Chapter 1155: Undercover Sting Operation (Patreon)

“Why didn’t you ask the commander about the old injuries on his wife’s face? Are you worried it might’ve been domestic abuse?” JJ asked softly as she and Jack watched two officers escort Lieutenant Commander Barnes to pick up his daughter.

“If I were worried about that, I would’ve asked directly. He’s a soldier—controlling emotions and focusing on the mission is his strength, but that doesn’t mean he’s good at lying.”

At least for now, Jack didn’t see any signs of deception from the commander. The reason he hadn’t asked was simply that the time wasn’t right.

The investigation had only just begun. Now that Barnes and his daughter were safely protected, there was no risk of further harm, so they could afford to take their time—no need to alarm anyone too soon.
——
“That went almost too smoothly—it’s hard to believe,” Aubrey exclaimed with excitement as soon as Jack and JJ returned.

Jack was puzzled by his enthusiasm. “What happened? Did local police finally find the murder weapon in a nearby trash can?”

“Uh…” Aubrey’s tone faltered. “Not quite, but Elise tracked down the administrator of that terrorist website.”

“Dorian Hobart. Dishonorably discharged from the military in 2010. NSA intel shows he’s been working for extremist organizations ever since.”

“Do we know where he is?” Jack asked.

Aubrey’s face fell. “The website’s registered in Algiers. There’s a mirror server in Silver Spring, Maryland, but Elise couldn’t trace the admin’s IP address.

The NSA doesn’t know where he is either. We’re contacting other intelligence agencies now, hoping for a lead.”

“That website likely isn’t just for propaganda—it probably recruits too, right?” Jack pulled up a chair next to Elise.

“There’s an anonymous message board. It’s used to contact the admin.” Elise opened a crude chat window on screen.

Smart as ever, she had already guessed Jack’s intention: a sting.

“An extremist sympathizer? Or maybe someone eager to join the cause?”

Aubrey was instantly fired up. “How about a disgraced ex-SEAL sniper? Kicked out after a conflict with his commanding officer, now I’m a ‘war hyena’—a mercenary.”

“‘War hyena’? You?” Clay scoffed, mercilessly mocking the best-dressed man in the group.

Hannah looked unimpressed. “The only person here worse than you with a gun is Elise. You really think you can pass for an elite sniper?”

Technically, Aubrey’s marksmanship wasn’t terrible. It was just wildly inconsistent.

Most of the time, his scores hovered around the baseline for a field agent. But occasionally, he’d land a shot even Clay would find impressive.

Aubrey considered himself a “performance-type shooter,” but everyone else chalked it up to dumb luck.

Still, since he volunteered to be the bait, no one wanted to dampen his enthusiasm. They quickly cobbled together a cover identity.

“Tom Clancy—electrical expert, specializes in explosives, retired Ranger. How’s that?” Jubal grinned as he handed Aubrey the profile.

“Sure, whatever.” Aubrey scowled, accepting the persona with visible reluctance.

Elise quickly drafted a “loyalty letter” expressing willingness to join the extremist group as a foot soldier and sent it through the message board.

“Alright, now we wait,” Jack said as he settled into a more comfortable seat and pulled his laptop toward him. They had more than just this lead.

The bullet fragments had already been sent to the CSI lab in New York. Results should be in soon.

Jubal and the others were combing through Valerie Barnes’ patient records, hoping to find something. Jack, meanwhile, was focusing on the old injury to her face.

It bore repeating: when a married woman is found dead in her home—and robbery and sexual assault are ruled out—the prime suspect is always the husband or the lover.
——
The next morning, as Jack stepped into the station, he saw Aubrey already waiting.

Gone was the tailored suit—he now looked like a street drifter. Someone must’ve taken the bait.

“Elise got a reply from Dorian Hobart,” Aubrey said. “He wants to meet in two hours at a small park near Croft Hill.”

Croft Hill lay in Richmond’s western suburbs. A historic English-style estate with strong Southern charm, it was a local landmark.

“So the guy’s really in the area?” Jack was surprised.

The Barnes family lived in the suburban Lakes of Ricci area, and Valerie commuted daily to work in downtown Richmond. That seemed like too much of a coincidence.

Richmond was a common city name, originally from North Yorkshire, England. As settlers spread across North America, the name appeared in dozens of U.S. towns.

Same happened in Australia and Canada, but the most well-known Richmond in the Americas was right here—Virginia’s capital.

It had once been the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Monuments and statues honoring Confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis still dotted the city.

On the park bench, Aubrey, dressed in a tight T-shirt and torn jeans, blended in perfectly. His time training and eating with Jack and Clay had bulked him up considerably.

Jack carefully applied a full beard prosthetic. With fake tattoos applied by the women using decal sheets, he actually looked the part.

“Try not to stir things up too much,” Jubal said calmly as he sat at a stone table about ten meters away, newspaper in hand, scanning the crowd.

The weather was ideal: warm but cloudy summer skies. The park was bustling with walkers, joggers, families, and people playing with their kids.

Clay, disguised as part of a couple with a local K9 officer, played fetch with the dog on the lawn. Jack, dressed in a neon green tracksuit that made him look painfully flamboyant, was teaching yoga on a mat alongside the very attractive JJ and Hannah.

Their stunning looks and slim figures caught the eyes of several dads nearby, drawing plenty of lecherous stares. Jack couldn’t help feeling that this undercover op might be costing them a little too much... in dignity.