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“Help us finish the room searches, then we’ll go, hopefully before the meeting begins.”
They finished searching the final three rooms in fifteen minutes, adding another six cameras and bugs to the plastic bag.
The three met Marsh and Bowen in the lobby and together returned to their quarters. After a quick search revealed no new electronics in their own place, Seth walked to the kitchen to make coffee while Teagan synced up her phone with the bug in the conference room.
He returned five minutes later with two to-go cups of coffee, one for himself and one for Teagan. “We need to be closer to headquarters, don’t we?”
She nodded and handed him a comm device to slip into his ear. “Activate it. When we’re within range, we’ll hear the conversation.” She slipped a second device into her own ear.
“We’ll help Noah and Violet by covering the inner perimeter. That should put us close enough to hear everything said in the conference room.” Seth turned to Marsh, Bowen, and Knight. “Stay alert. I don’t think we’ll have another hit team stupid enough to come after us again tonight but we made enough people angry that I might be surprised.”
Bowen said, “Go. We’ll let you know if something goes down here.”
Teagan and Seth set off for the inner perimeter of the camp. Soon, Seth heard Peters’ voice in his ear. He grimaced at the arrogance coming from every word the man spoke to his inner circle. Following fifteen minutes of patting his own back, Peters introduced the subject of the special mission he wanted to assign Seth’s team.
“What do we really know about these men?” one man asked. “We only have your word for how good they are.”
Jace spoke up. “You’re kidding, right? Elias and his teammates were Special Forces. You’re not assigned to an elite team like that unless you know what you’re doing. Elias and the others were Rangers. You know their motto, right? Rangers lead the way. I’m telling you Elias and his friends will get the job done. This will be a cakewalk for them.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” another man said. “None of this will be easy. The Secret Service will be everywhere.”
Teagan’s free hand tightened around Seth’s.
Yeah, he’d caught that. The Secret Service protected the president, vice-president, and their families, former presidents and their spouses, and visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their families. Too many targets to narrow down with that small clue. They needed more than this to derail The Brotherhood’s agenda.
The men spent a few more minutes debating the merits and skills of Seth’s team before ultimately voting to bring them into the inner circle for this mission only.
The meeting broke up shortly afterward, leaving only Peters and Richardson in the conference room.
“When do we leave?” Richardson asked.
“Tomorrow morning. Are you sure this is the only way to handle the problem?”
“Can you think of a better way to protect ourselves than to blame the assassinations on two rogue teams?”
So, Peters planned to get rid of Seth and his team by throwing them to the Secret Service as rogue agents. Have Seth’s team do his dirty work and rid himself of a loose end at the same time. Diabolical but brilliant.
“How do you plan to alert the authorities to the identities of Dixon’s team?”
“It’s amazing how easy it is to drop an anonymous tip in the right place.”
“What about Teagan and Violet?”
“Once Teagan pulls the trigger, I’ll have a team pick her up and bring her to me. No need for her to go down with her boyfriend. Once he’s dead, she’ll need someone to console her.”
“And you plan to be that man?” Richardson’s contempt was clear. “She’ll never agree to that.”
“She will if she wants to protect Violet.”
“No,” Richardson said, voice sharp. “You can’t have both of them. I want the medic.”
“Didn’t say I would actually hurt the medic, just use her to control my beautiful Teagan. I need someone like her when I step into my new role.”
A beat of silence, then, “You know, I might use the same ploy to convince Violet to cooperate.” A chuckle. “I have so many plans for her. What will you do if Teagan refuses you?”
Peters laughed. “No worries. A few weeks shackled to my bed will convince her to change her mind. I’m going to have so much fun with that woman.”
Teagan tugged her hand from Seth’s, ran to the tree line on the other side of the inner perimeter with Seth close on her heels, and threw up.