Page 188 of Unexpected Heroine

His brows pinch, and his eyes dart from me to the screen. “Too long.”

Through the comms, Jonesy calls, “Mia, are you there?”

No response.

Klein jumps in, sounding more distraught than I’d like him to be in the middle of an op. But Mia is his girl. His panic is so damn relatable.

I fucking knew something was wrong.

Checking if the comms are operational, Jonesy asks, “Boss, are you hearing us?”

“Affirmative,” Big Al answers in an even clip. “Mia, do you copy?”

Still no response.

From the hot seat, Tony yells, “You’re too late. She’s got her already. I tried to stop her. I was trying to help. I only wanted to protect Mia.”

I hit print, then slide my chair over to the other computer to get Mia on a direct comm channel. “Boss, I’m printing a photo of the individual who purchased the tablet. It’s not Tony. I’m trying to call Mia. We might need to redirect the team.”

The printer purrs to life. Over the comms, Big Al informs the team to stand by.

As soon as the printer stops, he grabs the page off the tray in a huff. “Who the fuck is Lisa Bowers? Did you run this name yet?”

“No need. I recognize her,” I answer him calmly, then try to hail Mia one last time. She doesn’t answer.

“Who’s the tango, T?” Boss asks, still studying the photo.

“She’s a Director at the FBI.”

“And she used her own fucking credit card to buy the tablet?”

“She’s either ballsy or stupid. I’m going with the former since she was smart enough to hack Mia’s system.”

Boss slams the paper down on the desk. “Son of a bitch.”

“I’m pulling the cam footage from Klein’s mom’s house so I can figure out what the fuck happened to Mia.”

While I’m rewinding the footage, I catch sight of Klein choking Tony via Jonesy’s cam. They better stop him before he kills a federal agent.

Love makes people do the dumbest shit. I know that firsthand.

Turning on my microphone, I address the team calmly. “We’ve got the wrong tango. Or he’s not working alone.”

Sawyer is the first to respond. “Explain, T.”

“I tracked the serial number on the tablet to a local electronics store. It was sold on Friday. I found the credit card that made the purchase. Lisa Bowers. Intel director at the FBI. She’s Tony’s boss. I think she’s who Tony was trying to stop.”

On my screen, I’ve located the moment when Mia was unceremoniously escorted out of Klein’s mother’s house at gunpoint from a few minutes earlier.

Lisa Bowers had her finger on the trigger.

We definitely found the mole.

Idly, I wonder if Lisa was the big shot Kadin mentioned was coming to town. Given her position of power and influence, she might be considered upper echelon to the lowlifes like him.

Big Al’s voice crackles through the comms. “Team, I need you out of there. We’ve got bigger trouble. If he’s willing, bring Tony with you. We might need his help since he knows the tango. Perhaps he can help us talk her down if it comes to that.”

He agrees to assist us, repeatedly citing he was only here to help from the get-go.

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