EDGE OF SHADOWS: The Shadow Ops Finale (Shadow Ops, Book # 3)

by CJ Lyons

  Chase’s crutch thumped against wood as he whirled. “Cut the crap. We need to find KC.”

  “Of course. You’re right, Chase. KC is our priority,” Rose said.

  She stood and began pacing, her best method of thinking. Ended up near Chase. He wouldn’t meet her gaze at first, using the need to keep guard as an excuse, but she saw the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his hands were clenched. She said nothing, merely touched his elbow. Finally, he glanced at her and gave a nod. He knew she was doing everything she could to get KC back. They all were.

  “We need to find the traitor,” Billy said.

  “The traitor could lead us to KC,” she argued, “so it’s the same thing. The man who took me, the one who said he was the Preacher’s son—”

  “The guy on the Mall said that as well. Think they mean it literally? Maybe we could do some DNA testing.”

  Rose didn’t answer, just stopped and glanced around the tiny cabin. Billy grimaced. “Yeah, right. Not going to happen.”

  “Whoever they are, they’re determined to avenge the Preacher’s death—”

  “That’s the part where they want all of us dead,” Jay said, in case anyone missed it. Eve hushed him.

  “And they want to finish his plans. Fulfill his destiny is how they worded it.” Rose pivoted. “So. How do we stop them? The only hard evidence we have is the cell phone I took from the men who had me. It’s wiped clean as far as I can tell, except for the last number dialed.”

  “Should we risk reaching out to EZ to trace it?” Chase asked.

  “No,” Billy snapped. Rose wondered at his tone.

  “It all comes back to the traitor,” Eve said. “Find them, and you’ll have a way to find KC and learn their plans. Or at the very least know what they know and could have passed on about you. Because it seems like whatever they have planned, they want all of you involved in it.”

  “She’s right,” Billy said. “And the only thing the traitor knows that the rest of the world doesn’t is that you’re alive, Rose. Everyone else thinks you’re dead.”

  “And the traitor thinks I’m safely locked away—at least until they figure out they’ve lost contact with their two men.”

  “So you need to stay dead,” Chase said. “Out of sight.”

  “Any thoughts on who the traitor is?” Eve asked.

  “Susan Payne,” Rose said, just as Billy said, “EZ.”

  They stared at each other. “EZ gave you bad intel.” Billy made his case. “About Grigor and the bio lab. He sent you into a trap. And Susan has always been helpful.”

  “Right. Like sending the Preacher’s men after you when you left her house last night was helpful. Who else knew you were there, Billy?”

  “Let’s focus on EZ. Maybe his getting shot at was a setup. And why couldn’t he figure out what kind of weapon they were working on? Hell, Celeste and Hollywood had the intel for a few hours and got us more info—”

  She held up her hand. “There’s a way to answer this. We check the copy of the hard drive the FBI computer techs are working on. If their data matches what EZ gave me, he’s in the clear. If not, he’s our guy.”

  “I already tried,” Billy told her. “Couldn’t get into any of the databases or secure networks to see what the feds have found.”

  Typical Billy. Trusting technology to get the job done. She’d take people any day. “So we’ll ask.”

  “Hate to break it to you, boss,” Chase put in. “But we’re not exactly in a position to be asking the feds any favors. Unless you want to get arrested.”

  “We don’t ask the feds. Senator Susan Payne asks the feds.”

  “Susan?” Billy said. “She’s not exactly on our Christmas list right now.”

  “Who’s the highest-ranking FBI official who was in on your debrief?”

  “The assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office was there this morning.”

  “Then we go up a level. Someone who knows the case and how important it is, but doesn’t have all the specifics,” she said. Then she switched to Susan’s uptown, nasal accent. “William, could you please arrange a call coming from my personal cell to the Washington Field Office’s special agent in charge?”

  “You’re going to impersonate a US senator?” Jay asked.

  Rose gave him a wink. “Easiest acting job I’ve ever had to do.”

  Billy got to work on the computer. “It will have to come from Norfolk. She’s with the president and first lady attending this afternoon’s launch ceremony.” He glanced at his watch, not quite eleven. “I think the officers’ wives are honoring her and the first lady about now. Let’s see if we can access a live feed.”

  A few minutes later, he found a live streaming video of the brunch. Handed Rose a headset when he got the background mix where he wanted it. “Okay, Susan is out of the frame right now.” He placed the call using a Voice over Internet Protocol connection. After playing the harried assistant, he finally waved Rose on once the SAC answered.

  “Special Agent in Charge Bransford, so good of you to take my call,” Rose said. Her voice was the tiniest bit lower-pitched and huskier than Susan’s, but she nailed the accent. “Now, I know you sent this information to my DC office, but I’m in Norfolk with the president and first lady, and I’m afraid it hasn’t reached me yet. I need to know if your technicians were able to decrypt anything further from that hard drive we’ve been discussing—oh, this is a secure line, is it not?”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is. Now, I know your committee had an emergency meeting this morning—”

  “And we’re meeting again upon my return to the Capitol, which is why I need this information ASAP. It’s a rather hectic day, you understand. By the way, if you turn on CNN, you might see me and the first lady—they just finished filming a spot.”

  “We’ve got our hands full as well, Senator. I’ve no time for television.”

  “I’m sure. Any news on Rose Prospero and her people?”

  “We haven’t released to the public that her body wasn’t among those recovered—”

  “You mean amongst the corpses recovered. I tell you that woman would stop at nothing—”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’ve put an alert out to every law enforcement agency on the East Coast and will expand that as need be. Still searching their offices for corroborating evidence. Wait, my assistant just brought the info you asked for. Looks like our guys weren’t able to find anything on the hard drive. It was degaussed before it was checked into evidence. Wiped clean.”

  “Should have known she lied about that as well. One more nail in her coffin. Thank you, Special Agent in Charge.” She hung up. Glanced at Billy. Nodded her head in concession. “Okay, you were right, and I was wrong. It is EZ. Now, how are we going to catch him?”

  Chase turned away from the window. His face was devoid of expression—which didn’t bode well if he ever met EZ in person again, Rose was certain. But she also knew the Marine would never allow his anger to control him. He’d stay focused on the mission: saving KC. “What about that guy who got away? If he and EZ are working together, he might know where EZ is—or where they stashed KC.”

  Rose spun around and gave the Marine a big hug. “Chase, you’re brilliant.”

  “The cops and feds have been looking for the man you tried to kill in the tunnel for a week,” Billy argued. “What makes you think you can find him?”

  Rose smiled. “They don’t have the connections I have.”

  Chapter 25

  Eve had never had the chance to see Rose at work before. Sure, she’d seen the gleam in her eyes when she taught Eve how to escape from a chokehold or where to park to approach a place without being seen. Stuff from the movies, James Bond 101.

  Warped mother-daughter bonding, but she didn’t think of Rose as her mother. Her mother was Rose’s sister, Nancy, safe back home in West Virginia with the rest of her family—none of whom ever spoke of Rose or of Rose’s dad or of Eve’s biological father. When Eve had finally learne
d the truth, it explained so many things.

  Her need to explore, her feeling of claustrophobia, trapped in a small town like Scotia. Her artistic talents—she’d won a partial scholarship to Georgetown because of her design work. How cool was it to learn her dad had also been an artist.

  She hadn’t counted on the danger being real. Or almost losing Rose—not after she’d just found her. Hadn’t counted on the fear or the pain.

  Or the joy when Rose returned.

  Not that Rose could ever replace her real mom. No one could ever do that. But these past few months that she’d spent with Rose in a city filled with all the possibilities that college life revealed, Eve had felt more alive than ever before.

  She didn’t want to lose that feeling.

  Rose worked on the computer a few minutes, and then stood. “I put the word out to my network of assets. Now all we have to do is wait. Jay, think you can fix some lunch for us? There are plenty of canned goods in the pantry. I’m going to get cleaned up.”

  She left for the bedroom, and a few minutes later, the sound of the shower started. Eve watched Billy. The way his gaze lingered on the bedroom door as if he wished he were in there with Rose. Did he have any idea that Rose felt the same way about him?

  Not that Rose would ever come out and say anything. That was the thing Eve was learning about spies: They were experts at hiding the truth, even from themselves.

  Then she realized Billy had turned his focus onto her. “You have questions.” He said it as a statement.

  Eve looked away. The sound of the shower stopped, and she knew this was her chance before something else happened, like men in black helicopters storming in to take them all to prison.

  “I’ve only known her for a few months. I didn’t—I couldn’t risk what we had by asking…” She faltered, unsure how to explain her inability to face Rose with her questions. But if there was anything that the events of the past day had taught her it was that it was pointless to wait, not when it involved people you love.

  “It’s okay. Ask. She’ll tell you the truth.” Billy laid his hand over hers. “Rose almost always tells the truth. Especially to the people she loves.”

  “Maybe the truth is what I’m afraid of,” Eve said. She turned her hand up, clasping his. “Will you come with me? I have a feeling my questions are the same as yours.”

  He cut a glance to Chase and then Jay, finally met her gaze, and nodded. “I have a feeling you might be right about that.”

  <><><>

  Billy knocked on the bedroom door, still holding Eve’s hand. Rose answered, her wet hair bunched up, water dancing on the frizzy curls, sparking in the light. She’d changed into black cargo pants and a gray fleece top. She glanced at him, then at Eve, and gave a small nod.

  She blew her breath out and sat down on the cot, patting the space beside her for Eve to join her. “You want to know about your dad.”

  Eve blinked back tears and nodded, burrowing her face in Rose’s shoulder.

  “I told you his name was Adam,” Rose said, her arm wrapped around Eve’s body, her hand stroking the girl’s hair. “And you know my father killed him. What you don’t know is that he died because of me.”

  Billy watched through hooded eyes, marveling at how the tough woman he knew and admired had transformed herself into a protective, loving mother. Seeing Rose and Eve together, how much they looked alike, how similar their personalities were, but most of all, the tiny intimacies that only two people bonded in love shared, made his throat tighten. It had been a long, long time since anyone had looked at him that way, had cared about him that way.

  “How did you meet?” Eve asked in a small voice that made her sound much younger than she was.

  “He was eighteen. I was sixteen.” Rose’s voice became distant as if misted by the past. “He was an artist. He would have made a wonderful father.” Rose sighed, and for the first time since Billy had met her, he saw her back down, shy away from an unpleasant task. Usually, Rose was the first one to tackle a dirty situation, the last to complain about it.

  “We lived in a small mining town. When the mines failed, the town collapsed,” Rose continued. “My father lost everything, our house, land that had been in his family for generations. After that, he poured all his energy into religion. The Old Testament kind—fire and brimstone, no room for forgiveness or disobedience.”

  Eve shifted her weight, settled in, mesmerized by Rose’s voice spinning the tale from two decades before. Billy leaned against the wall, unable to not listen and be captivated as well. This was a Rose Prospero he had never known existed.

  “Adam was the new kid in school, an outcast. Then, one day I cut class to go visit my grandmother. I was sneaking out through the playing fields when I saw a gang of boys beating up another boy. There were six of them to his one, but he was holding his own until one of the guys blindsided him, cut his legs out from under him, and he went down. They were all over him like a pack of hyenas.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Gram always said you can’t dodge trouble. The best thing is to face it head-on before it gets too big to handle. So as I ran past the field house, I grabbed one of the baseball bats and plowed into the fray, swinging it around like a battle ax and screaming like a banshee.”

  Billy hid his grin; the picture of a young Rose rushing to protect a defenseless kid was so vivid. The mature Rose would have done the exact same thing—she still did, which was why they were here now.

  “Were you scared?” Eve asked.

  “Of course I was. I’m not dumb. But I knew if I let those guys get away with it, they’d just find another target. Then Adam was back on his feet, bleeding all over creation, but we stood back to back, and those bullies ran.”

  “So how—” Eve’s voice faltered. “How did he die? I mean, I know your father killed him, but no one would tell me why. Surely not just because you were pregnant?”

  Rose gazed into the distance. “I think my father had lost so much that somehow he’d come to believe that we—me, my mother and sister—were the last true things he had. As long as he had us—controlled us—he still had some sort of power in this world. He wanted to be a big man, a man strong enough to create the world, or at least his family’s world, in his image. But all he ended up as was a small, small man, too terrified to let go of anything.”

  Eve frowned; she was too young to understand. But Billy knew exactly the kind of man Rose described. He’d met them in the Army and all around the world. Tyrants in their own minds. Bullies. Some were canny enough to manipulate their way into power like Grigor. Others had charisma and recruited followers, like the Preacher. In the end they all fell, victims to their own insatiable hunger.

  “After I told Adam about the baby,” Rose continued. “About you.” She hugged Eve close. “We were so happy. Scared spitless—being sixteen and pregnant is probably one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever faced. But I had Adam. And my grandmother as well as Adam’s folks to help. I knew we could do it—knew you’d be worth it.

  “Adam decided to talk to my father. I’d warned him not to, knew how bad my father’s temper could get, but Adam thought it was the right thing to do. The honorable thing. Only thing was, my father’s idea of honor was very different than Adam’s. He wouldn’t meet Adam at the house, instead met him down at the tavern where he had all his friends, drinking buddies, church buddies, guys who’d worked the mines with him. Adam never stood a chance. When I heard that he’d gone to meet my father, I ran after him, but I was too late.” Her voice caught the slightest bit, and her grip on Eve tightened. “Found him in the alley, dead. The police called it a mugging, but we all knew the truth.”

  “So your father never went to jail or anything?” Eve’s voice was laced with anger.

  Rose shook her head. “No. He drank himself to death—died two months before you were born. I was so lonely, missed Adam so very much, but then I had you, such a precious gift.” She leaned over to kiss Eve’s head. “My miracle b
aby.”

  Eve’s mouth opened then shut again. Billy knew what she wanted to ask. He caught Rose’s eye, and she nodded her understanding.

  “The hardest thing I ever did was to say good-bye to you,” Rose continued. “But I was so young, and I knew I’d make so many mistakes—and I still blamed myself for Adam’s death. After you were born, I pretty much fell apart. But my sister, Nancy, was there—she’d married a man totally unlike our father, a kind and gentle man. But he wasn’t able to have kids, and I knew Nancy would make the perfect mother. After all, she’d pretty much raised me. And you were such a gift, a blessing to us all…I guess maybe I took the easy way out, was too scared that I might do something wrong, cause you any pain, mess up your life like I had Adam’s.”

  A tear escaped Rose’s eye. Billy wasn’t sure if she noticed it, her face buried in Eve’s hair, but he did. “I just loved you so much, and I knew it was the right thing, even though it hurt so very much. And it wasn’t fair to Nancy for me to stay around, to have you torn apart like that, so I left. Hardest damn thing I’ve ever done. But I wanted you to have everything, and it was the only way I could give it to you.”

  Billy felt like an intruder, invading such a private moment. But as Eve turned to embrace Rose, Rose reached a hand to him, grabbing him tight. As if he were part of their family.

  He closed his eyes, wishing he never had to let go.

  <><><>

  Rose gathered Eve in her arms, but all she could see was Adam. Eve looked so much like him. She hoped Eve understood that there was nothing Rose wouldn’t do for her.

  As Eve sobbed in her arms, Rose glanced up to meet Billy’s gaze. She took his hand in hers, needing his warmth, his solid strength to reassure her that all the many mistakes she’d made in her life had been worth it.

  A tentative knock came on the door. “Lunch is ready,” Jay said.

  Eve sniffed hard and broke free of Rose. “Thank you,” she whispered, kissing Rose on the cheek. Then she surprised Rose by standing up on tiptoe and kissing Billy’s cheek as well. She whispered something to him that made him look away. Then she left, closing the door behind her.