Page 16 of Hidden Attraction

FOUR

Chase leaned forward, forearms braced on the edge of the conference table as Con paced at the front of the room. Uneasiness pulsed in the air like a ticking explosive.

“Here’s what we know.” Con pivoted to face the team scattered around the table. “Ambassador Vargas and her assistant Kennedy Bloom arrived in New York. Denver and Cobra picked them up with orders to escort them to the UN. They made a stop at the hotel to check in. When they exited the hotel, men wearing masks and black clothing attempted a kidnapping.”

The report barely scratched the surface of what really went down—just a cold summary stripped of adrenaline and fury. Emotion was absent in everything they did. Chase and Denver had neutralized the threat with surgical precision, their movements as sharp and practiced as ever.

But inside, Chase’s pulse still hadn’t slowed. The second the van rolled in and masked men jumped out, his blood had gone ice-cold. The takedown might’ve been easy, but the aftershocks still roared through his system.

His ribs protested with a breath caught somewhere between instinct and fury. It had been too damn close. And that kind of close didn’t come with a warning—it came with a target.

Con continued, “There’s no chance that their schedule was leaked to the public. It was locked down tighter than a vault. It had the highest security. Even General Hemmings didn’t know her destination, not even aftertwosecure calls with the ambassador.”

Denver planted his elbows on the table with athump. “Someone hacked Vargas’s schedule.”

Chase’s jaw creaked from clenching it so tight. “Nothing is an accident.”

“That’s right, Cobra,” Con said, using his nickname that had followed him from the Echo team. A buddy gave it to him after a small skirmish on the border in the Ukraine—said Chase struck as fast and lethal as a cobra. Since the teams all crossed paths on occasion, working together on various ops, Charlie team knew him by the nickname before he joined with them. The name stuck.

He felt the energy shift in the room—controlled, but barely.

Con swiped his gaze over the group. “The op is simple. We need boots on the ground in Syria.”

Denver asked the question everyone had on their minds. “Why Syria?”

Con widened his stance, arms folded. “Our belief is that Cypher is behind the bombing of the ICE facility, which creates a link between him and Echo team.”

Christ.

Con continued, “If that’s the case, Chase is in his sights. After the hotel attack, there’s cause to believe Vargas is on that list too. The only time Echo and Alyssa Vargas crossed paths was in Syria—back when she negotiated the release of hostages, including a high-profile journalist. Echo was sent to secure the area.”

Syria. Of course. The one spot on the map where he and Alyssa had crossed paths in their careers. It all sounded simple when Chase heard it explained. But in his own head it was a mangled mess of steel and destruction.

Con focused on Chase. “A military transport leaves in three hours. Cobra, you and the ambassador will be on it.”

The sharp edge of the table dug into Chase’s forearms where he pressed them harder than intended. “Why not Denver?”

“With the situation, we can’t afford to be down more than a man at a time.”

Why did he get the feeling he was being sent away like a problem child?

“Look, Cobra, you’re going to get the information we need about this case. And talking to people is Vargas’s strength.”

“Why don’t we just place her in a safehouse, under protection?”

Con leveled him in his stare. “Because she’s an asset. She speaks the language, knows the customs and is an expert at getting people to do what she wants. We also want you to get in her head. Question her about her involvement in that leak.”

Denver’s chair groaned as he moved around, unsettled.

Con shifted his focus to him. “You have something to contribute?”

“For the record, I don’t think Chase should be going anywhere with the ambassador.”

“Since when do you care who I travel with?” Chase kept his voice even.

“Since Cypher tried to grab her in broad daylight outside a hotel. We don’t know if she’s a target or a threat.”

The words landed like a weight in the air, heavy and impossible to ignore.

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