Game of Secrets and Shadows (Book One in the Covert Operations series)

Thirteen

"It's too dangerous."

"I don't hear you suggesting any other alternatives."

"She'll get killed out there."

"We'll be backing her up! They won't get within a mile of her."

"It's not safe."

"And she'll never be safe again. Not in this line of work."

"You know what I mean."

I leaned my head back against the hard wooden chair and closed my eyes. I rubbed at my temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache pulsing through my skull. We'd been at this for hours and we were no closer to finding a solution to locate my brother than when we started. The best anyone had come up with thus far was to stick me out in a public place, have me create a scene that would pretty much land me on the radar of everyone trying to find me, and try to pick up a trail from there.

Brent had shot that plan down pretty quickly but it hadn't stopped Gregory Lauer from trying to persuade him otherwise. Lauer was, apparently, a trusted ally. He was an old friend of Brent's, and my father's, apparently. Lauer had worked on a few missions with Jack Briar long before my mother entered the picture. He'd never met her and it apparently showed for, when I first walked into the room, he looked me up and down and said, with blatant astonishment, "That's Jack's kid? Doesn't look a thing like him."

Lydia had pursed her lips. Brent's had formed into a thin line. Daniel's parents looked distinctly uncomfortable. Professors McCarthy and Cunningham, along with and Ms. Perth, were all seated around one of the long lunch tables. My old teaching staff was a comforting sight—if there was anyone who knew exactly what I was capable and what I could, and couldn't, handle, it would be them.

As the veteran operatives argued, Lia doodled on a notepad beside me. Tasha was down in one of the sublevels with another of our old professors, Professor Monroe. The two of them were attempting to track Scorpions' movements. While it was unlikely, we were hoping that they would slip up and lead us to my brother. Or, at the very least, they'd send a ransom letter. I didn't want to admit it but the latter seemed the more likely of the two.

On my other side was Max. He'd been particularly engaged throughout most of the discussion but his attention had begun to wane a half-hour earlier. I didn't blame him. They'd been talking themselves in circles all day.

And then there was Daniel. I wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten himself in here. It seemed like the kind of top-secret event his parents might have wanted to keep him firmly away from. He was particularly interested in what everyone was saying, his eyes jumping from person to person throughout the entirety of the conversation. He was seated next to his father, arms propped against the tabletop, beside another woman I recognized.

Rachel Trotter. She, along with Brent, had come to recruit me for Oaks when I was fourteen. It was only now that I learned she'd been good friends with my biological mother, Elizabeth. They'd practically been sisters. She'd hugged me tightly when I'd walked into the room and smiled warmly. I hadn't seen her since I'd been dropped off at the school nearly four years ago.

"Are you all right?" Lia murmured to me under her breath. No one paid us any mind. Brent and Lauer were still arguing away.

"Fine," I grumbled as I opened my eyes to look at her. "But this is a waste of time."

She hummed in agreement but otherwise stayed silent. Until we had an exact location on my brother's movements, there wasn't really much else we could. I had the sinking feeling that, even if I did go out and make a scene, it might take more than that to get Scorpion at my doorstep. They were an elite group, strong and smart and lethal. There was no chance that they would fall for a trap like that.