Page 101 of Red Line

“Simone has the correct one, of course,” Red said. “I saw her pull off the right-hand, ring-finger ring, pop the Fire of the Desert out of the ring guard, and put the guard back on Elena’s finger. The tracker says the Fire of the Desert is right there across the street. I’m just waiting to see if Kamal shows.”

“Simone and Elena, what do you think their relationship is? Was?” Nomad corrected himself.

“Simone has to be a cover name. I don’t recognize her. But Color Code has a team of targeters who are very good at what they do. The spider software on Elena’s phone will give them access to everything available. Since both Gustav and Simonecontacted Elena on that phone, their phones have also been corrupted. The targeters will be putting together the pieces of the puzzle to get a clearer picture. Though I’m never allowed to see the whole picture, I just act on orders.”

“Need to know.”

“Yeah. Do you know what I needto know right now?” Red deadpanned. “If and when is Kamal going to show? I need the ladies' room.”

“Ah, the joys of a stake out.”

“Exactly. Someone’s moving to the table near mine,” she said in a low tone. “Hanging up.”

***

When Red unlocked the door at the Riad and walked in, she put her phone on the shelf with her key. “I just got off the phone with Grey.”

“Yeah?” Nomad lifted his brows. “What did he have to say?”

She shut the door before answering, moving over to Nomad and lowering her voice. “I quote, ‘You two are hitting it out of the ballpark. Great work. This is exactly the information we needed.’ Since I was in the middle of the Medina, I just said, ‘Good news.’ And we hung up. I assumed you’d know what he was talking about or that I could call him back at some point.” She looked at him pointedly. “But I can tell you’re pleased.” She toed her shoes off. “Fill me in.”

“I figured I’d go to Elena’s room before the police arrived, so I could document her things. Taking pictures of her passport gives us some important information.”

“Agreed. Did you have trouble getting in?” She unwound her head scarf and tossed it into the corner.

“It was a straightforward security system. What I found was that Elena had two computers and she had a burner phone.”

Red reached for the hem of her robe and pulled it over her head, muffling her words as she said, “If data flowed between the devices, we’d have all that, right?”

“I called our support team to ask for instructions. One of the laptops was files only and wasn’t connected to WIFI.”

“To protect the data from the very thing we tried to do.” She pitched the robe into the corner, leaving her dressed in a bra and panties. “I’m begrudgingly impressed with Elena.”

“There was no cross-contamination with the second phone either. It’s all fresh data.”

“You took the computer?” Red asked.

“Didn’t need to. I put in the flash drive, and it bypassed her security. The team made copies of the hard drive and phone. That information was sent to the AI software to develop preliminary reports on imminent attacks. They can remotely wipe it if they see it moving somewhere that Uncle Sam doesn’t like.”

“Congratulations, that was a coup.” Red moved into the bathroom and ran the water. From the reflection in the mirror, he saw her wash her face and hands. “That’s not all.” She came to the door, toweling off as she caught his eyes. “You’ve got more.”

“I have our next task.”

“So we’re not done.” She leaned into the door jamb.

“Sadly, no.”

They stilled and looked into each other's eyes. Yeah, it would be good to have this wrapped up, to have the terrorists cornered, their plan thwarted. But when it was done, so were they. That would be it.

“Sadly no,” Nomad modified, “in terms of protecting innocent lives.”

“That’s how I took it.”

“I found out that the Algeria connection is still a go,” Nomad said. “Simone and Gustav will take a tourist trip over the Atlas Mountains.”

“Is that what you were working on when I came in?”

“Yes. Gustav went to a tourist guide in the Medina and set up the glamping trip. I got us places on that trip, too. The bus will pick us up in the morning.”

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