Free Phoenix by Cecilia London Page A

asked.
    “Many of them were unaware of its existence,” Flaherty said. “You weren’t the only member of Congress kept in the dark. Most military personnel didn’t know about it either, and there weren’t many Marines left when the CRA came marching in. There are a few more weapons at Fort Bliss, too.”
    Well, that explained why Texas was allowed to secede. “So we sit back and watch oppression continue while we bide our time until one side has the guts or stupidity to blow the other one up?”
    Jack leaned forward. “We will not let it come to that. That is not a fair characterization of this organization.”
    “Then what do we plan on doing?” Caroline asked.
    “We will not let it come to that,” he repeated.
    Could he be any more oblique? “Where are our allies? Where are our spies? What is the international community doing?”
    Jack shuffled the papers in front of him. “We are exploring our options when it comes to pooling resources.”
    Caroline glanced around the table. At the majors who were busying themselves with staring at the floor or at the wall. This had to be a goddamn joke. Santos was sitting in the White House committing atrocities against American citizens and the rebellion was content to stew in its own self-righteous indignation, with the king of circumvention leading the way.
    “We don’t have any allies,” she said. “And we don’t have any spies. We don’t even have a game plan.” She clicked her tongue. “Congratulations, Commander McIntyre. You’re running what appears to be a giant clusterfuck.”
    Jack whipped his head up. “I’m not the one who downloaded classified files off a restricted server and led the federal government to our front door.”
    His incompetence was her fault? “Go fuck yourself,” she snapped.
    The mood in the room shifted. The other men wanted no part of any marital spat. Frankly, neither did Caroline. She wanted this to be over, and fast.
    So did Jack, because he took a deep breath before he spoke again. “We have carefully placed operatives in Washington and beyond,” he said. “And a few contacts up north. Any other information regarding our long term goals is on a need to know basis.”
    Clearly, recruits and estranged wives didn’t get to know anything. “We have contacts in Canada?” Caroline asked softly. Canada . Were there Americans in Canada? Americans she knew? Why on earth hadn’t it occurred to her to ask him that yesterday? She hadn’t asked about anyone. Not a single friend or family member. Not Tom or Jess. Or Chrissy.
    Or the girls.
    Jack must have seen her face fall, because the edge in his voice faded. “We can talk about that later,” he said.
    Fuck that. She needed to know. “Tell me.”
    “Caroline-”
    He knew something. Something important. Something he hadn’t wanted to tell her the day before. “Tell me!”
    Jack flinched as her voice ricocheted off the walls, and the mood continued to deteriorate. She stared at him. Only him. Every other man in the room had vanished, yet she was keenly aware of their presence.
    She pressed her fist to her lips. “Please tell me.”
    Jack looked extremely reluctant to open his mouth again but relented. “We have operatives funneling us information from Ottawa. Reliable information. And-”
    He was going to say it. He was going to say it and there was nothing she could do to stop him. She took a deep breath that did nothing to calm her.
    “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “We used every available route we had. Every angle. Every contact. There’s been no trace of any of them.”
    It wasn’t saying much but it was saying enough. But there were other ways of knowing. More than random people milling around government offices in Quebec.
    “What about the trust fund?” she whispered.
    “There’s been no activity on the account we created.” Jack placed his hand over hers. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.
    She yanked her hand away, wrapping her arms around herself. She