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He froze while reaching for his duffel bag. Decades? He tried on other, short-term words, but none of them felt right.
Seth groaned. What a time to realize he was head-over-heels in love with Teagan Paloni. He grabbed his bag and dropped it on his bed. Maybe this was the perfect time. Knowing the woman he loved was at risk would make him even more deadly in defending her if her life was in danger. No one would hurt Teagan while he was still breathing. She was his. End of story.
He grabbed clothes, packed them quickly, then turned to his gun safe. Seth spent more time deciding what weapons and ammunition to take with him than he did which clothes to pack. If he felt the need for more weapons, he’d find an excuse to leave the compound and secure what he needed to protect Teagan and himself.
When he finished, he took a fast shower and dressed for a quick roll out in case trouble found them during the night. Before he shut off the light, he sent a message to his partner to check in. He received an answer seconds later, confirming everything was quiet at Noah’s home. Good. Hopefully, all of them would get one more night of rest before they shifted into mission mode.
At 3:00 a.m., a knock on the door roused him. “Seth?”
Rayne.
He shoved his feet into his tactical boots and hurried to open the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Iona says the same black truck has driven down the street three times in the past half hour. She thinks someone is getting ready to attack.”
“Let’s go.” He crossed the hall to Teagan’s room and knocked. “Teagan.”
Seconds later, she opened the door, alert and dressed. “Trouble?”
“Maybe. A suspicious truck has been circling the block.”
Teagan looked at Rayne. “Did Iona call in the plate?”
“Yep. The tech geeks are running it now.”
Seth’s eyebrows rose. “You can run plates?”
Teagan laughed. “The Fortress tech geeks can do a lot of things that aren’t strictly legal. If it bothers you, plug your ears.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
He led the way downstairs to the living room and pulled the edge of the curtain aside enough to peer outside. Less than a minute later, a black truck slowly drove down the street and disappeared around the corner. “I don’t like this. Has Riley reported anything suspicious at Noah’s place?”
Rayne frowned. “I’ll send her a message.” She pulled out her phone.
“You think this might be a two-pronged attack?” Teagan asked.
“Depends on whether this is The Brotherhood or our former coworkers from the Ardmore PD.”
She flashed Seth a look. “Some friends if this threat is from the police department.”
“Like the military, we depend on our fellow cops to have our backs. With our muddy records, Noah and I broke the trust between officers.”
“I hope it’s not them. I don’t want to shoot a cop.” She stepped close to his side and lowered her voice. “But make no mistake, Seth. I will take out a cop if he’s a threat to you.”
He prayed that wouldn’t be necessary. The last thing he wanted was to put himself or Teagan in that position.
“The only reason The Brotherhood would come after you when they worked so hard to recruit you is if someone discovered you and Noah were working with law enforcement to infiltrate the compound.”
“I know. Got to be honest. I’d rather they come after us now than when we’re cut off from help.” Still didn’t feel good about the likelihood of them escaping the compound with noone discovering they hadn’t bought into the philosophy and leadership of Richardson and Peters.
Rayne glanced at Seth. “Another truck is parked a few houses down from Noah’s house. He says it doesn’t belong in the neighborhood.”
“Is Fortress running that plate, too?”
“They’re on it. They’ll get back to us as soon as they have something.”
He hoped they had answers before the people in the trucks made their move. They didn’t need to be caught up with law enforcement before they supposedly joined The Brotherhood. If they were late, Seth doubted Richardson and Peters would wait for them, no matter the explanation was for the delay.