“Maybe, but we’d have to know where the right place is. I have a friend, Rock, who’s an Emerald. He may be able to help with that. I think the first step is to have Patrick contact Rock.” Jordan ate a few more bites before she set down her fork and pushed the plate away. “How did Patrick know where I lived?”
“There’s a citizen database on the compad in the border guard station.”
Jordan nodded. “He can look up anybody?”
“I think so.”
“Okay. The first task is to have Patrick and Rock connect and see if Rock can get intel on General Morgan’s office location and his routine–like what days he’s there, usual hours, if he’s in his office around the same times each day. And if there are any times when he thinks Morgan has substandard or no security.
“It’s a good place to start. I’m also going to assign you as my protection duty on all future meets with Patrick.”
He looked up from his food. “What makes you think I want to join you?”
“Patrick assumed you would. You don’t?”
“I didn’t say that either. I have to talk to my brother first. Don’t you have to check with the resistance leaders before you start making decisions like that? Let them know about me, and see what the higher ups want me to do?”
She scowled at Shane. “No.”
Shane sat silent for a minute, weighing the possible reasons why she didn’t want to tell the resistance higher-ups about him. Either she was a resistance higher-up, or the resistance was a bunch of dreamers with no real experience or knowledge of what it would take to topple the Gov. He wanted to know which of those options applied, because he wasn’t going to put his ass on the line for a ragtag, disorganized effort to overthrow a military dictatorship.
“No. Why?” He looked at her straight-faced and silent.
“Don’t worry about it, Shane. This is not an amateur operation.”
“If I’m going to do this, I need to know some details. Only an idiot would follow blindly, and I’m no idiot.”
Jordan sat back in her chair, eyeing him. The pros and cons, checks and balances of the situation were displayed in her expression like a vignette. She pressed her lips together and tapped her fingernails on the table in front of her.
He was just about to react to her drawn-out silence when she sat back and sighed. “I’m third in command of the Amber resistance. I’m in charge of the liaison meetings with your brother, and I command all offensive missions like the sabotage the other night…and assassinations when the time comes. You’ll be introduced to my superior today, but that will be it for now until I feel satisfied you and your brother aren’t setting me up. Until then, it’s me and my boss. That’s it.
“I’m impressed. How’d you get so high up in the chain of command?”
“You mean being a girl and all?” She stared him down as much as a little peanut like her could. But when their gazes remained locked after several long seconds, she handed over the dominant position in their exchange and looked away.
“Yeah.” He smirked at her. “With you being a pixie-sized little girl and all.”
“I’m a cop.”
She spoke those three words with pride but it took a moment for it to sink in. “Ahh, I didn’t know that.” But, as the information penetrated, he saw it in her. He smiled. “It suits you.”
“What’s your job assignment?”
“I work the landscaping crew and waste removal for Gov buildings and parks.”
Jordan picked up the empty dishes from the table and walked around the counter to enter the kitchen. “Can you help me encrypt a note for your brother?”
“Sure.”
“I honestly have no clue how to get all of this information down in a way that won’t compromise him if the paper is found on his person,” she called over her shoulder as the dishes clinked in the sink.
“I wouldn’t write anything down except for maybe that Rock guy’s last name. The less written down the better.”
Shane stood and wandered around the living area of the apartment. It was oddly bare, especially on Jordan’s side of the room. No photos, no girlie baubles, nothing personal at all.
Just as she’d finished the dishes, there was a knock on the door.
Jordan glanced over at him and smiled. “Good money says that’s my boss.”
The buzz of conversations from the crowded hallway resonated through the apartment when she opened the door. “How are you doing?” It was a woman’s voice.
“I’m fine,” Jordan murmured.
“Good.” This time it was a man’s voice. Shane heard the apartment door close and lock as the man and woman walked into the living space of the apartment. The man was tall, dark and serious. Recognition played over his face as he focused on Shane. Shane recognized him, too. They’d been in the same class at the Wellness Center many years ago.
Jordan introduced Xander and Jaci. Shane shook Xander’s hand and nodded to Jaci. The two women sat at the table, and Xander leaned back against the wall with this arms crossed. Jordan filled Xander in on the meeting with Patrick she apparently wasn’t supposed to have last night, according to Xander, and she gave him the written message from Patrick.
They discussed their thoughts about assassinating General Morgan, and both agreed that Morgan’s assassination would be Jordan’s next mission.
Xander seemed galvanized when she told him Patrick would be able to contact Rock. “After he makes contact, let me know. It sounds like you’ve got everything under control.” He looked over at Shane. “You’re going to have to teach Shane how to use a gun. We’re having an in-service on shooting at the meeting tonight, but you’ll have to do it with him one-on-one for the time being.”
Shane whipped his head around to meet Jordan’s gaze. “You have guns?”
Xander nodded. “Only about twenty-five so far, but if you’re protecting Jordan I’m going to have to insist you have one during the meets.”
“No problem.”
Xander put his finger up to signal him to wait a minute and touched his earbud. “Yeah? When? Did you see it? This will be good for us in the long run. We’re working on contacts outside of Amber so if we need internet we can probably use one of them. Alright.”
Before Xander even had a chance to fill her in on the call, Jordan said, “I forgot to tell you, I gave Patrick digital footage of the massacre last night.”
Xander smiled. “He posted it on the net. People outside the Amber Zone are making comments and asking questions. Nice job, Jordan. He put an arm around her shoulder “So…you’re sure you’re doin’ okay?” His voice was soft.
“Yeah. Shane spent the night with me. So far, dealing with this has been easier than I expected. With everything that’s going on, my mind has been on other things.”
Xander looked to Shane. “Are you staying again tonight?”
“Yeah. I’d planned to.”
Xander nodded. “Good.”
“I’ll send someone over with a gun for him. Teach him to shoot before you leave for the meet,” he said, facing Jordan. “I need to get going. I have a lot of stops today. I’ll want to be briefed tomorrow on how things go tonight.” Xander looked over at the woman he’d brought with him. “I’ll meet you in the courtyard, sweetie.” Then he motioned to Shane. “Come on, I want to talk