Page 27 of Zero Hour

Pat gazed at the image of the empty living room. One thing he’d learned by that exchange was that Jasmine McCarthy wasnotthere voluntarily. She might have the alarm code, and a key, but she was being held against her will. They had something on her, but what, he didn’t know.

So far, everything he’d learned about her was above board. No affair, no secret assignations, no fraudulent behavior or unauthorized sharing of patients’ records. She was as clean as they came.

Sighing, he got back to work. Twenty minutes later, Anna rushed in. “Pat, you’re going to want to read this transcript.”

“Huh?”

“I sent it to the lipreader.” She placed a printed piece of paper on his desk in front of him.

“Holy shit,” he murmured.

“Yeah. I know. We completely missed that she had a child.”

“Where is her son now?” Pat asked. Was that what they were blackmailing her with? Her child? Was that why she was so compliant?

“He’s at a boarding school in Virginia. Name’s Ryan and he’s fourteen years old. Bright kid, according to his teacher.”

“You spoke to them?” Pat asked. “He’s there?”

“Safe and sound,” she confirmed.

“They’re blackmailing her, which means they’re watching the kid.”

This changed everything. They needed Jasmine on their side. She was their way in.

“I’m going to meet with her,” he said abruptly.

Anna’s eyes widened. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“I’m sure.” His voice brooked no argument. “I can turn her, I know it. If we get her on our side, we’ll have direct intel on Falcon’s operation. It’ll save time. Save lives.”

Anna hesitated. “We don’t know for sure if he’s blackmailing her.”

“Think about it. The phone call at the coffee shop, the tears, the photograph. She was talking to her kid—I’d stake my career on it.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at the screen. “That’s where I’ll confront her tomorrow.”

Pat pressedthe buzzer to Izzy’s stylish apartment block and waited as the glass doors slid open. Nodding to Lewis, the concierge, he strode through the marbled lobby to the elevators.

His heart pounded as he rode up to the penthouse. Fuck. He was really doing this. He’d felt calmer dropping into warzones.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to still his nerves.

Please don’t let this be a complete disaster.

Izzy broke into a smile when she opened the door. Her dark hair was loose, and she wore minimal makeup. It struck him, as it always did, how much she looked like her mother. A natural beauty. His chest tightened. Astrid would be so proud of how her daughter had grown up.

“Hey, Pat. Viper said you might stop by. Come on in.”

He followed her into her fashionable living room and stood on the fluffy white rug. The TV, an enormous thing that covered most of the wall, was on, but muted. “I was just watching some reality TV nonsense,” she said, switching it off. “How about a drink?”

“Sure. I brought this.” He put the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, which he knew she liked, down on the countertop.

“Brilliant. I could use a glass. Viper just left for the airport.” She sobered. “You’re not sending him anywhere too dangerous, are you, Pat?”

“Nothing he can’t handle.”

If she knew what her fiancé was doing in Colombia, she’d probably never speak to him again. Fast-roping from a helo into dense jungle, sneaking into a heavily guarded cartel compound, locating a kidnapped American exec being held for ransom, and probably engaging in a brutal firefight on the way out.

Viper’s night was just getting started.

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