Chapter 3
––––––––
BOONE SCRUBBED A HAND over his face, grabbing his buzzing phone from the makeshift nightstand beside his bed.
It was oh-six-hundred, but that was practically late for men used to rising at dawn with the military.
He swiped the screen and read over the text from Holt.
Although the team was meeting this morning, it appeared the boss would be sending him out shortly after that to assist another new hire on an assignment.
Holt: Change of plans. After the briefing this a.m., I need you with Radley.
Boone: Roger that, boss.
Holt: Surveillance work. I’ll get you the address.
Briefly, Boone wondered if Radley was the mysterious brunette he’d seen yesterday.
Svelte, sexy, and smoking hot. That about summed her up.
The black clothes she’d worn had hugged her curves so perfectly, they looked like they’d been made just for her.
He had no doubt she’d look good without clothes on, too.
Not that he’d be sleeping with a coworker.
Mixing business with pleasure was never a good idea, and hell. She could be married for all he knew.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, rising to his feet.
Boone had been single for a long time, and he preferred it that way.
It was simpler. Neater. He didn’t need strings tying him down when his job took him all over the world, often to dangerous locations.
In the Army, he’d deployed on the government’s orders.
Now he’d follow that same path, taking on jobs they didn’t want to dirty their hands with.
His life was complicated. Secretive. And he didn’t need a woman worrying over him when he couldn’t call home every night.
Boone stretched, and his gaze briefly swept the room.
He had a bed, blinds on the window, and that was it.
Cardboard boxes filled with his clothes and belongings lined the otherwise bare space.
Someday, he’d get his shit unpacked, but he’d basically arrived on the West Coast and jumped in headfirst. Some of the guys who were already here had given him several listings for apartments, so at least he was ahead of the game and had rented a place.
He’d done enough bunking with his buddies in his Army days and hotel living wasn’t for him either.
Muttering a curse, he crossed the room to dress.
He might as well get in a workout before their morning briefing.
Despite spending long nights at the pool hall for the past year, Boone was still an early riser.
He spent hours at the gym in the morning, maintaining his muscular physique, and afternoons at the gun range, keeping his sharpshooter skills on point.
Boone was positively lethal, and it felt good knowing he’d put his expertise to good use once more.
Two hours later, he was sitting in the conference room, his teammates filing in.
Several of them had been there early as well, lifting or doing some cardio.
With new staff being onboarded every week, Boone doubted the gym would be very empty for long.
It was wild to be at the start of something new, standing up the west coast office and newest black ops team.
Yet here he was, readying to get his first assignment with his teammates and rid the world of some evil. Kumbaya and all that shit.
Holt was already at his laptop, pulling up the slides for the briefing. He glanced at the clock on the wall as Xaden strolled in one minute past eight.
“You’re late.”
A slow, shit-eating grin crossed Xaden’s face. “Sorry, boss. I was just saying good morning to our lovely receptionist.”
Cooper crossed his arms, flashing his buddy a knowing look. “It is a good morning, isn’t it?” he razzed. “A pretty woman. Xaden’s dick needing a little action. What could go wrong with some office nookie?”
“Keep it in your pants, Wilkerson,” Holt barked as the rest of the men guffawed.
Xaden licked his lips, looking amused. “I wouldn’t dream of causing trouble, boss.”
“I doubt that,” Holt countered. He eyed the team as he stood. “Jett and two of his Shadow Ops guys may be stopping by later. They’re returning from a separate incident in the Pacific that the U.S. government required some assistance on.”
“Seems unusual for Jett to deploy with the team,” Boone mused.
“It is. He wanted to see the new office up and running. He’s also meeting his wife for a getaway at their cabin here in Seattle.”
Boone smirked. That sounded about right. Anna was a firecracker, pregnant with their second child. During the brief amount of time he’d seen them, they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other.
The rest of the team continued razzing Xaden as Holt clicked on the laptop, pulling up the slides.
Knox eyed the rest of them, not commenting. The quietest guy on the team, nothing seemed to faze him. He kept to himself, but Boone didn’t doubt that he heard every single word. Knox paid attention to every detail, his mind always working.
Holt cleared his throat, getting their attention again, and Boone’s gaze swept to the front of the room. “I asked Boone to do a scouting mission with Radley later this morning. She was planning to head to a site alone for some reconnaissance work, but it appears she had some threats made to her.”
Boone frowned. He’d never even met the woman, but the brief glance he’d had yesterday had certainly piqued his interest. They all had a history thanks to their former careers, and it appeared that hers was already causing problems.
“What type of threats, boss?” Cooper asked, sitting up straighter.
Holt pressed a button on his laptop, and suddenly Radley’s face appeared on the massive screen.
Boone blinked in surprise. He’d only gotten a sneak peek yesterday, but God damn she was a looker.
Stunning green eyes shone from the picture, and that dark, silky hair he’d noted yesterday framed her face.
She had full lips that were practically begging to be kissed.
High cheekbones. Fair skin. And shit—he’d already decided he’d never date a coworker.
If he’d met her while out at a bar or something, however, Boone never would’ve been able to stay away.
“Radley Moore. Former operative for the U.S. government and Shadow Security’s newest hire.
The rest of you will meet her tomorrow.” Holt clicked a button, and a man’s photograph appeared beside hers.
“This is David Schultz, currently serving twenty years in prison for assault, rape, false imprisonment, and leaking classified information.”
Boone’s fist clenched. He could already see where this was going, and it wasn’t good. While Radley’s photo made her look completely harmless, Shultz had a smirk on his face and arrogance in his expression. Boone knew the type. And he already hated that Radley had to deal with a man like him.
Holt clicked to another slide. “Radley and Schultz worked on the same team for the agency. After Radley went to the higher ups, accusing Schultz of sexual assault, he leaked Radley’s name while they were operating overseas.
Her cover was blown, and Radley was immediately flown back to the States.
Long story short, Schultz was found guilty and is currently serving twenty years.
He was ordered not to contact her, yet Radley started receiving anonymous text messages yesterday—threatening messages.
Someone was tracking her movements the entire day and wanted to make damn sure she knew it. ”
“On her first day on the job?” Gage asked in disbelief.
“Affirmative. The timing is concerning. Someone’s been watching her, and I don’t believe for a minute that it was a coincidence that she received the texts yesterday. They were waiting for the right moment to strike—to scare her.”
Xaden let out a low whistle. “You think it’s this asshole?”
Holt’s gaze hardened. “I don’t think he’s texting her from prison, but I do believe it’s someone he knows.
The circles we travel in are small. Radley left the government after her cover was blown and the agency tried to cover up Schultz’s crimes.
There are other players with stakes in this as well.
No doubt other careers were derailed in the fallout.
Radley and her twin sister Riley have worked undercover for years since separating from the government.
Something drew Schultz’s attention back to her. ”
“He discovered that she was in Seattle,” Boone said.
Holt nodded. “She recently purchased a home—a condominium in the city. Home sales are all public record. Schultz could’ve had people looking for her all this time.
He found out that she was living in Seattle after buying real estate here.
I’m willing to bet that given his former career, he also has suspicions or insider knowledge about Shadow Security’s true purpose. ”
“Well fuck,” Xaden muttered. “He heard about Shadow Security’s office in Seattle, discovered Radley was here in town, and decided to start sending threats?
” Anger crossed his face, the same that was currently brewing within Boone.
While he and his teammates had no trouble taking out the enemy when needed, none of them tolerated violence or aggression toward women.
Schultz was the worst kind of man, preying on someone weaker than him, someone he should’ve been protecting instead.
“When the agency finally began investigating Schultz, he’d disappeared while on an extended vacation,” Holt continued. “Radley and her sister tracked him down, which means he’s got a grudge against them both.”
“He assaulted Radley when they worked together,” Boone said, anger coursing through him.
Holt met his gaze and gave one sharp nod.
Boone noted that she was probably wary as hell around strange men. Then again, Schultz hadn’t been a stranger. She’d been attacked by a man she knew—someone who was on her own damn team. Boone hadn’t even met the woman yet but wanted to beat the shit out of the man who’d hurt her.
“What’s the plan for this morning, boss?” he asked, suddenly more alert.
Holt closed the slide he was on, pulling up another presentation.
A map of the U.S. appeared, with stars marking specific locations spread across the country.
“A homegrown terror cell has been setting up weapons’ caches outside of several major cities—New York.
St. Louis. Seattle. They’re plotting simultaneous attacks on the homeland.
They’re aiming for shock value—attacks on landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Gateway Arch, and Space Needle, amongst others. ”
Boone frowned as Holt clicked to the next slide.
“The network behind the terror plot is based on the West Coast. Although they were operating out of L.A., we have reason to believe they’ve set up shop here in Seattle to receive additional shipments.”
“Fuuuuck,” Xaden said, frowning at the grainy surveillance photograph of weapons being offloaded in a Seattle port.
Holt shot him an annoyed look.
“Sorry boss,” Xaden said, not looking sorry in the least. He leaned forward in his seat as Holt clicked to another slide.
Boone’s eyes danced across the photographs of the men suspected to be part of the terror cell.
They were young males, all looking to be in their twenties or possible late teens.
There were also several blank squares—spaces with a name or initials beneath but no face to match the identification.
What had radicalized these men to plot attacks against their own country? Anger flowed through his veins.
“We need to ID this entire cast of characters,” Holt said in a hard voice.
“The Feds slid this pile of shit our way, and nothing is going to happen to a single American citizen on our watch. We’re identifying every single man involved, locating the weapons stashed in various hideouts, and ending this before any of the attacks take place,” he said.
“Why aren’t the Feds taking point on this operation?” Knox asked.
Holt turned his attention from the slideshow back to the team.
“It’s believed that two members of the U.S.
military are potentially involved in this operation.
We’ve been going off intercepted text messages, chatter in online rooms, and other messaging apps to determine the scope of who is involved.
The Feds want an undercover team on this, and we’ve been tasked with the assignment.
Jett’s team will scout the location in New York given their proximity to the city, but the other sites are ours. ”
He continued the briefing, stopping only when his phone buzzed with a text.
Holt cursed silently as he scanned over the message but continued the presentation.
As the men moved to dismiss twenty minutes later, Holt took Boone aside.
The others would be poring over raw intelligence, working with analysts at Shadow Security, and trying to ID the other suspects and discover any additional targets or weapons caches.
Boone, however, had his own job to get to.
“Radley is supposed to be scouting one of the possible weapons caches this morning but is already on her way to a second location. I don’t know what she found, but I don’t like the threatening texts she’s getting. She may be highly capable, but she’s still a woman alone.”
Holt slid an address across the table on a slip of paper and Boone palmed it, nodding.
“She’s a spitfire. Looks rather sweet and innocent, but Radley will unleash hell on anyone who crosses her. She and Jett go way back. He recommended Radley himself to me. She’s an asset to the team, but I don’t want her working alone right now until we determine she’s not in danger.”
“Understood, boss. I’ll handle it.”
Holt smirked. “She’ll have you by the balls before you know it.”
Boone shook his head, his lips quirking.
That woman he’d seen yesterday wouldn’t be a problem.
He’d dealt with all types in his career, and it was hard to imagine that the beautiful woman he’d admired from afar would be giving him trouble.
Boone knew how to handle women like her, and he was looking forward to it.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he thought about working with her today.
He’d finally get to meet the sexy brunette for himself. He couldn’t fucking wait.