Page 86 of Cross That Line

Her tone was polite but firm. When Jason gave a nod of agreement, Tyler said, "That sounds good. We'll hook you up with the tech when we're done here. Alina, do you want to start?"

"I called St. Anne's this morning," Alina reported. "Megan Prescott is still critical. She has been sedated to give her body a chance to heal. Her family has been notified. Her mother is ill and can't travel. Her sister is on a work trip in London. She's jumping on a plane as soon as she can, but she probably won't get here until tomorrow. We'll have security guards on Dr. Prescott's room twenty-four-seven. Megan's doctor, Philip Broward, is aware that she's involved in a possible national security breach, and he will keep us in the loop if her condition changes, and she can speak to us."

"Good. She's our best witness," he said, happy that Megan was hanging in there. "What about Mei Zheng?"

"Max spoke to some of his former colleagues off the record," Kara said. "No one knows exactly where she is now. Her resettlement was handled by two agents in the CIA, the only people she trusted to keep her safe. One of those agents left the agency six years ago, shortly after Ms. Zheng's resettlement. The other died of cancer last year. Max's contact is trying to find the agent who placed her, but she's been off the grid for a long time."

"That could be a good thing," Jason interjected. "Only one person knows where Ms. Zheng went, and she's in the wind."

"Max knows that agent," Kara continued. "He and his contact will try to find her. The feeling is that Ms. Zheng is alive and that her location and new identity haven't been compromised. He also doesn't believe that Jack Barrone would have had any information beyond her rescue." Kara paused, her gaze moving to him. "Unless you know something different, Tyler. You were part of that mission. How much information do you have in your head?"

"Very little. We knew her name, where she was, and once we released her from her captors, we planted DNA evidence at the scene of our departing explosion that would make it look like she was dead. Then we turned her over to the CIA. I believe she got out of the country on a private plane. The real piece of information that Jack and anyone else on my team would have is that she was alive at that time. That's why we need to find her before anyone else does."

"Got it." Kara gave a nod. "I've also spoken to the counterterrorism force at 26 Fed, and they are at the ready to help with whatever we need. There's little they can do on the Mei Zheng situation, but if we get names of other compromised assets or operations, they can start digging into those. Has Mr. Barrone given us anything else?"

"No, but I'll talk to him again this afternoon. He's coming off the drugs, and his mind is clearing, so, hopefully, he'll be able to tell us more." He turned to Zane. "What about Frank Conover and his ex-wife?"

"As we know, Conover is a veteran himself. He started his private equity firm with two other men, Dimitri Chesin and Michael Sarkisian. I haven't had time to get into their histories yet. Conover's financials appear clean at first glance, but he has a complicated grouping of LLCs and corporations through which he moves money. In addition to Waverly Health, he has significant interests in other companies connected to medicine, health, and military defense. His international relationships are extensive. He was recently photographed on a mega-yacht with Russian oligarch Ivan Zvaitsev. Conover has teams of lawyers and very deep pockets."

"If Frank Conover is involved in so many different businesses, is it possible he doesn't know what's going on at Waverly?" Rachel asked.

"It's possible," Zane answered. "Neil Levitan reports directly to him, but he may not be telling him everything. Or Conover is in on it, too. As I mentioned earlier, I want to approach the ex-wife. Her name is Tiffany Earle Conover. She's a former model who now owns a Pilates studio in SoHo, where she teaches private classes at an exorbitant fee. I booked an appointment at two o'clock with her."

"Great," he said. "I'll go with you."

"What do we know about the connection between Waverly Health and East River Veterans Hospital?" Jason asked.

"Wes traced the email sent to Jack to a server at the hospital but not to a specific computer," Tyler said. "We don't know who sent it."

"That may be the least of our concerns. At the most, they're an ancillary operation to Waverly, more of a referral service than anything else. Let's get to work," Jason said. "I don't need to remind you that every minute is crucial to the veterans who are being drugged and also to the information they might hold in their heads. The operation may already be shutting down and moving somewhere else. We can't let that happen."

As the group dispersed, Tyler took Rachel into the technology suite to meet with Jonah, one of their techs who specialized in surveillance devices.

Before Jonah came over, Rachel caught his arm. "Back there in the meeting, you were thinking about asking Jason to call this off, weren't you?"

He didn't deny it. "It crossed my mind."

"You went over my head once, Tyler. Please don't do it again."

The words landed hard, because that was exactly what he'd done five years ago, telling himself it was for the good of the mission.

He could tell her it was different this time, that it was her life on the line, not a mission. But that was the same argument he'd made five years ago, just dressed up better.

"I told myself back then it was for the team," he said quietly. "It wasn't only that. I wanted back in the fight, and you were in my way. So, I took you to dinner, and I kissed you, and I let you think it meant something. Then I went around you." He made himself hold her gaze. "I used you, Rachel. I'm not going to do it again."

She stared at him for a long moment. "That's the first time you've said it."

"It's the first time I've been honest enough to, but I've thought it for a very long time." He paused. "You asked me to trust you now, and that's what I'm going to do."

"I won't let you down."

Jonah came over a moment later and handed Rachel two shell earrings that would record both video and audio. She wouldn't be able to communicate with them, but they would see and hear whatever she was seeing and hearing.

She gave Tyler a brave but somewhat nervous smile as she put on the earrings. "These actually look pretty cute."

"Hopefully not cute enough to draw attention," he said.

"You'll have to keep your hair back," Jonah told her.