Page 48 of Hazard

She wasn’t so down and out that she couldn’t even scrape up a decent dirty look. His eyes went back to her, and she was fighting her little fight, and he respected her for that. It wasn’t like Leigh to go down without a struggle. Another deep breath to call up all of her usual stubbornness and she fortified herself even though she was clearly struggling with a whole bunch of emotions. She nodded to Nick, wrestling hard. Hazard watched her, his gut in a knot, waiting for her to get back her balance. Liking her spunk, he lifted his chin and gave her a reinforcing look.

She tipped her head to one side, her expression changing as she considered him. Making sure his expression was a whole lot calmer than he felt, he leaned his elbows on the table. She mustered some attitude and gave him a brave look.

His attention shifted to the door when Anna Graham walked in. She looked great—put together, and it was clear she’d been getting enough sleep. Anna was as much a warrior as they were, and she held her own. He still felt pride in how she had kicked ass in that small camp in the gap and gotten herself out of her kidnapping situation even before the team could intervene. That was ballsy.

She greeted Leigh, and even from this distance, he could tell she was also concerned about Leigh. It was on her face. The two Shadowguard arrived, Strekoza and Hummingbird. They went right to Anna, both hugging her hard. Hazard didn’t miss Skull’s sour expression, and his oh fuck look.

Moments later, a woman walked in. She was striking, drawing not only his eye but Boomer’s. His gaze locked on her like a heat-seeking missile. She was tall, at least six feet, slender in that toned and lethal way that made him think she was some type of operator off the bat, with chin-length, deep auburn hair. Both her bangs and pixie-style cut were blunt and linear. Her features were sharp, her eyes blue, and her skin had a lovely peaches-and-cream tone.

She was dressed in black pants and a multicolored red, black, and white chevron sweater, and a pair of black high heels. Anna immediately smiled and talked to her briefly, then she took a seat along the wall next to Dr. Nick Tremont and Jose Molina.

Boomer nudged Hazard. “That’s quite a woman,” he murmured.

Hazard’s eyes swept back to Leigh. She was the only woman he could really see. Suddenly, there was a commotion at the door, and Iceman said firmly, “Officer on deck!” He and the whole team stood when a growing legend entered the room: Lieutenant Commander Jude “Hollywood” Lock. He was rapidly gaining a reputation for being a closer, and with the death of Patch, the brass wanted closure. Since it was a small community, all of them were aware that Hollywood had completed the Green Team cycle as the number one recruit for DEVGRU. He had his choice of teams and quickly ascended to team leader. His record for mission success was unmatched.

“At ease, and retake your seats,” Hollywood said as he also connected with Anna, and then took a chair next to the tall redhead.

Anna came to the head of the room and said, “Good morning, let’s get started. We’ve gathered to hear from Leigh and Dr. Tremont, cementing our plans for moving forward in our search for Angel Alzate. We experienced a terrible setback, but we will not let the ambushes carried out by the cartel define our missions or deter us from completing them,” she said with a hard, cold expression on her face, her jaw set. “Let me introduce you to the people who will be assisting us in our search.” She turned to Hollywood and smiled. “Most of you either know or have heard of Lieutenant Commander Jude ‘Hollywood’ Lock. He will be taking over for Lieutenant Commander Terry Patchett.” She paused for a moment of silence, then said, “You also all know Jose and his role here.” She pushed her hair back and indicated toward her colleagues. “My station chief has sent two of my colleagues, Shadowguard, who go by Strekoza and Hummingbird. They are excellent operatives.” She nodded her head toward the redhead. “We also have with us Detective Taylor Hoffman, German Federal Criminal Police or BKA, the national central bureau for Europol and Interpol. She was previously a liaison officer for the German Embassy in Portugal and started off in Division SOC—Serious and Organized Crime and is a former member of the GSG 9.”

Hazard knew that part of the German division was considered special forces and handled border protection, and was so heavily classified, no one was even sure women had been part of the force. Apparently, that was true. No wonder she looked like an operator.

“She currently serves as the liaison to the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center, Narcotics in Lisbon, Portugal. MAOC (N) is a gathering of eight EU Member States: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, along with the United Kingdom, a multilateral cooperative to tackle illicit drug trafficking by sea and air. Detective Hoffman is here to assist in the search for Angel Alzate and dismantle the cartel. Fentanyl has been a big problem for them just as it has been for us.” She then turned to Leigh. “Let’s now hear from Leigh and Dr. Tremont.”

Leigh stood and came to the center of the room. “Good morning, everyone,” she said, a small waver in her voice. “Nick and I have been working on a plan to dismantle the cartel and quite literally piss them off in the process so we can shake them up. Brace yourselves, it involves math.”

“Dammit. I suck at long division,” Boomer said.

“Don’t worry, Boomer. Nick will speak slowly.” People laughed at Leigh’s remark, and Taylor Hoffman met Boomer’s gaze across the room. There was a small smile on her face, transforming her stoic look.

Nick cleared his throat and stepped forward. “No need for that. Long division doesn’t figure into our Alzate Cartel equation.” He smiled. “Just statistics.”

Boomer groaned, and there was more laughter.

“I’ll put everything into layman’s terms.” He slipped on a pair of reading glasses and looked down at his notes. “I study and work with complexity and network analysis, and Leigh has hired me for a specific task.” He glanced at her respectfully. “With these tools, I identify drug cartels as a complex network with all the important people who move their product along the pipeline as nodes with algorithms pinpointing the strength and importance of the connections. Leigh’s idea, which has great merit, applies directly to the people who connect the illegal with the legal. We’re talking about governors, municipal workers, law enforcers, and even government officials. This network allows the cartel to function. Without them, there will be significant breakdowns in the chain. We call these betweeners and they are paid by the cartels. Since the cartel relies heavily on close ties with the law to operate successfully, removing the betweeners could devastate their operations. They are going to react strongly to these actions. As we saw with the Alzate Cartel’s takeover of Ignacio Siachoque’s territory, we hypothesize they either assumed assets or intimidated them into submission.” He frowned and pushed up his glasses. “More work needs to be accomplished there.”

“Suffice it to say, we have identified possible people who play a role in assisting the cartel in transporting their drugs to their target countries,” Leigh said. “The people we have identified so far are low-level municipal employees, but we do have one big fish to fry. She put up a picture of a middle-aged woman. “Astrid Cristo, Minister of Transportation. She’s our target. The CNP will handle the others.”

“You have solid proof of this?” Jose asked. When Leigh nodded, Jose looked so sad. “I’m floored. She’s a hard-working person who has always had Colombia’s welfare in mind.”

“I’m sorry, Jose,” Leigh said. We have proof she’s been taking money from the cartel. Russo’s records were seized in Italy, and the Italian government has had their accountants on all that intel.”

“Have you consulted my government? They’ll want to be aware of this viper in the midst.”

“That won’t be possible at this time. We’re keeping this under wraps until we take her into custody. We can’t afford for her to be either assassinated or flee. Your minister is a criminal, and she will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

His features dropped and he sat down, stunned. Hazard felt sorry for him, but not for what was about to happen to his countrywoman. It was important that everything stay classified.

The meeting broke up, and everyone hit the ground running. The next few days were absolute chaos, and Hazard continued to have concerns about Leigh. He could tell she was running on empty, yet she continued to drive herself to the limit. The nightmares were still plaguing her, and she was starting to look haggard.

About the middle of the week, he finally decided that he had to say something. He wasn’t going to push her to talk, but he was going to lay out his concerns. She was still in the conference room with Nick. She hadn’t eaten, and it was getting late.

“Leigh, you need to wrap it up. We need to have a conversation.”

She looked up, her eyes a bit glassy, and he gritted his teeth.

Sighing, he walked into the room and took her arm. She allowed him to lead her right to the Mess Hall where he fed her. Then it was up to their suite. Once the door closed, she went right to the windows and started to check them. “Leigh…don’t you trust me?”

She turned around and stared at him for a moment.

---