I scrubbed a hand down my face. Mosaic had burned the entire building down to keep us from accessing what was inside. “Fuck.”
Callum nodded. “They didn’t just blow up that one building, they took down the one on either side.”
This kept getting worse. “I was inside there two days ago. There was a massive amount of info about Mosaic in that building.”
Callum crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to assume you got caught?”
I turned to him. “I’m not dead, so I didn’t get caught.”
“Had you used proper channels, brought us in on your plan, we could’ve caught Mosaic by surprise before they had a chance to erase everything and kill innocent people in the process.”
I mimicked his posture, crossing my arms over my chest. “Last time I went through proper channels with you guys, it almost got me killed.”
He winced. “I read the report about that. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. “We didn’t have time to take this through a committee, so Landon and I went in. Once we knew there was something, we called for a warrant. The warrant was probably what tipped them off.”
Callum had the good sense not to argue that. “If Mosaic is back in play, we want to take them down.”
“Based on what I saw, they’re not only back in play, they’re pretty damned organized and widespread. I got some of the data on my phone. My tech team is going through it. I’ll let you know what we find.”
Callum nodded. I was a little surprised he didn’t insist on letting his people handle it. Good. My people were better and faster than anyone working for law enforcement.
It didn’t take long to realize that staying here was going to be a waste of time. There was nothing we could do on scene, and it was going to be hours if not days before anyone could get into the building. By then, there wouldn’t be anything usable about Mosaic. I already knew that for a fact. Callum was staying and agreed to keep us in the loop if he found anything. Landon and I drove back to Oak Creek.
Dead end number two.
We made it back to Oak Creek, and I crashed for a few hours. The report I woke up to from Callum confirmed what I’d already known would be true: there was nothing left in that building after the fire. Not a single computer or so much as a sheet of paper had made it out in recoverable condition. And the final body count was eleven. Dozens more injured.
“You want to go get a bite to eat at the Frontier?” Landon asked as we both sat back, trying to process the loss from the fire.
“No. Bring me something back.”
“You sure?”
Did I want to see Wavy? Yes. For multiple reasons. To find out if her feet were okay. To thank her one more time for saving my life.
To see her smile.
But nothing had changed in the hours since I’d dropped her off. She was still a distraction I couldn’t afford.
“I’m sure. I’m going to touch base with the tech team, see what they got from my footage.”
I didn’t expect Landon back for a while. I figured he’d be chatting with the good citizens of Oak Creek—one waitress in particular, which had me more pissed at everything because I couldn’t be the one there talking to her—rather than rushing back. But he proved me wrong, walking in with coffee and a lunch plate before I’d had a chance to get all the details from my tech team.
“Jenna, Landon just walked in. I’m going to switch to video.”
Jenna Franklin, cohead of the tech department, made the transition without missing a beat. “We’re working all angles with what you recorded, including a possible side channel attack to root up data—hey, Landon—and should have the results of anything viable within forty-eight hours.”
“Hey Jenna,” Landon replied, setting coffee down in front of me. I nodded in thanks.
“Is there anything usable right now?” I asked. I wanted to take some sort of action. Mosaic had almost killed Wavy and me and had killed nearly a dozen innocents.
My trigger finger was getting antsy.
“Erick Huen,” Jenna said.
I had to put my coffee down before I crushed the paper cup. Landon’s eyes shot to mine. “What about him?” I asked.
“He’s definitely part of this new Mosaic. His name was found in your footage in at least two different places. We’re still trying to see what else we can find about him. Do you know him?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “He was my brother’s best friend. And was presumed dead.”
Landon whistled through his teeth. “Last few months are starting to make a lot more sense now.”
“I’ll take this conversation as instruction to focus on Huen,” Jenna said. “We’ll get you all relevant info ASAP, boss.”
“When it comes to Erick Huen, give me all info, whether it seems relevant or otherwise.”
Jenna nodded. “Will do.”
We finished the call, and I turned to Landon. My food was growing colder, but I couldn’t stomach it right now.
“Erick Huen.” I leaned back in my chair. “No wonder all this Mosaic shit has felt so personal. He hates me because I killed Grant.”
Landon shrugged. “Grant deserved to die.”
“This changes things. If we’re dealing with Erick—” I broke off when my phone rang. “Sarge. What’s going on?”
I put it on speaker so Landon could participate.
“One of our facial recognition software programs pinged an ID for Bronwyn a few hours ago.”
“Where?”
“New York. I’m going after her.”
Landon and I rubbed our eyes, not responding. By the time Sarge made it to New York, Bronwyn would be long gone.
“You don’t need to tell me anything,” Sarge said. “I know the chances of finding her are slim. But I also know the chances of me sitting in this office here in Denver without going fucking crazy are even lower. So, I’m going. I’ll take personal time if I have to.”
I let out a sigh. “You don’t have to take personal time. Just . . . watch your back. We found out that Erick Huen is part of Mosaic, which means this is more personal than we first figured. Take somebody with you to New York if you want backup. Report immediately if you have any info.”
“Roger.” Sarge disconnected the call without saying goodbye.
“That dude really has to work on his people skills,” Landon said.
“I don’t think Sarge considers people skills a skill at all. People are nothing more than a necessary evil for his job.”
Sarge was older than us. Set in all his ways. Wasn’t interested in being friendly. Although there was no one I’d rather have at my back in a fight. He would die for the people he cared about.
But was this obsession with Bronwyn because of that need to help one of his teammates, or was it more personal?
Sarge wasn’t ever going to sit around and talk about his feelings, so we might never know.
I forced myself to eat the cold hamburger. “I guess we’re a man short for the time being.”
Not a good time for it. Dividing was the quickest way to get conquered.
I sat at that tiny desk on the crappy chair for a few more hours poring over the footage Jenna had sent to me for any relevant details they might not recognize.