"By blocking the exits they were herding the survivors to exactly where they wanted them to go. They left only one path of escape, and those who took that path were met with another surprise. Snipers waited for them, so as they ran toward the exit it was like a firing squad. Eventually the storm calmed enough for people to realize they were better off staying put, though many succumbed to the gas."
"Jesus," Elias said, rubbing a hand over the scruff of his face. "None of that information was released by the Justice Department, and there wasn't even a whisper in any CIA correspondence. We have their servers under surveillances, and we get flagged with any internal information on the terror attack."
"They're on a budget crunch," Axel said. "Maybe they're trying to be efficient."
"And effective," Eve said. "But like I said, this was practice. Their Perfect Day has been years in the making."
"What is their idea of the Perfect Day?" Deacon asked.
"That's what we don't know and what you're going to find out," she said. "These are your targets. Jorgen Yevorovich, Mikhail Petrov, Sergey Egorov, and Ivan Levkin. Egorov is a distant relative of Vladimir Putin. They're all second- and third-generation Americans. They have businesses and families here. And they're coordinating the largest single terrorist attack the world has ever seen. Study them. Find them. Leave one of them alive for capture. Kill the others."
"And the tanker?" he asked.
"That's part of your mission. At this moment, the tanker you've been surveilling is headed toward U.S. waters under the guise of carrying machine parts. It's also loaded with several crates of XTNC-50 gas. That tanker can't get anywhere near land. You've got to destroy it before it gets in range. You'll coordinate a HALO jump onto the tanker and take care of any guards. We think Yevorovich and Levkin are on the tanker. Set the explosives and then the Zodiac will be waiting for you to take you to the submarine. You should be well out of range when the explosives sink the tanker."
"How much time do we have before the tanker hits U.S. waters?" Axel asked.
"A week. You'll find schematics and other pertinent information in your inboxes." The screens on either side of her face cleared and she looked at each of them. "How is the new recruit?"
"He's awake and in holding," Deacon said. "He's stable enough. He remembers you and signing the agreement, but there's still some memory loss and disorientation. He was under longer than I'd have liked, so it might take him a couple of extra days to adjust."
"Good," she said. "We need him now. Go ahead and administer the psych evaluation."
Deacon raised his brows. "That thing is brutal. An hour ago he could barely stand by himself."
"Then give him until noon." Her smile wasn't a friendly one. "Moving on: I've been alerted that there could be some pressure from local law enforcement. Something about an armed robber identifying the transport van."
"We've got it under control," he said. There was no point in asking how she knew about the situation. She knew everything. "There's nothing to substantiate their claims, and the van is being serviced. I'd say the biggest issue is Tess at this point. She's got it in her head that she wants to resign and move out of Last Stop."
"Tell her no," Eve said, her eyes narrowing.
Deacon almost grinned. He'd done just that, but he didn't think Eve would appreciate the humor.
"What's the big deal if she decides to go?" Elias asked. "She got shafted on this deal and we all know it."
"Tess is useful," Eve said. "It's by no coincidence that we chose Last Stop for Gravediggers HQ. We scouted locations for several years and put chess pieces into motion long before anyone was brought on board. This is a prime location. We're close enough to the city that we've got major resources available, and we're in a central location so we can be anywhere in a matter of a few hours. This town is perfect because of the soil. Every town around us for a hundred miles is mostly built on limestone. Do you know how hard it is to dig tunnels and passageways through limestone?"
"Pretty hard?" Elias asked sarcastically, drawing a chuckle from Dante and Axel.
"How is Tess useful?" Deacon asked, going back to her original statement. He'd gotten a cold chill down his spine the moment Eve uttered her name.
Eve's gaze lasered in on his, and he wondered just exactly what she saw there. "She's what we needed for a solid cover. I watched her for a couple of years, found out what her goals and plans were. Checked her background and her family life. I knew if we came in and bought the funeral home out from under her that she'd stay if we asked her. She doesn't have the courage to pick up and start somewhere new. And she's a direct connection to keeping us plugged in without being in the middle of things.