“Hell yes. Boss man is so screwed.”
My smile grew impossibly wide. I bloody wish.
Before I reached Thatch’s office, I shook myself off, trying to push away my lusty thoughts. From what Kent had said, more intel had come in and the next day, there was something planned. It didn’t take much to get my mindset back into the job. How could it not when the risk to my niece was so real?
I sat down in the chair facing Thatch’s desk. He was already sitting, a bunch of paperwork surrounding him and his screens angled so I could see.
“We’ve received intel about a raid on a shifter children’s home.”
All humour screeched to a halt. I sat bolt upright, my eyes steady on Thatch until he indicated I should look at the screen. Five children’s faces stared back at me, of varying ages between ten to fifteen, if I had to guess, and all girls.
“You suspect it’s our mark?”
“Yeah.” He exhaled, exhaustion swirling in his eyes and present in his voice. “With all the labs Cartwright gave up now being closed, we expect them to be scrambling. Not only for secure labs but also for more subjects.”
A frown dipped my brows, and I leaned back, trying to get my thoughts together. “Why aren’t they lying low? They know we’re on to them, know we’re getting closer. They can only stay a step ahead for a short time before we catch up and take them down.” Conviction lit my words. I believed every word I said. We’d be taking them all down. Now we needed to do that even faster to save the five girls they’d abducted. Anger pulsed through me when I considered how terrified they must be.
“Based on what Cartwright said and our successful raids, I think we have to assume they’re close to what they started on Hazel.” He eyed me warily, no doubt wondering how I’d react at that news. “This whole thing is a mess. They seem to be involved in so much shit, so many drugs, so many levels of experimentation; it’s the reason why for two years I’ve been working on the damn thing. Shutting shit down as fast as I could, but it’s still not fast enough.” The sound of his jaw grinding would have been enough to tell me he was struggling, but it was the gruffness in his voice that concerned me more.
He was going to lose it. I couldn’t let that happen.
“But you have something for tomorrow that Kent’s working on.” I made it a statement, ensuring he didn’t hear any doubt in my words. “The cluster of chaos that they’re involved in, the extremes of what they’re involved in, why they are in the first place don’t matter for now. Our focus is these girls, getting them out and making sure they’re safe.” I paused briefly, long enough to distract Thatch from his anger.
“What are you thinking?”
“They’re getting sloppy.” My grin bordered on sadistic. “When did the girls go missing?”
“At some point during the early hours. We’re approximating ten hours.”
“They’re panicking, getting sloppy. Have they ever done anything like this before?”
Thatch’s shoulders visibly relaxed a little as he said, “Never. Always off the streets. Often the homeless, people walking home late at night, the occasional mother and daughter heading to the car after a recital or something, but never like this. Certainly not enough to immediately raise the red flag so quickly.” The smile that tipped his lips was thin, but he was no longer feeling as helpless. “Sloppy and arrogant.”
My mouth quirked a little at that. Reining it in, I asked, “Why can’t we move until tomorrow?”
He sighed. “We’re still searching for hard intel. There’s a lot of talk, but nothing yet concrete. I’m about to call a meeting in thirty, and I expect us to be moving early hours in the morning.”
“So no sleep tonight?”
“Nope. I’m giving everyone five hours to get some rest on site, and then we’ll debrief two hours before we’re set.”
“And how about you?” Concern filled my voice. I understood better than anyone how significant it was to win this one. Get the girls back safely. But that didn’t mean Thatch could work on fumes alone.
“What about me?”
I shook my head at him, not at all surprised by his inability to ensure he was looking after himself too. While it made him a good guy and excellent at his job, it also brought with it risk. And that, I wasn’t down for. “You and rest.”
“I’m all good.”
“No, you need to get some downtime too. Everything will be a waiting game until tonight, I expect.” I glanced at the clock. It was only just gone midday. “After the meeting, I’ll take four, then tag, you’re it.”
He looked set to argue until his phone rang. He answered it, his eyes still on me. I heard a man’s voice down the line. “We’re down to two locations. Should have more in a couple of hours.”
Thatch immediately responded. “Send the specs to me for both. Good job, Jamison.”
“You got it.” I heard fingers hitting a keyboard down the end of the line. “Okay, should be good to go, handsome.”
I froze while Thatch shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes, which had been peering at his computer screen, flicking up to meet mine. He coughed, the sound awkward and forced. “Thanks, Jamison. Let me know when you have absolutes.”
“You’ve got it.”
Without responding, Thatch ended the call, his eyes now back on the screen, seemingly resolute in not looking my way. Meanwhile, the last few moments of their conversation had been muffled by the deep pounding of my heart. It was loud and fierce, so much so I had to channel my breathing to get myself together.
Handsome? What the ever-loving—
“Check these out.”
I shook my head and stood, grateful for the distraction. Green was not a good colour on me. Yeah, it may match his eyes, but that dread swirling in my gut, the familiarity I’d heard in
