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“At this rate, we won’t need another Fortress team to infiltrate,” Noah said. “I’m surprised Richardson and Peters will talk to seven of us at once.”
“We may not need more help.” Violet exchanged glances with Teagan. “But it’s always better to have more help available than not enough. The more dangerous the mission, the more desperate the enemy is to keep things quiet.”
The server returned to their table. “Dessert? We have the best Tiramisu in the state. I guarantee you’ll love it.”
“Sold. Four, please,” Noah said. He winked at Violet. “Sounds like something my woman would love.”
The teen grinned and hurried to the kitchen to put in their dessert order.
Violet sighed. “At this rate, I’ll have to run extra miles to keep my weight under control.”
Teagan rolled her eyes. “Come on, Violet. You never have an ounce of extra fat on your body, and we train like demons all the time, anyway. No chance of you gaining weight.”
Noah cupped Violet’s chin with his palm. “You’re perfect. Whoever told you that you were fat needs his backside kicked, baby.”
Teagan’s teammate blushed but looked pleased at the compliment. “Thanks for saying that.”
A careless shrug from the detective. “I’m just speaking the truth.”
Once the server delivered the desserts, Teagan grabbed her fork, cut off a bite, and fed it to Seth first.
He chewed and groaned.
She smiled. “Good?”
“Excellent.” He picked up his fork and fed her a bite. “What do you think?”
“I think this is my favorite dessert yet.”
Soon, they finished their meals, paid the bill, and made their way toward the front door. Seth rested his hand at Teagan’s lower back. The table of women looked disappointed that he didn’t make eye contact with them. Too bad for them. Excellent for her. Teagan didn’t share. Ever.
“Slow up,” Noah murmured behind them when they started across the parking lot toward the SUV.
Teagan’s hand slid toward the knife sheathed at her back as she noticed the white paper on the windshield of her SUV. She glanced at Violet who gave a nod and tugged Noah to the leftwhile she nudged Seth to the right. “Let Violet check the SUV before you touch the paper,” she murmured to Seth.
“Check it how?”
She pulled an electronic signal detector from her pocket and showed it to him. “Checks for electronic signals.” Teagan turned on the device to show him the green chaser lights. “Turns red when it detects a bomb or trackers.”
“Nice. I could use one of those.”
“I’ll put in a request for you.”
“You do that, baby.” He cupped the side of her waist with his hand. “How long does it take to check?”
“Less than a minute.”
“Good. I feel like a sitting duck out here.”
“Same.”
Violet finished her circuit around the vehicle. “Clean.” She pulled a pair of rubber gloves from her pocket and handed them to Seth. “Just in case someone left a nasty surprise on the paper.”
“Thanks.” Seth raised the windshield wiper and freed the paper. He glanced at the type-written message, his lips curling.
“What does it say?” Teagan asked.
“About what I expected.” He showed it to the others.