Chapter Fourteen
His lips curved. If he had time, he’d take Rayne to the ice cream parlor. When he was in high school, that was the place to take your dates when you weren’t flush with money.
“This is where you grew up?” Rayne’s gaze remained fixed on the view out the passenger side window.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Duncan is wonderful. It looks like someone took a photo from the cover of a magazine about small-town America and built the town to match.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I don’t know how you made yourself leave to enlist in the Army.”
“It wasn’t hard. I wanted to be more than a gentleman farmer like my father. I wanted to do something with my life that counted.”
“You and your teammates saved many lives with your service to our country and Ardmore, and still are serving others now with Fortress.”
Grant’s cheeks burned. “I did what I was trained to do.”
“I still appreciate your service, Grant. It mattered.”
He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “You’ll find that Duncan differs from Chicago. Small-town dynamics are in full force here.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re a resident, everybody knows everything about your life. I couldn’t get away with anything when I was a kid. By the time I got home, someone had already told my parents about my getting in trouble at school and exactly what the trouble entailed.”
Rayne wrinkled her nose. “That’s not fair. How were you supposed to come up with a good explanation if friends and neighbors tattled on you before you arrived at home?”
He chuckled. “The adults in our town viewed that as a positive to small-town living. Me, not so much.”
“I’ll bet. In my hometown, nobody saw or heard anything. It didn’t matter if something was obviously wrong. Everyone turned a blind eye and minded their own business.”
Grant squeezed her hand briefly. “Tough to handle when you’re an abused kid and people treat you as though you’re invisible.”
“No joke. I don’t know how everyone ignored the obvious signs of abuse.”
“Your father was the mayor. No one expected him to beat up his wife and daughter.”
Her free hand fisted. “Law enforcement doesn’t get a pass. I noticed when kids on my beat showed signs of abuse, and I chased down leads. My father knew better. In fact, reducing domestic violence was one platform on which he ran for office.”
“Too bad he didn’t practice his own press,” Grant muttered.
“No kidding. His constituents believed he was the All-American father, the man to emulate when what they saw ended the moment he shut the front door.”
“I wish I could erase all that you suffered.”
“So do I. However, the childhood I endured prepared me for life as a cop and an operative.”
Figuring his girl needed a break from the emotional conversation, Grant pointed out some of his favorite places in Duncan and shared amusing stories of his escapades in a few of those establishments.
By the time he parked at the entrance to the Waterfall Hotel, Rayne’s mood had improved.
Her eyes sparkled, and her lips curved into a smile. Exactly the change he wanted.
After he helped Rayne out of the SUV and grabbed their gear, he and Rayne met Andre and Riley on the sidewalk in front of the sliding doors. They went in together to register and get the key cards to their suite.
The desk clerk greeted them pleasantly, registered them, and handed over the cards. “If you need anything, please call the desk. We’ll be glad to assist you.”
After thanking her, Grant escorted Rayne and Riley to the elevator while Andre parked both SUVs in the underground garage. They rode the elevator to the sixth floor and walked along the carpeted corridor to their suite.
Grant slid his card into the reader and opened the door. He motioned the women inside and followed them into the living area. His eyebrows rose at the plush accommodations. “Wow.”
“This is impressive.” Riley turned in a slow circle to take in the decor and layout.
“Especially considering our last accommodations were in trees in a jungle in Mexico.” Rayne slid her Go bag off her shoulder. “Does it matter which room Riley and I use?”
“Nope. It’s your choice.”
She opened the door to the right bedroom and walked inside. Reappearing a moment later, Rayne said to Riley, “The bathroom is fantastic. I would love to have a rain shower at home.”
Grant walked onto the balcony to survey the area behind the hotel while the women discussed the luxuries of the suite.
He quartered the area, committing the terrain to memory and identifying good places for a sniper to build a nest. Although the shooter had used a handgun, that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of using a rifle to kill his victims.
As he turned to go back inside the suite, his phone signaled an incoming message. Grant glanced at the screen and called his boss.
“Can you talk?” Maddox asked instead of a greeting.
His gut tightened. He recognized that tone. Trouble. “Yes, sir.”
“Zane’s bots caught some chatter about you on the Net.”
“I’m assuming the chatter isn’t singing my praises.”
“Not even close. Someone is actively hunting you and your teammates.”
Grant’s hand tightened around the plastic casing of his phone. “So this isn’t related to our law enforcement days.”
“Only if you worked an undercover op together while you were on Arden’s police force.”
“Not officially, no. We always had each other’s backs on undercover assignments, though.”
“Unless someone realized you were friends with the others and made it a point to identify and track down all five of you, I’d say that scenario was unlikely. This threat is coming from your military days.”
He frowned. “Our missions are classified.”
“You and I both know information leaks if the right incentive is offered.”
“Do the others know about the breach in security?”
“Not yet. Figured I’d let you deliver the bad news.”
“What about our families?”
“You and your teammates should contact them and emphasize the need to accept protection from Fortress. Zane is scouring the Internet as we speak, looking for any crumbs that will lead him to the source of the threat. So far, he’s not finding much.
Whoever this is knows computers and is very comfortable on the dark web and knows all the tricks to keeping himself concealed. ”
Grant frowned. Would Riley be able to track down the threat? Zane was the best of the best, but he also juggled several other responsibilities. “How busy is Zane?”
“Busy enough that he’s shifting some of his responsibilities to Simone. I need ten more hackers in their class who want to get involved in the fight against terrorists. They’re not exactly thick on the ground.”
Simone was the wife of an operative on another black ops team. From what he’d heard, the lady was a superstar in the computer programming field. Maddox had been lucky to get her on board with Fortress. “Riley might help. She’s a whiz at computers herself.”
“Believe me, I know,” Maddox said, his tone wry. “I can’t tempt her to the dark side. She won’t leave her team.”
“Let me put her on the search for the source of the leak, sir. She has as much incentive as the rest of us to uncover the leak. Her family is at risk, too.”
“As long as the search doesn’t interfere with your mission and if she’s willing. Riley may request leave to help one of her teammates protect their family. If she does, I’ll grant the request. Every member of Artemis might do the same.”
“Perhaps.” He hoped that wasn’t the case.
He would rather have Rayne close so he could protect her.
Grant didn’t feel as though she’d go home.
From what he’d surmised, Rayne hadn’t spoken to her mother in years, and her father was dead.
However, as close as she was to her teammates, she might opt to help one of them protect their loved ones.
He swallowed hard. If that was her choice, he’d deal. Not happily, but he’d suck it up and let her do what she felt was necessary whether or not he worried about her safety. Of course, he might ask a friend to look in on her.
The French door opened behind him. Grant straightened. Without looking, he knew Rayne had stepped out onto the balcony with him. Although he couldn’t explain it, the air changed when she was with him. “Is Z sure this isn’t coming from Fortress missions?”
“Positive. He has detected no breaches and is actively scanning the system for signs of a weakness.”
He wasn’t surprised Zane was looking for loopholes in their security. The former SEAL knew what was at stake and was committed to protecting Fortress employees. “Anything else, sir?”
“I want an update in six hours, Bowen. Watch your backs. If you need help, ask.”
“Copy that, sir.” When Maddox ended the call, Grant slid his phone into his pocket and turned to wrap his arms around Rayne. Muscle by muscle, his body relaxed as he held the woman he adored. “Thanks for the hug,” he murmured. “I needed it.”
“Bad news from the boss?”
He nodded and turned her toward the door. “Let’s go inside so we can break the news at one time.”
“That bad?”
“It’s possible.” When he led Rayne inside the suite, Andre and Riley turned toward them.
His teammate studied him for a moment, then said, “Let’s hear it.”
Riley frowned. “He said nothing. Are you a mind reader?”
“Ha. I wish. I don’t have to read his mind because I can see trouble in his expression and his body language.”
“Is he right?”
“Unfortunately. Have a seat. We need to call the rest of Echo unit so we can come up with a plan to handle the problem.”
Andre grabbed his phone and connected their teammates in a conference call. He glanced at Grant. “We’re ready.”
“What’s up, Grant?” Seth asked.
“Trouble.”
“It’s not just you who’s a target, is it?”
“No, sir.”
“When is it ever simple?” Elias said.
Andre snorted. “Never. Let’s hear the problem so we can put together a plan to handle it, Grant.”