Page 31 of Code Name: Reaper
“Understood.” Wren ended the call after thanking her, then standing. “We need Nemesis on this one.”
“I’ll see if she’s available,” I offered, already on my way out the door. When I found her with Reaper and Blackjack, I smiledinwardly, hating that I’d missed seeing him in the short amount of time we were apart.
“Taking a break?” Reaper asked.
“Um, no, but I do need to speak with Nemesis when it’s convenient.”
She glanced up at me. “Now’s good. What can I help with?”
The way the coalition operated would take some getting used to. At the NSA, investigative intel was shared with other team members on a need-to-know basis only. I appreciated the transparency here, even though I still found it jarring from time to time. After I reiterated the conversation Wren and I had had with Vera, Nemesis said she’d make the necessary calls and let us know what she discovered.
When she stood to leave, Reaper did too. “Got a minute?”
“Wren’s probably waiting.”
“This won’t take long, and it’s intel you should know.”
“Okay.” I followed him down the hallway, past the library, and into a solarium. “I did a little digging on Mercury’s tenure at the service academy,” he began after closing the door. “I didn’t say anything in front of Nem since my source insisted on total anonymity.”
“What did you find out?”
“Mercury requested the assignment. In fact, fought hard for it. Apparently, it required long-term deep cover placement. Something significant enough to explain why she needed to use the Henning identity for as long as she did.”
“Did your source know why?”
“Negative, but I found something else.”
My stomach clenched. “What?”
“I think Jekyll and Mercury’s association began years before the photo you have indicates.”
“Years?”
“When they were teenagers.”
My mouth gaped. “What makes you say that?”
He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then pulled out his phone and swiped the screen.
When he held it out for me and saw the two were dressed in caps and gowns, I gasped. “They went to high school together?”
“At Bethel-Rhodes Academy.”
The private school was less than ten miles from the home I grew up in. “I don’t understand,” I said more to myself than to him.
“Maybe one or both of them had some connection to your family,” Reaper said quietly.
There was a knock at the door, then it opened and Wren stepped inside. “Sorry, but Nemesis has something for us.”
“Right.” I turned to Reaper, and we both stood. “Thanks. Um, talk more later?”
“In the meantime, I’ll see what else I can find.”
He left, and I followed Wren to the library, grateful she didn’t ask what Reaper was referring to. I needed more time to process the information prior to discussing it with anyone but him.
When we walked in and Nemesis raised her head, I wondered if she already knew what he’d discovered or if what I was about to learn far surpassed it.
“Have a seat.” She motioned for us to sit on either side of her. “Apologies for not putting this into a brief. I wanted to review it with the two of you first.” A Department of Defense logo appeared on the screen. Beneath it read, “Operation Avalon,” and below that was the seal for SAP—Special Access Program—which indicated the highest level of classified intelligence.
