Page 84 of Storm Warning

That must be a first. Andre couldn’t remember a time when Iona had backed down on something important. From what he had observed in the past few days, Elias would have his hands full keeping Iona safe. Artemis’s leader was as fiercely protective of her team members as Seth was of Echo. As a leader, Iona was more likely to put herself in danger than to take the safe route for herself.

Officer Green cleared his throat. “Uh, please don’t talk to each other unless I can hear you. I’m supposed to make sure you don’t collaborate on your stories, and I don’t want to get into trouble.”

“No worries, Officer Green.” Iona smiled at the rookie. “We won’t talk about the shooting.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“How long have you been on the job, Green?” Elias asked.

“Six months, sir.”

“Do you like the work?”

Green hesitated. “Most of it.”

“What part don’t you like?”

“The death notifications.”

Sympathy rolled through Andre. He and his teammates had been responsible for informing many families that their loved ones were gone. Green was right. That was the worst part of being a cop. “We understand.”

“No offense, sir, but you can’t know how bad it is until you do it.”

“We have. Elias and I were on the job until a few months ago.”

The rookie straightened. “You were? Why did you quit?”

“We took down a dirty cop and ended up with targets on our backs. Turns out the other cops on the force felt that we betrayed a brother in blue. Working black ops missions for Fortress is safer than answering calls in our hometown with no backup.”

Green gave a soft whistle. “That’s rough.”

Understatement of the year. They’d paid a heavy price for doing the right thing, losing their careers.

A moment later, a plain four-door sedan that screamed unmarked police vehicle parked a few feet behind the SUV. Two men dressed in suits and ties got out of the car and approached the rookie.

The tall one said, “Green, what do we have?”

He motioned to the Fortress operatives and explained the shooting and their responses.

Tall man narrowed his eyes. “Are you kidding me? You went after the shooter?” His eyes glittered as he stared at Andre and Elias. “The shooter could have killed you.”

“We were on the job until a few months ago,” Andre said.

“Homicide detectives,” Elias added.

“But you aren’t cops now?”

“We’re in black ops.”

“That job is more dangerous than law enforcement,” Short man said.

“Not if you have targets on your back for taking down a dirty cop.”

Tall man straightened. “Wait a minute. You worked for the Ardmore Police Department, didn’t you?”

“Good news travels fast.” Elias folded his arms across his chest. “Look, do you want to know what we discovered across the street or not? If you don’t, I have plans with this beautiful lady that don’t include you.”

Short man moved closer. “You contaminated a crime scene?”