“I’m certain because if the Agency doesn’t have that tech, no one in the government does.” Drake sat down at the bar and studied the group for a moment. “I’m going to share classified information with you because I think you’re my best shot at identifying this woman. A few years ago I was made aware of a clandestine group of some of the world’s wealthiest business leaders who work together to maintain power. They’re a new version of a group McKay-Taggart took down ten years ago. We always knew they would come back in some form. I sent out two of my best operatives at the time. They worked their way into one of the lower levels of the group.”
Kyle frowned. “Me. He’s talking about me.”
MaeBe’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re doing this now?”
One big shoulder shrugged. “You know I worked for the Agency. Everyone suspects it. I’m trying to be a better Kyle, and that means admitting I was one of Drake’s operatives. It seems to be connected somehow to this case.”
“He’s right.” Boomer turned off the burner. “If I’m pretty sure of something, then everyone else knows. He’s got that Agency look about him.”
“There is no Agency look,” Kyle insisted. “Anyway, when I was in college I would come home for the summers, and one of the perks of working for very little money at my uncle’s business was reading the case files.”
Drake’s head shook. “Classified information was in those files.”
“Yeah, my uncle’s not big on that. Anyway, I had read a bit about the group called The Collective. When I started working for the CIA, I recognized some of the same methods and manipulations coming from a new group.”
“Kyle is the one who identified The Consortium, and he and his partner at the time began working to collect data on the group,” Drake continued.
“You never mentioned a partner.” MaeBe looked up at Kyle.
“I don’t talk about her. She’s not a good memory.” Kyle’s jaw went tight, and he didn’t meet MaeBe’s gaze. “She ended up turning and joining the very group we were trying to bring down.”
Drake took over. “The operative is now deceased, but the group is still working. I’ve sent a report with all the relevant information to Alex and Big Tag that they will be forwarding to all of you. This group likes to use female liaisons to negotiate with the corporations they work with. Many of these women were recruited from intelligence agencies across the globe.”
“What do these liaisons do?” Maddie had a concerned look on her face.
“Any number of different jobs,” Drake explained. “We’re certain they negotiate to buy emerging technology in order to keep it off the market in certain cases. They also engage in corporate espionage if they’re dealing with a company outside the network. We’re fairly certain they’ve assassinated three heads of corporations around the globe so they could install their own more friendly CEOs.”
Maddie paled. “That woman who visits Nolan has killed people?”
“It’s very likely.” Kyle had both hands palms down on the bar as though he needed the support to remain standing. “This woman is dangerous. It’s why we need to get that picture. We need to identify and track her.”
“Kyle, are you still working for the Agency?” Deke needed to know where Kyle’s loyalties lay.
His hands came up. “Absolutely not. I left all of that behind when I came to McKay-Taggart. The only reason I’m talking about this now is it came up on this case. I talked to my uncle and Alex a bit about what I know after Noelle’s case, but most of this stuff is highly classified and had to come from Drake. But there’s no question that I would go back in if I thought I could take that group down.”
“Because they killed your partner?” MaeBe was looking at him, concern clear on her face.
“No.” Kyle’s tone had gone flat, his expression hollow. “They didn’t kill Julia. I did. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would kill them all. I’m going to get ready to head out to The Reef when Deke gets back from dropping off Madeline.”
MaeBe stood and started to go after him.
“Not now,” Kyle said. “Give me a minute. You should get ready, too.”
Kyle strode up the stairs.
“Well, there’s the broody bastard I know.” Boomer shook his head. “Who wants toast?”
Nothing shook Boomer, but Deke required some clarifications. He turned to Drake. “Kyle was your operative?”
“They both worked under me. At the time they were my most trusted agents,” Drake replied evenly. “I knew Julia quite well. At least I thought I did. I didn’t realize what was happening with Julia until it was far too late to save her. Kyle was forced to kill her during a mission when she turned on him. That’s all I’m willing to say. We will focus on this mission and once we ID the woman, McKay-Taggart along with Kyle will be out of it.”
“But Kyle said he would come back.” MaeBe sniffled and wiped away a tear. “He said he would leave and go back to the CIA if it meant taking these people down.”
“I assure you, he won’t be allowed to,” Drake replied. “His stepfather would filet me. No. This is as close to The Consortium as I want Kyle Hawthorne to be. And I’ll take some toast, Boomer. MaeBe, why don’t you show me what you’ve got. I’d like to familiarize myself with the building Maddie works in.”
He moved closer to the hacker, and Deke was grateful she had something to do.
Deke took Maddie’s hand and led her out of the kitchen. “Are you okay?”
“Well, it feels more serious than it did before,” she admitted. “Is there any way Nolan isn’t in on this? Could this woman be using him? Misrepresenting herself?”
“He’s hiding her identity. I don’t think he would if he didn’t know she’s doing something potentially criminal.” He wanted Maddie prepared, and that meant keeping it real with her. If he could keep her from this, he would, but naivety could put her in danger.
She nodded. “All right. We should probably go. I don’t want to be late.”
He hated how closed off she was again. Like the night before hadn’t happened. He should have hopped in the shower with her. He should have fucked her until she couldn’t do anything but smile at him and feel relaxed.
He tugged on her hand, bringing her into the circle of his arms. “It’s going to be okay. I promise you.”
“You can’t promise me that, Deke.” But she didn’t pull away. “You can’t promise me the company will still be standing at the end of this. You can’t promise me I’ll have a job. My career has been everything for the last decade of my life.”
“No, I can’t promise you Byrne’s empire won’t crumble if he’s involved with something criminal, but I’ll protect you and your work.” He would do anything for her. “I’ve got friends who can help you. All I want you to do is focus on staying safe. We take Byrne and his friend to The Reef on Friday night if everything goes well today. Hopefully we get an invite to his place soon after. We’re going to let Drake work his magic. You won’t even have to get close to the system. We’ll let the others handle it while we provide Byrne with a distraction.”