Page 49

“But, sir….”
“You froze, didn’t you?”
How did he know? No one knew, not even Violet, and she’d been in the office with her. “Only for a few seconds,” she admitted. Her cheeks burned. Teagan thought she’d beat this down. Was she wrong? Man, if that was the case, this was a lousy time to discover the truth. The Brotherhood was not a social club. These men and women were tough as nails and expected you to give as good as you got. If she appeared weak, she’d be prey for every person in that compound. No way would she put Seth and Noah in the position of having to defend her.
“If there is a next time, handle it immediately or ask for help. Period. I’m trusting you to be honest with me and yourself, Paloni. If you let me down again, I will pull you from Artemis until I’m positive your response will be spot on every time. Am I making myself clear?”
Teagan gritted her teeth. Did he have to do this here, today? Yeah, she got where he was coming from. The boss was looking out for her wellbeing. If he couldn’t trust her to react appropriately, she could be seriously hurt the next time. Worse, if she froze, one of her teammates could pay the price. That wasn’t acceptable. Every member of Artemis was a friend, and now that small circle included Seth and Noah. “Yes, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“Make sure you’re ready. Z is already catching chatter on the Dark Web about Seth and Noah. If they’re introduced as a good fit for The Brotherhood, you could be undercover in a day or two.”
“Copy that, sir.”
“Seth?”
“Yes, sir?”
“At the moment, only you and your partner are approved to work this op with Teagan and Violet. Do not go around me. We’ll lay the groundwork for all five of you provided your friends pass our background checks. Fair warning. They are extensive. If you have any secrets in your backgrounds, they’ll be uncovered by the time we’re finished. Do you want to tell me anything before we start?”
Bowen snorted. “Grant Bowen, sir. That depends. Will you go as far back as our juvenile years?”
Maddox chuckled. “We don’t play by the same rules as law enforcement. Everything is fair game to Fortress tech geeks.”
“Then you should know every one of us has a juvie record. As soon as we hit 18, we each joined the Army. We were all Special Forces. We served in the same unit and mustered out of the military together to attend the police academy and join Ardmore PD. We’re a team, sir. Whether or not you like it, we’re going in with Seth and Noah. We’ll have their backs like we always have.”
A slight pause, then, “We’ll see, Knight. Do nothing until I get back to you. Teagan, Violet, touch base with Iona and report the latest.” Maddox ended the call.
Marsh gave a soft whistle. “I’d hate to be on his bad side.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Violet muttered. “That was a mild rebuke. Maddox has made seasoned veterans quake in their boots. He doesn’t put up with anything.”
Bowen pushed back from the table and stood. “We need to get going. If we’re out of touch too long, we’ll raise suspicions before we make our play.”
The other two stood as well. “Don’t contact The Brotherhood,” Knight said. “We’ll get you in there soon.”
Marsh looked grim. “I hope the feds are wrong about the militia group planning something big. If they’re not, though,you’ll need all of us with you to get the information on the target and get out of the compound alive.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ONCE THEIR FELLOWdetectives left the room, Seth glanced at Noah. “We need to get out of here ourselves and be seen around town.”
“Yeah, but where do we want to go? We also need time to get our gear ready if we’re invited to join the militia.”
Seth’s gaze shifted to Teagan. More than anything, he needed time with his girl. Although he wanted Teagan to trust him enough to share her past with him, time wasn’t on their side. He had to know her triggers to help her avoid situations where she would freeze. “Teagan?”
She blinked and looked at him. “What?”
Not good. She normally was alert and ready for trouble. He’d noticed that for months. Wasn’t the case today. Today she was distracted and that could get her killed if she didn’t get into the right head space fast. “Suggestions for places we should be seen around town for the next few hours. We’ll also have to hole up someplace for the night.”
“We should stay together. We shouldn’t go to our individual homes in case The Brotherhood tries to contact you and Noah tonight. You need someone to watch your backs. Why not your fake girlfriend?”
And she needed another woman to help her feel comfortable in his home, especially after what little he’d pieced together of her background. “Noah’s relationship with Violet might be fake, but our relationship is not. Would one of your teammates bewilling to stay at my place with us and another stay with Violet at Noah’s house? Better to have three people for night watch than only two, right?”
Her fists relaxed. “I’m sure they’d be glad to help. That’s a great idea, Seth.”
“I’ll message Iona.” Violet pulled out her phone and sent a text to her team leader. She received a response a moment later. “Rayne will stay with Teagan. Riley will stay with me. Iona will keep watch outside your house, Seth. Maddox will assign another operative for guard duty at Noah’s.”
“Good,” Noah said. “Where should we be seen for the next couple of hours while we wait for Fortress to do their background research?”