Page 127 of Storm Warning

He opened the door wide enough to slip inside the room and closed the door. Careful not to brush the wall, Andre worked toward his target. He stopped inches from the guard.

In seconds, his quarry was on the ground and unconscious from a sleeper hold. He took a few seconds to secure his hands and ankles with zip ties and slap a piece of duct tape over his mouth to keep him quiet.

That done, he tapped his comm device. “Target one is down.”

Seconds later, his teammates reported their success in securing the other guards. “Time to go after the big prize,” Seth murmured. “Stick with the plan. Andre, Riley, meet me outside the target’s door.”

Andre slipped into the hallway and waited for Seth and Riley. When she walked into the hall and toward him, his gaze took her in from head to toe, relief flooding him when he didn’t see signs of blood. He didn’t doubt her skills, but he worried just the same. No matter how well you planned an op, things always went wrong.

Seth slipped from the room where the fourth guard had stood watch and joined them. “Ready?”

They nodded. Andre and Seth stood on either side of the door. Seth signaled Andre to proceed with the plan.

He grasped the knob and twisted. The knob turned easily under his hand. Andre frowned. As paranoid as Cowan appeared to be, that made little sense. He glanced at Seth and nodded.

His leader motioned for him to proceed. Andre pushed the door open and slipped inside the darkened room. Sounds of rustling under the covers showed Cowan and his flavor of the night were distracted.

Following Seth’s hand signals, he walked in silence to the left side of the bed while Seth approached the right side. When both men were set, they grasped the covers and yanked them off.

A dark-haired woman squealed. Cowan cursed and reached under his pillow.

Seth pinned his wrist to the mattress. “Naughty, naughty, Cowan. You know that’s against the rules.”

More cursing from their target.

Andre clamped a hand over the woman’s mouth since she’d decided unwisely that this was a perfect time to scream. He glanced at Riley, who reached inside a vest pocket to retrieve her duct tape. After peeling a strip long enough to cover the woman’s mouth, she tore it off and nodded at Andre.

He shifted his hold to both of the woman’s arms as Riley slapped the tape over her mouth. Together, they cinched her wrists and ankles together and dropped a blanket over her unclothed body.

“What do you want?” Cowan spat out. Then he noticed Riley. “You. What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you that question. But I already know the answer.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He glared at Elias, who slipped into the room, taking a position at the foot of the bed. “Great. Another hoodlum I’ll have arrested and tossed in prison.”

Elias chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t think so, Cowan. We need to chat.”

“If you think I’ll cave like a girl and tell you what you want to know, you’re more stupid than I thought.” Again, his gazeshifted to Riley. “You’re with them?” Contempt filled his eyes. “We trained you to have more discernment than this. Makes me wonder how good your intel was.”

Seth flicked a glance at Andre, who nodded.

He searched the dresser drawers until he found a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Andre tossed both at Cowan. “Get dressed or we’ll take you just as you are.” His smile was more a baring of his teeth. “Might be a little cool in your birthday suit. Choose wisely, old man.”

Seth and Elias aimed their weapons at Cowan. Seth motioned for him to get busy. “You have one minute.”

“You’ll pay for this.”

“Not as much as you will.” Andre glared at him. “I guarantee it.”

For the first time, fear crept into the other man’s eyes.

Good. He should be afraid. Cowan had a lot to answer for, especially for throwing Riley to the wolves. His gut said Cowan was the one responsible for leaking intel to Obsidian Storm, including the name of the agent who killed Eduardo Garcia. Obsidian Storm’s leadership got lucky when Andre fell in love with Riley. Two targets in one place.

So, just how involved was Cowan with an organization determined to use a deadly germ against the United States?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“MOVE IT, COWAN. You take longer tugging on clothes than a teenage girl.” Andre enjoyed taunting the agent. The process would also help during the interrogation. Nothing like needling the man you planned to interrogate.