Page 31 of Rhys

“It was purely by accident. Rose had left early one Friday afternoon because she wasn’t feeling well. She went home, drank some soup, and went to bed. She woke up later that night feeling much better and decided to back to the office to see if there was anything on her desk that she could take care of so she wouldn’t be bombarded Monday morning.”

“Sounds like Rose was dedicated to her job.”

She looked at Rhys. “She was. But she was more concerned about doing the right thing.”And died because of it.“According to the statement she gave me, Rose went into the office and was collecting her things when she heard voices coming from behind Austin’s closed door. She found it odd, since apparently her boss was supposed to be out of town on business, so she got closer and listened, thinking maybe someone had broken in.”

“Why didn’t she call the police?”

“I asked the same question. Rose said she didn’t want to cause a scene in case Austin had merely canceled his trip. After all, it was his office, so he had every right to be there.”

“What happened next?” Trace kept the conversation on track.

“She told me she recognized Austin’s voice immediately. He was speaking to someone on speaker phone. I guess the guy assumed no one would come back in so late at the start of the weekend.”

“Yeah, well…” Greyson sat back in his chair. “We all know what happens when you start assuming shit.”

Vanessa smirked. “Nevertheless, Rose did go in, and what she overheard scared her enough to make her rush out of the office. She went to the nearest convenience store, bought a pay-as-you-go phone, and used it to call the CIA hotline.”

“Why the CIA?” Kellan asked, curious. “Why not nine-one-one?”

“I asked her that, too. Rose said she went straight to the CIA because she thought we’d be better equipped to deal with a case involving nuclear weapons than the Capitol Police.”

The next round of questions came from Trace. “What exactly did Rose overhear on that phone call?”

“Kenneth Austin discussing a buy with an unknown male. From what Rose said, the man on the phone had a heavy Asian accent, and he sounded very eager to get his hands on the weapon.”

“What did Austin tell this man?”

“That he was on a short list of potential buyers, but he had to wait until the bomb’s construction was complete. Once that happened, Austin would open the bids, but the window of opportunity was going to be very limited. Once it started, the buyers would have twenty-four hours to place their bids. Once the timing was up, the sale would be closed and the top bidder would be contacted by Austin, himself.”

“And your agency…they launched an undercover investigation simply off of Miss Shephard’s word that this phone call supposedly took place?”

“Not just that. On my orders, Rose was going into Austin’s office once a week when he wasn’t there. Using a program designed by us, she was able to perform a sweep of his laptop. She’d upload the data, hand it over to me, and I’d pass it along to John.”

“John?”

“Faraday. My handler.”

“I don’t understand.” Asher rested his elbows on the table’s smooth surface. “If your asset was able to pull proof of Austin’s plans for a nuclear bomb off of his computer, why isn’t he in custody?”

“Because Kenneth Austin is smart.” Vanessa stared back at the other man. “There were encrypted files containing partial designs, but not the entire blueprint. Individually, the files that were recovered are meaningless. Now, our guys were able to puzzle piece what was on there together, and while it appears to have several similar components to whatcouldbe a nuclear doomsday device, it’s missing one vital piece. Without it…without proof that Austin is planning what Rose overheard him discussing, it’s all conjecture. Her word against his.”

Only Rose couldn’t give anyone her word. Not anymore.

“What about the call? Were your people able to determine who Austin was talking to the night Rose overheard him on the phone?”

“We can’t say for sure who she was speaking to, but we know where. Phone records from that time frame show an outgoing call to a number traced back to Pyongyang.

“North Korea?” Rhys sounded as surprised as she’d felt when her handler had relayed the news.

A round of muttered curses and grumbles made their rounds throughout the room.

“Now you understand the urgency.” Vanessa shared a pointed look with each of the five men. “And there were three other calls to that same number, all similar in duration, all made after hours.”

The room grew quiet as everyone let the proverbial bomb sink in. Several seconds later, Rhys was the first to restart the conversation. His question tearing at her saddened heartstrings.

“What happened to Rose?”

Vanessa met his inquisitive gaze. “She was murdered.” The recent memory squeezed her heart like a vise. “She called me last night in a panic. Said someone had been following her the last few days.” Which was most likely true. “Rose was convinced Austin had somehow discovered what she’d been doing, so she packed her bags and left town. She drove as far as Richmond before stopping at a no-name motel and calling me. We set up a time and place to meet.” Vanessa cleared the emotion from her throat. “I chose a bridge inside Bryan Park. Figured it was after dark so there would be fewer people there than during the day.”

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