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Jake’s eyebrows rose. “Like that, is it?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Teagan glanced at Violet and rolled her eyes. Her teammate grinned.
“You mentioned something about inserting a tracker,” Noah said. “Please tell me that’s not as painful as it sounds.”
Jake chuckled. “A slight scratch, and I insert a tracker under the skin. It’s the size of a grain of rice.”
“Why do we need trackers on us?”
A shrug. “In case the worst happens and you’re in trouble and separated from your teammates. All of our operatives have two trackers embedded under their skin. It’s saved the lives of more than one operative over the years.”
Seth’s brow furrowed. “Where do you put them? It can’t be somewhere obvious.”
“Lower back and right shoulder blade. If Fortress needs to activate them, you’ll feel warmth from the tracker. It will stay active for a few hours unless Fortress deactivates it again.”
“What if no one knows we’re missing?”
“That’s where the watches come in. Teagan and Violet will tell you how to alert Fortress with your watches if you need help. There’s also a tracker embedded in the watch so your friends are covered as well.”
“Let’s see the watches.”
Violet opened the package and withdrew two watches.
Seth and Noah examined them. “Tactical watches,” Noah murmured.
Teagan pointed to the two buttons on the side of the watch. “This button is to alert Fortress you’re in trouble. The second button is to communicate with the tech on duty.”
Violet turned to Jake. “Did Z send trackers for the other three detectives?”
He inclined his head. “You want to tag them before the op starts?”
“I’d feel better if they had the extra protection in case their watches are taken.”
The other medic dug into his pack. “Zane thought you might feel that way.” Jake handed Violet three small clear plastic bags with two trackers in each bag. Each bag had a number stamped across the front. “Send a message to Zane after you’ve embedded them so he knows the tag number of each tracker and who’s wearing it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jake set his bag on the table and grabbed what he needed to embed the trackers. “Seth, Noah, take off your shirts and take a seat at the breakfast bar. We’ll be finished in under five minutes.”
The two men followed orders and settled on barstools with their backs to Jake. The medic swabbed the incision sites with alcohol wipes, then spread numbing gel over the areas.
“I understand Phantom will back up Artemis on this mission.”
“If we need them.” Teagan folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the breakfast bar beside Seth. “With the five detectives and Artemis, I don’t think we’ll have to call on them.”
“Hopefully not.” Jake tossed the empty gel packs into the trash and washed his hands. “I’ll check your backs in a minute to see if the incision sites are numb.”
The medic went back to his mike bag and grabbed two pairs of rubber gloves and a scalpel. He tugged on one pair and stood behind Seth. “Let’s start with you, Seth.” He pinched the skin below his right shoulder blade. “Do you feel anything?”
“Pressure. No pain.”
“Excellent. Ready?”
“Go for it.”
Jake made the small incision near the shoulder blade and took the first tracker from Violet, inserting it easily, then went through the same procedure for the second tracker. A minute later, Jake wiped away the blood with a wipe and inspected his work. “Nice. The incision sites look like a minor scratch, under half an inch. We’ll apply an antibiotic cream on the cuts. By tomorrow morning, the incision sites should be almost invisible.”