laptop. “Well, something told me I should bring Jerry when I came down here, and now I know why.”

I nod my thanks. “I’ll make you a drink.” I step around her, but she reaches for my arm, and I go still. I lower my eyes to where her fingers brush my wrist, her touch sending a jolt straight up my arm as silence settles between us. The moment is loaded with things we didn’t finish saying last night. Things I know we don’t have time to touch now.

“We’ll talk about us later, okay?” I assume that’s what she’s thinking about. I am.

“Sure.” She gives me a tight smile. “But I was going to say you can wait on the coffee. Julian and I were working on the Molly-in-London footage together upstairs, and I just finished a four a.m. cup of joe.”

“Oh.” My heart skips about two full-ass beats. Why the hell am I still jealous of that man? “And?” I swallow.