Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
My heart’s in my throat, pounding hard, as Justice’s team leaps into action.
Holy what? Now there’s an intruder?
The hits just keep on coming.
Like a lump, I’m standing in the middle of the floor, with no idea what to do.
Camile does. With her eyes still damp, the badass woman grabs my hand with a fierce grip.
“Safe room’s this way,” she says, and I’m jerked into motion, Allison crowding in behind me as we all hustle toward what looks like a dead-end hallway.
Where? I don’t see anything that looks safe or like a room.
“It’s down here,” Camile says, tugging me along as my heart races and I steal a look backward, searching for Justice.
But he’s already out of sight. Doing whatever it is they do.
I’m about to ask where we’re going when there’s suddenly a doorway opening in front of us.
“How did you do that?” I ask with wonder.
Justice said this house was full of the latest tech bells and whistles—listing things I’ve never heard of—but this still takes me by surprise. This place is right out of an action movie.
“Marshall or one of the others, hit the switch.” Camile moves with fluid intensity as she enters the hidden room, turning on lights, hitting a code on the wall panel.
“They can control everything in this house from their phones.”
A large, heavy door slides closed behind us. Presto-chango.
The air shifts around us. A quiet hiss filling the space. My ears pop, surprising me.
“Wait…is that depressurization?” I ask.
Allison looks up from something she has in her hand and gives me a fast grin. “Only you would know that.”
“You can take the scientist out of the lab, but you can’t take the science out of her. Now, what can I do down here to help?”
There’s no way I can stand around and watch all of them work. I’ve never been one to laze around, and that just wouldn’t sit right with me given that everyone else is part of this operation.
Operation? Mission? I don’t know the lingo.
But they’re protecting me. Protecting all of us. Fighting to complete their job of solving the case that involves a man that has done something bad.
On top of the very important job of getting Beast back.
“I’m going to help in every way I can,” I announce.
“Can you handle a weapon?” Camile asks, moving to a cabinet that hugs one of the long walls. There she enters a code, presses her palm over a panel, and puts her eye against a small round screen.
Oh my god. I really do want to help but I’m totally out of my league here. Don’t they have something sciencey I can do?
“Uh…define a weapon.” I stammer, still a little shocked at the speed at which we’ve gone from standing in the living room to being inside some kind of black-ops bunker, gearing up for war.
“A gun?” she asks, over her shoulder as she moves things around.
“A heat gun?” I shrug, because I don’t know what else to do with my body right now.
My muscles are twitchy. And a little sore from being with Justice. But I cannot think about the amazing sex right now.
“Probably nothing with projectiles,” I admit. “I think I’d need practice so I don’t shoot anyone I’m not supposed to. I could maybe mix up some chemicals to make a bomb?”
They both gape at me.
“I mean I could. I know all the stuff that explodes when you combine it.”
“Do not say that to Justice,” Allison warns. “He would lose his shit if he thought you were going to make explosive devices.”
Camile gets a really big smile on her face and I am stunned at her resilience.
She says, “Beast, Marshall, and Truck on the other hand will freaking love having you on the team. Not that they can’t make that stuff, because SEALs do all that, but I bet they will get all down in the weeds with you and geek out on chemical reactions. ”
“You think?” I ask, suddenly not feeling so out of place. Maybe I can contribute.
Camile shoves a tall canister into my hands. “Yep. How about aerosol cans?”
“That’s a yes…” I look down at the label, confusion wrinkling my brow. “Are we expecting a bear?”
They both laugh as they continue to pull out an arsenal and then some.
How can they be so calm?
It’s like they both flipped into some super-tactical mode when Marshall announced there was an intruder.
I’ve got whiplash. Although I admit, I’m feeling much better about everything now. But Justice’s emotional moment hit me hard.
This team loves him. I love him.
I. Love. Him.
How is that possible?
A few days ago I was a lab hermit with a list of documentaries saved on my YouTube.
Now? I’m in love with a dangerous man and I’m in a bunker, getting weaponed up. I had a near death experience, and I’m going to help rescue a man and solve a mysterious crime.
“With this crew you never know what’s going to happen,” Allison says, as she slips on some kind of serious-looking vest. She points at my can. “That’s good for humans too, and unless a bear can drive a car, it’s probably safe to say it’s got two legs.”
“And a dick,” Camile adds. “Although I guess bears have dicks. But they have four legs, right? They aren’t considered arms, are they?”
“Front legs, but they can be upright for long periods of time,” I supply, feeling like I don’t have much else to contribute.
“That’s all I can add to this scenario. If you need to know about their DNA, bear or human, let me know.
Otherwise, I’ll stick with the point-the-can-and-shoot at anything moving technique. ”
“That mostly works,” Allison says.
“This feels very surreal,” I announce, shaking the can to make sure the contents are ready for squirting some baddie bear in the face. “I feel like I should have a code name.”
“Beaker?” Allison asks, grinning sharply as she ruffles my hair.
Beaker. I try it on. “You know that’s good. It’s a lot better than Petri dish. But I have a lot to learn.”
“Welcome to the Agile S&R family,” Allison bumps my shoulder. “It’s a wild ride, but worth every minute of it when you get the kind of men we have.”
I know exactly what she means.
But this is bigger than that.
Family.
A found family.
With Justice.
I blink back warm, happy tears, even though I feel like I’m swimming in a pool of adrenaline, and the safe room is starting to feel a little claustrophobic.
“We need to get Beast back for you, Camile,” I say, lifting my chin. “Let’s deal with whoever this is, and get on with the mission!”
I feel very empowered as I strap on my own vest, but first I get my arm in the wrong hole.
Darn it. Okay, so I’ve got a lot to learn.
“Oh my god! What is this?” Camile exclaims, snapping me out of my swirling thoughts and a wrestling match with the Velcro on the vest, which my hair is now caught in.
She’s leaning close to a monitor on the wall.
A grainy, green and black image fills the screen, and she looks both worried and confused as her mouth falls open.
“That’s Ryker,” Allison gasps, moving to the screen, her expression just as wide-eyed. “And he’s carrying a woman in his arms.”