Rebel Heart

"You hear about the Peak?" Brady asked. He threw himself into one of the beat-up chairs in the tiny comms center.

"Indeed I did," Mr. Tim said. "Never saw that coming either, though I hoped …"

"What?"

"I knew something was wrong there. I hoped we'd find out what-or who-was responsible before it all went up in smoke."

"I think someone did figure it out, or it wouldn't have gone up in smoke at all," Brady replied.

"Possible."

"Lana's with me."

Tim's gaze sharpened. Brady assessed him, not sure what to think of the sudden guardedness to Tim's face.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Yep."

"She know you for the Guardian?"

"I haven't told her. I don't think she's figured it out."

"Keep it that way," Tim said. "She doesn't need to connect the dots back to me. She's a brilliant analyst and one of the few non-PMF members I trust. I'm happy to hear she's okay."

Brady was surprised to see a genuine smile on Tim's face. He'd often wondered what it was that drew Tim to Lana and suspected it was nothing more than what drew him to other women. That the smooth politician genuinely cared for her never crossed Brady's mind. Tim didn't show much affection, even to his thirteen sons.

"She won't say whatever it is she figured out," he said. "And she's transporting something. She won't talk to anyone about it."

"How big is it?"

"It's in a vault the size of my hand."

"It could be anything. I got her access to everything, even shit the President didn't have access to," Tim said with a shake of his head. "There are many secrets in the government."

"I get that," Brady said dryly. "One of them took out the Peak after we left."

"Bring her to me. We can meet at the Peace Command Center. I have reason to believe that's about the only place that hasn't been infiltrated by those professing allegiance to East or West."

"Will do. How do you know her anyway?"

Tim flashed a smile. "Her grandfather knew my father a long time ago. Class loyalties run deep, and he called me up about twenty years ago and said he was calling in a favor my dad owed him. He said he had a granddaughter who was special and he didn't want her to get stuck doing some sort of manual labor. I agreed to enroll her in school. I have thirteen children among my companions, so no one asks questions. I figured I'd open the door and then pawn her off as a companion to someone in the government."