Page 47 of Ethan's Command

Ethan took it from her, examining it closely, noting a seam where there shouldn’t have been one. Gently, he tugged at it, and the front of the car slid off, revealing a USB drive nestled inside.

Relief and dread warred in his chest. “This is it.”

Brooklyn stared at the drive in his hand, her expression a mix of disbelief and hope. “Oh my God, now what do we do?”

“We head to the Brotherhood Ranch. We need to know what the hell is on this thing that triggers kidnapping a young boy.”

Twenty minutes later, they walked into the comms center. Rusty, Bellamy, and Cooper were all waiting.

"Here," Ethan said as he handed the thumb drive to Bellamy. Bellamy immediately inserted the drive into a desktop computer that sat alone on a table in the corner.

"Brooklyn, how are you holding up?" Rusty asked.

"Better now that we have the USB drive."

Ethan walked over and started a cup of tea for Brooklyn, then poured himself a cup of coffee. The next part was going to be the hardest, waiting for the call.

"What’s he doing?" Brooklyn asked, pointing to Bellamy.

Ethan handed her the tea. "He’s trying to determine the drive’s contents. That’s a standalone computer, not hooked up to anything. We can’t just access a drive we know nothing about. If we do, we risk setting a virus loose in the entire system. We need to make sure it’s safe first, then we can move it to our system and go from there."

"I understand," she said but still went to stand behind Bellamy.

Rusty came over to Ethan and dropped his voice. "Are you going to let her go to the exchange?"

Ethan’s gut churned. He’d been grappling with that exact question since they found the USB. "I don’t want to, but I’m not sure I can stop her."

Rusty nodded once. "Okay. I’ll shift some things so we’ve got her covered as well."

"You worked up that detailed of a plan? We don’t even know where the exchange is going to take place yet."

Cooper came over, coffee in hand. "We know they won’t do it in a public place because it’s after midnight. Odds are it will be somewhere remote with limited access. They’ll want control, so they won’t give us much time to get there. I’m thinking they’ll tell Brooklyn she has twenty to thirty minutes to arrive—tops. They’ll already be in position."

"You’re thinking of hiding in the truck," Ethan said, cutting in.

Rusty nodded. "Yeah, you know the drill. You take a Brotherhood SUV. We’ll hide Rusty in the back and have a backup vehicle as close as we can. The other two will leave the second vehicle and hike in on foot as quickly as possible."

Cooper took a sip of coffee. " Bellamy and I will be in the second vehicle. Depending on the setup, we’ll decide on bringing the dogs. They might come in handy."

Ethan nodded. "I’ll bring Mojo with me. They’ll expect that. He’s always with me."

"Sounds good."

Bellamy cursed under his breath.

"What is it?" Brooklyn demanded.

"This thing has serious encryption software. There’s no way I can break through it in"—he glanced at his watch—“less than three hours."

Ethan checked his own watch. It was after nine. He was surprised at how late it had gotten and damn grateful that the others were already putting a plan in place. He glanced over at Brooklyn. Her face was ashen, and she held her teacup in a death grip.

He moved over to stand beside her. "Brooklyn, it’s late. You should probably?—"

"I’m not leaving," she blurted out.

He squeezed her shoulder. "I’m not asking you to leave. I just want you to get something to eat. I don’t want you out there and suddenly lightheaded."

She stared at him. "You’re going to let me go to the exchange?"

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