Chapter Four
WHAT NOW? EVER since Iona had received that phone call from Zane Murphy telling her that someone had shot Elias, nothing would surprise her.
“Zane’s bots found several references to killing you in the past few hours.”
Elias snorted. “The bots are a little late giving me the warning. Who is after me this time?”
Their line of work was dangerous, and death threats came with the job description. She’d be surprised if he didn’t have a death threat every so often. She certainly did.
“He hasn’t nailed down the source yet. He’s working on it.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Go home. Rest. We’ll talk tomorrow about the assignment.”
Iona and Grant exchanged puzzled glances. She glared at Elias. “You’ve been keeping secrets, Knight.”
His hand fisted. “I don’t have to spill my guts, Byrne.”
“When your safety is on the line, you do.” She turned to Maddox. “What’s going on, sir?”
Maddox scowled at Elias. “You told me you’d talk to your team about the assignment. You need backup. Are you telling me you don’t trust your teammates?”
“No, sir. I trust them with my life.”
“But not enough to ask them to back you up.”
“That’s not true.” His cheeks turned red.
“Well, something is off. What is it?”
“I don’t want them hurt, all right? Leave them out of it.”
Grant folded his arms across his chest. “Forget that. Whatever you’re involved in, you’re not going alone, especially now that you’re injured.”
Iona turned back to Brent. “What’s the assignment, sir?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Elias stood, swaying on his feet. “You’re not involved in this, Iona.”
She ignored him, keeping her attention on her boss.
“His assignment is to infiltrate a biker club. Rumors are flying hot and heavy about a biker club planning a big sale of weapons.”
Iona blinked. “Why would that be unusual?”
“The weapons were stolen from a military base.”
She frowned. “Don’t the military police and NCIS or Army CID investigate the theft?”
“Under normal circumstances, yes. This time, however, the FBI is involved because civilians are in danger.”
She analyzed what he said and what he didn’t say. “The feds asked for Elias specifically?”
“With the president’s blessing, yes, they did.”
“Why?”
Elias flinched. “I don’t want to talk about this now. I need to leave.”
Brent stared for a beat, then nodded. “All right. We’ll do it your way. For now. Be at Fortress headquarters tomorrow morning at 9. We’ll hash this out then. Don’t be late.”
Elias swallowed hard, looking miserable. “Yes, sir.”
Maddox turned to Iona. “The meeting includes Artemis.”
“Yes, sir.” Good thing. She would have shown up anyway. Whatever was going on, she wouldn’t let Elias face it alone.
Iona waited until their boss left the room before turning to Grant. “I’ll wait in the hall.” She walked out before she said something to Elias that she couldn’t take back.
Closing the door behind her, Iona leaned against the wall across from Elias’ room. What was going on? Why had Brent chosen Elias for this job? No matter how dangerous it was, Elias wasn’t going alone. Someone wanted Elias dead, and Iona wouldn’t let that happen.
She scanned the hallway and smiled at Seth as he approached. “You’re up early.”
“Knowing Elias, I figured he’d walk out of here first thing this morning whether or not the doc signed off on it. We practically have to sit on him to make him stay overnight in a hospital.”
Funny. She hadn’t had to do that. Why not?
“So, where is he?”
She motioned toward his room door. “Grant is helping him change clothes. He should be out in a minute or two.”
“I don’t want to ask Elias how he is. He’ll tell me he’s fine, even if he’s at death’s door.”
“I’ve noticed. Why does he do that?”
“He figures if he’s not dead, he’s fine.”
Iona wrinkled her nose. “We’ll have to work on that. We must be able to trust him.”
“Exactly. How is he, Iona?”
“Elias should fully recover if he follows his physical therapist’s orders. The doctor said he’ll be out of commission for four to eight weeks.”
Seth flinched. “That’s bad news in Elias’ book. He can’t stand being idle even though he needs the time to heal. He’s likely to take shortcuts to get back into the action faster.”
“Not this time. I won’t let him shortchange himself that way. Echo deploying before he’s released for full duty will kill him.”
“We’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Seth studied her for a moment. “You seem upset, Iona. Is this about the shooting or something else?”
“Do you know anything about Brent sending Elias on a special assignment?”
Echo’s leader scowled. “Nope. How did you find out?”
Her lips curved. “Wipe that thought out of your mind.”
“Which one? Several are competing for my attention right now.”
“The one telling you I knew about this adventure a while ago but said nothing. I found out five minutes ago, so I don’t have all the details to share.”
“What do you know?”
“The mission has something to do with a motorcycle club that plans to sell a military weapons stash on the black market.”
He propped one shoulder against the wall, looking thoughtful. “The weapons are a problem. However, the biggest problem is if the MC also stole armor-piercing ammunition to go with the weapons.”
Oh, boy. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. The armor-piercing rounds would definitely be a problem if sold on the civilian market. Just imagining the harm and chaos those rounds could create made her shudder. How many law enforcement officers might die? Too many to count.
What would happen to the mission if Elias was laid up? She supposed Brent would send another operative in his place.
She frowned. “Elias can’t go on this assignment with that shoulder injury. What happens now?”
“Someone has to go. It sounds as though there’s a time clock running on this mission. I don’t know if Brent can find someone as perfect as Elias to infiltrate the MC, though.”
There it was again. Why was Elias the perfect choice for this dangerous mission? What did Seth know that she did not?
Before she could dig into the matter, Elias opened the door of his room and stepped into the hall with Grant on his heels. He gave Seth a chin lift in greeting. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What lit your fire?” Seth fell into step with Elias.
“The news that I have four to eight weeks to get back in the game. Otherwise, the boss will bench me until one of the Fortress docs signs off on my rejoining the team. I refuse to be left behind if the team deploys, Seth.”
“Gives you a goal to work toward.”
He snorted. “Right. By the way, Artemis and Echo have a meeting with Maddox tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.”
“Why? We’re not on deployment rotation for the next few weeks.”
Iona felt a little sorry for Elias as he shifted uncomfortably. Very little. He deserved whatever discomfort he felt because of the scheduled mission. Her blood still boiled at the knowledge that he had planned to go on this mission with no backup.
“It’s something Brent asked me to do, something for which I’m uniquely qualified.”
Seth glanced at him as they boarded the elevator and pushed the button to descend to the first floor. “That tells me exactly nothing.”
Elias sighed. “Look, you’ll find out the details tomorrow. I don’t want to stop to explain something that I’ll explain in the meeting. I’m too tired to do this right now, all right? Just leave it alone, Seth.”
Echo’s leader glowered at him. “Forget that. You have until this evening to rest. All of us will be at your house at six o’clock tonight. I expect a briefing that includes full details. Am I clear, Knight?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now, who is staying with you?”
“I am,” Iona said. “Grant’s been on duty all night. He needs a nap to be ready for that meeting.”
“That means I’m up.” Seth smiled, but it was more a baring of his teeth. “Excellent. Looks like I’ll hear details before the rest of the crew arrives.”
Elias pointed at him. “No. You don’t get first dibs. You’ll learn the details at the same time as everyone else.”
“Did you tell Iona?” Grant asked.
“No one knows the details except Brent.”
“Then I guess I’ll have a separate meeting with the boss to address the lack of communication.”
“Don’t bother. He left the communication to me.”
“And you opted not to communicate, right?”
Elias shrugged his good shoulder.
Seth growled. “This had better be the last time you drop the ball, Knight. If this happens again, I’ll bench you myself. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He walked ahead of Grant, Iona, and Elias, standing outside the hospital’s front doors to survey the entrance to the parking garage. After a moment, Seth signaled the others that the way was clear for them to come ahead.
By the time they reached the garage, Elias’ face was dotted with perspiration, and he was breathing hard.
Iona caught Seth’s attention and tossed him her remote. “Bring the SUV to us.”
“I’m fine,” Elias protested. “I can handle walking a few feet, Iona.”
“Really?” She and Grant let go of him.
Elias swayed, then his knees buckled. Fortunately, Iona and Grant caught Elias before he hit the garage floor and steadied him.
Seth rolled his eyes and walked to Iona’s SUV. A minute later, he drove the SUV to them and parked. After climbing out of the vehicle, he handed Iona her key fob. “I’ll follow you and Elias. Grant, get some rest. We’ll see you tonight at 6:00. Pass the word to both teams.”
“Yes, sir.” He glanced at Iona. “Call me if you need me. Rayne and I don’t live far from Elias.”
She grinned. “No one lives far from a teammate. This is Hartman, Tennessee, the perfect example of a small town only 30 minutes from Nashville.”
He inclined his head. “While that’s true, Rayne and I are only five minutes away.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. See you tonight.”
Between them, Iona and Seth helped Elias into the front passenger seat, strapped him in with a seatbelt, then shut the door. “Thanks, Seth.”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“Just that it has something to do with a motorcycle club. He’d planned to go on the assignment without backup to protect us.”