Dutch felt adrenaline surge through his veins as he followed Doc through the darkness to the wine caves. He knew better than to ask what had happened. Now his focus had to stay on Doc’s movements as they stealthily made their way to the entrance.
“Montgomery?” he whispered when they met Gunner and Razor near the heavy gate.
Doc shook his head. “Decoy. Hang on,” he said, focusing on the words coming through the headset.
“Roger that,” he responded, motioning them away from the entrance. “Burns has them live,” he said, pulling a piece of paper out of his back pocket.
Dutch watched Doc draw a line representing the cave’s entrance and then several offshoots.
“You can’t tell when you go in, but if you go far enough, there’s an outer ring that connects all the rooms. They’re here.” Doc pointed to the first hallway on the right, and then to the first storage room.
“Who’s got her?” Dutch growled, his hand gripping the gun until his knuckles were white.
“Flatley.”
—:—
Malin straightened her stiff neck and opened her eyes. She looked down at the ropes binding her body to a chair and then up at the man sitting in front of her.
“Kilbourne,” he said.
She couldn’t decide how to address the man speaking to her. Certainly not as Director Flatley. She wouldn’t show him the respect that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency normally warranted. She’d rather spit at him. Instead she remained silent.
“You already know how this will go. You’ll tell me everything I need to know, and I’ll spare the life of your friend over there.”
Malin turned her head and looked at the body slumped and tied to a chair like she was. Flatley walked over, grabbed the hair of the unconscious woman and yanked her head up so Malin could see Sofia’s face.
He dropped her head and stalked back over to where she sat.
Malin nodded.
“Let’s start with Abdul Ghafor.”
Malin glanced over when she heard Sofia groan.
Flatley heard it too and was about to hit the woman with the butt of his gun when Malin screamed at him to stop.
The man stood where he was and waited.
“He was paid to direct terrorist cells across the county to hack into the electronic vote tabulation during the last election, along with the optical scanners that tabulate mail-in ballots.”
“Where did the money come from?”
“A Super PAC.”
“Where originally?”
“Why are you—” Malin stopped talking when she saw Flatley pull back his arm as though he was going to strike Sofia.
“I ask the questions. Where did the money come from?”
“I don’t know.”
Malin cried out but was too late to stop him from hitting Sofia so hard the chair fell on its side with her in it.
“That’s what happens when you lie to me.”
“Where did the money come from?”