Page 13 of Operation Heartbeat

“So what’s next, Con?” Henner picked up his bottled water and took a big gulp.

“I have a call in to Barrett, but I’m not hopeful that we’ll get the guy back for questioning. I think we’ll need to go to him.”

Sophie stared at him, her expression serious and solemn as she again processed this bit of information she hadn’t been a fan of the first time he told her.

“You’ll need fake IDs.” Henner set down his water and brought a taco to his mouth. Lettuce fell out onto his plate.

Con shifted his focus to Sophie. He could practically see the professor’s mind working over this new revelation.

What few people in the world knew was that being on SEAL Team Blackout meant giving up their identities. When they joined the team, they were given blackout papers including a death certificate and a list of instructions including to never use their real names again. To the outside world, they were dead. They only used their names with each other.

He hadn’t shared his name with the dean…but he had given it to Sophie.

He’d slipped with her. He’d have to watch himself from now on.

THREE

Con led Sophie to a vast room filled with only a hard wooden bench and some metal chairs. Against the backdrop of ornate moldings and a high ceiling showcasing what was most likely an original art deco chandelier, the furniture looked harsh and out of place.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

She swung toward Con, feeling incredulity spread across her face. “Comfortable? Here?”

“You know what I mean. I need to make some phone calls and get my orders. Just wait for me here.”

She nodded and crossed the marble tile floor to the bench. As she sank to the wooden seat, Con performed a rigid about-face and walked out.

Sophie gathered her scattered thoughts. The conversation over dinner had jarred her. This wasn’t a life she knew much about. She went to bed early most nights just so she could delve into her book of the week. And she got up early to drink coffee and watch the sunrise. Her life was mapped out in blocks of time separated into routine and work.

These people were military. Didn’t they thrive on order? Yet this operation she’d been dragged into didn’t seem to follow that protocol. One minute she was looking at the cryptogram, the next she was watching muscled men gorge on tacos and dance to popular tunes around a high-end kitchen fitted with appliances worth tens of thousands of dollars.

On the bright side, military men weremuchmore easygoing. They didn’t approach her with the snobbery that her Ivy League colleagues did.

Or wereanythinglike her ex-husband.

They’d all been very nice and accommodating to her, fetching her drinks and offering more tacos even after she was full.

Minutes ticked by. She wiggled toward the end of the bench to lean on the wooden armrest. This day seemed to be never-ending. Right now, she’d be at home, performing the simple chores that kept her life orderly, and getting ready to slip on her nightgown and crawl between the covers for some reading.

She thought of the books she’d shoved into her bag. Of course a man like Con picked up that she’d packed books. He probably thought she was pathetic.

But she always came prepared with something to read in her handbag in case she got a few minutes to escape into another realm. Her inner bibliophile geeked out for a minute remembering those bookcases in Con’s office. She could easily stuff them from floor to ceiling with what she had stowed in crates, closets and bookshelves at home.

Her backside was beginning to go numb from the hard bench when the door opened and Con walked in.

He carried a file folder and walked stiffly, as ifhe’dbeen stuck on a bench for most of an hour.

She popped to her feet. “What did you find out?”

“We can’t get the suspect back into the country. I was right—we need to go to him.”

“Mason said something about a fake ID?”

His stare fixed on her face for a beat too long. Then another.

When the third second throbbed by, worry tickled at her insides. She searched his face. “What aren’t you saying?”

Pushed into action, he opened the folder and withdrew a sheet of paper. A name was printed at the top, with a description below it. A quick skim of the contents made her heart thump.

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