Ryan pulled the car up beside the rusted side door and killed the engine. Brooklyn sat quietly, clutching her duffel, eyes flicking across the dark lot.
"You sure about this place?" she asked.
Ryan smirked. "If anyone's paranoid enough to keep you safe, it's Tyrone."
They got out. Ryan pushed the handle and metal door swung open. Tyrone's eyes immediately landed on Brooklyn.
"Whoa..." Tyrone said, eyebrows raised. "What is she doing here?"
Ryan stepped past him, motioning Brooklyn inside. "She'll be staying here for a while."
Tyrone shut the door, crossing his arms. " She ran away, didn't she?"
Brooklyn stiffened but didn't answer. Ryan gave Tyrone a flat look. "You're not wrong."
Tyrone let out a low whistle, shaking his head. "Now I get it. Always thought you were the only half psycho but I guess it runs in the family."
Before Brooklyn could fire back, the door door opened again and Maya came striding out, laptop in one hand, her phone pressed to her ear. "Guys, I got..." She stopped dead when her eyes landed on Brooklyn. "Oh. I didn't know she'd be here."
Ryan stepped between them. "Yeah, well, now that you're also here. Brook, meet my team. Maya Torres and Tyrone Briggs."
Maya slipped her phone into her pocket, giving Brooklyn a small nod. "Didn't think we'd ever meet in person... I heard a lot about you."
Brooklyn adjusted the strap of her bag. "Nice to meet you both."
Ryan clapped his hands. "Alright, now that that's done. Maya, what've you got?"
Maya set the laptop on the table, its screen casting a pale glow across the dim room. "Yeah-uh, I cracked into Michael Gray's laptop. Got into his files. And guess what? I found the exact same folder Tyrone snagged for us the other week. Confirming what we already know again."
Brooklyn stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "What folder?"
Ryan glanced at her. "The one tying you as the lead of Operation Sky Sintel."
Maya nodded, fingers flying across the keyboard. "Yeah but there's more this time, Captain."
"Please..." Brooklyn interrupted softly. "Call me Brooklyn."
Maya's lips curved into a quick smile. "Alright. Brooklyn, this one folder gave me one another lead into this..."
She pulled up a document filled with coordinates, maps, and after-action reports. "According to the news, the Valkyrie squadron was sent to destroy a weapons facility in the Great Basin Desert, right?"
Tyrone leaned over her shoulder. "Yeah, I remember that briefing. Great Basin in the north side."
"Except these file doesn't state the same." Maya tapped the coordinates.
"Yes, the strike location we were engaged in was nowhere near Great Basin. It was in the Chihuahuan Desert." Brooklyn said.
"That doesn't make sense. Why would they lie about the target?" Tyrone asked.
"For cover-up." Maya said simply. She pulled up another article on the screen. "Look at this, the very same day Operation Sky Sintel went down, a dairy factory in the Chihuahuan Desert was reported burned to the ground. Public story? 'Furious workers staged a strike and torched the place.' But here's the catch... there's no record of ownership for that factory, the only circulating thing is just some news about a guy."
She clicked to another file. A mugshot appeared.
"Anderson Cooper. Age thirty-one. Supposedly the ringleader of the strike but his work records? The guy's been unemployed for two years. Yet somehow, he's credited with organizing angry factory workers."
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. That doesn't add up."
Maya kept going. "And it gets better. Cooper has a young daughter. She was diagnosed with a serious condition a while back and he treatments cost a fortune. But guess what happened? Just days after he was arrested, she suddenly started receiving the treatments and they were paid in full."
Brooklyn leaned against the table, her jaw tight. "So he was paid to take the fall in staging of the strike?"
"Exactly." Maya pointed at the file. "So if we get to this guy, we get closer to the truth."
The room fell quiet for a moment. Tyrone finally broke it, his voice skeptical. "Okay, let's say you're right. How exactly do we get to a guy who's locked up? They don't just let strangers waltz into prisons."
Maya shut the laptop with a snap. "He's in Folsom Prison, California. And lucky for us, I happen to know someone there."
Brooklyn looked at her, surprised. "Who?"
Maya just smirked, already grabbing her jacket. "An old contact of mine. Don't worry about it, I'll handle it."
Before anyone could argue, she slipped out the door, disappearing into the night as quickly as she'd come.
"Well..." he said finally, "guess we're all in this mess together now."
Ryan met his gaze, steady. "Yeah. We are."