Sounds Like Obsession (Sounds Like 1)

His thumb moved over my cheek. I summoned all my strength not to lean into the gesture. That wasn’t us anymore. We were in an intense situation, surviving anyway we could. He was falling back to familiar cues. I was trying to not drown in the memories, barely treading water.

“We want to bring you in for Project Compass,” he whispered. “See if that comes up. Check Project Compass chatter.”

“All right. You know I’m going to want to know exactly what that is later.”

He chuckled. “I would assume so. Once we’re on the ground I promise I’ll tell you all of it. You have my word.”

“I don’t know how long this is going to take,” I explained.

“I think I should take a walk to the back of the plane.”

“Why?” I felt panic. It seemed dangerous for us to separate, but maybe those were my emotions taking over. The feeling that every second with AJ was fleeting.

He tapped his chest, indicating he had protection if he needed it. “If there’s something unusual. Someone acting suspicious. I need to keep an eye on what’s happening up here, while you dig around in there.” He nodded toward my laptop.

“You’re right. Let’s split up.”

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He rose. His broad shoulders filling the space in the aisle. I tried not to stare as he disappeared behind the curtain into coach.

I had to focus while AJ was gone. I started a new route on the net. Instead of only looking for flight 552, I searched for Project Compass below the deep net. Now that I had a name I could

always read the files about the project later. In this moment, I had to go into the underground world to find what we needed. I didn’t need contents of documents. I needed breaking chatter. Someone in this space had to know what was going on with this flight.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“Would you like me to move that bag for you now? I could get it out of the way.”

I jumped when Jeff appeared next to me. I spun the laptop so it faced the window, out of view.

“Umm. No thank you. It’s fine. I need it.” I clasped it tighter between my ankles.

“Suit yourself.” He rolled his eyes and moved on, fiddling with a pillow and blanket set.

I turned the computer around and continued my search for Project Compass. As the minutes ticked by, I looked over my shoulder. I looked to the front galley in case I had missed AJ walking by in a sweep of the cabin. I couldn’t see past the dark blue curtain behind me. I bit my lip, considering whether I should peek through the fabric and see what he was doing. What if he had found something? What if he needed my help? What if he had drawn attention to his search?

I nervously typed, until I stumbled upon exactly what I was looking for. Call it luck, or sheer brilliance, but I found it.

“That was a waste of time. Did you find anything?” AJ coasted into the seat.

I tried to hide the relief I felt that he had returned. I kept my anxiety to myself.

“Everything.” I sat back in the seat. The screen was filled. I had so much to sort through, I didn’t know where to start. “What is this?” I asked.

AJ leaned over my shoulder. “Translate it for me, Syd. It’s like reading Greek looking at your screen.”

I skimmed the headline in the room. “It’s a marketplace. It’s where buyers and sellers gather with government contraband. Someone has the Project Compass files. It looks like they are for sale.”

It didn’t look like a regular website. Interpreting it wasn’t as easy as a quick read-through. It was almost a mirror image of what AJ was used to on a regular search engine site.

“Who? Who has them?” he asked.

“Someone named Jelly Bean Jack.” I looked at him. “Does that ring a bell?”

“No.” He pressed his fingers between his eyebrows. “I don’t deal in the cyber division. I don’t know code names or aliases. That has to be the stupidest name I’ve heard for an underground criminal. What the fuck is that?”

I huffed. “All right. It looks like there is a bidding war for the file. He has an entry fee.”

“You have to pay before you even make an offer?”