“Which guy?”Radley asked, curious.
“Blake Shepperd,” Boone told her.
Radley nodded, recalling seeing his photograph.The guy was young, only twenty years old, with a baby face and pale gray eyes.It was hard to imagine a clean-cut guy like that becoming radicalized and plotting attacks on the homeland.
“There’s a large number of men to track,” Radley said.“Maybe this guy will lead them to some of the others.We don’t have enough manpower to follow everyone.”
“Which is why we focused on where multiple men were meeting,” Boone said.“The cabin.The warehouse.If nothing is happening with either of those, we still need to move forward with the investigation in other ways.”
“I should meet with one of them,” Radley said, an idea blooming in her head.
Both men’s heads swiveled toward her.
“The hell you shouldn’t,” Boone countered.
“I could make contact with one of the members,” Radley said.“Make small talk.Get him to trust me.I’ll see if I can learn anything new that way.”
“Notice how the terror cell is all men?”Boone asked, his voice hardening.“Aside from the fact that they hate America, they hate women as well.If they even suspect you’re working with the Feds, you’re as good as dead.”
“I’ve gone undercover plenty of times in my career,” Radley said, her voice growing icy.“I only left the agency because I was compromised.It’s not your decision,” she reminded him.“I’ll bring it up to Holt later on and see what he thinks.”
“And I’ll tell him it’s a damn reckless idea,” Boone countered.
Knox eyed them curiously.“Look, I think her idea could work, but whatever.While you two are busy with your little quarrel, I’m going to look more into who the possible servicemembers involved in the plot are.”
Radley’s face flamed.Calling it a quarrel almost gave the impression it was a lover’s spat, which was the furthest thing from the truth.She and Boone bantered constantly, but damn.That’s because the man got under her skin.She wasn’t dating the guy.They’d known each other for mere days, and he had absolutely no say in her decision making.
“The possible involvement of U.S.servicemembers is an entire other layer that we need to analyze,” Knox continued.“We have the intercepted messages.I want to narrow down who else could be involved.Analysts have been working on it around the clock, but I’ve got some thoughts I want to discuss with them.”
“What are you thinking?”Radley asked, curious.
“I’ll fill you in later,” Knox told them both.“It could be nothing, and I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up until I do some digging.Call me if you two need any backup.”
“Will do,” Boone said, his expression still hard as he looked at Radley.
“Let’s go,” she said, turning and walking away without so much as a backward glance.Boone could be stubborn as hell, and the last thing she needed was another man trying to control her or decide her fate.
***
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, they were heading to the cabin.“Don’t be mad, kitten,” Boone said, smirking as they rode in his truck.
She glared at him.“We could’ve taken my vehicle.”
“And as I already explained, we know you’re under surveillance.Speaking of which,” he continued in his smooth baritone, “you haven’t mentioned any new texts.”
“That’s because I switched phone numbers, remember?The IT staff has my old one, and I’m sure they’re receiving texts but not notifying me.”
Boone frowned.
Radley eyed him, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face.“Cheer up, big guy.I’m sure they’ll fill me in when necessary.”
“Would’ve been helpful if they filled me in since Holt asked me to keep you safe.”
“And we’re back to that again,” she said sarcastically.“I for one don’t mind not reading those nasty text messages.”
“Were there more before you changed your number?”
“Yes, including a particularly disgusting one about tying me to his bed.That asshole claimed I had it easy with Schultz and that he wouldn’t be so careful with me.”