Page 20 of Gunn's Mission

“You can’t even trust me,” she said.

Gunn blinked but then nodded again. “Although,” he said, letting the corners of his mouth rise a little, “you’re not a nerd. Checking his data and knowing what he found isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse.”

She handed him the box and the wire. “You keep it safe. If we can get Navarro or the RCMP back out here, we’ll give it to them to see if whoever smashed it left anything behind.”

Gunn snorted. “I doubt they’ll pull fingerprints or find any DNA.” He raised his gloved hand and wiggled his fingers.

Her shoulders fell. She’d hoped beyond hope that the killer wasn’t one of her team. “I hate this.”

Gunn’s hand smoothed along her jacket sleeve in clumsy consolation. “Let’s get back inside. I’ll tuck this away. Then I’ll use my satphone to contact Navarro.”

“Smart. We don’t want to use any device that might be hacked to let whoever is responsible know we’ve ruled out some foreign agent attacking Mateo.”

CHAPTER7

Gunn was irritatedat having to remove his boots just to walk to his room to stash the broken box and then head back to the mudroom to put them back on, but he needed to make this call outside. Who knew if there were surveillance devices, visual or audio, inside the facility? He didn’t want to tip off anyone that they’d found something. Later, after he made his call, he’d search for any devices while he was installing his own equipment.

Before calling Commander Navarro, he called the number for the headquarters office at Yellowstone.

Kyla picked up the line. “Hey, Gunn. Is it cold enough for you?”

“Getting there.”

“I saw the forecast. Looks like a storm is rolling in.”

“We know,” he said, perhaps a bit too briskly.

“Whatcha got? I know you didn’t call to hear me tell you how your weather is.”

He explained what he’d found, including a short description of the box.

“Yeah, if he was the one using it, he was likely trying to circumvent that router. I wonder why he thought he might get hacked. That crew has worked together before. I wonder if he found a reason not to trust one of them.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he was just using his due diligence. Something might have spooked him.”

“Like finding a sub big enough to carry nuclear weapons? That would spook the shit out of me.”

“You find any red flags in your background checks?”

“Nothing that stands out. Most of your crew are scientists who work grant to grant, so they’re always looking for funding, but none of their bank accounts have had any big infusions of money that can’t be explained.”

“Yet. Maybe they’ll get paid for producing results.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll keep digging. In the meantime, Swede is looking at the folks who are funding their studies to see if anything jumps out—any associations with big money outside the U.S., for example.”

“Thanks, Kyla. Tell the Team Eagle guys hello from me.”

“Will do. Out.”

After ending that call, Gunn called Commander Navarro, who said that the data he’d uploaded from the flash they’d taken from Mateo’s computer had old data he’d already sent. So, it was a bust. He also said he’d given Mateo the device they’d found at the base of the satellite in case the router ever went down.

Gunn promised to keep in touch and ended that call. Then he went to his room and got his duffel filled with surveillance equipment. He spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon installing it around the outside of the buildings. He then went to work hiding cameras inside the building—in the common area, the kitchen, both hallways, and the doors to the mudroom and back.

When he was done, he sat with his tablet, making sure the signals coming from each camera were strong.

When he was done, he headed to the kitchen, where he’d seen on his tablet that Maddie was busy preparing food. “Need a hand?” he asked as he walked inside.

She laughed. “There’s not much to food prep here. I opened some canned minced beef, ground some of Nate’s biscuits in the blender to make breadcrumbs, and added dried spices and onions to make meatballs. They’re already browned, so I poured in some canned sauce. And voila! Not the best you’ll ever eat, but give it a few weeks, and you’ll die for some not-so-fresh-made spaghetti.”

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