“Kill audio and visual,” Burkhart said. A moment later he continued, his jaw set tight. “Max would have expected me to, the evidence screams setup to me, and . . . the Leopard contacted me. He confirmed that you four have no ties to any Shia organization, especially not the one you’re purported to be involved with. His particular group is scrambling, pissed that someone is trying to push these acts onto them.”
A sharp sense of relief slid through him. “He’s okay, then?” Tucker hadn’t spoken to Ali Nazari recently; none of his guys had. Not since directly after Max’s murder. Brooks had reached out to him at great risk. Now Nazari would have to contact them if he needed anything, and the risk was simply too great for his undercover op. Since Burkhart had been part of Max’s extraction plan for Ali if he ever needed it, Tucker wasn’t surprised his friend had reached out to Burkhart.
“Yes.”
When it was clear Burkhart was going to request audio and visual to be turned back on again, Tucker flattened a palm on the cool metal table. “Wait. My parents?”
“They’re fine as far as I know. The DEA has a wiretap for all their phones, but they’re not at their house.”
Tucker tried not to let his relief show as he nodded once. “Thank you.” He knew where they’d gone and they should be fine until this storm passed. Even if the DEA located them, they’d just be brought in for bullshit questioning anyway. But he didn’t want his family to have to deal with anything like that.
After Burkhart ordered the security cameras to be turned back on, he pulled out another file and slid it over. They had a hell of a lot to discuss and it was clear Burkhart planned to be hands-on with everything.
? ? ?
Karen glanced at the time on her computer screen, then inwardly cursed herself. She had to stop staring at the time while she worked. It was beyond pathetic. But she knew that Wesley was in talking with Tucker, and the not knowing anything was making her crazy.
They’d been in there over an hour. She wondered why Wesley hadn’t pulled her in yet. She’d certainly expected him to.
Shaking those thoughts away, she focused on her screen at a soft dinging sound. Highlights lit up different lines on three different bank statements for three of the six men they were investigating. Even though the six men had all been in the same Army platoon years ago, since then they’d had a multitude of different jobs, mostly in contract work. Some appeared to be hired mercenaries—at least their pay scale would indicate that, though proving it would be difficult. They’d never all worked for the same company either. Two had worked for the same one at one time, but there wasn’t any other overlap for the rest of them.
Or so she’d thought.
The same bank account had paid three of the men but while they’d been working for different contract companies. She pulled up the payee information and started digging into the company’s profile.
When she discovered it was an umbrella for multiple companies, including one that had a couple of contracts with the U.S. government, she gritted her teeth and picked up her phone. Elliott was on the same floor, but he was currently holed up in an office. He liked to work in silence sometimes and Wesley let him. Though she could multitask, she needed his help while she ripped apart the financial aspects of these files.
He picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”
“Can you find out anything and everything on a man named Thad Hillenbrand? Owns a corporation called H-Brand Security.” She was familiar enough with the name. “I think it’s a parent for a lot of other companies. So far I’ve linked three of the suspects as having worked for one of his companies.”
“On it,” he said before disconnecting.
There was no guarantee the owner was behind anything, but as she started peeling back more layers she realized that the six men were all linked not only through the Army, but through companies owned by Hillenbrand. A man who at first glance appeared to have a solid, reputable company. But she found some credit card purchases for what she knew was a thinly veiled front for an escort company. People of a certain tax bracket in D.C. knew exactly who to go to when they needed high-priced escorts, and the way the company operated was slick. The client wasn’t paying for sex, supposedly. Still, not exactly a nail in his coffin. He certainly wouldn’t be the first man to use prostitutes. Especially not in a place like D.C. Should have been smart enough not to use his credit card, though.
As she sifted through more information, she discovered one too many offshore accounts and a connection for all six men. The unlisted offshore accounts—which weren’t as hidden as he thought they were—could just mean he was evading paying all his taxes, but . . . she didn’t think so. It was as if the man had a small army right at his disposal. She couldn’t believe it was a coincidence that the six men who’d come after Tucker, his guys, and her were all linked to H-Brand Security. She shot off her information to Elliott, Selene, and Wesley.
She started to get up, ready to go find Wesley in person, but something else kept scraping at her subconscious. She pulled up the file of the nine-man rifle squad the six men associated with H-Brand Security had been part of.
Armed with the three other men’s names and other personal identifiers, she discovered that one had died in Afghanistan, one was married with three kids and teaching high school history in Florida, and the third was still in the Army.
She started running social media accounts and bank records on the teacher, then focused on the third guy. A man named Toby Austin. As she started scanning his information, she realized that he was stationed at the same base the missing drone had been stolen from.
A flood of adrenaline surged through her, making her hands shake in excitement and nerves. If these men were connected to the stolen drone, it meant that Hillenbrand had to be connected to everything: the drone, the setup of Tucker and his guys, Max’s murder, the Botanic Garden bombing. The question of why still remained unanswered, but holy hell, this was an incredible lead. A thread they didn’t have before. She was going to exploit every angle and find out just what kind of access Toby Austin had—her eyes widened as a recent news article popped up on her screen with Austin’s name in it.
Her heart beat an erratic tattoo in her chest. She had to find Wesley now.
She shoved up from her seat, energy humming through her. Seemingly out of nowhere Elliott appeared at her workstation looking just as excited as she felt. He was tall, lanky, and often easily excitable, as she could tell he was now. His dark eyes glittered.
“All six guys definitely have ties to H-Brand,” she said. “And I think I found something huge. What’d you find?”
Instead of answering, he grabbed her upper arm gently and tugged. “Come on. We need to see Wesley now.”
Hurrying out of the central command center, they made their way down a maze of hallways until they reached a room with two armed guards standing outside.
“He’s still talking to the suspect,” one of the men said to her when they reached the door.
“Please interrupt him,” she said before Elliott got cranky. “He’ll want to hear what we have to say.”
The man tapped his earpiece. “I’ve got Karen and Elliott out here to speak to you.” A pause, and then he nodded at them and opened the door.
Inside she found Wesley sitting in a chair opposite Tucker. Her gaze automatically went to Tucker, but then she focused on Wesley. Her boss had his jacket hooked on the back of his chair and they had files spread out between them. She wasn’t surprised by the flood of relief that spread through her to see Tucker again. It was as if she could finally breathe again, knowing he was okay. All that could wait, though.
Before she could speak, Elliott started talking at machine-gun-fire rate. “Karen found a link between the suspects. A man named Thad Hillenbrand.”
“Owns H-Brand Security, has government contracts overseas,” Tucker said. Wesley nodded, as if he already knew this.