Page 112 of The Lazarus Protocol

Kyle said, “That leaves Jay, and the Noah-Marina duo.”

“How do you know so much about this team?” Steph asked.

“I make it my business to know, Stephanie-Jo Runnerford. Your father’s name is Walton. He’s been in US custody since he ‘disappeared’ fifteen years ago, after betraying his team. The first Division Zero team, which he ran for ten years.”

She paled. “How do you know that?”

“They were on a mission, going up against a Russian dissident. I won’t bore you with the details, but the dissident ended up in a gulag and your father was branded a traitor. The mission was written up as a failure, and the CIA has been trying to find a stable Division Zero team ever since.”

“Not sure I want the job anymore.” Adam glanced at Steph. “You okay?”

“How does he know that?” She looked over for a second. “Even I didn’t know he was Division Zero.”

“I guess it’s a family affair now,” Kyle said.

Adam needed to rein this conversation back in. “Whether it is or not, we can sort out later.” He took a breath. “Ash, you have a laptop?”

“Nope. You?”

“No. So we don’t have a way to track anyone’s comms. Marina is dark, along with Noah?”

Ash said, “We can keep trying them, but they went to the Earthnet HQ in Paris.”

“Right into the lion’s den,” Kyle said. “So to speak.”

Adam watched the highway blur past, aware they were headed northwest in general, but not if Steph was going in a specific direction. He pulled in a long breath and his stitches screamed, the pain almost blinding. If he didn’t get meds soon it would be debilitating pretty quickly. “We’ll hit a pharmacy and try to get ahold of Jay. He might still be out there, working on this.”

“You want us to go after Ice, or Noah and Marina?” Ash asked.

Before Adam could answer, Steph said, “I could call Vesper. I have a voicemail service I can try using. See if she’ll return my call.”

“And why would we do that?” Kyle asked.

“You got a beef with her, bro?” Ash whispered. “She do you dirty?”

Adam said, “Guys.”

Steph eased off the gas but didn’t slow much. “She might know where Earthnet is holding the team members they have. After all, we thought she was the one who took Kai. Or she was, and they took him from her. I don’t know exactly, but she was in the van. Maybe she has Ice. Maybe…” She shook her head. “I don’t even know. But she can tell us.”

Adam watched her lift a hand from the wheel and swipe at her cheek, brushing away an angry tear.

Because Kyle had disclosed some of her past, things even she hadn’t known, and now she felt exposed?

Adam didn’t blame her. He knew what it felt like to be fileted open and laid bare. Literally and figuratively.

“I say it’s worth a try.” Adam didn’t care if it sounded like he was simply agreeing with her. “We don’t have much else to fall back on to figure this out.”

“I’ll call Caleb. Fill him in.” Ash cleared his throat. “Find out if Morgan has a way to find Jay, or if there’s a way to find Noah.”

Kyle said, “I’ll check in with…you-know-who.”

Of course, Adam wasn’t going to say “the Phoenix Network” over an unsecured phone line. “Understood. We’ll find somewhere to stop, and you can catch up. I’d rather we do this together than work it from other angles.”

“As long as you watch your back until we get there, Nix.”

Adam said, “Will do.”

The call ended.