Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

TEAGAN PREPPED THE coffee maker for their late-night meeting with her team and Seth's, then turned to see the detective standing in the kitchen doorway with his gaze locked on her.

When he didn't say a word, she glanced down at herself. Had she chosen the wrong clothes for their dinner out? "Is something wrong?"

Seth approached her and rested his hands on the counter on either side of Teagan, loosely caging her in. "Everything is perfect. I thought you were gorgeous last night when I took you to The Ranch." He shook his head. "Sweetheart, you're even more beautiful tonight."

Her eyebrows soared. "I'm wearing jeans and a shirt along with ankle boots."

"Both versions of you are perfection. I prefer this one."

"Why?"

"You're comfortable and confident which is an enormous turn on for me. I also know you're armed to the teeth which I also find hot. You just do it for me, babe."

She smiled. "You're crazy."

"Crazy about you." Seth cupped her nape. "I'm dying to kiss you, Teagan. May I?"

Teagan closed the distance between them. Detective Dixon had kissing skills. No need to pretend to have chemistry with this man during their mission. He lit her up from the inside the moment he touched her.

Heavy footsteps warned her they were about to have an interruption. Before she could break the kiss, Seth eased back and turned, putting himself between her and Noah. Teagan had recognized his footsteps, something the trainers at Personal Security International would drum out of anyone within the first few days of training. A noisy operative was a dead operative.

Now that she thought about it, Noah and Seth both had been in Special Forces in the Army. The military had to have taught them how to change position without making a sound. Noah must be alerting her and Seth to his approach. Kind of sweet. Her lips curved. Or simply a matter of survival. Perhaps he suspected sneaking up on her wasn't wise.

A pause, then a wry masculine voice asked, "Do I need to come back in a few minutes?"

"Unnecessary." Seth reached back for Teagan's hand. "Are you and Violet ready to go?"

"She's waiting in the living room. I talked to Knight. He and the others will make their way here by midnight. They handed in their resignations at the close of shift this afternoon. Burnett was livid for real."

Seth gave a soft whistle. "The lieutenant may not hire them back after this mission."

"Burnett warned them that was a likely scenario since they were bailing without notice and against his orders. Then he commended them for their loyalty and ordered them to watch the backs of the infiltration team."

"We should get going," Teagan said as she moved to stand beside Seth. "Let's see if The Brotherhood has heard the news and takes the bait tonight."

Minutes later, they sat in a corner booth in her favorite Italian restaurant. After the waitress took their orders, Teagan scanned the crowded dining room. Above the music playing in the background, restaurant patrons filled the room with the rise and fall of conversation.

Seth draped his arm across Teagan's shoulders and leaned down to brush a kiss to her ear. "See anyone who catches your attention?"

"Several men."

"Let me guess." Another kiss, this time to the side of her neck. "Center table, two men. One is wearing a black t-shirt. The second one is wearing a blue button down."

"Very good. Who else?"

"Right corner, front of the restaurant. Three men and one woman."

"Three women near the door."

He stiffened. "What about them?"

"They're staring at my boyfriend. I don't like it."

Seth pulled back to stare at Teagan. "How do you know they're not staring at Noah?"

"Those women haven't even glanced his way. They want you."

His mouth curved. "Too bad for them the only woman in my life is you."

"Except for your mother and your sisters-in-law."

"They're related to me, sweetheart. They don't count." He lifted their entwined fingers and kissed Teagan's knuckles.

"Did we miss any suspicious patrons?" She scanned the dining room again. No one else pinged on her radar.

"Actually, I was the one who missed the table of women ogling me."

"How could you miss the obvious hopeful looks sent your way?"

"Easy. I was too busy looking at you."

"Heads up," Noah murmured. "Server's headed our way."

Teagan broke away from Seth's intense stare as the server set plates filled with lasagna in front of each of them and placed a large serving bowl of salad in the center of the table. When he moved off to the next table, Teagan and the others dug into their meals.

Violet moaned as she chewed her first bite of lasagna. "This is so good."

"Better than my mother's," Seth agreed.

Teagan glanced at him. "Can you cook?"

"You bet. Mom taught all of us to cook. She said she didn't want us to sit on our backsides while our wives or girlfriends did all the work. All the Dixon men can do laundry and clean the house, too." His smile faded and pain filled his eyes.

Teagan rested her free hand on his knee and squeezed gently. "We'll fix it," she murmured. "I promise."

"Company," Noah said in a low voice.

Teagan and her companions continued to eat as Leon Peters and Boyd Richardson made their way to the table.

The men stopped occasionally to talk to people who caught their attention, then resumed the journey to the table. When they finally arrived, Seth and Noah set their forks on their plates.

"Can we help you?" Noah asked.

"It's more what we can do for you, Detective Mann," Peters said. "Or I should say former Detective Mann. My name is Leon Peters. This is Boyd Richardson."

Seth set his water glass on the table with a thud. "Did you come over here to gloat, Peters? If so, go finish your meal and let us eat in peace."

Richardson chuckled. "And leave you to lick your wounds over your unfair treatment? Hardly seems like a sporting thing to do when we can offer you and your partner something better."

"Is that right?" Noah's eyebrows rose. "Care to explain?"

"Not here. Where can we meet that's more private?"

Teagan remained silent and watchful. The last thing she wanted was for Seth and Noah to meet the leaders of The Brotherhood at either of their houses. Just not smart to let the enemy know where they lived. Of course, the two detectives weren't rookies. They'd been on undercover ops before. So where would they choose to meet?

"The coffee shop on Highway 35," Seth said. "It's open 24 hours a day and caters to truckers. They have an alcove that will be private enough."

Peters nodded. "All right. What time tonight can you meet?"

Noah snorted. "In a hurry, Peters?"

Peters and Richardson exchanged glances before Richardson said, "We don't want to lose you to other offers."

Seth raised Teagan's hand to his mouth again before he said wryly, "They're not exactly beating down our doors."

"Their loss." Peters' gaze shifted to Teagan and Violet. "You lovely ladies are welcome to attend the meeting with your boyfriends."

"Why?" Seth demanded. "What do you want with Teagan and Violet?"

"We want our members to be happy and settled. You would be neither if we insisted you live on site without your women. Am I correct?"

Teagan smiled at Peters. "You are. We're not interested in spending months away from our men. Did enough of that in the Army, didn't we, Violet?"

Peters and Richardson's interest in her and her teammate sharpened. "You're military trained?"

"Ten years in, both of us," Violet said.

"Well, well. You're full of surprises," Peters murmured. "I'm looking forward to meeting with you even more now. By all means, please bring your ladies. Are you available to meet at 11:00 tonight?"

Noah's expression hardened. "Not like our social calendar is full these days, and we don't have anywhere to be tomorrow."

Richardson smiled. "Won't be long until you're busier than you've ever been, my friend. See you later. Oh, by the way, some friends of yours might join us at the coffee shop. You don't look like the sort of men who appreciate surprises."

"You'd be correct about that," Seth snapped. "Don't know if you've heard but most of the people we thought we could count on turned on us."

"Not these men. You won't have to worry about their loyalty to you and your partner." He and his friend returned to their table to finish their meals.

"Didn't take them long to bite," Violet said and forked a bite of lasagna into her mouth.

"Send Knight a text," Seth said to his partner. "Find out if this meeting is legitimate or a setup for an ambush."

Noah grabbed his phone. A moment later, he said, "He confirmed and said his cousin just sent a message informing him of the meeting at the coffee shop at 11:00."

"I still don't like it but at least we'll have plenty of backup. I don't want Teagan and Violet caught in an ambush."

"That's why we have Artemis as backup, too." Teagan finished the last bite of her meal.

"At this rate, we won't need another Fortress team to infiltrate," Noah said. "I'm surprised Richardson and Peters will talk to seven of us at once."

"We may not need more help." Violet exchanged glances with Teagan. "But it's always better to have more help available than not enough. The more dangerous the mission, the more desperate the enemy is to keep things quiet."

The server returned to their table. "Dessert? We have the best Tiramisu in the state. I guarantee you'll love it."

"Sold. Four, please," Noah said. He winked at Violet. "Sounds like something my woman would love."

The teen grinned and hurried to the kitchen to put in their dessert order.

Violet sighed. "At this rate, I'll have to run extra miles to keep my weight under control."

Teagan rolled her eyes. "Come on, Violet. You never have an ounce of extra fat on your body, and we train like demons all the time, anyway. No chance of you gaining weight."

Noah cupped Violet's chin with his palm. "You're perfect. Whoever told you that you were fat needs his backside kicked, baby."

Teagan's teammate blushed but looked pleased at the compliment. "Thanks for saying that."

A careless shrug from the detective. "I'm just speaking the truth."

Once the server delivered the desserts, Teagan grabbed her fork, cut off a bite, and fed it to Seth first.

He chewed and groaned.

She smiled. "Good?"

"Excellent." He picked up his fork and fed her a bite. "What do you think?"

"I think this is my favorite dessert yet."

Soon, they finished their meals, paid the bill, and made their way toward the front door. Seth rested his hand at Teagan's lower back. The table of women looked disappointed that he didn't make eye contact with them. Too bad for them. Excellent for her. Teagan didn't share. Ever.

"Slow up," Noah murmured behind them when they started across the parking lot toward the SUV.

Teagan's hand slid toward the knife sheathed at her back as she noticed the white paper on the windshield of her SUV. She glanced at Violet who gave a nod and tugged Noah to the left while she nudged Seth to the right. "Let Violet check the SUV before you touch the paper," she murmured to Seth.

"Check it how?"

She pulled an electronic signal detector from her pocket and showed it to him. "Checks for electronic signals." Teagan turned on the device to show him the green chaser lights. "Turns red when it detects a bomb or trackers."

"Nice. I could use one of those."

"I'll put in a request for you."

"You do that, baby." He cupped the side of her waist with his hand. "How long does it take to check?"

"Less than a minute."

"Good. I feel like a sitting duck out here."

"Same."

Violet finished her circuit around the vehicle. "Clean." She pulled a pair of rubber gloves from her pocket and handed them to Seth. "Just in case someone left a nasty surprise on the paper."

"Thanks." Seth raised the windshield wiper and freed the paper. He glanced at the type-written message, his lips curling.

"What does it say?" Teagan asked.

"About what I expected." He showed it to the others.

Better watch your back. You never know when a dirty cop might catch a bullet or a knife in the back like he deserves.

Noah shook his head. "What do you bet Wilson or Kepler did this?"

"That's a sucker's bet and I'm not taking it."

"We have a crime team and lab." Violet removed a plastic bag from her pocket. "We'll have this picked up by our employer and checked for prints and dangerous substances."

"If Noah's right, the lab won't find anything," Teagan said. Ironic the same people who should have been protecting all four of them were the most likely ones to come after them for false offenses.

The medic shrugged as she secured the bag and slipped the evidence into her pocket. "You never know. The person responsible might have made a mistake."

"Doubtful," Seth said. "Despite that, we need the evidence processed in a way that we can build a case for the prosecutor." He grimaced. "So someone can build a case whether or not we're back on the job."

An icy chill swept over Teagan's body. She casually surveyed the area, looking for the cause of her sudden awareness. No obvious signs of a watcher but someone was definitely close by, watching their every move. "Let's talk about this in more secure surroundings," she said to Seth. "I don't like how this feels out here."

"Same." Violet turned toward the SUV. "Feels like spiders crawling on my back."

Yeah, giant ones. Another glance around the area netted no results. Still, Teagan couldn't shake the feeling that they were under observation.

Seth unlocked the vehicle, and soon they were on the way back to his house. Although the drive should have taken ten minutes, the detective spent several minutes turning squares to make sure they didn't lead the enemy right to their doorstep. When he finally turned into his driveway, Seth parked beside Violet's vehicle.

Violet's phone signaled an incoming message. She glanced at the screen. "A Fortress operative is five minutes out. He's delivering the phones for the other detectives and will take the threat back to the lab for processing."

Seth and Noah exited the SUV and came around to help Teagan and Violet from the vehicle. Teagan had to admit she felt funny allowing that. She'd been taking care of herself for so long it felt weird to allow Seth to do things like open the door for her. She liked it, though.

After they'd searched the house for signs of intrusion, Teagan pressed the start button on the coffeemaker. The operative might like a to-go cup of coffee for the journey back to Nashville.

At the five-minute mark, Violet's received another message. "Oh, good. Jake Davenport is outside."

Teagan smiled. She hadn't seen Jake and his wife Lacey in too long. "Tell him to come to the back."

Seth eyed her. "You know this guy?"

"He's a medic on one of our black ops teams. You'll like him."

A moment later, a knock sounded on the back door.

Violet unlocked and opened the door to admit the medic who carried a mailer in his hand and had a mike bag slung over his shoulder. "Sorry you were stuck being the delivery man, Jake."

"No problem." He handed the mailer to Violet. "Three satellite phones as requested plus five watches. Also, I brought my mike bag so I can insert trackers on Seth and Noah. Zane said I was to pick up something for the lab, too."

Violet handed him the plastic bag with the paper inside.

"Have a seat, Jake." Teagan waved to the stools at the breakfast bar. "Coffee is almost ready."

"Ah, you're a lifesaver, Teagan. Thanks." He held out his hand to Seth. "Jake Davenport. I'm a medic with Fortress."

"Seth Dixon, former detective with Ardmore PD."

Noah introduced himself as well.

"Z gave me a summary of what's going on. I'm sorry you had to resign to go undercover."

"We are, too. Hopefully, we'll figure out the target and the timeline of this militia's goal, then return to our jobs. I'm afraid that's doubtful, though."

"Well, you have three loyal friends who willingly walked off the job to watch your back. With them and Artemis, you'll have an easier time finding what you need and getting out of Dodge without injuries. Artemis is one of the deadliest teams we have. You're lucky to have them on your side."

Seth captured Teagan's hand and kissed her knuckles. "Believe me, I know."

Jake's eyebrows rose. "Like that, is it?"

"Yeah, it is."

Teagan glanced at Violet and rolled her eyes. Her teammate grinned.

"You mentioned something about inserting a tracker," Noah said. "Please tell me that's not as painful as it sounds."

Jake chuckled. "A slight scratch, and I insert a tracker under the skin. It's the size of a grain of rice."

"Why do we need trackers on us?"

A shrug. "In case the worst happens and you're in trouble and separated from your teammates. All of our operatives have two trackers embedded under their skin. It's saved the lives of more than one operative over the years."

Seth's brow furrowed. "Where do you put them? It can't be somewhere obvious."

"Lower back and right shoulder blade. If Fortress needs to activate them, you'll feel warmth from the tracker. It will stay active for a few hours unless Fortress deactivates it again."

"What if no one knows we're missing?"

"That's where the watches come in. Teagan and Violet will tell you how to alert Fortress with your watches if you need help. There's also a tracker embedded in the watch so your friends are covered as well."

"Let's see the watches."

Violet opened the package and withdrew two watches.

Seth and Noah examined them. "Tactical watches," Noah murmured.

Teagan pointed to the two buttons on the side of the watch. "This button is to alert Fortress you're in trouble. The second button is to communicate with the tech on duty."

Violet turned to Jake. "Did Z send trackers for the other three detectives?"

He inclined his head. "You want to tag them before the op starts?"

"I'd feel better if they had the extra protection in case their watches are taken."

The other medic dug into his pack. "Zane thought you might feel that way." Jake handed Violet three small clear plastic bags with two trackers in each bag. Each bag had a number stamped across the front. "Send a message to Zane after you've embedded them so he knows the tag number of each tracker and who's wearing it."

"Yes, sir."

Jake set his bag on the table and grabbed what he needed to embed the trackers. "Seth, Noah, take off your shirts and take a seat at the breakfast bar. We'll be finished in under five minutes."

The two men followed orders and settled on barstools with their backs to Jake. The medic swabbed the incision sites with alcohol wipes, then spread numbing gel over the areas.

"I understand Phantom will back up Artemis on this mission."

"If we need them." Teagan folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the breakfast bar beside Seth. "With the five detectives and Artemis, I don't think we'll have to call on them."

"Hopefully not." Jake tossed the empty gel packs into the trash and washed his hands. "I'll check your backs in a minute to see if the incision sites are numb."

The medic went back to his mike bag and grabbed two pairs of rubber gloves and a scalpel. He tugged on one pair and stood behind Seth. "Let's start with you, Seth." He pinched the skin below his right shoulder blade. "Do you feel anything?"

"Pressure. No pain."

"Excellent. Ready?"

"Go for it."

Jake made the small incision near the shoulder blade and took the first tracker from Violet, inserting it easily, then went through the same procedure for the second tracker. A minute later, Jake wiped away the blood with a wipe and inspected his work. "Nice. The incision sites look like a minor scratch, under half an inch. We'll apply an antibiotic cream on the cuts. By tomorrow morning, the incision sites should be almost invisible."

He glanced at Violet while he loosened the cap on the tube of cream. "Want to work on Noah?"

She turned to Noah, eyebrow raised in a silent inquiry.

"Do it," he murmured.

"Get him prepped while I finished with Seth," Jake said.

"What about after this mission is finished?" Seth asked. "Will we have to repeat this process to remove the trackers?"

"We can." Jake spread a thin layer of the cream across the small incisions. "Or you can leave them in. They'll be inert unless you or Teagan indicate a need to activate them. Fortress doesn't track its operatives unless they miss a check-in. Since you aren't a Fortress operative, we won't keep track of you or your movements." The medic recapped the tube, tugged off his gloves, and tapped Seth's shoulder. "Finished. Leave your shirt off for a few minutes until the cream dries. Teagan, keep him company for a minute while Violet and I take care of Noah."

"Yes, sir."

The medics repeated the process with Noah, this time with Violet wielding the second scalpel Jake produced from his mike bag. In minutes, Violet spread a thin layer of cream over Noah's cuts. "You good?" she murmured to Noah.

"Yep. Nice job."

Amusement filled Teagan as her teammate's face reddened with a blush. Look at that. Violet was sweet on the detective.

"I have three more scalpels, Violet." Jake offered them to her. "I'll restock when I return to headquarters. You need to keep your current stash in case things go sideways on this op."

"Don't they always?"

He chuckled. "It's more of a surprise when they don't. Need any other supplies before I take off?"

Violet shook her head. "I stocked up at headquarters."

Seth turned to face the medic. His stare was intense, his body language a tad aggressive. What was that about?

Teagan circled the breakfast bar, pulled a to-go cup and a lid from the cupboard, and poured coffee for the other medic. "How's your wife, Jake?"

Some of the tension left Seth's body. Teagan smiled, amused at Seth's reaction to Jake. So that was it. Seth Dixon was territorial with her. She could live with that.

A big smile curved Jake's mouth. "Lacey is fantastic. I'm the luckiest man alive, Teagan."

"How is school going for her?" Violet asked.

"She's loving every minute and looking forward to taking the MCAT at the end of the month. If all goes as I expect it to, she'll be attending medical school next year."

"I'm glad to hear it. We need her surgical skills. Doc Sorenson has more business than he can handle these days." Teagan finished filling the cup. "Need sugar or cream?"

Jake shook his head. "Black is fine. Like you, we never have time to doctor our coffee on ops. We take what we can get on the run."

Wasn't that the truth? She secured the lid and handed the cup to the medic. "Want a snack to help keep you awake?"

He lifted the cup and sipped. "This is perfect. No need for food but thanks for the offer. I better get going." Jake waggled the plastic bag with the paper inside and slid it into his mike bag. "As soon as I deliver this to the lab and restock my medical supplies, I'm going home to my beautiful wife. We both have the day off tomorrow."

Teagan smiled. "Enjoy your day with Lacey."

"Seth, Noah, it was nice to meet you. Good luck with your assignment. We'll be close by if you need us, ladies. See all of you later." With that, Jake left.

"What did he mean by that?" Noah asked.

"He's the medic for Phantom."

Teagan poured coffee into mugs for the rest of them. "Violet, where's your Go bag?"

"SUV."

"We should change and gear up before the coffee shop meeting."

A slight nod. "Agreed." She stood. "Key fob?"

Seth handed it to her and glanced at Noah who nodded and trailed her from the kitchen despite being shirtless. He turned to Teagan and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You're gearing up?"

"You bet. I trust Richardson and Peters as far as I can throw them."

He smiled. "That much, huh?"

"Do you?"

"Nope. Although I know Knight has connections, this contact was fast enough to raise my suspicions."

"Same. Is it possible The Brotherhood has its hooks in your department?"

"I'm wondering if that's the case myself. Someone introduced the idea of inducting me and Noah into the militia before this dinner tonight. No way their group could run all the checks they should in a few minutes."

Seth kissed her lightly. "They'll try to run checks on you and Violet, too."

"They'll fail. Fortress has our information locked down."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. If the militia has an excellent hacker, they might get some basic information from our military records. They'll find no mention of our employment with Fortress Security. I assure you, Zane has our information locked down so tight no one could penetrate the cybersecurity, especially with us going undercover on this op with you."

"I hope you're right. If anything happens to you because of me, I won't be able to live with it."

"Fortress has our backs, and your friends and my teammates will be there to help if anything happens while we're in the compound." Wouldn't help if militia members shot them at point-blank range.

"Think we'll need all that firepower?"

"I hope not but I'm not leaving it to chance." She brushed her mouth over his. "You're too important to me to risk your safety by not being prepared for the worst."

He gave Teagan a warm smile. "Good to know because I feel the same way about you."

"Do you have a bullet-resistant vest, Seth?"

"I do. So does Noah."

"Excellent. You and your partner need to gear up as well."

Seth watched her a minute, then said, "Bad feeling?"

"Oh, yeah."

A slight nod. "Matches mine."

His partner returned to the kitchen with Violet's Go bag in hand. "Problem?"

"Wear your vest to this meet-and-greet. I don't like how this feels."

"Planned to do that, anyway."

Teagan breathed easier. Hopefully, all these extra precautions were overkill.