Page 62 of Code Name: Tank
By zero six-forty-five, we were dressed and ready to face whatever the day brought. Tank hadn’t changed, but when I asked, he said nobody would be paying attention to what he had on with me in the room.
“I don’t know about that. Atticus finds a way to give you grief about everything he can.”
Tank chuckled. “You’re probably right. I’ll swing by my place on our way up.”
“I don’t know about you, but I need a coffee to-go this morning.”
“I’d love one.”
I went into the kitchen, opened the cupboard to get out the coffee beans, and froze. Right in front sat an old photograph. One I’d seen before but, not for over three years. It was taken in Prague—Flint and me—in front of the embassy.
“Piper?” Tank said, coming around the corner.
“Look at this.” I held it out.
He turned it over. “This says, ‘Trust + leverage = betrayal without choice.’ Someone left this for you to find.”
“When?” My hands trembled when he gave the photo back to me. “I was in and out of here so quickly yesterday. I mean, I don’t even remember the last time I made coffee here rather than just waiting until I was at the command center.”
“What do you think it means?”
“No idea, but if anyone can solve this riddle, it’s Alice.”
He nodded. “Let’s go.”
“What about coffee?”
“We’ll get it while she tries to figure this out.”
I nodded as well. “Good thinking.”
19
TANK
“‘Trust + leverage = betrayal without choice.’ What the hell does that mean?” Alice asked when Dragon showed her what she’d found. “Nice photo of you, by the way. Him, not so much.” She set the picture on the desk.
“I have no idea what it means,” Dragon responded.
“Where did you get it?” Atticus asked, walking over to look at it when I picked it up. “I guess fingerprinting is out of the question.” His glare made me realize I’d just compromised the evidence.
“To answer your question, I was about to make coffee, and it was sitting in front of the beans. I don’t remember the last time I opened that cupboard. It could’ve been days,” Dragon said, repeating much of what she’d told me.
“There’s one way to find out who might’ve gone in there to leave it for you,” Alice said, pulling up the security camera footage.
“Divide and conquer?” Atticus asked.
“Yep, it’s on the server.”
Alice wrote dates on four pieces of paper, then handed three to each of us. “That’s your assignment, and before you ask why I gave myself one, if you’re ever pregnant, you’ll know.”
For the next hour, we methodically went through the security footage from the past week. Alice’s system was thorough, and the cameras around Whisper Point had decent coverage of the main approaches.
“Got something,” Atticus called out. “Friday evening, around twenty-two hundred hours, a figure approaches Whisper Point. He’s wearing a hoodie and keeps his head down.”
Dragon moved to look over his shoulder. “That’s right after we had dinner with Hartwell. Tank and I left for Granite Ridge around that time.”
“He goes straight to your front door,” Alice observed, enhancing the image. “Uses a key or picks the lock—hard to tell from this angle. He’s inside for maybe two minutes, then leaves the same way.”
