Phantom Game (GhostWalkers 18)

I don’t have a choice. Jonas felt he didn’t. Jeff, you have to talk to him. We both do. You know there’s a traitor. Someone reached out to make all this happen.

Camellia didn’t say anything at all, but Jonas felt her moving in his mind. Gently. She didn’t feel invasive at all. More like she belonged. That was a little disconcerting. He had things he didn’t necessarily want to share with her yet. He knew he would. He just needed to figure out a way to put them in context. He didn’t flinch away from her quiet inspection because he didn’t want her to disconnect from him like she had before.

He switched to their private pathway. Tell me what you’re looking for, Camellia.

What is it that Jeff did? I can tell that you’re very upset. Much more than he realizes, or even than you do. You’re worried for his safety.

Jeff is a dreamwalker. We talked about that particular talent. If Lily decided to use Jeff’s talent to store her information on Daniel in files in Jeff’s dreams and someone found out about it, he could be killed in the dream and the files taken.

She didn’t reply immediately. She thought it over the way she did everything. Carefully looking at it from every angle. It would be highly unlikely for anyone to stumble into Jeff’s dream. As the chances would be so unreasonable to even think about, you’re right—a traitor would have to know. So how would they know? If only Lily and Jeff were aware of the data being stored in his dreams, who would have the opportunity of discovering that information? It would have to start with discovery.

Jonas loved the way Camellia’s mind worked. She always went straight to the heart of the problem. Who would have that opportunity? Jeff hadn’t told any of his teammates. Even if someone had tried to plant a listening device, the rooms were swept for bugs several times a day. They’d learned that lesson when Sam, a fellow GhostWalker, had first met his wife, Azami.

Crawley began to slow down. The buildings were coming into sight. Jeff moved up behind him but stayed a safe distance away.

“You’ve got two rifles trained on you, Crawley,” he said. “You don’t want to start being stupid at this late date. The welcoming committee has gone all out for you.”

* * *

The “war room” was large, given that it held the long table where the entire team could be seated, as well as two smaller tables where they often built their models of enemy sites. Jonas, Camellia, Jeff and Kyle faced Ryland Miller and Kaden Montague. Kaden was the team’s second-in-command. Of the two men, Kaden was definitely the most formidable. Ryland was diplomatic; Kaden got the job done fast if diplomacy failed.

“Crawley’s secured. He was stripped down and searched as you suggested. All kinds of weapons and more devices to call home than one can imagine. We employed jammers to make certain he couldn’t be tracked,” Kaden volunteered.

Jonas didn’t like the way Ryland remained silent, his gaze settling on Camellia. He also wasn’t thrilled that Lily wasn’t present. That wasn’t a good sign. He knew she would have wanted to see Camellia after all the time apart. She had made it her life’s work to find all the girls she’d been raised with.

“He’s enhanced,” Jonas said, although he was certain no one needed that reminder. “We left a few dead bodies up on the mountain. They’ll have to be retrieved. His men were also enhanced.”

Kaden nodded. “How many are coming for us?”

Jonas shook his head. “I don’t have that information. That’s why Crawley’s still alive. I went up the mountain, clueless to what I’d run into, but I felt a threat. These men were after Lily and Daniel. I got thinking about that and why they would specifically be targeting Daniel and Lily when we’ve been so careful to keep Daniel under wraps.”

“Whitney has always wanted her back,” Ryland said, speaking for the first time, his tone dismissive. “Everyone knows he thinks I’m not good enough for her.”

“Whitney didn’t send these men. And they know nothing whatsoever about the Nortons. Whitney knows about the Nortons and their twins. He would never chance endangering them. These men were sent by someone else. Someone infiltrated this compound and acquired the information on Daniel. They didn’t have the same access to Team Two and the Norton twins. They heard nothing extraordinary about them. Nor did they see anything. There was no order given to save them, unless there was a chance before the killing started. The troops coming are to wipe out everyone left behind.”

There was a shocked silence.

“Even the women?” Kaden asked.

Jonas nodded.

Ryland looked for confirmation to Jeff and Kyle as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They both nodded as well.