“What are you doing?” Cael asked, eyes wide.
Everything in the office shut down, including security mode. She looked over at their team. “Ash, Hobbs, stand guard outside. I don’t want anyone coming within ten feet of this office.”
They nodded and walked out, then closed the door behind them.
“The Chairman clearly has access to TIN and the THIRDS, which means until I get someone I trust to reconfigure everything and install a new set of security measures, our technology is useless. We’re going to have to go dark and do things the old-fashioned way. We can’t trust any intel that comes from TIN, so you and your team are on your own. I’ll stall for as long as I can and hope whatever the Chairman has me do isn’t irreparable. In the meantime, you need to find Tony before they move him out of the country—after that, there’s no finding him.”
“How long do you think they’ll keep him in the city?” Sloane asked.
“Two or three days at most. They’re likely making arrangements to transport him as we speak.”
Sloane went thoughtful. “What happened when Moros was investigated? You said TIN arrested anyone who had any connection to him. Were any of them Makhai?”
Sparks nodded. “Three. One killed himself in the interrogation room. Snapped his own neck using the edge of the table. The other two were interrogated by some of TIN’s best operatives. The intel collected was verified. I can provide you with access to that product, but it’s no longer relevant. All the locations connected to the Makhai were either seized by TIN or abandoned long before TIN arrived. Both places had been cleaned. No trace of anything left behind. They provided us with a short list of names, all belonging to Therians found dead by our operatives. Whoever’s running the Makhai, he trusts no one. Not even his own organization. The members know as little as possible in case someone is captured, and anyone who does know anything significant kills themselves before the information can be extracted.”
“Where are those two Makhai members?”
“In a secure location only I and two other high-ranking operatives know about.”
“I need to talk to them,” Dex said.
Sparks arched an eyebrow. “You want to interrogate the Makhai members? What exactly do you think you can get from them that we haven’t? They’ve been in our custody too long to have any information on the Makhai’s recent activity.”
“Wait,” Sloane said, turning to Dex. “The guy who shot Hudson with the tranq at the park. We have him in solitary downstairs in the basement.”
“Y
ou brought in one of the Makhai’s men?” Dex turned back to Sparks. “And he’s still alive?”
Sparks nodded. She removed a set of keys and tossed them to Dex. “I put him in one of the old cells, sublevel. Call me cynical, but something told me I shouldn’t put this guy into one of the regular cells. Unless someone blowtorches those bars, there’s no way of getting into that cell, and that’s after they get through two sets of steel doors, which they need those keys for.”
“I think it’s time to ask our friend a few questions.”
“You really think he’s going to talk to you?” Letty asked worriedly. “The guy didn’t even break when Seb was beating the shit out of him.”
“Maybe he won’t talk to me,” Dex said with a wicked grin. “But maybe he’ll talk to someone who’s much better at interrogation than any of us.”
Sparks’s eyes went wide. Before she could say anything, Dex turned to Sloane. “We need to go see Hudson.”
Sloane nodded. They left the room and headed for the sleeper bays, Ash and Hobbs joining them. Only one of the doors was closed, and Dex knocked on it. He waited for Seb to look through the peep hole. The door opened, and Seb looked Dex over—most likely taking in the fact he was in uniform—and nodded, as if he was on board with whatever it was Destructive Delta was about to do.
“I need to talk to Hudson.”
Seb stepped aside, and Dex walked in. When Hudson saw him, he jumped out of bed and pulled Dex into a big hug.
“Thank goodness you’re all right. Oh, Dex. I’m so sorry about Maddock.”
Dex shut his eyes tight and squeezed Hudson. “Thanks.” Clearing his throat, he pulled back and cupped the back of Hudson’s neck, keeping him close. They could have lost Hudson too. If it hadn’t been for their team, and Wolf, Hudson would have been in the hands of the Makhai, and God only knew what they would have forced Wolf to do. “Are you okay?”
Hudson nodded. “Yes. It was awful, whatever they shot me with, but it’s nearly all out of my system now.” He looked behind Dex, then turned his concerned gaze back to him. “You’re going after them.”
Dex nodded. “We’ve got to find my dad before they try to move him out of the country. I won’t lose him again.”
“Whatever you need from me, just say the word.”
“I’m glad you said that, because I need a favor.”
“Of course.”