“Oh, I’m not complaining. Just stating the facts.”
“Let’s keep going.” Christian took command of the room. “We can keep talking things through while we wait for Cutler to get back.”
That was exactly what they did. From the start of this thing to where they were now, Rocky, Raegan, and the rest of Delta Team went back through everything for what felt like the millionth time.
And when Liam returned—with a sizeable black plastic case in his hands—he went to the middle of the room and set whatever it was down onto the hardwood floor below.
“What the hell is that?” Cade asked as they all inched closer.
Flicking up the tabs keeping the case secured, he lifted the lid with a smile. “Gentlemen…and lady…meet Betty.”
The lid fell open, revealing a very fancy, very expensive-looking drone.
“Betty?” Raegan tilted her head to the side as she studied the high-tech flying machine.
“She’s an autonomous airborne radiation monitoring system, or AARM,” Liam explained. “But Betty sounds prettier.”
Rocky and the others shook their heads while Raegan’s lips lifted into a small smile. Seeing her like this…working side-by-side with his team…getting along with his team…it all seemed so normal, somehow.
So right.
“She’s designed to deliver meter resolution maps of known radiation sites, including high dose areas,” Liam added for their benefit.
“So she finds the source of the radiation for us so we can go in and diffuse it?” Cade summarized.
A small shrug lifted and dropped Liam’s shoulders. “Us, the feds…whoever gets there first. But yeah, that’s pretty much the idea.”
“Does Betty need to be charged, or is she ready to?—”
“Nope.” Liam cut off Raegan’s question. “I always keep her ready to fly, just in case there’s an emergency.”
“Pretty sure this qualifies,” Cade muttered with a deep snort.
Looking around the room, Raegan appeared to be blanketed with nervous energy. “So what are we waiting for? I mean, shouldn’t we be headed to the airport like…right now?”
All at once, the entire group began making preparations to leave.
“I’ll call Foster on the way,” Christian announced, referring to their Homeland handler. “She can fight it out with the feds and CPD. Rocky, why don’t you call Special Agent Atwell and fill her in on the plan?”
“On it!” He was already reaching for the phone in his back pocket.
Raegan led the way to his truck as he and the others filtered their way out of Rocky’s home. They raced to their respective vehicles, and within minutes, they were on the highway breaking land-speed records to get to the airport in time to keep that fucking bomb from detonating.
As he drove, Rocky filled Atwell in on what they believed to be Samer’s plan. Now she and the rest of the FBI and CPD were having to scramble to send units to all twenty U.S. Bank branches in the city—to hopefully thwart off the massive robbery attempt Elias Connors had told them about—as well as O’Hare International Airport.
Having gotten a massive leg up, Rocky and the others would get there well before the feds or CPD, which meant it would most likely be up to them to locate and diffuse the bomb.
With one hand on the wheel, he reached over with his other and covered Raegan’s balled up fist with his. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.”
Ithadto be okay. Because he’d only just found her. And if they made it out of this thing alive, Rocky was realizing more and more that he wasn’t so sure he ever wanted to let her go.
13
Raegan heldthe oh shit handle with a tight, steady grip as Rocky drove like a madman around one of the airport’s many, many curves.
Come on, come on, come on…
She glanced around at the endless lines of cars in the lots. The planes parked at their designated terminals in the distance.