Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

days have been tough on you.’ His soft, understanding tone made her squirm. ‘But to get back on topic—I doubt we have someone on the inside. If we do, it is a very deep undercover operation, and it would be impossible to discover who they are. More likely, what we have is someone with a conscience trying to bring attention to what is happening. That VRP did not end up in the pocket of one of their victims by accident.’

Ingram actually slapped her own forehead when she realised she had missed that. How could she not have wondered just how that damn VRP had ended up in the pocket of a dead Leech! Such damning evidence couldn’t have just walked its way into someone’s possession. And the dead Leech sure as hell hadn’t put it there himself.

‘Don’t beat yourself up too hard—everyone else missed it. The evidence we had until Megan hacked Wagner’s computer was pitifully scarce. We were too desperate to gather more intel to properly focus on assessing the true meaning of what we already had.’

‘You noticed it, sir,’ she grumbled, the mischief dancing in her eyes hiding her embarrassment.

‘True, but I think we have already established that I was born with an intel-gathering paranoid streak,’ he said, laughing.

‘We’ll never know who helped us, will we?’ she asked, sobering up quickly.

‘Very unlikely. I suspect they paid with their life the moment their employers realised what they had done. There certainly haven’t been any more bodies recovered from the Rhône in the last few weeks. But we already have enough to fry Wagner and a handful of his associates, so their sacrifice wasn’t in vain. And what’s on Cassandra’s network is probably the holy grail we have been after for years. Tomorrow we will finally be able to tie up a lot of loose ends and—’ The door burst open, stopping him mid-sentence.

‘Is it really so hard to knock?’ Ingram barked. There was no need to turn around to know who it was.

‘Should I go back out and knock?’ Eloise asked. It was hard to say whether it was her cluelessness making another appearance or just plain old sarcasm, and Ingram only sighed. She wanted nothing more than to send the Elite woman out, but the satisfaction would have been short-lived given that she was unlikely to learn.

‘What is it?’ Gonzalez asked.

‘I want to go tomorrow,’ Eloise announced. ‘When you raid Olympus.’

‘Are you fucking insane?’ Ingram blurted out after a moment of silence. She turned and stared at the Elite woman, dumbfounded.

‘No, I’m not,’ Eloise replied, her eyes never leaving Gonzalez. ‘I want to go.’

‘Why?’ the man asked, raising his palm to forestall Ingram’s further objections.

‘To help you break into their system.’

‘Both Captain Palmeiro and Sergeant Kizenberg are perfectly capable of hacking it when connected directly, especially with Tilly guiding them,’ Gonzalez countered.

‘But I’m better.’

‘Better with computers, yes,’ Ingram jumped in, careful to control her voice, ‘but you aren’t trained for this type of mission. You’re not Special Forces. You don’t even have basic training.’

‘I know how to fire a gun. I know how to defend myself.’ Eloise’s eyes were still focused on Gonzalez, pointedly ignoring Ingram.

‘You nearly fell apart at Wagner’s last night!’

‘I shot his guard. I got out.’

‘You panicked and jumped out of the window.’

‘Enough, both of you,’ Gonzalez demanded.

‘Sir, you can’t possibly be considering—’ Ingram began passionately, only to be cut off.

‘I said enough, Sarge. I mean, Major,’ he corrected with a wince. He glared at Ingram until she closed her mouth and visibly stood down, then moved on to Eloise. ‘Tell me why you want to go. The real reason.’

‘Because they owe me!’ Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘If that Harper woman was ordering Wagner to kill me, she was probably the one who ordered him to break into my home. She is the reason I lost everything I ever cared about.’

‘Vengeance can be a poor reason.’

‘I want to go!’ This was no longer the plaintive wailing of a spoilt Elite. There was hardness in her voice, and a determination he had never heard from her before. Her cheeks blazed red and she bored her eyes into his, unwilling to back down.

‘You’ll slow us down,’ he reasoned.

‘I won’t slow you down. You can test me tomorrow any way you want. Give me a chance to prove it. You’ll need me if their system throws anything unpredictable at you. I know I can advise from here, but I can do more and faster if I’m there in person. Please let me do this.’

Gonzalez seemed to be considering the request seriously, and Ingram felt a sinking sensation in her stomach.

He’s going to reconsider in the Elite’s favour. Our workable plan will be useless. We’ll have to start from scratch, with more variables and more uncertainty. And we’ll need to detail someone to watch over her full-time.

‘Sir, this is a bad idea,’ she said, forcing herself to sound calm and reasonable. Gonzalez looked at her, thinking hard. He knew what Ingram meant—his knee-jerk reaction had been the same—but now, the longer he considered the idea, the less crazy it seemed.

‘Ms Moretti, please go back to bed and rest. I will think about it, and we will talk tomorrow.’

The Elite woman opened her mouth to argue further, but then closed it without a sound. In the doorway, she paused and turned around.

‘Thank you, sir.’

When the door had closed behind her, Ingram inhaled loudly.

‘I’m sorry, sir, I lost it again,’ she admitted, rubbing her face wearily. ‘I just don’t think it’s a good idea.’

‘Aisha, why do you think I told you about how our current assignment ties in with other ongoing issues?’

‘So that I will be ready to continue if something happens to you,’ Ingram replied, as if reciting a basic rule of her chosen profession.

‘Are you ready to take on my job?’ he demanded harshly.

‘No, sir,’ she replied. There was shame in her eyes, but she held her head high. ‘I wish I was, but I’m too rash and