“I am.”
“Kendall, this is Liam O’Rourke,” Cooper said. “We’re your team.”
“I have a team?”
Chapter 14
Cooper smiled at the surprise in Kendall’s eyes. “You certainly do.”
“Why don’t you give Kendall a quick tour,” Grayson said. “We’ll meet you in the conference room in ten.”
“Can do.” His phone chimed, and he smiled when he eyed the screen. “It’s my sister.” He put his phone to his ear. “Hey, unless the sky’s falling, I can’t talk right now, but I need to tell you something. You going to be around tonight?”
“Yes. Can you give me a hint?”
“Nope. Talk tonight.” He disconnected before she could ask more questions.
“You’re going to tell her about Livie?” Kendall asked.
“And you. Come on, let’s take that tour.” The war room always impressed everyone, so he took her there first.
“Cool,” she said when he put his palm on the black box next to the door and the click of the lock rescinding sounded.
“This room is where we plan missions.”
“Wow,” she said as her gaze took in the room.
It was pretty cool. In the middle of the room was a conference table that would seat ten with monitors in front of each seat. The top half of one wall was a flat screen that was connected to the three high-tech computers placed on the three desks along the wall. They could project any location in the world onto the screen.
She walked to the whiteboard in the back of the room. “Who are all these children?”
“They’re kids we’ve rescued.” There weren’t any names attached to the photos, but he and his brothers knew every child’s name. “Most of them have been reunited with their families.”
“What about the ones who weren’t?”
“Those are in foster homes, but we keep tabs on them, make sure they’re okay and being treated right.”
She turned to him, and her eyes were watery. “Incredible what you guys do. You find them alive. Mine are all dead.”
He moved until he was in front of her. “But you help give their families closure.” He trailed his thumb over her cheek, catching a tear. “That’s important, too.”
“I know. I just wish I could do more, you know?”
“Yeah, I do. What’s your feeling on guns?”
“My dad gave me shooting lessons when I turned seventeen. I do own a gun, but it’s in a locked case high on a shelf in my closet. Why?”
“Your answer depended on whether I showed you another room before we go meet Gray and Liam.” He took her hand. “Come with me.” At the door to their weapons room, he put his hand on the security reader. When the lock disengaged, he opened the door, then stepped back, letting her enter first.
“Whoa,” she said.
He followed her into the room. The walls were filled with guns of all kinds, smoke bombs, night vision goggles, bulletproof vests and more. Some were weapons they’d collected during their time in the military, but most were items they’d added after starting The Phoenix Three. They seldom had to make use of any of the weapons in this room, but they occasionally had.
She picked up a pair of night vision goggles. “I’ve always wondered what it looked like with these on.”
“Put it on.” He flipped the on button, activating the battery.
“This is weird.” She turned to him and grinned. “You’re green.” She removed them and placed them back on the hook. “I think they’d take some getting used to.”