“Dustin…” she whispered into her earpiece.
“One sec, Boss. I got you!”
Just as the door cracked open a little, a fire alarm was sounded and advised everyone to exit the building in an orderly fashion. Ron grunted, placed his jacket back on and headed for the door.
Yvette sighed as she stepped from the closet. “That was a close call, Dustin. Let’s try and avoid that in the future?”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
She moved towards the computer, retrieved the thumb drive and quickly entered the vent once more.
Slowly she lowered herself to the ground out the window she’d gained entry. She jerked around as she felt hands slip around her waist assisting her.
“Brett!” she cried in shocked noticing him standing behind her. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to make sure you got out safely. I saw the car turn back towards the building and knew he’d head back into his office. Did you get everything done?”
She nodded her head and they ran towards the end of the block to his truck and her car. “I planted the bug and uploaded the tracking software. I just hope we don’t have too long to wait. If those guns hit the streets we’re going to have gangs with a huge arsenal to contend with in the war on drugs.”
They got back to the Federal building and Dustin had already been to work analyzing Harper’s hard drive and looking through his deleted files.
“How are you doing that?” Ryan asked standing over his shoulder.
“Simple; people think once they hit the delete button and empty out their recycle bins their computers are wiped clean of whatever memories they were hoping to erase. That’s not the case. There is always a footprint, a sort of marker if you will that anyone smart enough can use as a tracer and restore. Right now I am going through the deleted emails and conversations he’s had with White and surprise, surprise, he tried to encrypt them.”
“Can you crack it?” Brett asked taking interest.
Dustin laughed. “If I can’t then I’m in the wrong line of work. Just give me five minutes and I’ll tell you the color of the socks he was wearing when he typed this.”
Moments later he was punching the air in a fit of victory. “Here’s what you’ve been waiting for Boss,” he smiled dropping his lucky blue notebook in front of her. “I also found messages from Harper to an unsub about the ‘package’ being ready for ‘d-day’ which I’ve been able to determine is in 2 weeks.”
“Two weeks? Is there any mention of a location?”
“None, but I do see that these two have had regular meetings every Tuesday for brunch at a café downtown. What do you say we crash in on that conversation tomorrow?” he smirked tossing an apron onto the table.
“I think you enjoy this a little too much Dustin!” she grinned picking up the apron. “Keep filtering through the emails, Dusty. We need evidence on a connection to all three.”
She walked towards the lockers on the other side of the room.
“Where are you headed?” Victor questioned.
“Workout; I have a bit of pent up frustration to hammer loose.”
“You know I’ve been thinking,” Ryan started as he tossed darts into the board near the back wall. “We should have a team name, something befitting our badassness.”
“‘Badassness’?” Murph raised a curious brow.
“It’s a word I’m sure of it. Anyway, what do you think about the Snakepit?”
“How exactly does that fit ‘badassness’?” he continued.
“Hear me out; we can each take on codenames of a venomous snake. It can be our handle when we’re on missions; that is of course when we aren’t using separate identities. It could be cool.”
“He tried pitching this same idea to McNeer. It didn’t go far,” Brett laughed at his friend.
“But it’s a great idea. I just need an open mind about it,” Ryan argued his defense.
He placed a hand on his chin and thought about it. “I’ll take it!” he laughed. “And for the Boss, how about ‘The Python’ or ‘Lady Boa’?”
“No, I think ‘Diamondback’ is more appropriate,” Brett chimed in.
“‘Diamondback’? Hmm, if you’re referring to the way she shakes it like a rattler, I can totally get into that,” Ryan added.
“No I was more referring to her venomous nature,” he replied.
“Funny, you guys are hilarious,” she tossed a pillow at Brett. “You’re now Viper for that exact same reason!”
“I like that!” he smiled before dropping his weight into one of the bean bags.
“Yve?” Scott called her as he entered into the room. “Where are we on this Tayco case?”
She nodded at Dustin and he brought up the progress thus far. “We’re waiting on the conversation to connect the three: Harper, White and the guns. It shouldn’t be too long; he was speaking to someone about it I’m sure when I was in his office this morning.”
“Good! Keep me informed,” he turned and exited the room.
“You guys can go home for the night. I’ll call if there are any updates,” Yve smiled as she took a seat behind her desk.
Ryan and Vic headed for the door just as Dustin’s equipment picked up a conversation between Harper and the unidentified subject.
…“It’s on as planned. Gather your men and make sure NO ONE leaves without the exchange taking place…” Harper’s voice broke through the static.
…“I know what I must do. You just better come through with the money otherwise, that precious little life you’ve built won’t mean shit once I get through with you…”
…“Thursday, you’ll be approached by a man in a white suit. Follow everything PRECISELY as detailed in the case he hands you. You better not fuck this up..!” Harper disconnected the line.
“Sounds like they get along great!” Brett mused.
“Trace that unsub Dustin, get me a location we have to figure out where it leads!”
“I’m on it, Yve.”
She released a breath and pushed off the table. “I’ll be in the gym, call me when you get something.”
Ryan drove from the building and headed to the nearest bar. He grabbed a seat near the back, ordered a beer and watched the crowd as the live band played.
He took a swig from his bottle and slid down in his seat enjoying the atmosphere.
“Hey cutie,” a brunette smiled stepping towards his table. “Would you like some company?”
He looked up and smiled. Offering her a seat next to him, he readjusted to face her. “What’s your name doll?”
“Jennifer,” she smiled and scooted closer.
“Jennifer,” he repeated. “I’m Ryan.”
“Well Ryan, buy a girl a drink!”
He motioned for the waitress and she placed an order for a Vodka and Cranberry.
“Come here often?”
“Did you really ask that?” Ryan smiled.
“Just making small talk,” she sighed and rubbed her finger along the rim of her glass.
“Well,” he sighed removing the glass from her hand and sitting it on the table. “Let’s skip the idle chatter and get down to what you came over here for,” he smirked and pulled her closer. Her lips pressed against his as he slid an arm across her waist.
His phone beeped, he looked down at it and sighed. “One sec,” he motioned to her before stepping from the booth.
“What?” he yelled with frustration into the receiver.
…“There’s been a development. How quickly can you get back here…?” Dustin’s voiced chimed on the other end.
“Are you serious? Do you know what I’m doing right now?”
…“I could guess: preparing to drink yourself into a stupor while making out with someone? I could just let Yve know you’d rather not be employed any longer if that works for you… ”
“I’m gonna get you for this, Dustin.”
He turned and sighed as he looked at Jennifer. “Raincheck?”
Yve changed into her workout attire and found a quiet corner to spar with the wooden training dummy.
“It’s no fun hitting those things, they never hit back,” Brett’s voice broke her out of her reverie.
“Yeah well, it’s better than picking on some poor Schmo, right?” she smiled.
“Are you calling me a Schmo?”
“Are you offering yourself up for an ass whooping?”
He laughed. “I think I can handle you.”
“Oh? Not like before then? You’ll actually fight back?”
He smirked as he sent a spinning heel kick towards her head. She ducked and avoided his contact. “Ok, let’s see what you got Special Agent Knight.”
She stepped forward and sent an open handed chop towards his throat. He blocked her, pushing her back on her heels and tried capitalizing on her shock with a straight standing sidekick.
She used a high block knocking him away before throwing a double handed knife strike to his chest rocking him on his feet. He smiled as he flipped and ran at her with full force rolling into a front kick. He connected and sent his heel into her jaw.
“That’s a point for me,” he grinned keeping score.
She brushed off his comment and took up a front stance, egging him forward. He obliged and came towards her with a closed fist. She wrapped her legs around his arm and twirled herself around his torso before throwing him to the other side of the room as her foot connected to his face.
“And mark that as a point for me,” she grinned back with equal sass.
He rubbed his jaw and tried a high kick again; she blocked his approach and got him into a rear naked choke pressing him deeper into her elbow trying to force his submission. He sent a chop to her midsection, knocking the wind from her and causing her to release the hold.
He charged at her and she tried to push out of the way but he slammed her against the wall, pinning her in place. He pressed his face against her neck. “Tables are turned on you huh? I thought you were the better Agent,” he whispered. “Show me what makes you think that, Boss.”
“Or am I too much for you to handle? Should I slow down a bit, allow you time to catch up?” he bit back laughter watching her expression change to a look of anger and frustration. “You ready to really do this now? You’re the one that said gender means nothing.”
She smirked, pushed him off and sent a flurry of kicks to his midsection and chest. He dodged one only to be hit by another followed up by a superman punch to the abdomen.
She backed up and put her hands up in a defensive stance and anticipated his next move. Waiting and watching his weight shift as she learned his steps.
He pressed forward and she knew immediately he was going to try a leg lock from a side spinning heel kick. She swept his leg and knocked him to the ground.
He matched her with a leg sweep of his own and she fell on top of him. “And another point for yours truly!” She tried rolling her body off but he gripped her tight, holding her firmly in place.
“Looks like you win,” he sighed.
“Was that ever a question?” she smiled.
He ran his hands through her hair brushing a few strands behind her ear. “You know you didn’t look bad as a blonde.”
“No? You should see it red.”
“I’m sure you wow with any color.” He pulled her closer towards his lips, threatening to kiss her.
“Boss?” Victor called for her out of breath.
“Yeah? Murph? When did you get back?” she asked pulling up from Brett’s grip.
“A few minutes ago, Dustin called, he’s got something, but it’s not what we thought it would be. You need to see this, now!”
She grabbed a towel and wiped her face before following Murph up the stairs.
“What is it, Dustin?”
“I was able to isolate a conversation between Harper and the unsub a week ago which I thought dealt with the location of that cache of weapons. Only when I entered into that backdoor I was met with a very unstable security system that for the lack of a better term was kicking my ass. I assumed that type of security was only in place for one of two reasons. One, Harper wanted to ensure that if anyone ever uncovered it, the evidence would be destroyed completely covering his tracks. And two, the secrets he’s hiding were so major that he didn’t want anyone to know about them.”
“Get to the point, Dustin,” Yvette groaned watching the screen as he switched to an image of a safe lined against the back wall of a building in the middle of a highly secured area. “What am I looking at?”
“That is a bioweapon or rather the power source for one. It’s manufactured by our own government and is rumored to have destructive capabilities rivaling that of the atomic bomb.”
“What does this have to do with Harper and his connection to Tayco?” she pressed.
“The conversation I isolated? Harper has hired men to steal this weapon and sell on the black market and from what I can tell; he is days away from doing so! That conversation we just heard, those men are going to hit the science facility and move this item to an undisclosed location. This means that in 3 days that weapon becomes hot and the lives of millions of people are at stake!”
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