Page 38 of Raven's Claw
“I had an uncle.He was an Army Ranger who’d reportedly died on a mission when I was two.Except, he wasn’t killed, he was recruited.I guess he kept occasional tabs on me, and when he learned my parents had died and I was in the system…” She scrubbed her hand down her face.“He went looking.Got me pulled out on the condition I was indoctrinated into the organization, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
“Jesus.How old were you when you went on your first mission?”
“Sixteen.”
“Shit.”Zain raked his fingers through his hair, making it stand up in every direction.“That guy in the Hummer.Was he your handler?”
She swallowed, barely keeping it down.“He was my entire existence, if I’m being honest.”
Foster took a step forward.“I realize this can’t be easy for you, but do we get to know his name?What agency you worked for?Or are we just gonna dance around it?”
She glanced at Kash, wondering if he’d heard of Scythe.If learning the truth would change his mind, too.Because despite Rook’s efforts, she knew there were rumors of Scythe’s existence, even if it was mostly an urban legend.
She didn’t know if she’d looked at Kash funny or if the jerk had suddenly learned how to read her mind because he leaned in — got lover close.
“Nothing’s going to change what we talked about last night.Promise.”
“It’s just…” How did she explain that it made it all real.That, once she’d divulged that last bit, she wasn’t just Jordan, waitress and someone worthy of their trust.She was Ember.
Foster sighed.“Jordan.Let’s simplify this.Did you roam the world killing people for the sake of it?”
She scoffed.“Of course, not.I was given missions, which included intelligence monitoring and retrieval, asset acquisition and, when required, elimination.”
“Did you think these missions were sanctioned?”
“Yes.”
“Then, however things went sideways isn’t on you.But we need to know who and what we’re dealing with if we have any hope of helping you.”
She took a breath.Then another.Until she’s pushed the last of the “new her” beneath the surface.Had finally made the transition back to Ember.“I worked for an agency known only as Scythe.”
Zain inhaled, glancing at his buddies before shaking his head.“Scythe?Seriously?Shit.”
She held her ground.“I assume you’re heard of it?”
“Only rumors and damn… It’s considered the original ghost cell.What every other shadow agency has strived to become and failed.”Zain shoved his hands in his pockets as if he wasn’t sure what else to do with them.“Who was your handler?Nathan McCoy?Or…”
Another raspy inhale at her continued silence as Zain scrubbed his hand through his hair.“Damn.Rook Donovan?”
“You know him?”
“Know him?The guy was a legend.Army Ranger.Green Beret.Transferred over to the CIA’s National Clandestine Division then… vanished.As in record completely erased.Old mission logs rewritten.Every last trace of him — gone.A few of us suspected he’d gone dark.Heard whispers that it was to Scythe, but no one talks about him or Scythe unless they want to end up dead.”
“Now you know why I was reluctant to say anything.Scythe isn’t just an organization.It’s a militarized cult with Rook Donovan as their leader.You either pledge your unconditional loyalty to him, or you end up on the wrong side of a bullet.There’s no middle ground.No questioning his authority, and no backing out.”
“So, what happened that made you stop drinking the Kool-Aid?”Chase held up his hands when Kash glared at him.“I’m not judging.In fact, based on how you ended up there, you weren’t really given a choice.But you were obviously loyal to them — to Rook — for nearly twenty years, and I can’t help but wonder what changed?What justified having him come after you, himself.”
Jordan let her head tilt back.“I’d like to say it was me, but… I’d been questioning the validity of the missions for a while.Things were just off.Briefings were lacking vital intel.Targets seemed random, almost personal.And Rook went from micromanaging every detail to barely showing up, at times.Then, on my last mission, I was shown proof that Rook and Scythe had gone fully dark side.That they were using us to infiltrate cartels and acquire weapon systems for their own agenda.We’re talking black market racketeering on an unprecedented scale.Hell, Rook had me neutralizing my own damn people.I saw that and…” She shook her head.“I knew I had to burn it all to the ground.”
Kash reached into his pocket and removed the drive she’d given him.“You said this is a decryption drive.So, where’s the intel?”
“It’s in a secure server at my last remaining dead-drop site.Not too far from here.Rook’s beaten me to all the others I tried to access.Destroyed everything before I got the chance to download the evidence then run it through that program.”
“What makes you think he hasn’t done that already to this site?”
“Because he doesn’t know about this one.It was my uncle’s, and when he died for real, it activated some kind of Hail Mary protocol that sent me the access codes for it.”She sighed.“He’d already linked our servers.Not sure how, but I’ve never been there.And my uncle wasn’t Rook’s subordinate.He was his equal.One of the first agents Scythe recruited.”
Foster motioned to her.“What was your uncle’s real name?”
