“This your guys?” Captain Bill Nolte asked, jerking a thumb to where the jet sat on the taxiway, the airstair allowing four soldiers inside to inspect the interior before letting it onto the ramp with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of F-16s and other equipment.

“Yeah,” Jed said. “My boss, actually. You got any good news for me?”

Nolte shook his head. “No, sorry. We’re still wading through and have NSA and the Activity at Fort Belvoir working with us—a dedicated team, actually, so whoever you guys are, ODNI is clearing hurdles left and right for you. So far, we got a big zero. We’ve decrypted a bunch of stuff on the phones and the one laptop, but there is just nothing actionable. Not yet at least. These things take time.”

“Unfortunately, time is something we don’t have,” Jed said.

“If you could get your supersecret sketch artist to send us another picture, we’d gladly run down any new threads he can offer.”

Jed nodded. The jet taxied over, stopping less than fifty yards away. The whine of the turbines slowed and got quiet, the door opened, and the airstair lowered slowly and smoothly. Ben appeared in the doorway, a duffel with his kit and weapons over one shoulder and a coyote-tan backpack over the other. His khaki cargo pants, boots, and 5.11 shirt announced that another operator had arrived. He nodded at Jed and descended. Jed stepped away from Nolte’s side and walked ahead to meet Ben.

“How’s it going, brother?” Ben said, his familiar warm smile still present despite what felt to Jed to be a rather hopeless situation.

“Been better, Ben,” Jed said, releasing the firm handshake and reaching out to grab Ben’s backpack. “I hope you’re bringing good news.”

Ben shook his head, but his confident smile did not waver. “God will provide, Jed.”

“I know,” Jed said.

Ben’s eyes flicked to the Army intel officer waiting nearby and in a quiet voice he said, “The kids are working hard. Bet we get something any minute.”

Movement caught Jed’s eye as David emerged from the jet, a black backpack on his shoulder. He gave Jed a wave, and Jed waved back.

“And Sarah Beth?” Jed asked, his tone loading more than he intended.

“She’s working with Corbin, but we are trying to respect her parents’ concerns about her advancement and workload . . .”

“Understood,” he said, relieved she was involved but also satisfied that Ben would not exceed the already-long leash given by David and Rachel.

David arrived and, to Jed’s surprise, gave him a big hug.

“You good, man?” David asked, confidence brimming in his eyes.

“All good, brother. The team will be glad you’re here. Y’all got here quick.”