Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TEAGAN REMAINED STILL , balanced on the balls of her feet, gaze fixed on the door. One minute. Two. At the three-minute mark, she heard the signs of someone picking a lock.

She rolled her eyes at the time it was taking the cop to bypass Seth's lock. It would have taken her about fifteen seconds on a bad day. Wilson or Kepler had already hit two minutes. Then again, the cops probably weren't as paranoid as Teagan. She hated to be locked in anywhere unless she was the one with the key.

She knew her experiences with the cult when she was a teenager had contributed to her need for freedom. Instead of treating it like a shortcoming, Maddox had capitalized on it and taught her to be the best at picking locks so she would never be locked in against her will.

Teagan backed further into the shadows. The cop wouldn't see her until it was too late. She palmed her weapon and settled in to wait until he picked the lock.

Finally, at the six-minute mark, the knob slowly turned under the cop's hand. The door swung open, and the man slipped into the quiet house. He closed the door, weapon in hand, and took five steps forward.

"Nice of you to drop in, Detective Wilson," Teagan said.

Wilson froze and cursed in a low tone. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my question for you."

"Come out where I can see you," Wilson ordered. "We'll talk."

Right. Talk. "You shouldn't be here, Detective," she murmured.

"Neither should you." His rigid stance relaxed, although he didn't put down his weapon. "You deserve someone better than Dixon."

She snorted. "Meaning you? I don't think so. I've already had a taste of how you treat your women. No thanks."

"Oh, come on, now, beautiful." He stepped closer, more confident that he had a handle on the situation. He was so wrong. "I didn't hurt you. I was just having a little fun." Another step. "And then you punched me."

She laughed and shifted position, still hugging the shadows. "Some tough guy you are. Can't take a punch from a woman." Again, she changed position.

He went from stillness to sudden motion. Wilson raced toward her.

Teagan waited until the last second, then shifted just enough for him to miss her by less than an inch. She tripped him. When Wilson fell to his hands and knees, Teagan slammed the side of her fist on the back of his neck.

The detective sank to the floor and went motionless.

A short commotion in the kitchen, followed by silence, told Teagan that Iona and Rayne had taken down Kepler.

She cinched a pair of zip ties around Wilson's wrists and turned to see Seth standing a few feet away, his weapon pointed at the fallen detective. "Seth."

He glanced up. "What?"

"Wilson is down and he's not going anywhere. Put your weapon away."

"He hurt you, Teagan."

"Who was on the floor of the office, curled up in a ball? I'd say I won that skirmish and this one." She reached out and laid her hand on top of his weapon. "He's done. Don't let him interfere with our plans. Besides, I'd rather not waste money bailing you out of jail."

He glared at the unconscious detective. "Might be worth it."

Teagan exerted pressure on Seth's hand. "Put your weapon away. Is there a cop you trust?"

"Burnett."

"Call him. Have him take care of Wilson and Kepler and the other two detectives. We can't afford to be delayed."

"I hate admitting you're right," he muttered. Seth glared at Wilson a moment longer, then holstered his weapon. "Monitor Wilson while I check on Rayne and Iona." He went to the kitchen.

He returned a moment later, shaking his head. "You and your team are incredible. You took down two veteran detectives with years of experience with no difficulty."

"It's what we're trained to do."

"Baby, all I can say is Artemis rocks." Seth slid his phone from his pocket and called his lieutenant. After a brief conversation, he ended the call. "Burnett will be here in fifteen minutes with reinforcements."

"What about Noah's attackers?"

"Chastain and Carter's lieutenant is heading over there to take care of the garbage." He sighed. "Four detectives are going to jail tonight. Now Burnett will be down seven detectives with two down in another house. I should tell Knight, Marsh, and Bowen to go back to work. The LT will need them."

"Don't bother. Unit loyalty trumps everything." She ought to know. Teagan would do anything for her teammates. Artemis was a tight-knit unit. They had each other's backs, no matter what.

Seth's friends were the same with him. They wouldn't let him go into such a dangerous operation without them.

Soon, Burnett arrived. He stepped into the house and scowled at the two suspended detectives now sitting side-by-side on the couch, hands cinched behind their backs. "What were you thinking?"

"Come on, LT. It's not like it looks," Kepler said. "We just stopped by to talk, you know, to apologize to Teagan."

She rolled her eyes. Seriously? They didn't know she'd been staying at Seth's place. No, their entire mission had been to punish Seth for allegedly being a dirty cop.

Burnett stared at the two men. "That's the explanation you're going with? Pathetic."

"You believe the word of a traitor over ours?" Wilson demanded. "You know us."

"Yeah, I do, which is why this explanation of yours has holes big enough to drive a semi through." The lieutenant glanced over his shoulder at the beat cops awaiting his orders. "Cuff these two and take them to the station. Be sure to read them their rights. Don't want any missteps on our part to prevent these men from having their day in court. Once they're processed, contact their union representative."

"But Lieutenant…," Kepler protested.

"That's enough," his commander snapped, his voice barely above a growl. "You're in enough trouble already. Don't add to it."

When the men had been stuffed into the back of a patrol car, Burnett turned to Seth and Teagan. "Have you had contact with Richardson and Peters?"

They summarized events since Seth resigned from the police force. "We're meeting them at noon," Seth finished.

"Are you sure Wilson and Kepler don't know about this mission?"

"As far as we know, sir."

"Do they have connections to The Brotherhood?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Teagan said. "Richardson and Peters mentioned the militia has ties to police departments around the state. While most of the detectives in your unit have strong opinions about Seth and Noah, none of them were as aggressive, cold, and calculating as these two. Now, I'm wondering if they had their own agenda or if The Brotherhood lit a fire and fanned the flames."

He sighed. "I was afraid of that. Seth, what do you want to do? Proceed with the plan or back off? This is the fed's problem, not ours. I don't want to lose five of my best detectives to a half-baked plan by the feds. We know how anything they have their hands in turns out."

Seth shook his head. "I owe it to Pico to arrest the people who killed him."

"Not at the expense of your life and your woman's." Burnett held up his hand to hold off Seth's protest. "But I understand why you feel the need to do this. If at any time you want to back out, you have my permission to pull the plug on this operation. I don't want to lose you."

"Yes, sir."

He pulled out a small notebook and a pen. "Let me take your statements, since you'll be out of town starting tomorrow."

"You're planning to charge the detectives?" Teagan asked.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm throwing the book at them. These additional charges will add to the assault charge that's pending for both of them."

"You'll be shorthanded, sir."

"I've already talked to the commanders of the other detective squads around the city. We've worked out the logistics of having other detectives fill in for a while." His expression grew grim. "Guess I'll be checking everybody's records and cleaning house while you're gone."

"If you need help, contact Fortress," Teagan said. "Our tech geeks are the best in the business. Also, we have several operatives who were cops. Of the ones I'm thinking about, one was an FBI agent, and two were homicide detectives. If they're not out on missions, they can lend a hand if you need it."

Burnett looked thoughtful. "Interesting suggestion. I'll contact Maddox if my plan doesn't work. Now, let's get your statements so I can take care of Wilson and Kepler. Their lieutenant will handle Chastain and Carter. Hopefully, by the time we finish cleaning house, we can go back to protecting the people of Ardmore instead of looking for true dirty cops in our own houses."

An hour later, the statements were finished, and Burnett rose. Seth walked him to the door. He turned. "Watch your back, Seth. The members of The Brotherhood won't think twice about killing you and your team and dumping your bodies where no one will find them. No chances. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

He glanced at Teagan and her teammates. "Same goes for you, ladies. Do not take chances. I'd rather let the feds get the glory than lose any of you as well."

"We'll be careful," Iona said.

Burnett left the house, climbed into his SUV, and headed for the station.

Rayne looked at the others. "So much for helping you get a good night's rest. Sorry, guys."

"Are you kidding?" Seth grinned. "I enjoyed watching you ladies in action. No wonder Maddox is planning to train another group of women for a black ops team. To their detriment, people don't see the danger right in front of them."

Iona lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "Most people around Fortress don't know who we are. They're convinced the rumors of an all-female team are exaggerated."

"They're idiots, then. Just watching Teagan when we ran, I knew she had special training. I just didn't know how much. Watching her take down Wilson was a pure pleasure."

Rayne smile. "Although you wanted a hand in it yourself."

"Oh, you know it. I want to make him pay for putting his hands on my woman."

Teagan patted his knee. "Don't worry. He has more trouble now than he knows how to handle."

"Not enough," he muttered. "He deserves everything he has coming to him and more. He and Kepler both deserve to rot in prison for what they did."

"You want to get more sleep?" Iona asked.

"That ship has sailed." Teagan stood. "Too much adrenaline to sleep now. Seth?"

"Same."

"Then we should prepare your house for an extended absence. You know, toss food that will spoil soon, take out the trash, that kind of thing."

"Good plan. What about breakfast? I know it's early, but the diner is open. I'll be glad to pick up a meal for all of us and for Noah and his group, too."

"Have him meet you at the diner," Rayne suggested. "That way, you two can watch each other's backs in case more of your fellow cops decide to take a run at you. Plus, you'll be able to get Noah's take on what went down at his house. You may not have a chance to do that once you meet up with The Brotherhood."

"Good idea. I'll send him a message and ask him to meet me." He kissed Teagan lightly and headed for the front door. A moment later, he was gone.

That didn't take long. She should feel fine with him being out of the house. As a decorated veteran and cop, Seth knew how to take care of himself. So why did she feel so uneasy? "Are you sure it was wise to send him out to get breakfast?" she asked her teammates.

"He's angry, frustrated, and disappointed with his fellow cops," Iona said. "He'll do better with a task than sitting around here and brooding while waiting to meet the others at noon. He's like us, Teagan. Seth would rather make things happen than wait for them. He needs freedom to do what he feels is best for himself and you."

Yeah, she understood the feeling. One of the worst things she'd endured as a prisoner of the cult was the inability to move about freely. If she was being punished, which was most of the time, Teagan was restrained in some way, whether locked in or literally tied up. So, yeah, she understood how Seth felt right now.

Thirty minutes later, Seth returned with two bags of carry-out containers. He set them on the breakfast bar. "Didn't know what you wanted, so I bought some of everything."

"We're not picky," Iona said as she and Rayne unpacked the bags. "We eat whatever doesn't eat us first."

He chuckled. "Same."

They opened the lids of each container and grabbed paper plates from Seth's stack on the counter to divide up the food.

After breakfast, all of them pitched in to police the trash from the meal and ready the house for Seth's absence.

Once they finished, Teagan said, "Fortress will have someone watch your house while we're gone. If there's a problem, they'll notify you by text but will handle it themselves."

His eyebrows rose. "Is that a common service?"

"It's one perk of being in a relationship with a Fortress operative."

A slow smile curved his mouth. "Smartest decision I ever made," he murmured. Seth cupped her cheek with his palm.

"I hope you still feel the same way when this mission is finished."

"My commitment to you will not change, Teagan."

She hoped he still said as much when they figured out The Brotherhood's agenda.