Page 44 of S.O.S. Mizzay

Mizzay had known that, but Del’s assumption needed one small correction.

“Uh, South Sudan actuallywasa hot spot at the time. It was 2011.”

“Say no more,” Del acknowledged with a sage snap of his chin. “Regime change. Civil unrest. It was purported to be its own kind of hell.”

“It was,” Mizzay agreed. “But at the time, our higher-ups weren’t letting us know the full extent of it.”

Del grunted. “That’s par for the course. It’s just like command not to give boots on the ground the entirety of their intel.”

“You’re telling me,” Mizzay huffed. “And in this case, we were ordered by HQ to tackle what we thought were a few easy tasks. One of which was to get the UN peacekeeping office packed up and moved to the city of Juba which had become the new seat of power.”

Damn.Mizzay felt a trickle of sweat roll down between her shoulder blades. Recalling this was harder than she’d thought. It still hurt, fourteen years later, that she’d lost five good men.

“I sent a squad of six from our platoon to oversee that task, and…all but one died.”

Del shook his head, his mouth turning down. “I’m so sorry, Mizzay. I know what it’s like to lose teammates.”

“You do, but—forgive my impertinence—in this instance,Iwas the one in charge.Iwas the one who sent those young men to their deaths.”

“You know it’s bullshit to blame yourself,” Del clipped, not backing off. “I’m sure you’ve been through hours of therapy for it. But it clearly wasn’t your fault. I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of whoever didn’t give you all the details regarding the extraction,andthose who were behind the attack.”

Mizzay chose not to recognize any words of forgiveness, as she’d likewise eschewed any since the incident took place. She hauled in another long breath, instead. “Which brings me to the rest of my story. One of my mendidsurvive. I’ll call him Mr. X.”

Right.She wouldn’t name names.Yet.She and Smalley had spent far too long protecting Cobble’s whereabouts. And even though Del was completely trustworthy, things somehow managed to leak out, so details needed to remain under wraps.“When Mr. X was recovering in the hospital, there was an attempt on his life.”

A line formed between Del’s snarky brows. “Why?”

“Exactly what we worked on for a long time to find out,” she admitted.

“Your man was fine, though?” Del asked.

“He was, and still is,” Mizzay revealed. “But he’s been in hiding for fourteen years.”

Mizzay hated that they still hadn’t climbed the ladder of who, and how many people other than Veegal were involved in everything they’d painstakingly uncovered. They had their suspicions, and had worked them for years, but the people they were after were smart and slippery.

“Fourteen years?” Del’s voice cracked.

“Yeah. I know,” Mizzay acknowledged. “It’s been far too long. But we’re getting closer,” she said with resolve.

She’d made a hell of a dent in things when she’d discovered the CIA operative who’d been on-the-take, but nothing since. Every time she thought they were honing in on the finish, the evidence they uncovered seemed to disappear into smoke, and people who they suspected of being in the chain of command, died. It was a game of three steps forward, two steps back.

“And who is‘we’?” Del asked, picking apart her dialogue.

“The ‘we’ I mentioned?” she coughed. “You actually know the people I’m working with.”

“I do?”

“Uh, huh. Director Baskins and Chuck Smalley.”

She might just as well have smacked Del with a two-by-four with how stunned he looked.

“S…Smalley? And Baskins? As in the FBI agents I met while working our last case?” he marveled, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “Of course, I understood you knew them, but…you’re still involved with the bureau?”

“To a point,” Mizzay confirmed, although she wouldn’t mention Chuck’s familial connection to Cobble. Del, being the astute operative he was, would uncover Cobble’s identity fairly quickly if he had that information. “But I’m getting ahead of myself,” she told him. “First, I need to give you my entire career history, then you’ll understand the present-day situation better.”

Del looked completely intrigued by this time, and it gave Mizzay enough confidence to continue.

“I met Smalley in that South Sudan hospital right after the attempt on Mr. X’s life. Chuck was already working for the FBI at that time, but he had fingers in a lot of pies because his job with the bureau was as liaison between numerous federal agencies. Embassy folks. CIA.Thatgave him some very important connections.”

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