Page 23 of Zero Hour

Blade nodded, before his eyes flicked to the laptop.

“Anything new?”

How the hell?—?

He snorted. Blade knew him way too well.

“Nope. Falcon and Buzzard aren’t home. It’s just the woman.”

Blade shot him a disapproving look. “That was risky, what you did today.”

Pat didn’t pretend not to understand. Blade was talking about him running interference with Jasmine. “It was the only way to stall her.”

“If she figures it out, she could warn him.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think she’s on his side.”

Blade arched an eyebrow. “Then why the hell is she living with him?”

“I don’t know.” His gaze flickered back to the screen. “But it doesn’t look like she wants to be there.”

Blade gestured to the laptop. “Thing is, she’s not trying to leave either.”

“I think we can turn her,” Pat said, after a beat.

Blade blinked. “Jesus, Pat. You’re serious?”

“If we pull her in, she could give us everything we need on Al-Jabiri.”

“That’s a hell of a gamble.”

“I know.”

There was another brief silence, then Pat said, “Did Anna get anything from the hospital where she works? Did they say anything about her behavior before she took leave?”

“I don’t know.” Blade poked his head around the doorway. “Anna, get in here.”

The logistics manager appeared a moment later. “Yeah?”

Blade repeated Pat’s question.

“Apparently, she was acting off before she left the hospital,” Anna said, filling them in. “The receptionist said she was distracted and forgetful, which isn’t like her.”

Pat rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “Sounds like she was stressed.”

“Did we check with the defense institute where her husband worked?” Blade asked.

“Yeah,” Anna confirmed. “His boss said he hadn’t shown up for days. They called his wife who didn’t know where he was. Get this, apparently he’d been dead for forty-eight hoursbeforeshe found him.”

“Jesus,” Blade muttered.

“Where the hell was she while this was happening?” Pat asked.

Anna quirked an eyebrow. “She told investigators from the defense institute that she often stayed at work, on the pull-out couch.”

“They launch an internal investigation?” It made sense, after one of their engineers was found dead.

Anna nodded. “Apparently their marriage was in trouble.”

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