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Although her expression was blank, she shook her head. “I’ll go with him.”
“T,” Iona murmured. “Are you sure?”
Seth narrowed his eyes. What was that about? Did Iona honestly believe that he would do anything to hurt Teagan?Or was something else going on that he didn’t know about, something that impacted Teagan?
Under the table, Seth’s hand fisted. He should have manned up and gotten to know Teagan sooner. He didn’t want the woman at his side caught up in something that made her uncomfortable with him or the situation.
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t. Seth knew it to his bones. Taking a chance, he covered her hand with his and lightly squeezed. Teagan glanced at him and turned her hand until their fingers laced together. Her fingers were icy.
Unable to do anything else in a room full of people, Seth stroked her hand with his thumb before shifting his gaze to her boss.
Maddox gave a slight nod. “All right. Teagan and Seth will go in. Noah, I’d like to pair you with Violet. Where you’re going, you’ll be likely to need a medic.”
Noah blinked. “Seriously?”
“Rumors abound on the Net about the members of The Brotherhood. None of them are good. Once you’re in, the only way to leave is in a body bag.”
“Nice,” he muttered. “Just like old times.”
Seth’s lips curved. With Noah’s background, he could see why his partner drew that conclusion.
Maddox shifted his attention to Violet. “You in?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How are we going to pull this off?” Seth asked. “Richardson still must have contacts in the law enforcement community. Noah’s right. The Brotherhood leaders will check us out. If they learn we’re cops, we’re dead. They’ll kill Teagan and Violet right along with us.” That couldn’t happen. “I won’t risk their safety.”
Maddox stared. “First, these women are highly trained in black ops. They could gut you and be gone before you realizedwhat happened. Second, the choice isn’t yours. It’s theirs. Suck it up and deal, Dixon.”
Fury burned in his gut. Yeah, he realized Teagan and her teammates probably did this type of work routinely. That didn’t mean he wanted to be the reason she walked into danger. Seth knew Teagan didn’t want to take part in this operation. He also knew she would knowingly put herself in the middle of this op to watch his back.
“Seth,” she murmured. Her gaze locked with his. “This is what we do. We’ll have your back.”
He watched her for a long moment, then gave a slight nod. “And I’ll have yours.” No one would hurt this woman on his watch.
Maddox cleared his throat. “Since you seem to have agreed, let’s continue. We have two ways to handle The Brotherhood problem. One, Fortress can create new identities for you. Our tech team is the best in the business. By the time we’re finished building your identities, no one would recognize your background as Ardmore cops.”
Too many risks with that option. “What’s the second way?”
“That one is more complicated,” Burnett said. “It would require some serious acting abilities by you and your partner.” He paused. “This option would also involve muddying your reputations.”
A ball of ice formed in Seth’s gut. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’re already under suspicion of murdering your CI,” Walters said. “Wouldn’t take much to sully your reputation further and paint you and your partner as dirty cops.”
Noah groaned. “Great. Just great. We’d be going into The Brotherhood as disillusioned cops? Talk about slapping a big red target on our backs.”
“You could take option one,” Maddox said mildly. “Unfortunately for you boys, you’re good at your jobs and have been in the Ardmore press more than once over the past few years. Chances are decent that someone might recognize your ugly mugs and figure you for plants in the militia.”
Seth scowled. “What’s preventing us from being shot on sight when we present ourselves for membership to this militia group?”
“Nothing except you and your ability to pull off the greatest acting job of your lives.”
That wasn’t the only problem. “If we’re declared dirty cops, I assume you plan to make statements to the media, LT?”
Regret filled Burnett’s eyes. “It’s the best way to keep you safe in the militia.”