Chapter Eight #2
Maddox paused his presentation. “Nice of you to join us. You two will stay after the rest of your teams are dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.”
Their boss turned his attention back to the screen.
“Note the area around the compound itself. Thick foliage and trees. The latest intel says Los Lobos has at least 50 members staying at the compound. They’re also heavily armed.
” He glanced at Zane, who changed the picture on the wall screen.
“As of two hours ago, the Whites were being held here and here.” Maddox used a laser pointer to indicate two buildings on opposite sides of the compound.
A muscle in Seth’s jaw twitched. “They separated the parents from the kids?”
A nod.
Andre growled. “The kids have to be terrified. Why would they do that? Wouldn’t it be easier to keep the family together?”
“Control,” Elias said.
“What better way to control the parents than to take the kids from them and threaten to hurt the children if the parents don’t cooperate?” Teagan’s hands fisted.
“We’ll get them out,” Seth murmured.
“But will it be in time?” Riley shoved her hands through her hair, leaving the tresses rumpled.
Andre rested his arm across the back of her chair. “We’ll make it. We’ve faced worse odds and come out on top.”
“The stakes are insanely high,” muttered Iona. “And the consequences of failure are devastating.”
Maddox pinned her with a pointed stare. “So don’t fail.” He looked at the members of Echo and Artemis. “The Whites are personal friends of the president. Do the job and get out of Nicaragua.”
“Restrictions?” Seth asked.
“None.”
Silence greeted his one-word statement.
Holy smoke. The boss had taken all restrictions off the table. Usually, the teams were told to keep casualties to a minimum. This time, Echo and Artemis were given permission to bring the Whites home no matter how they had to do it.
Maddox folded his arms across his chest. “Questions?” When none were asked, he said, “Everyone except for Grant and Rayne is dismissed. Restock your supplies before you leave for the airport. I shouldn’t have to tell you to pack heavy. Davenport will meet you on the jet. Go.”
Once the room had cleared of everyone except Rayne and Grant, Maddox sat in a chair across the table from them. “Talk to me, Rayne.”
A ball of ice formed in her stomach. “Nothing to tell, sir.”
He scowled. “Wrong answer, Weatherly. Try again.”
Under the table, Grant threaded his fingers through hers, giving Rayne the silent support and courage she needed to get through this.
“What do you want to know?”
“You left this conference room in a rush minutes ago. I want to know why.” He glared at her. “Don’t bother telling me it’s not my business. Everything that affects you and your performance is my business.”
“You know about my juvenile record.”
He inclined his head. “Go on.”
“Conner and Sanders know about it as well. They’re looking at me as a suspect because of my record, my time as a Chicago cop, and now my training with Fortress.”
“That’s not news to me. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to you, either.”
“It wasn’t, sir, but during the interrogation I had to go through everything that happened when I was growing up, including the night my father died.
Talking about the incidents over and over brought up painful memories I haven’t had time to bury again.
Seeing the photos of the White children hit me hard.
It reminded me of what I saw in the mirror when I was growing up.
Just the thought of them being sold as sex slaves makes me sick. ”
“Can you handle this mission?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you sure? There’s no shame in admitting a mission is too close to home.”
“Artemis is already down one woman. I won’t put my teammates in jeopardy by offering an excuse not to deploy with them. I’ll be fine, sir. By the time we land in Nicaragua, I will have my emotions under control again. I can do this, and I want to help rescue these children and their parents.”
Maddox gave a slight nod and glanced at Grant. “What about you?”
“It’s under control, sir.”
“Really? Let’s talk about your personal interest in Rayne for a minute.”
“I’ll do my job no matter what happens between us.”
“Distraction can kill, Bowen.”
“I’m aware of the risk.”
“I don’t want to lose either of you. Am I making myself clear?”
“Crystal, sir.”
“Watch yourselves. Watch out for your teammates. If either of you finds the distraction is more than you thought, I need to know about it yesterday.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go. Restock your supplies, and join your teammates.”
“What about the detectives, sir?” Rayne asked.
“They’re handled for the moment. I’ll keep them off your back until you return. Hopefully by that time, Zane or Riley will have found some things to aid you in your quest for answers. Be careful, both of you. Dismissed.”
Grant helped Rayne to her feet and escorted her to the elevator. Once they were safely behind the closed silver doors, he sighed. “That was interesting.”
“You mean awkward.” Rayne pushed the button for the subbasement level with vaults filled with supplies. “I thought he’d tell me to stay here while the rest of you deployed, and I didn’t want that to happen. I can do this, Grant.”
He tugged her into his arms. “I know you can. So does Maddox.”
“Then why did he question my ability to pull this off?”
“I think he wanted you to conclude for yourself that you could handle the mission. You’re the one who knows yourself best. If you don’t believe in your abilities, you could question your responses at the wrong time and end up hurt or worse.”
“Okay. I get that, but why did he question you, too?”
“There’s no doubt I’ll be distracted on this mission, Rayne,” he admitted softly. “I’m crazy about you. I have been ever since I met you. My first instinct will always include protecting you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know. I’ll still protect you if the opportunity presents itself.” He brushed his mouth across hers in a light kiss. “I’ve been doing it for months. Why should this mission be any different?”
Rayne couldn’t fault him for his instincts. Truthfully, she’d been watching his back for months, too. “So we’ll protect each other.”
“Good plan.” He led the way to the closest supplies vault and passed two layers of security to open the heavy steel door.
Together, they restocked supplies for their Go bags. Taking Maddox’s warning to heart, Rayne selected extra knives and magazines for her pistols, more flash bangs, grenades, and an extra rope. A woman never knew when more hardware would come in handy on a mission.
After a quick glance at Grant, she also selected the supplies to make a bomb. While she likely wouldn’t be called on to create an explosive device, Grant would. He was Echo’s EOD expert.
When they finished loading up on supplies and left the vault, their Go bags weighed a good deal more than they had when they entered. Rayne motioned to the rooms across the hall from the vaults. “I hate to sound like a total girl, but I need more clothes.”
Grant chuckled. “I do, too.” He sobered. “We should take clothes for the Whites.”
“Good idea.” Rayne slid her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll ask Zane if he knows their sizes.”
“The tech crew surprises me with the amount of information they collect about people.”
A minute after sending the text requesting the Whites’ sizes, Rayne received a response. “Got it. Come on. We need to go to supply room six. That’s where the clothes for kids are stored.”
After passing through more security measures, she stepped into room six and scanned the shelves until she found what she was looking for.
Rayne plucked lightweight long-sleeved shirts and pants for the children along with socks and underwear, then shifted to the other side of the supply room and chose clothes for the adults, too.
At least the Whites wouldn’t have to wear the same clothes for the flight back to the US.
Grant took the clothes for the adults and stashed them in his Go bag, leaving Rayne to put the children’s clothes in her bag.
That done, she walked to the back wall and searched for the correct boot sizes for the family.
Since no one knew what shoes they wore, she wanted the Whites to have footwear appropriate for tromping through the jungle.
She and Grant grabbed pairs of tactical boots for them and left the supply room.
They rode the elevator up to the garage level and exited the car. The cavernous interior echoed with the voices of their teammates as they loaded up their vehicles for the journey across Nashville to John C. Tune Airport.
Iona shut the hatchback of her SUV and turned toward them. “How did it go?”
“As you’d expect.” Grant unlocked his SUV and raised the liftgate. “He wanted to know everything that had happened this morning and how we were handling the pressure and scrutiny from law enforcement.”
Her eyebrow rose. “That’s all?”
Her team leader knew they were holding something back. Leave it to Iona to call them on it. “He warned us to be on our guard and not get distracted by what’s happening between me and Grant.”
Andre folded his arms across his chest. “What is happening? Something you need to tell the class, Bowen?”
He captured Rayne’s hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “Rayne and I are officially dating.”
Cheers erupted from the operatives, who each congratulated them.
“It's about time you wised up,” Elias said. “The rest of us knew you were meant for each other weeks ago.”
Grant scowled.
“He’s right.” Andre grinned. “The only people who couldn’t see the truth were you two.” He glanced at Seth, eyes twinkling. “You owe me dinner.”
Seth chuckled. “I’m glad to pay up.”
“Wait.” Grant stared at each of his teammates. “Are you saying you bet on me?”
“Not only you. We had a pool going on when you would finally tell Rayne how you felt. Since you’re dating each other exclusively, that means you manned up long enough to tell the lady how you feel about her.”
Rayne fought hard against the laugh wanting to burst from lips. When her teammates started laughing, she lost the battle.
Grant shook his head, his lips twitching at the corners. “You have too much time on your hands if our love life is this entertaining.”
Seth opened his passenger door for Teagan and helped her inside. “Let’s get moving. Traffic is bad.”
Elias snorted. “When is traffic not bad in Nashville?”
“That’s the truth,” Andre said. “You can always count on at least one accident on the interstates no matter the time of day or night.”
“Accidents and construction,” Riley said. “They go hand-in-hand around this city.”
“Seth’s right. We need to go,” Iona said, frowning. “Now.”
Rayne stared at her team leader. “Is your gut warning of trouble ahead?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Load up,” Teagan said. “We all know what that means.”
Trouble at the speed of light was heading straight for them.