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sheepish. “I’ll update all of you as soon as I hear anything else.”
    “Gage.”
    He turned his head to meet Alex’s pale stare.
    “A word with you and Hunter?” He tipped his head toward the door. Gage nodded and followed him out with Hunt, unable to quell the urge to squeeze Claire’s shoulder on the way past. The cell had been researching her, likely still were. Was she the new target? Her muscles were rigid beneath his hand but she forced a quick smile before he disappeared through the door and shut it behind him.
    “Let’s talk in my office,” Alex said, not bothering to look back at them as he continued down the hall. Once they were secured in his office he sat on the edge of his desk and faced them both, arms folded across his chest. Gage and Hunter dropped into chairs across from him. “So. Claire.”
    Gage’s mind was already working overtime. “The Baltimore/DC thing—is that really all you’ve got?”
    “As of right now, yeah.”
    His jaw tightened as he considered his next words. “No one knows how they tracked her phone records? No one knows who accessed the satellite feeds?”
    “We’re working on it.”
    Gage opened his mouth to say what was bothering him most but Hunter beat him to it by asking, “What are the odds you’re dealing with an inside job here?”
    Exactly, Gage thought. How the hell else would they be able to trace her so easily?
    Alex’s calm expression never changed. “I’d say slim, but not impossible. We’re looking at that possibility too.”
    Yeah, Gage bet they were. Along with every other three letter agency in the country. “I want a protective detail on her. Now.”
    Alex nodded once. “Done, but I don’t want that out there for her to know. This stays between us for the time being. Got anyone in mind?” He raised a sardonic eyebrow.
    Gage looked at Hunt. “Who do you want?” Say me. Designate me.
    Hunt’s light brown eyes were steady on his. “Can you keep your head straight if I assign you?”
    Well, Jesus, if that didn’t sting. “Just pair me with her during the investigation so I can keep tabs on her.” He’d feel better keeping any eye on her personally anyhow. He didn’t want anyone else tasked with keeping her safe, and both Hunt and Alex knew it.
    “You keep it on the low,” Hunt said. “The minute you can’t watch her back and do your job, you speak up. No bullshit, man.”
    “No bullshit,” he agreed, understanding perfectly why Hunt had to say it. Gage’s objectivity was going to be sorely tested in the coming days or weeks ahead. But then, Claire had always had the disconcerting ability to shoot his concentration all to hell.
    “You need backup with anything, just say the word.”
    Gage nodded, appreciating his team leader’s trust. “What kind of threat are we looking at here?” he asked Alex. “A quick hit? Suicide bombing with a lot of collateral damage?”
    “Probably something in between. They’re gonna want to do something that makes a statement, we think with a giant middle finger to the US government. If they’re really targeting Claire, with her working for us it stands to reason they might try something here. Might be improbable but we can’t rule it out entirely. Let’s just say that certain measures are already being taken. We’re not going to be caught on our heels with this one.”
    Would be nice if that level of concern was because Claire might be in danger, and not merely in the interest of protecting the agency’s rep. While he believed Alex cared about her safety, Gage was too experienced to believe differently of the agency. “Good.”
    “How you gonna handle it?” Hunt asked him curiously. “Think she’ll let you hang around long enough to do the job?”
    “If Alex pairs me with her, yeah.” Then she’d have no choice and he’d have the perfect opportunity.
    The older man nodded, a gleam of humor in his eyes. “Consider it done.”
    They filed back down the hall into the boardroom at the