Page 150 of BounBound By Scars

???

“Where is he?”

I asked Sebastian the moment everyone gathered in the conference room the next morning, just before the team was scheduled to head out to Virginia.

Maverick was missing from the bullpen.

Sebastian didn’t look up from the mission board. “The slammer.”

I frowned. “And where exactly is that? Don’t tell me you’ve got a dungeon hidden somewhere in this facility.”

“What the fuck, Ranger?” Zarek muttered, exasperated.

Seb’s eyes widened like he’d been accused of war crimes. “Relax. It’s far,faraway from your pregnant wife.”

I blinked. “Wait. What?”

My stomach twisted—half joy, half dread.

“Leora’s pregnant?” I whispered.

Zarek looked like he’d been caught mid-sentence and forced to give up a secret. He glanced at the rest of the op team—Delara, Dylan, Sebastian, and Zane—then finally met my gaze.

“Yeah. Four months.”

A soft rush of emotion hit me. The kind you don’t expect. Hope, maybe. But also fear.

I looked around, scanning instinctively. “Where’s Logan?”

“He’s staying behind with her,” Delara said. “Kaylan too. Logan’s still not cleared for fieldwork after Operation Tantalus.”

I nodded. That made sense. But it meant we were going in short.

Just Zarek, Zane, Dylan, and Delara.

Fuck.

And I couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

“I think we should hold off on the attack.”

All heads turned to me.

Here we go.

Zane narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

I took a breath. “Because I think it’s a trap. The Doom Switch has been hidden for years. Suddenly we find a perfect lead, in a location tied to Romano himself? It’s too easy. Too convenient.”

Sebastian let out a long breath. “Even if it is… we still have to try. I have confirmation Romano will be at the estate today. If the Doom Switch isn’t there, we capture him.”

Zarek raised a brow. “You’re suggesting we kidnap the US Secretary of Defense?”

“That was Plan B,” Zane muttered.

I closed my eyes for a moment, bracing for what was coming next.

This was spiraling.