Page 77 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

He shakes his head. "All we’re worried about is finding Julieanne. Everything else can be dealt with later."

I don't know if he’s intentionally trying to make mefeel worse, but if he is, it's fucking working. I was already starting to struggle with the guilt of the stunt I pulled, but now—

"I've got a location." Elias stands up, spinning to face me. "I'm sending it out now."

I’m out of my seat before his hands are back on the keyboard. "Keep looking. I want to find every fucking place connected to these sons of bitches."

Pierce stays at my side as I race from the room. He showed up decked out in the same tactical gear his team is wearing, ready to do what needs to be done. For me. The prick who was too proud to admit we were friends. The prick who was too far gone to just fucking admit he was lonely. That he’d accidentally found a woman who made life seem worth living and was stupid enough to pretend he could leave her alone.

"How are we going to handle this?" Pierce shoves open the exit door, holding it as I pass through.

"We’re going to get Julieanne, and then I'm going to torch their building with them inside it."

Pierce shoots me a grin. "Scorched earth. I like it." He swings through the open doors of one of the waiting vans, sliding onto the bench seat along one side.

I drop down beside him, tapping my earpiece to alert Elias. "Keep me updated. I want to know everything as it happens."

He comes back immediately, his answer brief. "Got it."

The doors slam shut, closing us in while the rest of the men fill the vans behind us. Pierce had significantly more men on location than I did, so we’ll be able to hit hard and fast. Since his Intel team has helped strategize, we won't be going in exactly the way I would have ordered. Pierce mustpossess an amount of patience I don't, because his teams’ tactics lean toward stealth where mine tend to sway the opposite direction. I suppose that could be due to the fact that my connections allow me to clean up whatever mess I make, and he has to be a little more careful.

But between us both, we have the best of both worlds. Something my stupid ass could have had all along if I hadn't been so goddamned stubborn.

"Vincent?" This time when Elias uses my name, it doesn't irritate me. It makes me feel like he sees me as more than his boss, and I hope that results in him thinking of Julieanne as more than just a normal target. I want him invested in her recovery.

"I'm here."

"We found a second location. I think it's pretty unlikely this one is where she’s at, but—"

"Send me the address. I want men at every spot you identify. Clear them all and then burn them to the ground."

"Sending it now." He pauses long enough I think he's gone. "We found something else."

My phone vibrates as the address arrives. "And?"

"We think we found out who's behind the program."

I pull up what looks to be a shitty, half-collapsed retail space. "Is it anybody I know?" I'm still half expecting it to be Julieanne. Of course, if it is, she’ll pay for not admitting it to me sooner.

"His name is Holden Marello."

My fingers stop where they’re zooming in on the screen. "Julieanne’s son?"

“Affirmative.” I can hear Heidi in the background, talking to Elias as he talks to me. "Heidi says she finally decoded the chat thread and it turns out the program iscorrupt. It doesn’t actually erase the data, it just camouflages it for a few days. Then all the data reappears."

I stare at the shitty building on the screen in front of me. Compared to the nondescript, but solid trailer we’re headed to now, it would seem less than likely this is where they’d take Julieanne if they were trying to get her to give them something she would need access to a computer for.

If it was me, I would hit that trailer, and I would hit it hard.

I lean forward, getting the driver's attention. "I’ve got a new address." I rattle it off and his passenger updates the GPS. "I want half our men going to this new address and the other half to be in the area of the other address. No one gets close to it though."

Pierce lifts his brows at me. "Do we know what's happening?"

I slide my phone back into place and tighten my vest across my chest. "What's happening is these fuckers just signed their death certificates for a program that doesn't even fucking work."

28

HALLUCINATIONS HAVE A SICK SENSE OF HUMOR

---