Holt closed the slide he was on, pulling up another presentation.A map of the U.S.appeared, with stars marking specific locations spread across the country.“A homegrown terror cell has been setting up weapons’ caches outside of several major cities—New York.St.Louis.Seattle.They’re plotting simultaneous attacks on the homeland.They’re aiming for shock value—attacks on landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Gateway Arch, and Space Needle, amongst others.”
Boone frowned as Holt clicked to the next slide.
“The network behind the terror plot is based on the West Coast.Although they were operating out of L.A., we have reason to believe they’ve set up shop here in Seattle to receive additional shipments.”
“Fuuuuck,” Xaden said, frowning at the grainy surveillance photograph of weapons being offloaded in a Seattle port.
Holt shot him an annoyed look.
“Sorry boss,” Xaden said, not looking sorry in the least.He leaned forward in his seat as Holt clicked to another slide.
Boone’s eyes danced across the photographs of the men suspected to be part of the terror cell.They were young males, all looking to be in their twenties or possible late teens.There were also several blank squares—spaces with a name or initials beneath but no face to match the identification.What had radicalized these men to plot attacks against their own country?Anger flowed through his veins.
“We need to ID this entire cast of characters,” Holt said in a hard voice.“The Feds slid this pile of shit our way, and nothing is going to happen to a single American citizen on our watch.We’re identifying every single man involved, locating the weapons stashed in various hideouts, and ending this before any of the attacks take place,” he said.
“Why aren’t the Feds taking point on this operation?”Knox asked.
Holt turned his attention from the slideshow back to the team.“It’s believed that two members of the U.S.military are potentially involved in this operation.We’ve been going off intercepted text messages, chatter in online rooms, and other messaging apps to determine the scope of who is involved.The Feds want an undercover team on this, and we’ve been tasked with the assignment.Jett’s team will scout the location in New York given their proximity to the city, but the other sites are ours.”
He continued the briefing, stopping only when his phone buzzed with a text.Holt cursed silently as he scanned over the message but continued the presentation.As the men moved to dismiss twenty minutes later, Holt took Boone aside.The others would be poring over raw intelligence, working with analysts at Shadow Security, and trying to ID the other suspects and discover any additional targets or weapons caches.Boone, however, had his own job to get to.
“Radley is supposed to be scouting one of the possible weapons caches this morning but is already on her way to a second location.I don’t know what she found, but I don’t like the threatening texts she’s getting.She may be highly capable, but she’s still a woman alone.”
Holt slid an address across the table on a slip of paper and Boone palmed it, nodding.
“She’s a spitfire.Looks rather sweet and innocent, but Radley will unleash hell on anyone who crosses her.She and Jett go way back.He recommended Radley himself to me.She’s an asset to the team, but I don’t want her working alone right now until we determine she’s not in danger.”
“Understood, boss.I’ll handle it.”
Holt smirked.“She’ll have you by the balls before you know it.”
Boone shook his head, his lips quirking.That woman he’d seen yesterday wouldn’t be a problem.He’d dealt with all types in his career, and it was hard to imagine that the beautiful woman he’d admired from afar would be giving him trouble.Boone knew how to handle women like her, and he was looking forward to it.Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he thought about working with her today.He’d finally get to meet the sexy brunette for himself.He couldn’t fucking wait.
Chapter 4
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