In the Black Read online

  “I’m so sorry. Did Zane tell you what’s goin’ on?”

  “He gave me a preview, yeah.” Tommy rubbed her back. “And I’m the one who's sorry.”

  “You were right about Dave.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s over now. It is over, right?”

  She looked up at him. “We’re done, but I don’t know what to do.”

  “Shh.” He cupped her cheek. “Don’t you worry, we’ll take care of this.” Tommy grabbed a box of tissues from the desk in the corner and handed them to her. “Dry your eyes. I ain’t gonna let anythin’ happen to you.”

  Somehow, Ellie believed him. He’d never let her down. At least she had one man she could count on.

  Ellie mopped her eyes and blew her nose. It was loud, but she didn’t care. Ellie was too scared to give a crap about appearances.

  “Where’s Savvy?”

  “She’s at her house, puttin’ together a makeshift studio until a real one can be built.” He grinned, eyes all shiny. “Savvy wanted to stay with me, but I told her to start workin’ on her album.”

  Ellie smiled. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  “Yeah, me either. Savvy promised me a rough cut before anyone else gets one,” Tommy said, lifting his chin.

  “You’re head over heels, aren’t you?”

  Ellie hadn’t seen him so happy since his wife had died. She’d committed suicide right in front of him, and her brother had been devastated, slipping into a deep depression.

  She was pleased it had worked for him. He deserved some joy. Lord knows he’d had more than his fair share of pain.

  “Yeah.” His features sobered. “But we should probably get down to business.”

  “Right. Sure.”

  And just like that, a heavy weight settled upon her shoulders once more. They all sat at the table once again.

  “Zane briefed us, but we’d like to hear from you,” West said. “Whenever you’re ready, Ellie.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Just walk us through it.”

  She took a few moments to collect herself before she began.

  And then Ellie explained what she’d been working on, and how she knew Dave and his friends were involved. Ellie hung her head as she spoke about the key card.

  To his credit, Tommy didn’t look the slightest bit judgmental. Instead, he nodded and smiled, encouraging her to talk. After she finished, the room remained in a stunned sort of silence.

  Ellie couldn’t blame them one bit. It was a lot to take in.

  “Okay, we’ll get to the domestic terror cell in a minute,” Annie said. “You’re tellin’ me the government is makin’ a chemical weapon.”

  “Yes, it’s a nerve agent, like Sarin.” There were several other different types of chemical weapons—blister agents like mustard gas, choking agents like chlorine, and blood agents like cyanide. “Only there’s no antidote. If you are exposed, your odds are seventy to thirty.”

  “Seventy percent odds of survival?” Annie asked. “I guess it could be worse.”

  “No, it’s the other way around.”

  Everyone took a beat to let that sink in.

  “And what about the chemical weapons ban?” West asked.

  In 1997, members of the UN outlawed the production and use of chemical agents. Although four states refused to uphold the prohibition—North Korea, South Sudan, Israel, and Egypt.

  “Evidently, we tore it up and decided to manufacture them anyway.” She took a deep breath. “And what I’m about to tell you is classified, but I’ve got bigger problems than spillin’ state secrets. We called it Anubis.” It had been named after the government operation title, The Anubis Project.

  “Like the Egyptian god of death,” Storm said. “How bad is it?”

  Travis “Storm” Reynolds had a lean, muscular build. He stood a bit over 6 feet tall, with dark brown hair and eyes. Before joining Black Star, he’d been a CIA agent. Like the rest of her brother’s friends, he was attractive. Although, he wasn’t her type. Something about the man creeped her out.

  “It’s lethal, but they’d need to disperse it over a wide area. On its own, it won’t go far, but Anubis lives up to its namesake. Most of the animals we tested it on, died within a few hours. A small percentage inhaled it, got very sick, but eventually recovered. We were still formin’ a hypothesis as to why some survived it. Our best guess is individual DNA differences. Some people metabolize chemicals easier than others.”

  Testing the gas at been the hardest part of her job. She wasn’t a fan of rodents, but she hated exterminating them every day. It made her feel like an executioner, and the animals died a painful death. In her mind’s eye, Ellie could still see them lying on their backs, struggling to breathe, legs twitching.

  She shivered.

  It was unbearable to watch. Although, if gassing the animals hadn’t bothered Ellie, there would be something seriously wrong with her.

  What if Dave and his buddies unleashed it on a civilian population? She couldn’t even imagine the devastation.

  “Why? What’s the point of making it?” Mack asked.

  “I don’t know.” She’d asked herself the same question repeatedly while she was working on the project but hadn’t come up with a plausible solution.

  Not one she was comfortable with anyway.

  “They probably want it for protection,” Storm said quietly.

  As a CIA officer, he’d been privy to the highest level of top secret information. He probably knew a thing or two that would shock them. Of course, he’d never confirmed his position with the agency, but Tommy had told her Storm was a spook.

  And she believed it.

  There was something chilly beneath his affable charm. Like Zane.

  “Groups around the world have been developing chemical weapons, and we wanted our own, in case we were threatened.” Storm shrugged. “It’s my best guess, anyway.”

  Somehow, she doubted it was only a guess.

  Ellie supposed it made sense. It was a deterrent in case anyone got any ideas. The United States held on to nuclear weapons for the very same purpose. Still, she didn’t like the thought of Anubis being unleashed on innocent civilians. Or even members of the military for that matter. No one deserved such a gruesome death.

  Everyone looked disturbed, except for Storm. And Nox.

  “This doesn’t bother you, brother?” Tommy asked.

  “No, why should it?” Nox shrugged. “Look, I live in the real world, not some fairy tale. I did terrible things for the good of the country, and I’d do them again. Sometimes the United States makes difficult decisions.”

  “I agree,” Storm said. “North Korea didn’t approve the moratorium on chemical weapons. They’ve been experimenting with long-range missiles and working on a nuclear program, but what if they added a chemical payload instead of a nuke? It could have devastating consequences. We can’t be caught with our pants down.”

  It was yet another point, she hadn’t considered. This was so far above her pay grade it wasn’t even funny.

  “What do you think Dave and his buddies are going to do with it?” Mack asked.

  “I’m not sure, and that’s what worries me. I know they don’t like the government very much. Or at all. They also call themselves sovereign citizens.”

  Mack paled.

  “What?” Ellie asked.

  “Most of those guys just want to be left alone. They’re libertarians. They like to live off the grid and keep to themselves. The only time they have run-ins with the authorities is over tax evasion because sovereigns don’t feel they are governed by the United States and shouldn’t have to pay anything. But you think they might’ve been radicalized?”

  “Yeah, Marshall Allen, Dave’s best friend is serious about this stuff. He talks about armin’ himself against the comin’ war. He’s been stockpilin’ weapons and canned food. Marshall’s convinced Washington is plannin’ an attack on its own citizens.”
>
  It sounded preposterous, almost absurd, but this situation was no laughing matter.

  Since the key card had gone missing, Ellie had been putting pieces of the puzzle together, and everything was falling into place. Why hadn’t she figured it out sooner? If Ellie had, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

  “And they left a bomb in the apartment?” West asked.

  “Yeah, it was a tripwire,” Nox said. “There were some documents in there, but everything got toasted, so we don’t have a clue what it was.”

  “Or maybe they laid a trap for somebody else?” Storm lifted a shoulder. “These guys sound kind of scorched earth.”

  “Or maybe they’re just dicks who like to blow shit up,” Nox offered.

  “I’d go with the last one,” Zane said.

  Ellie didn’t disagree with the assessment. What if Zane’s reflexes had been slower? She’d be in the burn unit. Or the graveyard.

  “So, tell us about Marshall.”

  “What do you want to know?” Ellie asked.

  “Anythin’ useful,” West encouraged.

  “I don’t know him that well. Let’s see. He had a rough few months. His wife left him for another man and then he was fired from his security guard job. I guess he ended up livin’ in some rusty old trailer.” She’d never visited him.

  Mack sighed. “Those are both stressors, big ones. People who snap—who go on a shooting rampage, or in this case, set off a bomb, have gone through traumatic situations. And if they don’t have support systems in place, they’re more likely to lose it.”

  “You think he’s actually goin’ to go through with it?” Ellie asked.

  “I don’t have a crystal ball, but all the signs are pointing to yes.” Mack made a face. “What else did they say?”

  Ellie shrugged. “They talked about Ruby Ridge and Waco. Marshall kept sayin’ we need to take this country back. By force.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Storm said.

  “I know this all sounds pretty damning, but at the time, I thought they were shootin’ their mouths off.”

  “Nobody blames you, Ellie. You had no way of telling what they were up to. It could’ve just been venting. But most likely, they’re planning an attack.” Mack frowned. “The FBI takes domestic terrorism very seriously. Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, they’ve been on top of it.”

  Ellie remembered the case. In 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols blew up the federal building. It was the deadliest domestic terrorism incident on record, and second only to 9/11 overall.

  “Yeah, and Terry Nichols received twelve years in prison, for failin’ to warn the government.” Zane glanced at King, and they exchanged a look Ellie didn’t quite understand.

  “Maybe I should go to the FBI and tell them everythin’ I know.” Ellie said the words quietly, and a hush fell over the room. Again. “It’s where I should’ve gone in the first place.”

  “No, that ain’t an option,” Zane said fiercely. “We’ll find a way to stop this without involvin’ the authorities, and when we catch those bastards, maybe we can use them as a bargainin’ chip to save you.”

  Mack nodded. “In exchange for information leading to their capture, she could make a deal with the District Attorney.”

  “There.” Zane caught her eye. “We’ve got a plan to keep you out of jail.”

  Would it really work? Ellie didn’t see how she could avoid prison, even if they didn’t lower her sentence.

  “And what if this literally blows up in our face?” West asked. “I can’t stand by, and let civilians get hurt. Not on my watch.”

  Annie and Storm nodded in silent agreement with him.

  “Do you seriously think the FBI is gonna do a better job than us?” King grunted. “Not fuckin’ likely.”

  “Hey. I resent that.” Mack made a face.

  “Sorry, but G-Men ain’t got a great track record at stoppin’ domestic terror,” Zane said.

  Tempers flared in the room. And then an argument broke out, as people took sides. Some of them wanted to go to the FBI, while the rest lobbied to handle it in-house.

  Ellie hung her head.

  She’d placed all of them in jeopardy. They were all discussing her, as though she didn’t have a say in it. And maybe she’d lost the right to make her own decisions.

  After all, she’d done a crappy job of it lately.

  “Only because you know about our failures, not our successes,” Mack yelled over the chaos.

  “What’s this ‘our’ crap. You’re one of us now,” King said. “And we ain’t turnin’ my sister in. End of story.”

  “I say we put it to a vote,” Nox said.

  “I agree,” West slapped a hand on the table. “If this goes south, we’ll all be defendants.”

  “If we do, they’ll charge her as an accessory.” Zane glanced at Mack for confirmation, and she nodded. “The feds will railroad her, so they don’t end up with egg on their faces.”

  “I should just turn myself in.” She sucked in a breath. San Quentin, it is. “I don’t want to get any of you into trouble.”

  Zane sliced his head to one side. “I’m not gonna let you nail yourself to this particular cross. Yeah, you fucked up, but it isn’t unforgivable.”

  “Damn straight. And she’s my family,” Tommy said quietly. “Our family. The last time I checked, we protect those we love.”

  “I don’t want her to go to jail either, King.” Storm scratched his chin. “But I can’t have another Oklahoma City bombing on my conscience.”

  “There’s no fuckin’ way she’s goin’ to the feds, and that’s final.” Zane shouted so loud, the walls almost vibrated.

  Ellie winced. He was seething, full of rage, and she couldn’t make sense of it.

  Why did this matter so much to him?

  Mack cleared her throat. “For what it’s worth, I agree with Zane. They’re going to think she was in on it. She lived with the suspect, and her keycard was used. Any reasonable agent would charge her as an accessory. It wouldn’t be very hard to make this case.”

  “I’m surprised,” Storm said. “I didn’t figure you’d want to keep the agency in the dark.”

  Her lips twisted. “Yeah, well, I can see their shortcomings more than most people.”

  Ellie got the feeling she had personal experience. “What did they get wrong about you?”

  She blinked. “It’s a long story, and we’ve got more pressing matters.”

  “Fine. I’m willin’ to stick my neck out if everybody’s on board. Are we all agreed to solvin’ this problem by ourselves?” West scanned the table. “If you wanna back out now, you’d best do it.”

  Nobody spoke up, even Storm who gave a grim nod.

  Her insides twisted into a guilt-ridden little knot.

  “Then it’s settled. We’re gonna stop a terror attack,” West said.

  “Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “So, what happens next?”

  Zane’s eyes gleamed with deadly intent. “After you give us their names and addresses, we’ll kick in some doors tonight, and get some answers.”

  ***

  Crickets. A big cricket serenade.

  It was nearly dusk, and Ellie sat on the porch swing behind the barn. It was ancient and creaky. The paint had flaked off and it squeaked softly as she moved back and forth.

  She could see scuff marks on the faded surface of the porch, but it made the swing even more endearing. Clearly, it was well loved. She had the sneaking suspicion the Black Star folks put a lot of love into everything they did.

  Ellie was charmed by this place. Strange, but kinda nice.

  HQ was warm and after spending so long in a chilly relationship, the sense of family and friendship was welcoming. Only she felt guilty as hell for involving them in this mess.

  The day had passed in excruciatingly slow motion. She’d tried to keep busy, but there was nothing to do except freak out. Annie had made dinner for everyone and Ellie had eaten a few
bites. The food had been tasty, but Ellie didn’t have an appetite.

  So here I am, swinging, tryin’ to take my mind off the impendin’ doom.

  She took in the scenery, focused on something other than her own problems. The woods were on her left. And straight ahead was a rickety unmarked road. She didn’t know which one. It’s not like there were a lot of street signs in this tiny town.

  In other words, Ellie felt lost. In more ways than one.

  In search of another distraction, she reached for her phone for what must have been the thirtieth time, and then remembered it was gone.

  Perfect.

  I don’t think I’ve ever been this alone in my entire life.

  Inside, she heard laughter, people going about their daily lives. Ellie felt disconnected from everyone and everything. And she couldn’t get out of her own head.

  Ellie was replaying every decision she’d made in the past few years, which led her to this point. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone had the opportunity for a do-over? She’d make so many changes.

  Ellie would’ve gotten her B.A. instead of an associate degree. Then she would’ve gotten a different job with higher pay and more opportunities.

  And what about Dave?

  She never would’ve started dating him. Instead, she would’ve found a nice guy to settle down with. Somebody who’d protect her, care for her, and squash the damn bugs, without being asked.

  Somebody like…

  Zane walked out onto the porch. He held the door for Bomber, a black German shepherd puppy who waddled after him like a duckling follows its momma.

  “Why are you out here, all by your lonesome?”

  “Thinkin’.” She held her hand out for Bomber to sniff. He did and then she scooped him up and stroked him. The puppy was warm and sleepy in her arms.

  He hmphed. “More like avoidin’ folks.”

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  “Want me to go? Bomber’s plenty of company. He has a way of takin’ your cares away.”

  Ellie couldn’t tell him to leave. Zane was a familiar, friendly face and she needed the support right now.

  “Please don’t go. I’d like you both to stay.”

  Zane sat beside her, and the swing bounced in response. Silently, he handed her the Mason jar full of sweet tea he’d carried out. She released Bomber who settled between them on the swing.