Page 55 of Escape into the Night

Internal CIA Network Compromised – Attempted Data Purge Detected.

“Son of a sick fucking bitch!” Taz’ pulse kicked up another notch as his hands darted over the keyboard. “Rise and shine, people! They're trying to erase their tracks!”

Collins, a younger analyst seated two desks to his right, grew pale as she scanned her screen. “I'm seeing mass deletions on CIA mainframes. They're wiping entire servers!”

“Yeah, no. Not on my fucking watch.” Taz cracked his neck, yet again straightened his headset, and began running countermeasures. He activated the mirror backups they hadinstalled as a precaution against this very thing. The fuckers at the CIA clearly realized how deep the shit they had stepped in went and were now scrambling like maggots to cover their asses. Too late.

“Ramirez, get Cyber Forensics on the line!” Taz snapped his fingers for good measure. “I want full restoration on everything they delete and I want names of whoever authorized this purge. Gimme their spouses names, children's names, get me the names of the poor unfortunate souls who make these people their coffee. I want it all and I want it five fucking minutes ago!”

Ramirez scowled and snorted. “Already on it.”

Taz’ teeth ground as he watched the attempted purge in real time, slamming a hack-job firewall bypass into place to isolate the damage. It wasn't a pretty patch. Theo would laugh his ass off about the shit scripting. But it was an effective patch. Taz had grown up cutting his teeth on the ones and zeros of this world. He saw the patterns instantly. His patch might not be the prettiest, but their attempts to erase their digital footprints were outright laughable for how goddamn sloppy they were. He would have laughed if his gut weren't so twisted with fear. They knew they were caught, and that made them dangerous. Desperate and deadly.

His phone buzzed on the desk. As if reading his paranoid thoughts, Luke had sent a message.

Daddy: Still in one piece. Stop worrying.

Taz clenched his jaw and snatched the phone to hammer out a reply.

Taz: Asshole. Like that’s supposed to make me feel better. Get to work.

He paused for a moment, taking a second to breathe, before typing out a second message.

Taz: Be careful. I love you.

He tossed the phone aside as another analyst called out. “Taz, we’ve got an active ping on one of our priority suspects! Isaac Roberts, CIA Counterintelligence. He just requested a flight clearance to Argentina. Private jet, wheels up in two hours!”

Taz snorted under his breath. Fucking amateur hour, requesting flight clearance. “Flag it and get Homeland Security on the line. I want someone on this man’s ass before he even sets eyes on the airport!”

“We don't have a warrant yet—”

“I do not give a single flying fuck how you stall him, but that man is not getting on that plane! Call Metro if you have to! Tell them to pull him over for a bum taillight. Tell them to smash the fucking taillights and then pull him over for a fix-it ticket! Someone here has a brain. Fucking share it if you have to, but stop that fucker before he hits the tarmac!”

There was a very awkward beat of silence before a brave agent murmured, “On it.”

Taz inhaled and tried to call the restless, writhing, seething anxiety in his chest. This was working. It had to work. They were stopping the rot in real time, but it didn't feel like enough. He didn't feel like enough. He slammed his palms against the desk and shot to his feet, his voice bellowing across the room.

“Listen up, fucknuts! We’ve got one shot at this. If we miss even one of these bastards, they’ll slip into the shadows and we will not get a second chance. No mistakes. No hesitation. If you get a lead, you fucking act on it! No hand holding, no bureaucratic bullshit, no hemming and hawing. You act, understand?”

A faint chorus of affirmatives trickled around the room before Taz exhaled and dropped back into his chair. His fingers hovered over the keyboard but his mind wasn't on the screen. It was out there, with Luke. For just a moment, his thoughts drifted to the real fight. To the men and women with their boots on the groundand their guns in their hands. He had to do everything he could to keep them safe, even as he grappled with doubt over whether or not he was the right man for the job. He couldn't let the doubt win. Not when it would result in even more blood on his hands. He lowered his trembling fingertips to the keys on the keyboard and dove back into the shadowy world of the web. There, at least, he could do something.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Connor

Alowhumofrunning equipment filled the basement of the Gendry home as Connor checked his gear for the third time. His hands moved with sharp, practiced efficiency, tightening the straps on his tactical vest, chambering a round into his Glock, and then slipping a combat knife into its sheath at his thigh. Across the room, Liam and Leon did the same. Their typical antics and comic relief were nowhere to be found. Liam checked their exit strategy as Leon double-checked their firepower. The air smelled of gun oil and sweat, filled with a tension so thick it reminded him of a loaded trigger just waiting to be pulled. This wasn't a sanctioned mission. There were no approvals, no oversight, just the three of them. None of the specifics mattered to Connor. This was a personal mission. He had a name. That was all he needed. Davis Lang. The high-ranking intelligence officer was deep in bed with the CIA traitors. He was the one directly responsible for falsifying the evidence that had turned Theo into a fugitive. He was the bastard who had signed the orders that would have seen Connor’s fiancé locked awayfor treason. Locked away or something worse. Connor’s jaw clenched. Tonight, he would end it.

Liam glanced up from his tablet, his voice low and fire. “Lang’s at his safe house outside DC. No official detail, just a personal security team. Three men, all private contractors.”

“So we’re fighting our own people. Fun times.” Leon smirked and clapped a clip into place before holstering his pistol.

“Not our people. Just a bunch of mercs who got bought out. Reckon that makes’em collateral damage if they get in our way.” Connor craned his head side to side to release some of the tension mounting in his neck muscles.

Liam gave a nod before switching the tablet screen off. “Route’s set. We go in fast and take him alive.”

“Alive?” Leon arched a dubious eyebrow.

“Yep. Fucker doesn't get to take the easy way out.”

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