Danger Close by James Sumner (classic novels for teens txt) 📕

an easy fight. Not many corporate entities in the world are on our level. But Orion’s definitely one of them. We just have to—”

“What the actual shit!” shouted Collins.

Everyone turned to look at him. He was staring at the laptop screen, his jaw hanging open, his eyes wide.

“Mr. Roachford is a force to be reckoned with, isn’t he?” said Buchanan.

After a moment, Collins looked up at him. “What? No. I’m not looking at him. I’m looking at this.”

He spun the laptop around so that the three of them could see. It was a wide shot of the main entrance to Tristar’s head office. It showed a man being dragged out of the building, past police and SWAT officers.

“That’s Brandon Crow,” said Julie. “He was one of the key figures behind Tristar’s involvement in Cambodia. He was also behind the kidnapping of Roachford’s sister and the attempts on his life. Roachford told us his fingerprints were all over the data we lifted off their servers.”

Collins stood, huffing impatiently. “Not him… her!”

He pointed to the person dragging Crow out of the building.

“We don’t know who that is,” said Buchanan.

“I do,” said Collins. He looked at Julie. “And so do you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Julie.

Collins tapped on the screen, enlarging the frozen image. He zoomed in on the figure pulling a clearly injured Crow clear of the building.

“That’s Jay!” he exclaimed. “She’s the shooter!”

Julie leaned forward, squinting at the screen. “What? It can’t be.”

“I’m telling you.” He manipulated the image slightly to sharpen it. Only half of her face was visible. He pointed to a tattoo on her neck. It was a butterfly’s wing. “That’s her.”

“You’re sure?” asked Buchanan.

Collins sighed. “Look… I know me inadvertently banging the assassin who took out Paluga’s president ain’t exactly a career highlight, but trust me—I’ve seen that woman from all angles, and that is her. One hundred percent. Same tattoo, same body, same everything.”

Silence fell as everyone in the room exchanged glances of concern and excitement.

It was Jericho who spoke first.

“Ray, if you’re right, then this means…”

Buchanan slammed his hand down on the desk. “This means we’ve got the bastards. This proves the shooter works for Tristar.”

Julie continued the collective brainstorm. “That’s enough to open a formal investigation.”

Collins nodded. “Aye, which means we can legally get access to their servers.”

“And legitimately bring to light the link between Orion and Tristar,” added Jericho.

Buchanan moved back around his desk, ushering Collins out of the way. “With unfettered access to the company’s information, we can hopefully find evidence of weapons manufacturing. If that includes making a particular type of bullet…”

Julie punched the air. “Then we can nail the bastards legitimately. Maybe we can get them to roll over on Orion.”

Silence fell again. Looks of excitement spread across each of their faces. This was the first breakthrough they had had in months. Uncertainty and doubt had given way to hope.

“Okay, listen up,” said Buchanan. “We have to do this right. The moment Orion get wind of what we know, they will come at us with everything they’ve got. And I can guarantee the next time will be worse than some negative social media posts. We need everything lined up, verified, and supported before we breathe a word of this to anyone outside this office. Understood?”

The three of them nodded.

“So, here’s what we do. Ray, I want you to track down Roachford.”

Collins frowned. “Why me? I thought you were—”

“I’m going to have some calls to make. The guy doesn’t know you. A neutral face might make it easier. But if we’re running with this, things will get worse before they get better. We’ll need all the help we can get, and that man’s an asset. Find him. Bring him inside.”

Collins held his hands up submissively. “You got it, boss.”

“I’m also going to bring in some outside help. Julie, Jericho… before you get involved in this investigation, I want you to brief a team on everything we know. I’ll use them to track down the shooter. She’s clearly dangerous and good at hiding. I don’t want our time taken up with a manhunt that could lead to us having to do things that might jeopardize our ability to deal with all this.”

They both looked at each other and shrugged.

“Sure thing,” said Julie. “Who’s the team?”

Buchanan and Collins exchanged a cautious look.

“What is it?” asked Jericho.

Buchanan cleared his throat. “Okay. This doesn’t leave this room. Understand?”

Both Julie and Jericho nodded their agreement.

“The meeting Collins attended a few days ago. It was to act as a consultant on a top-secret project commissioned by President Schultz, codenamed Blackstar. The president and I have been discussing the potential threat Orion International poses for a long time. By his own admission, he knows GlobaTech has made a lot of what the government has redundant. We’re better equipped than the military, smarter than the NSA and CIA, and have a better rep than the FBI. The world’s evolving. The bad guys are evolving with it. He himself stood in this office when GlobaTech realized this and started to fight back. So, he decided it was a good idea for the U.S. government to do the same.”

“And this… Blackstar is part of that?” asked Jericho.

Buchanan nodded. “It’s the president’s own version of you three—an elite unit, accountable to no one but the man in charge. Four of the best every branch of the military has to offer, trained to think outside the box and approach situations and carry out missions no one else can… or would be allowed to. I think tracking down our shooter is the perfect job for them.”

Julie shrugged. “Okay. When do we link up with them?”

“In two days.” He looked over at Jericho. “You need to play nice. Am I clear?”

Jericho frowned. “What makes you think I wouldn’t? This Orion thing is about as big as it gets, right? I’ll do what you need me to do, Boss. Come on…”

Buchanan sighed. He cast another glance at Collins, who was trying to hide a knowing smile.

“I