"There are only so many modes of transportation," Elias offered. "Land, air, sea, and train. They've failed at land and sea. I'll cross-reference all the flight plans that have come through in the last few months and see if anything pops."
"How do we know they didn't succeed in getting it in before they bombed the stadium at the College World Series?" Tess asked.
"They don't have enough for an attack the size and scale they're hoping for," Deacon told her. "If they did, they wouldn't be trying so hard to bring more in. There's no doubt they have some in their supply. But the Day of Destiny is an attack nationwide. They need enough product to spread to multiple states and venues. They need a coordinated team."
They worked tirelessly for hours, sifting through mountains of data, and eliminating locations where Egorov and Levkin might be planning their master attack. It was some time after midnight when Eve Winter's face appeared on the screen.
"Status update," she said, her gaze zeroing in on Deacon.
"Still looking," he said. "We've narrowed it to three locations."
"Narrow it faster," she said shortly. "There's a United Nations summit scheduled for this weekend. We've just received intel that Putin plans to cancel his appearance, and that he's not sending any high-ranking government officials in his place. They're steering clear of the U.S."
"Not a good sign," Deacon murmured.
"Exactly. Focus on Egorov. Levkin is nothing more than a lackey. He'll be the sacrificial lamb. I doubt Egorov lets him live to see their plans come to fruition. Egorov isn't the kind of man who'd want to share the spotlight. If calculations are right, you have less than a week to hunt them down. I don't have to tell you what is at stake."
She finally turned to look at Tess. "Good to see you're settling in, Ms. Sherman."
"Thank you," Tess said simply, her voice neutral.
It was never a good sign when Eve's voice went from all-business to friendly. Deacon didn't think friendly was in her DNA.
"I'm glad our little experiment worked out. I've decided you might be more use in the D.C. office. We can arrange a transfer once this mission is complete."
"No, thank you," Tess said automatically, the ghost of a smirk hinting around that wicked, wicked mouth that seemed to have been created for the sole purpose of driving Deacon crazy.
Eve's smile was cold, and then she looked back at Deacon. "Didn't you tell her it's in her best interest to never tell me no?"
She didn't give him a chance to answer. The screen went black and the air was thick with unspoken words.
Tess's face was red with anger, and he shook his head when it looked like she was going to make a comment. They were all on the same team, but things had a way of getting back to Eve. They all turned back to their work, Deacon trying to forget the threat that had lurked in Eve's voice.
"I think I've got something," Dante said a few minutes later. The three big screens on the wall flickered on, and multiple views of satellite imaging came on.
"This area didn't rank too high on my radar the past few weeks because it's a high-traffic construction zone. They've got bulldozers and dividers blocking the entire way around the area. But I just checked with city records and there's nothing scheduled for construction, and hasn't been for a couple of years."
"It sure looks like something is going on there," Axel said.
"What are we looking at?" Deacon asked.
Dante tapped a few keys so the image became a 360-digital view. "This is what used to be Texas Stadium. Just north of where we are now. When the Cowboys moved to the new stadium in Arlington several years ago, this one was set for demolition. Notice the industrial area that surrounds the empty space where the stadium once stood. There's an old train depot, and several large warehouses. That's where the thermal vision is lighting up the screen like Christmas. When I compare it to the thermal vision from a month ago, you'll see a noticeable increase in activity from the past few weeks."
Deacon whistled as he watched the time lapse of the satellite and heat sensors. "Like Christmas," he agreed. "That's a lot of semi trucks going inside the warehouses."
"But they're not coming out," Elias said. "They're outfitting them. There's got to be at least twelve of them."
"Thirteen that I counted," Dante corrected. "It's a good location now that I've started digging. The area has been in limbo since before the demolition. The developers don't really know what to do with it, so it's mostly forgotten about. The city itself is so busy no one is going to stop to check whether or not there's supposed to be construction. People just follow the detour signs and go on about their lives. Construction in this area is par for the course, so it's not like they're not used to it."