Page 29 of Relentless
“It’s only your future as an operative that’s at stake,” she retorted, taking a seat beside her sister. “If you overuse it and injure it again, it will mean surgery. Then you’ll be out for a very, very long time. Men,” she added on a huff.
“I think she likes you, coz,” Chad said with a grin.
“Sheis right here and not in the mood to joke around,” Kara interjected before Ethan could respond. They’d been up since six, and she hadn’t fallen asleep until two. He’d learned something new about her today—she didnotdo well on a few hours of sleep. He wondered how she’d made it through residency and her grueling work schedule. Then again, in her current state, he had no problem picturing her plowing through a day. She’d be checking stuff off her list and getting shit done, right and left. Like a machine.
Ethan cast his cousin a warning look, and Chad nodded. “Understood,” Chad said. “Do you want some coffee before we start? We’ll need to call the rest of the team in, so we have a few minutes.”
“That would be heavenly,” she replied, her tone softening. The lack of sleep wasn’t the only thing getting to her. The death of her colleagues weighed heavy on her shoulders, and she wanted to be doing something to stop it. He recognized the trait. He had it, too. He wondered if, like him, once she started—once she began to feel as if she wasdoing something—that alone would ease some of her tension.
Leaving Kara and Sabina in the conference room, he followed Chad out the door. Instead of joining his cousin in the kitchen, though, he headed to the supply room and grabbed a couple pads of paper and a few pens. Kara had once mentioned that she preferred to write things down rather than type them. She couldn’t always rely on a computer in the field, but a pen and paper never failed her. And over the years, she’d grown accustomed to using them.
By the time he returned to the room, Leo, Collin, and Ava—Sabina’s cyber team—sat at the table. Killian and Ryder—another one of the field operatives—followed him in. With nods to his colleagues, he walked to Kara and handed her the paper and pens before taking the empty seat beside her.
“Thank you,” she murmured. Immediately, she uncapped the pen and started writing. He wasn’t sure, but he thought she might be noting the dates of the trip. She confirmed his guess when, after Chad delivered her coffee, she began speaking without prompting.
“We arrived at the camp on the twentieth of June,” she said.
“Did you all fly in together?” Sabina interrupted.
Kara shook her head. “A couple of the nurses were already in the area and met us in Juba when we arrived. Those of us not already in-country met in London. From there, we took the same flight down.”
“Which nurses met you there?” Ava asked.
And so it went for the next three hours. Kara walked through each day in minute detail while Sabina, Leo, Collin, and Ava pressed for clarification or more information. Eventually, they’d take all the details, enter them into their computers, and look for a pattern. Or, more likely, look for somethingoutsidethe routine of each day. In the meantime, those of themnoton the cyber team listened. Each using Kara’s memories and recollections to create their own picture of her time in South Sudan.
By the time they wrapped up the debriefing it was well past lunch, and Ethan offered to grab takeout for everyone at the Dirty Boom. He hesitated when Kara asked to join him. He’d prefer to have her safely ensconced on HICC property. The look in her eye, though, halted his objection. Arguing with her when she was short on sleep and fuel wasn’t a sound strategy. Besides, they’d come in her car, and she had the keys. He could have borrowed a company car, but the repercussions of leaving without her weren’t something he wanted to contemplate, let alone tackle.
When they arrived back at HICC with bags of food for everyone, they found Sabina, Ava, and Chad deep in conversation with Gina. Leo and Collin sat at their computers—their favorite place to be. And Ryder and Killian were nowhere to be found.
“Gina,” Kara said, moving around him and walking toward her aunt. “What are you doing here?”
Gina gave her a quick hug before gesturing to the screen behind her. A screen that had several dates listed, then under each date, a grouping of names. “Sabina brought me up to speed on this. I’m going to use some of my contacts to get a sitrep on South Sudan. Up-to-date information on the situationtheremight help us figure out what’s happeninghere.”
Ethan set his bags down on the table then relieved Kara of hers as she stared at the groupings. “What is all this?” she asked.
“Why don’t we get the food sorted and then we can go over it,” her sister suggested. Kara’s gaze dropped to Sabina. Ethan watched the two have a conversation without saying a word. Finally, Kara sighed then nodded.
“We didn’t know you were going to be here so didn’t get anything for you,” Kara said, directing the comment to Gina. “You can have half of mine, though, if you like.”
Gina shook her head. “I ate before I came down. Besides, I think you need the sustenance. You’re looking a little peaked.”
Kara scrunched her nose at her aunt, then turned and sat. “I’d take offense at that comment but honestly, I’mfeelinga little peaked. A lack of sleep and then reliving a four-week period in three hours took more out of me than I expected.”
“The good news is that most of the next steps are in our court,” Chad said. It didn’t look as if that reassured her much. But she offered his cousin a half smile before pulling her sandwich out of her bag.
“Okay, so lay it on me,” she said.
“The person behind the deaths is methodical in making them appearnot murder. And while that could be the MO of a true serial killer, we don’t think that’s what’s happening here,” Sabina started. “We think it’s much more likely that the victims saw or heard something the killer didn’t want them to, and he, or she, is killing to protect him- or herself.”
“And making the deaths look like accidents is just another layer of protection?” Kara asked. Sabina nodded.
“Accidents are far less likely to be investigated,” Chad replied.
“And if they aren’t investigated, then our killer doesn’t need to worry about any of them being tied back to him,” Ethan added. “He can silence those he needs to while not drawing any attention to himself.”
Kara’s eyes shifted to his, then she nodded in agreement. “So what are these groupings then?” she asked, pointing to the names on the screen. When Sabina rose to pace in front of them, Kara finally started eating.
“The dates on the screen note events that you indicated the group participated in together. And below that are the names of the people you mentioned were there. Danielle, Shelley, and Sunil have all been targets, so we’ve eliminated the events that didn’t include all three of them. Which leaves these.” She waved to the screen. “Two lunch events at the clinic, one outing on a day off, and seven nights out. Two of those nights out were for drinks only, and the other five were dinner and drinks.”
