Page 60 of Rogue Hope
“Shen Feng.”
Right.
She pressed a hand to her cheek. She definitely wasn’t firing on all cylinders if she’d forgotten about Feng. The legendary asset knew Harrison. And the rest of the old-guard at the Agency.
“If Reynold’s got skeletons, Feng knows where they’re buried. Or who buried the ones intended to frame him,” Finn added.
“But Singapore.” She shook her head. Taking off halfway around the world wasn’t the smartest move at the moment. She calculated contingencies. None of them appealed. “Bringing the team would blow everything.”
“I’m with you on that. Cipher could penetrate your system again,” Finn agreed. “We loop them in, we could expose Feng and telegraph our next move.”
“Plus put my team at risk. You’re right. We have to assume all channels are compromised.” The weight of isolation settled on her shoulders. Seven years with her team—her foundation, her family—and now she had to go it alone.
Finn’s voice dropped. “Your peeps won’t like it.”
“Understatement.”
She reached for her secure phone. Not a convo she was looking forward to. Might as well get the fireworks over with now. She dialed.
Ronan answered immediately. “What’s the plan? You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “No huge breakthroughs yet. I just wanted to tell you Finn and I are chasing down a lead. Solo.”
The silence stretched long enough that she checked the connection.
“Nope,” Ronan finally said. “That’s not how we operate, and you know it.”
“Cipher could penetrate Knight Tactical’s systems again, Ro. I’m not dragging you all into a trap.” She kept her voice even, authoritative.
“And you’re not diving in alone. We’re already in this, Z. All the way in.”
“We’ll maintain phone contact. That’s the one system Cipher can’t hack. I’ll keep you informed at every step. Besides, I’m counting on you to save the day if I need it.”
“So we’ll go small. Just me and Axel. That leaves the rest of the team to pull our fat out of the fire. Plus the OG crew. They’re due back from Dubai in ten hours.”
“That’s a great backup plan. But Finn and I need to check this out first.”
“Negative, Khoury.”
“Ro, either you agree, or I leave my locator at the safe house.”
Another simmering silence, then: “Timeline?”
“Seventy-two hours max. After that, full response.”
“Keep your beacon active,” he ordered, professional despite the obvious tension. “And Z—watch your six. You’re not alone, no matter what you’re pulling.”
The call ended. When she looked up, Finn was watching her, understanding written in the set of his shoulders.
“All good. Now it’s on us,” she said, pushing herself to her feet, unable to hide the wince as her knees protested.
Finn nodded once. “Then we make it count.”
Zara crossed to the cabin’s small bedroom, pausing at the doorway. “0500 wake-up. We’ll finalize prep before transport.”
She hesitated, one hand on the door frame. A dozen statements formed and died before she settled on a simple nod. “Night, Finn.”
In the dim bedroom, she eased onto the mattress without bothering to change. Her body demanded rest, but her mind raced through operational variables—Singapore routes, contact protocols, extraction contingencies. Anything to avoid the truth lurking beneath her calculations.
