Page 42 of Acting on Instinct
“Shut it,” Nitro said, “let White talk.”
White put her hands on her knees and looked into the fire. “Last fall, you were pulled off an assignment in Turkey to chase down a lead that Red had discovered at the risk of her life. Your success was an important win for the free world. Then you went after Red and saved her.” White pressed a fist to her chest. “And I will always be grateful. At that point, your team continued back to Turkey, and Nomad took a step forward in a solo mission. The mission that ended up with he and Red operating together.”
She waited for the men to twitch around and settle into the information before she said, “I need to talk with you about what Red and Nomad were doing. There were two terrorist groups. Each had come to the conclusion that they could fund their terror by going on a treasure hunt to find a ring with a forty-million-dollar prize.”
“The Fire of the Desert?” T-Rex asked. “I read about that.”
“That’s the one,” White acknowledged.
“It’s a crazy amount of money.” Nitro let out a low whistle. “Forty million dollars floating around?”
“That money was destined to pay for a series of terror attacks,” White said. “The attacks were a go. And one of them broke through and took place despite our best efforts. Others were thwarted by Nomad and Red’s work. Their mission completed, Red and Nomad were heading home. On the way to the airport, Red and Nomad were ambushed. The accident that injured Red and Nomad was, in fact, an attack perpetrated by a radical group that had been on the trail of the ring money. It wasn’t an accident at all.” She paused as that information sank in.
The men’s energy shifted, and they were laser-focused.
“The mission that Red and Nomad thought they’d wrapped up is, in fact, still in play. What Red laid down, I’ve picked up. There’s more to do.”
“I’d like as much information about this as you’re allowed to share,” T-Rex said.
“There are two opposing groups, each of which is vying for the money. The money isn’t in play,” White said.
“That money has been secured by good guys?” T-Rex asked.
“Correct,” White said.
“Forty million or not, where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Ty said.
White turned to him. “Exactly. Group A was removed from the mission. That cell was focused on European targets and personal vendettas. In the last few months, I discovered that Group B is planning an attack here in the U.S.”
“You’ve identified who is in Group B?” Ty asked.
“You’ll enjoy this. All I had was video footage of three men running through a market and some stills with all four faces inpoor lighting. Those faces weren’t in any database I had access to.” White smiled. “Many of you know the Iniquus Puzzler, Lynx.”
“She was on the team that helped to save the Unit,” Nitro said.
“She was,” White said. “So I headed to Iniquus with the only information available to me, which was next to nothing.”
“That’s what you and Nomad were up to on the Iniquus campus in December?” Ty asked.
“That’s right,” White said. “And if you know how Lynx works, she just tells you a little story and boom, there you have it, an identification.”
“Is it classified?” Ty asked. “Can we know how she did it?”
“It was marvelous. I took Nomad with me to Iniquus because Lynx wanted to watch him tell the story of the accident. In the telling, Nomad said he had hallucinated after the blow to his head. He recalled imagining that when he punched one of the attackers in the jaw, it felt like aquarium gravel and the air filled with the scent of garlic.” White continued to take them on the adventure of their meeting, and Lynx properly diagnosing the man with the 19th-century malady. “Phossy jaw,” White ended triumphantly.
“You’re kidding,” Nitro said.
“I’m not.”
“Phossy jaw, huh?” Havoc shook his head.
“Nomad smelled garlic, and that was enough of a clue that Lynx was able to track one of the men from Morocco to Paris?” Havoc asked.
“Crazy, right?” She quirked her brows. “But as to tracking him down, yes, I was able to do that using Lynx’s roadmap, which basically said, find out which doctors are suddenly discussing phossy jaw.” White laughed. “Did you know that humans could glow in the dark?”
“Lynx’s work is, as usual, some crazy assed shit,” Jeopardy said.
White grinned, letting her gaze take in the semi-circle of operators that surrounded her. “At Langley, when they see Lynx coming, the betting pools go crazy. I never bet against her. And I always walk away with a win. I’m telling you, sometimes it pays to lean into misogyny.” She let her smile travel the group. “But you know that’s one reason why I often lean on Echo, I never have to jump extra hurdles to prove I’m effective at my job.”
