Page 199 of Allegiance

EVERYONE hated him.

“Problem?” she asked, reading him.

He nodded.

“Yes. It’s inland We can’t help. There’s nothing the CIA can do, so I’m not sure why I was asked to stay.”

She leaned across the table.

“Yo, Bob, listen with your ears, not your piehole. The ring is selling American women to foreign men in other countries. That makes this a joint issue. I have to deal with the sale here, and you have to worry about the purchase there. I’m not here to look pretty for you. I’m here to handle shit.”

Well, that first part had his attention, and the last part had his irritation when she called him out.

That was her job.

To irritate the status quo in DC.

Clearly.

“Worse, we just got word that children from the age of five to thirteen were also sold. Now, it’s more than a problem, it’s a nightmare. Do you want it getting out that we didn’t handle it?”

Everyone looked ill.

Gabe looked pissed.

“Five-year-olds?” Bob asked.

Well, he was a dick on a good day, but at least he had some sort of morals. Not many, but enough to be repulsed like a decent human being.

“Yeah, child sex. We have to stop it.”

The general leaned back in his chair, willing to do whatever needed to be done.

If the military liked anything, it was a firefight, a coup, and the general war machine. If you wanted to see Americans at their best, give the Marines a job, step back, and watch them blow shit up.

Because that was their specialty.

Oohrah.

“We can get the kids out if they are alive, and we can handle the buyers, but I need names. If it’s a child sex ring, I have to move fast.”

As if, finally, the universe was in her favor, her phone chimed.

“And there’s your list. MATE, transfer data from my phone to the screen. Use the incoming texts, priority one, Blackhawk, Deputy Director Elizabeth.”

The screen lit up, and on it, there were screenshots of the journal that The Hunters had just sent her.

Of course, the CIA was suspicious because next to her, they were hyper-aware that people were watching. After all, they were generally the people doing that.

“Where did you get that?” Bob asked. “That’s a very specific list. Do you have an inside man?”

She wasn’t telling him shit.

Why?

The Hunters were Ethan’s baby, made to protect her from Gabe, who now got his way, and forced her to take it on as her pet project.

The universe…it sucked.