Page 88 of One Knight Stand

After the operation had concluded, the entire group, including my mom and dad, was whisked to an unmarked building about an hour away for a debriefing. We were led through several levels of security before we were separated and placed in different rooms.

Standard procedure, we were told, and I knew that was true from my studies.

Wally gave me a thumbs-up as he was led away by an attractive female agent, and I couldn’t help but smile. Once I was settled in a small conference room, I was plied with food and drink as a group of police officers, lawyers, FBI agents, and NSA officials, including the director of the NSA himself, General Maxwell Norton, gathered to debrief me in turn.

At first, I was scared we’d be in trouble for a number of things we’d done, like breaking into Remington’s house, hacking, and wiretapping, but General Maxwell assured all of us before the debriefings started that as long as we told the truth, we would be immune from any potential violations by virtue of our cooperation into the investigation. That was a huge relief, as I hadn’t wanted to get anyone in trouble, including myself.

So, I’d told them everything. Then I told the next group of debriefers everything. And the third group, too. They all asked slightly different questions and focused on different aspects of the mission. I was exhausted by the end. The adrenaline rush of the chase and capture was gone, and I just wanted to sleep.

Finally the door opened and General Norton came in, followed by two men in suits. General Norton approached me and sat down in a chair nearby, while the other men waited by the door.

He looked at me for a moment and then shook his head. “I’m going to be honest with you, Angel. This is quite a story. If I didn’t have the evidence in front of me, and the corroborating information from your teammates, your father, Ms. Kim, and the FBI agents, it would be very hard to believe.”

“Does that mean I need to tell you the whole story again?” I asked cautiously.

“No. I’ve seen the other summaries. This was an operation that was planned and executed exceedingly well. Developed on the fly, with limited resources, under severe time constraints, and presenting with a highly personal and professional danger to each of you, but especially you, Angel. I’m considering making this a case study to teach future agents on out-of-the-box thinking and problem solving. Of course, we’d have to change the names and locations to protect the agents involved, but I’m certain it would prove to be quite instructive.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be wary or flattered. “Does that mean I am going to have to study my own mission, sir?”

He smiled. “I think we’ll let your team skate by on this one. Taking down an NSA director and his accomplices by yourselves without any outside help earns you an automatic A-plus. Trust me on that one. But I do have one question from an operational standpoint. As the leader, why did you decide to approach the house after Ms. Kim told you to stay put until she and the FBI showed up?”

I blew out a breath. “I’m not going to lie and tell you it wasn’t a decision based partially on emotion. Because it was, and I’m sure you know that. But it also made operational sense. I was concerned Sampson might hurt my mom before she got there, especially since we weren’t sure how long it would take Ms. Kim to arrive. We had no intention of trying to storm the place, but since we’re agents, we decided intelligence collection was fair game. So, we used the laser microphones from a distance to try to confirm she was in the house and still alive. We also wanted to determine how many people were in the house with her. I knew it would be critical information for the hostage rescue team once they arrived.”

“So, you determined there were two people inside the house?”

“Two, plus my mother. Then everything started to happen fast. My mom managed to escape out of a bathroom window. I saw her from my location in the backyard and tried to help her get away. But her feet were tied, and despite my best efforts, we were captured.”

“By whom?”

“By one of the guys from the house—the one without a mask. He had a gun. But he didn’t know Jax was with me. Jax was able to get behind him and brained him with a thick branch, knocking him out. While Jax took his gun and tied him up, Mom and I tried to make it to the car before Sampson found us in the woods.”

“But you didn’t make it to the car?”

“No. Not at first.” I paused, remembering the flashlight in my face and my abject terror that we weren’t going to get lucky a second time. “We were discovered again…but this time it wasn’t Sampson. It was my dad. Ms. Kim had been able to contact him and tell him where we were. He got to the house before the FBI team did. My mom and I were shocked to see him, to say the least. But he helped us get to the car safely, in fact, just as Ms. Kim and the FBI arrived. They immediately arrested Glen Sampson and the guy in the woods, who we’d tied up.”

The two men behind the general murmured something to each other, and the general continued. “So, your dad arrived on the scene just in time to help you and your mom get to the car.”

“He did.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. “But Remington was still free. When I explained to Ms. Kim and the FBI agents that Wally was still running the MITM mission, they had an idea.”

One of the suits broke in, asking what a MITM mission was, so the guy next to him quickly explained it.

When he finished, I continued. “Ms. Kim and the FBI agents recognized that this could be our only chance to get Remington to confess to his crimes, including the murder of Mr. Lando, my dad’s partner at the NSA. So they quickly devised a plan on the fly. My father would pretend to be Glen Sampson, and everything would proceed as Mr. Remington expected. It had to be my dad, because he was the closest person onsite in terms of complexion and height to Mr. Sampson. We didn’t have time to bring anyone else in, and besides, my dad was the only one who knew all the intricacies of the situation. We couldn’t risk Remington asking a question that would give away the fact that Sampson wasn’t really Sampson. We figured with the mask and a voice modulator, it would be nearly impossible for him to tell it wasn’t Sampson.”

I took a swig of Coke to ease my parched throat, setting the bottle on the table and twisting the cap back on. “Ms. Kim wanted to pretend to be my mother, but it wouldn’t have worked. She’s much taller than my mother, and she has a different hair color. There were no other female agents available to fill in, so my mom insisted she stay and play her part, too. We only had time to get my dad into Sampson’s mask and help set up some cameras and mics before Wally alerted me that Remington was on his way early.”

“And you knew that because you were tracking his car,” General Norton prompted.

“Exactly. But, at that point, Ms. Kim and the FBI insisted my team and I were to be removed from the premises, presumably for our protection. Our cars were hidden from sight and so were the FBI’s. We were taken to an FBI van that was a mile away so we could watch it all go down from a live feed.” I waved a hand. “And, well, you know the rest.”

“That I do.” General Norton shook his head in wonder. “You do realize that you kids, brand-new UTOP candidates, not there even a whole month, single-handedly brought down a faction inside the NSA that had been secretly operating for fourteen years.”

“I was just trying to help my family,” I said honestly.

He blew out a breath. “Well, I can’t wait to see what you do when you’re trying to help your country. You know, Angel, when Slash recommended you and your friends for UTOP, I wasn’t sure he knew what he was doing. I couldn’t have been more wrong. You, young lady, and your entire team, have proven yourself invaluable to our agency and our nation. I sincerely thank you. By the way, all your professors will hear about your outstanding performance. I think it’s worth at least a little extra credit.”

“Yay!” I said, and he laughed.

“Come now.” General Norton stood up. “I think you’ve had enough for one day.”

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