Page 32 of Fatal Intent

“I am now. How long were you standing out here in the hall?”

“I followed you out. Although you needed time to yourself, I wanted to be close in case you needed me.”

Rayne’s eyes filled with tears again. At this rate, Grant might rethink getting involved with her. Some men couldn’t handle a woman’s tears. Grant, though, looked like he could deal with emotional storms. “This is what I need.” The tears spilled down her cheeks.

Grant wiped them away with his thumbs. “Can’t let you cry for long, babe. I’ll have my teammates and other single operatives all over the compound wondering what I did to make you cry, then lining up to make me pay.”

She laughed.

“Got a feeling we’ll be banged up when we return from Nicaragua. I’d rather not start this mission with injuries, if you don’t mind.”

“Right. I’ll get right on that.”

His gaze dropped from her eyes to her mouth. Grant drew in a deep breath. “You don’t know how badly I want to kiss you right now, but we need to get back to the conference room. Maddox has been sending me bad-tempered texts for the past 15 minutes, telling me to report to the conference room for the rest of the briefing.”

Oh, boy. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. I’ve been ignoring his summons. I wanted you to have the time you needed.”

Not good. Maddox would not be happy. “We'd better go.” She stepped out of his hold and walked down the hall with him. “Rain check on the kiss?”

“Deal.” Grant wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed gently.

When they reached the conference room, he stepped inside first, giving Rayne a few more seconds to shore up her defenses before facing Maddox and the others in the room. She appreciated his kindness.

Maddox paused his presentation. “Nice of you to join us. You two will stay after the rest of your teams are dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Their boss turned his attention back to the screen. “Note the area around the compound itself. Thick foliage and trees. The latest intel says Los Lobos has at least 50 members staying at the compound. They’re also heavily armed.” He glanced at Zane, who changed the picture on the wall screen. “As of two hours ago, the Whites were being held here and here.” Maddox used a laser pointer to indicate two buildings on opposite sides of the compound.

A muscle in Seth’s jaw twitched. “They separated the parents from the kids?”

A nod.

Andre growled. “The kids have to be terrified. Why would they do that? Wouldn’t it be easier to keep the family together?”

“Control,” Elias said.

“What better way to control the parents than to take the kids from them and threaten to hurt the children if the parents don’t cooperate?” Teagan’s hands fisted.

“We’ll get them out,” Seth murmured.

“But will it be in time?” Riley shoved her hands through her hair, leaving the tresses rumpled.

Andre rested his arm across the back of her chair. “We’ll make it. We’ve faced worse odds and come out on top.”

“The stakes are insanely high,” muttered Iona. “And the consequences of failure are devastating.”

Maddox pinned her with a pointed stare. “So don’t fail.” He looked at the members of Echo and Artemis. “The Whites are personal friends of the president. Do the job and get out of Nicaragua.”

“Restrictions?” Seth asked.

“None.”

Silence greeted his one-word statement.

Holy smoke. The boss had taken all restrictions off the table. Usually, the teams were told to keep casualties to a minimum. This time, Echo and Artemis were given permission to bring the Whites home no matter how they had to do it.