Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AFTER HIS brOTHERS drove away, Seth shut the door and locked it. He leaned against the flat surface, giving himself time for the stress to bleed off. Feeling sick at heart and his gut tied in a knot were the reasons he'd walked away from undercover assignments. He was a protector at heart and everything in him rejected the necessity of lying to his family and, in the process, hurting them.

"Are you all right?" Teagan asked from the entrance of the living room.

He shook his head. Man, this hurt so much he had trouble drawing in a full breath.

Teagan crossed the space between them and wrapped her arms around Seth. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "Once this op is finished, we'll tell them the truth. They're your family, Seth. It's obvious they love you. They'll understand you were doing everything necessary to protect them and their families and your parents. Although it doesn't help now, you will save many innocent lives if we're successful."

A big if, that. What if they failed? His hard-earned career as a cop might be toast after this mission, especially if Seth failed to do what had been asked of him.

Seth tugged Teagan closer, rested his chin on top of her head, and soaked in the comfort she offered. We'll tell them the truth. He liked Teagan including herself. She'd gone to bat for him with Oliver and Sebastien. He'd never forget that she stood with him against the pressure from his family, staunchly defending him.

His brothers were wrong about her. Teagan belonged in their family. She fit perfectly. His sisters-in-law and his mother would fight tooth and nail to protect those they loved. While he couldn't claim that Teagan loved him, she cared enough to challenge his brothers, and they were a force to be reckoned with any day.

After a few moments holding her in his arms, Seth eased back enough to cup her chin and lift Teagan's face toward his. His mouth claimed hers in a long, deep kiss. Blood searing his veins, Seth's pulse rate skyrocketed as he broke the kiss to grab a much-needed breath, then dove back in for more.

This was what he needed. Teagan. Seth's life had been an empty vacuum before Teagan jogged into his world. Now, everything was vibrant because she was near. If that made him a sap, he'd gladly carry the moniker.

He lost track of anything except Teagan's soft lips and honeyed taste until he heard Rayne puttering around in his kitchen. After a series of slow, gentle kisses to bring them down from the stratosphere, Seth gazed down at Teagan. "Thank you," he murmured.

She blinked. "Isn't that my line? That was some kiss, Detective."

He trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek. "It rocked my world, but I wasn't referring to the kiss. Thanks for standing up for me with my brothers."

"We're friends working toward more. I'll always have your back, Seth."

"We're a long way from only being friends, Teagan. I think you know that."

"It scares me," she admitted.

"I know, sweetheart. To be honest, the intensity of what I'm feeling scares me too. I swear I'll take this as slow as you need."

"I have baggage."

"Who doesn't? We'll unpack it together and burn everything. There's no timetable, Teagan." He grimaced. "I probably should have waited to pursue a relationship with you."

"Why?"

"In a few hours, I'll be dragging you on a mission straight out of your worst nightmares."

"This time, I'm not a twelve-year-old girl. I'm a grown woman forged in the fires of life who now has skills and weapons to defend herself. I'm also an operative protecting the man I'm crazy about. You'll have to deal with it."

Seth stilled. Now he struggled to breathe for an entirely different reason. "Good thing you're crazy about me, since I'm crazy about you."

"Where do we go from here?"

"Forward, one step at a time." He stepped back from Teagan and clasped her hand. "Come on. I'll walk you to your room."

Once Seth escorted Teagan to the guest room, he left her at the bedroom door with a gentle kiss. "Sleep well, sweetheart. I'll see you in a few hours." Once she closed the door, he crossed the hall to the main bedroom and shut himself inside.

Because he'd promised his brothers, Seth grabbed his phone and sent a message to his parents. I'm fine. Everything will work out. I love you. Simple, but he hoped effective enough to reduce some of the stress they were experiencing. When this was over, he'd sit down with his entire family and explain everything. He'd also introduce Teagan to them. If Seth had anything to say about it, she would be part of his life for decades to come.

He froze while reaching for his duffel bag. Decades? He tried on other, short-term words, but none of them felt right.

Seth groaned. What a time to realize he was head-over-heels in love with Teagan Paloni. He grabbed his bag and dropped it on his bed. Maybe this was the perfect time. Knowing the woman he loved was at risk would make him even more deadly in defending her if her life was in danger. No one would hurt Teagan while he was still breathing. She was his. End of story.

He grabbed clothes, packed them quickly, then turned to his gun safe. Seth spent more time deciding what weapons and ammunition to take with him than he did which clothes to pack. If he felt the need for more weapons, he'd find an excuse to leave the compound and secure what he needed to protect Teagan and himself.

When he finished, he took a fast shower and dressed for a quick roll out in case trouble found them during the night. Before he shut off the light, he sent a message to his partner to check in. He received an answer seconds later, confirming everything was quiet at Noah's home. Good. Hopefully, all of them would get one more night of rest before they shifted into mission mode.

At 3:00 a.m., a knock on the door roused him. "Seth?"

Rayne.

He shoved his feet into his tactical boots and hurried to open the door. "What's wrong?"

"Iona says the same black truck has driven down the street three times in the past half hour. She thinks someone is getting ready to attack."

"Let's go." He crossed the hall to Teagan's room and knocked. "Teagan."

Seconds later, she opened the door, alert and dressed. "Trouble?"

"Maybe. A suspicious truck has been circling the block."

Teagan looked at Rayne. "Did Iona call in the plate?"

"Yep. The tech geeks are running it now."

Seth's eyebrows rose. "You can run plates?"

Teagan laughed. "The Fortress tech geeks can do a lot of things that aren't strictly legal. If it bothers you, plug your ears."

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

He led the way downstairs to the living room and pulled the edge of the curtain aside enough to peer outside. Less than a minute later, a black truck slowly drove down the street and disappeared around the corner. "I don't like this. Has Riley reported anything suspicious at Noah's place?"

Rayne frowned. "I'll send her a message." She pulled out her phone.

"You think this might be a two-pronged attack?" Teagan asked.

"Depends on whether this is The Brotherhood or our former coworkers from the Ardmore PD."

She flashed Seth a look. "Some friends if this threat is from the police department."

"Like the military, we depend on our fellow cops to have our backs. With our muddy records, Noah and I broke the trust between officers."

"I hope it's not them. I don't want to shoot a cop." She stepped close to his side and lowered her voice. "But make no mistake, Seth. I will take out a cop if he's a threat to you."

He prayed that wouldn't be necessary. The last thing he wanted was to put himself or Teagan in that position.

"The only reason The Brotherhood would come after you when they worked so hard to recruit you is if someone discovered you and Noah were working with law enforcement to infiltrate the compound."

"I know. Got to be honest. I'd rather they come after us now than when we're cut off from help." Still didn't feel good about the likelihood of them escaping the compound with no one discovering they hadn't bought into the philosophy and leadership of Richardson and Peters.

Rayne glanced at Seth. "Another truck is parked a few houses down from Noah's house. He says it doesn't belong in the neighborhood."

"Is Fortress running that plate, too?"

"They're on it. They'll get back to us as soon as they have something."

He hoped they had answers before the people in the trucks made their move. They didn't need to be caught up with law enforcement before they supposedly joined The Brotherhood. If they were late, Seth doubted Richardson and Peters would wait for them, no matter the explanation was for the delay.

If he still had his detective shield, Seth would confront the truck's driver and demand answers. If the driver came onto his property or became a threat, he'd confront and detain if possible. Like Teagan, he wouldn't hesitate to kill to protect those with him. "Rayne, how often is the driver making his rounds?"

"Every five minutes."

Stupid. Whoever it was should know better than to be so predictable. Although Seth might not have been awake, plenty of his neighbors rose early to prepare for work. One of them would have noticed the oddity eventually and called him.

"He's working himself up," Teagan said. "It's a serious mistake. He should have gone with his plan after the first pass."

"Gives us a chance to be ready for whatever he throws at us."

She glanced at her teammate. "Cover the back. The driver probably isn't acting alone."

"Copy that." Rayne went to the kitchen.

Seth's eyes narrowed as the truck made another slow pass up the street toward his home. This time, though, the driver parked four houses away. "He parked up the street."

Teagan glanced at her phone. "Iona is circling around to the back to help."

He debated for a moment, then went with his gut. "Go get our gear, Teagan, and set the bags at the foot of the stairs."

She sprinted up the stairs and returned a moment later with her Go bag and his duffel. After dropping the bags off with Rayne, she returned to the living room. "Done." Teagan glanced at her phone screen again and growled.

"What?" Seth kept his attention fixed on the black truck idling up the street.

"This truck is registered to Detective Wilson."

Of course it was. He sighed, wondering what the odds were of Kepler being inside the truck with his partner or if the two detectives had split up. Depending on their plan of attack, they needed more than a single attacker in each truck. Although he wasn't invincible, Wilson had better odds of taking him down with a partner. "And the one on Noah's street?"

"Registered to Kip Chastain." She glanced at him. "You know him?"

"A detective out of another house. He has a reputation for pushing the line on police brutality. Who's working with Riley?"

"Curt Jackson."

"Is he any good?"

"One of the best. Maddox is talking to him about leading a new black ops team. Have a guess for who is partnering with Chastain in that truck?"

"Ned Carter. They grew up together and went to the academy at the same time. They've always had each other's backs."

"Is he the same kind of a cop as Chastain?"

"Mirror images of each other."

"Nice to know some of our detectives are thugs with badges."

The headlights on the suspicious truck turned off. A second later, both doors opened. "Here they come. Where's Iona?"

"I'm in the kitchen," she called. "How many people are joining the party?"

Seth kept his attention focused on the figures dressed in black. Two houses away, they split up. "Two. They're suspended detectives from my department."

A pause, then, "These are the guys who set up Teagan?"

"The same."

"Orders?"

"Contain and detain only if possible."

"Too bad. I'd love a chance for a little payback."

"You might get it. One's heading for the back, one for the front."

"Bring it. They're going to be sorry."

"I want answers, Iona, and would prefer not to see you behind bars."

"Copy that."

"Seth, do you trust me?" Teagan asked, voice soft.

"Yes." No question.

"Get behind the door. Let me greet your buddy when he breaks in."

Although he'd love to refuse, he couldn't. Teagan was his partner. Seth had to trust her to do this so he could capture Wilson and Kepler without bloodshed. "Be careful, babe. Don't take any chances."

"Same to you. Keep your temper in check."

His lips curved. Seth saluted Teagan and took position behind the door. All they could do now was wait.