Page 54 of Redeeming Meg

Conrad Flynn paced behind his desk as Reid, Carson, and Sterling filed in. They took seats positioned on the other side, sharing glances between them.

“You were there,” Meg said. “Platja Fonda.”

He’d wondered when she’d piece it together. “Julia insisted we take a vacation. She likes the beach, and we’d never been there. Pretty spot, but too full of tourists for me.”

She didn’t buy it, giving him a flat stare. She had yet to put back on the weight she’d lost after Mendoza’s death, and he sometimes caught her grimacing when she moved wrong, but the heavy shadows were gone from under her eyes. She’d regained much of her confidence.

“Why didn’t you make yourself known to me?” she asked. “Hand me my orders in person?”

Because he preferred to keep his balls intact. “We both know the answer to that. If I’d shown my face, you would have considered it an act of aggression. It would’ve ended badly for both of us.”

Reid snorted. As always, he was grizzled and stalwart—loyal to his team and his country. ‘Rugged’ was the term Julia used when talking about him.

Flynn thought dangerous was more accurate.

He was a cunning one, as well. He could run circles around most of the operatives in the field these days, and Conrad appreciated that. There was no hiding behind technology, analytics, or theories with Reid. He was a boots-on-the-ground, take-no-prisoners kind of guy.

But Meg Carson? She was her own brand of weapon of mass destruction these days. She had no regard for her own safety and seemed determined to throw herself on her sword to make up for what had happened to her teammate.

There was no making up for that. It was a heavy loss, and Conrad understood the guilt and regret she lived with every hour of every day. If he could’ve taken it away from her and dealt with it himself, he would have. He had his own demons that he fought on a regular basis, people he hadn’t been able to save, but no amount of self-flagellating could bring Jessica back.

All they could do was move on.

“Mosai Hagar was found dead inside his prison cell last night,” he said.

Carson’s mouth dropped open.

Reid and Sterling didn’t so much as blink.

Good men.

“How?” Meg asked.

Conrad observed her, noting how her gaze started to slide to her right, where Declan sat stone-faced. It snapped back to him.

“A silent assassin, apparently,” he told her. He wanted to say, “A ghost did it” but that would have given too much away. “No one was caught on the security feeds. We have no leads, and I, for one, don’t give a shit if we ever do.”

He’d wanted to do it himself, but it wasn’t his kill. If he’d thought Meg could have handled it, he would have allowed her to do it. As it was, he made sure he, Reid, and Sterling had goneto that black site deep in the Virginia mountains last night and returned before morning.

“Are you okay with that?” Conrad asked.

Meg seemed speechless, then nodded. “Guess I have to be.”

He punched a button on his phone, hailing his secretary. “Get Contessa Vulpe on the line for me.”

“Yes, sir,” Kate responded.

“Tessa?” Meg asked. “What’s this about?”

Conrad sank into his chair, picking up a pen and tapping it on his blotter. “Del and Spence have broken through another layer of encryption on Tommy’s drive. I’ve also recovered intel from Tommy’s superior—against his boss’ directives, he’d been digging into an investment firm in Russia and following a money trail he believed backed up his suspicions about Hagar’s involvement in a potential black swan scenario.”

Declan and Meg looked at Spence, who cleared his throat and sat forward in his chair. Conrad gave him a nod to go ahead and explain what they had found. “Our boy uncovered a plot to set off multiple EMP bombs at US military bases across the globe,” Spence told them. “Plenty of conspiracy theories about such a thing have existed for a while, and the Department of Defense has taken measures to ensure that never happens, but this…” He shook his head as if still trying to wrap his mind around it. “It goes all the way back to the businesses supplying the superconductors for the military’s computers.”

Such weapons had been around for a while, the US being one of the countries at the forefront of designing non-nuclear tools in order to destroy information systems. They’d created devices small enough to fit in a briefcase, making them not only feasible but also practical.

Kate’s voice interrupted. “Contessa Vulpe line one, sir.”

“Thank you.” Conrad punched the button. “Tessa, you’re on speaker. The swans are here, and we’re discussing what Tommyuncovered and put on that USB.” He brought her up to speed and then continued, “As you know, EMPs can cripple electronic wiring and circuitry over several square miles, posing a threat to infrastructure. The Defense Department’s reliance on satellites and commercial computer equipment to command military forces and operations worldwide is threatened. Much has been done to take precautions to offset such attacks. Still, if what Tommy uncovered involves sabotage of the superconductors used in military computers, all of these bases are sitting ducks. Our nation’s infrastructure, as well. Forces we have around the world, the same. It could be a nightmare.”

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