Chapter 10

"Holy shit."

The last time Raegan uttered those words, she'd been lost in the most amazing post-orgasmic bliss she'd ever known. Now she was standing in the basement of the house she'd been watching for weeks, and she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"He built a bomb," she spoke up again. Her voice sounded almost wooden, even to her own ears.

"Not just any bomb." Special Agent Lisa Atwell returned to where Raegan and Rocky stood watching. "A dirty one."

Raegan's stomach plummeted as a string of low, almost inaudible curses fell from Rocky's lips. She looked up at him, remembering how those lips felt when they'd been pressed against hers. The way they'd felt when he'd used them—and his fingers—to help give her the ultimate pleasure.

And now they were standing in a basement looking at plans for a nuclear weapon designed to kill Americans.

"You were right." Agent Atwell's blue eyes landed on Raegan's. "Agent Foster with Homeland Security shared with me the intel you passed along to Delta Team, and…" The woman's long, dark ponytail swung with a shake of her head. "You were right on the money with this whole thing."

"Any evidence pointing to where the bomb is now?"

"Not yet, but there's still quite a bit to go through."

Raegan glanced around the home's partial basement, taking in the entire, terrifying scene…

The floors were exposed cement, and the cinder block walls had been painted a dull white. Two tall, slender steel beams kept the house from falling in on top of their heads, but it was everything piled, stacked, and left around the enclosed space that had her heart racing and her gut churning with dread.

Small pieces of cut wires and other varying explosive components littered the countertop running along the back wall. The shelves below the counter were exposed, allowing them to see the boxes and tubs Raegan had witnessed Samer and his men carrying inside weeks before.

In the far corner of the room were two large, white barrels, and on the small table in the center of the room were the plans with step-by-step instructions on how to build the deadly, horrifying weapon.

"Here." Atwell handed Raegan a sealed evidence bag. "Recognize anyone in that picture?"

When they'd first been allowed inside the house, Raegan and Rocky had made their way through a sea of jacketed FBI agents to where they stood now. Several images that had been taped to the back wall were being removed by the agents to be bagged and tagged as evidence.

The photo in her hand was one such image. There were five men standing in a line. They were dressed in Army green fatigues and black, laced up boots. Their arms were around each other's shoulders, and smiles graced their bearded lips.

Raegan's heart flew into her throat when she recognized one of the faces immediately.

"That's him!" She pointed to the man standing in the center. "That's Samer!"

Warmth spread throughout as Rocky placed a supportive hand against her lower back. "You did it. You found him."

"I found where he's been," she corrected. "He's still out there, Rocky. He and his men are out there right now with a dirty fucking bomb, and we have absolutely no idea what target they've chosen."

"My people have already started going through everything with a fine-toothed comb," Atwell assured them. "If there's anything here that gives us direction on where the bomb is now, we'll find it."

Raegan nodded, but inside she was filled with an unsettling despair. Chicago was huge and its population massive. A bomb like the one in those plans would easily take out an entire city block.

Or more.

And the fallout afterward…

Another attack on U.S. soil may very well send us into the next World War.

"We have to find him." Her desperation was stronger than ever. "We have to find Samer, and we have to stop him from detonating that bomb."

"We will." Rocky made a promise he couldn't possibly guarantee he'd keep.

"I should have stayed." She looked up at Rocky. "When we were here earlier. I should have just stayed and faced whoever came through that front door. If I had, we could have caught him. Or if it wasn't Samer, we could've at least had one of his guys to interrogate. But now, because I ran like a coward, all we have are the crumbs they left behind."

"Those crumbs are a hell of a lot more than we had before." Atwell looked straight at her when she spoke. "And we wouldn't even have those if not for you. So thank you."

"For what? Identifying a man in a photo?" Raegan huffed out a breath as she glanced back down to the bagged picture in her hand. "It's not like Samer drew a map on the back of this telling us where to—" Her next words were lost with the dropping of her jaw. "Oh, my god."

Rocky's entire muscular form stiffened beside her. "What is it?"

This was immediately followed by Atwell's, "Is something wrong?"

Raegan pointed to the man standing two spots down from Samer's left. Late teens. Clean cut. Smiling face. Cocky, slightly lifted chin.

"I know him."

"You what?"

The question had come in stereo as Rocky and Atwell both spoke it in unison.

She studied the picture more closely, needing to be absolutely sure. And she was. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Raegan had seen the kid before.

Earlier that day…inside her bank.

She looked up at Rocky, that feeling of dread compounding with every beat of her heart. "That's the kid I shot today. The same one who tried robbing my bank."

The bag was pulled from her grasp as Agent Atwell brought it in for a closer look. "Holy shit. I only saw him for a second today as he was being hauled away from the scene, so I didn't realize…" Her blue stare shot back up to Raegan's. "Are you sure this is him?"

"I'm positive." Raegan was already nodding before the other woman finished the question.

His hood had fallen off his head during their struggle, and she'd seen his face plain as day. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind it was the same kid.

"I need to make a call." Atwell pulled her phone from the pocket of her windbreaker and turned to walk away.

Putting his hands on Raegan's shoulders, Rocky gently guided her around so she was facing him directly.

"I know you said you were positive, but?—"

"It's him, Rocky." She didn't bother letting him finish. "He's in bed with Samer, which means the bank robberies weren't some scheme cooked up by a bunch of bored kids."

"I agree." He shook his handsome head as he looked around the low-lit room. "I'm not sure how coordinated bank hits come into play, but what happened today was definitely about this."

"I need to go back to headquarters," Atwell returned in a rush. "They're pulling Elias Connors from holding so I can question him about all of this."

"Elias Connors?" Raegan frowned.

Holding the photo back up for Raegan to see, the other woman pointed to the kid.

"That's his name. He's nineteen. No priors. Just a kid who, by all appearances, somehow got involved with some very bad people."

"I want to talk to him."

Atwell shot her an empathetic expression. "Sorry. I'm already bending enough rules allowing the two of you to stand in the middle of an active crime scene."

"You wouldn't even know about this place if it wasn't for me."

"I understand." The federal agent gave a single nod. "It's the only reason you're here, now."

"Agent Atwell, please. I just want to?—"

"I can't let you speak to the suspect. But…" The woman's blue gaze slid to Rocky's before returning back to Raegan's. "You can watch from behind the glass in the room next to where we'll be."

She'd much rather talk to the little asshole herself, but since beggars couldn't be choosers…

Raegan looked to Rocky and asked, "Do you want to drive, or should I?"

Forty-five minutes later,they were inside Chicago's FBI field office. Agent Atwell was in the room adjacent to the one where Raegan and Rocky stood, and sitting in the seat across from her was the kid who'd taken several shots at Raegan hours before.

"Come on, Elias. You're a smart kid. Surely, you can see how much trouble you're in."

Elias Connors looked so different than the last time Raegan saw him. In the bank, he'd stood tall. Confident. There'd been an air of confidence surrounding him as he'd shot that gun without reserve.

Now, as he sat across the table from Agent Atwell with his orange top and pants hanging loose, the kid didn't look confident. He looked…

Scared.

When her suspect remained quiet, Atwell continued with, "Okay, so maybe you need me to help open your eyes. Let's do that, shall we?" The pretty brunette opened a file she'd carried into the room minutes earlier and pulled out a printed eight-by-ten photo. "That's the inside of the bank after you shot up the lobby. Do you know what the punishment is for armed robbery of a bank in the United States, Elias?"

The boy gave a jerky shake of his head but said nothing.

"Armed bank robbery carries a maximum sentence of twenty-five years, plus a fine of up to two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars."

Elias's eyes widened with shock and fear. "B-but I'm only nineteen."

"Doesn't matter." Atwell didn't hesitate. "In the eyes of the court, you're a full-fledged adult. I'm sure your lawyer would have explained all that to you had you not fired him. But since you've decided to waive your right to an attorney, I'll try to help you understand. Basically, what this all means is that, at nineteen, you get big-boy punishment in a big-boy prison. But don't worry." The woman sat back in her chair and tilted her head to the side. "You're young. Cute. I'm sure you'll make friends with all kinds of guys once you're inside." After a slight pause, she asked, "Do you know what happens to cute young boys like you when they go to prison?"

"P-please." The kid began to visibly shake. "I-I didn't mean to?—"

"What? Rob a bank?" Atwell's tone was filled with sarcasm. "Try to shoot and kill the security guard on duty? Threaten the lives of innocent people? Or maybe…" She leaned in, resting her elbows on the top of the table. "Maybe you didn't mean to get involved with Samer Nasim Ali."

Elias paled at the mention of Samer's name. "I…I don't know anyone by that name."

"No?" Atwell pulled out the picture they'd found in the basement. Slapping it onto the table in front of him, she pointed to Elias's stilled image. "So you're saying that's not you?"

Now the kid just looked like he wanted to throw up.

"I…"

"Here's the deal, Elias. As it stands, we've got you on attempted armed robbery of a federal institution, possession of a stolen firearm, brandishing a weapon in public, firing a gun in public, attempted murder?—"

"Murder?"

"You pointed that gun at the security guard on duty and pulled the trigger. Not once. Not twice. But over and over and over again. So yeah." Atwell's dark ponytail bobbed with a nod. "Attempted murder is absolutely on the table. But that's not even the worst of it."

"Wha…what do you mean?"

"I mean, this." Atwell smacked her hand on the picture of Samer with Elias and the others. "You think the sentence for armed robbery of a bank is bad, wait until you're convicted of conspiracy to commit a domestic terrorist act on U.S. soil. Oh, and aiding and abetting a known domestic terrorist by helping with the construction of that bomb you and your buddy, Samer, built in the basement of that house."

The longer the agent spoke, the harsher her tone became.

"I…I think I want to go back to my cell now."

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me where I can find the bomb."

"I don't know anything about a bomb."

"Life in prison, Elias," Atwell announced loudly. "That's the penalty for aiding in an act of domestic terrorism. But if that bomb goes off and people die…" She sat back with a sigh. "Then, you're looking at the death penalty."

Tears began to fall from his eyes, and for a long, tense moment, no one said a single word.

"I can still help you." Atwell eventually broke the thick silence. "I can put in a good word for you with the D.A. Let her know you cooperated fully. That will go a long way in avoiding the death penalty."

"He'll kill me if I talk."

Raegan's pulse spiked at the kid's first incriminating words. It wasn't an admission of guilt, and he hadn't mentioned Samer by name, but it was a damn good place to start.

"Who will kill you?" Atwell watched Elias closely. "Samer?"

Elias's head dipped in a nod Raegan would've easily missed had she not been paying close attention.

"I need you to say his name, Elias. Aloud."

The boy's throat worked with a nervous swallow and sweat began to bead on his brow. "If I tell you, I won't die?"

"You positively I.D. the man who talked you into going along with this, I can promise you I will do everything in my power to keep you off of Death Row."

"It was him." Elias's voice grew a touch stronger. "Samer's the one who planned the whole thing."

"The bomb?"

"And the robberies?"

Bingo!

"Why the coordinated attacks?"

"That was supposed to just be for practice."

Practice?

"What does that mean?"

"Just like it sounds. We were supposed to go in all shock and awe, take some cash, and get out."

"Did you really think it would be that easy?"

"Samer said it would be." The kid shrugged as if that made it all okay. "He said our guns would keep anyone from fighting back."

"Is that why you shot a round into the ceiling? To scare everyone into submission?"

Elias nodded again. "I didn't think…" He swiped angrily at his tears. "I didn't think that lady guard would come at me the way she did."

From his place beside Raegan, Rocky huffed out a breath and shook his head. "Guess that was his first mistake, huh?" He flashed her a slightly crooked grin.

"Story of my life," she muttered low. "Everyone always seems to underestimate me."

"I sure as hell did."

Their gazes locked, and for a moment, it was as if they were back in his kitchen, and she was lying naked with his hand between her thighs. The connection she felt with this man made no sense whatsoever, and yet…

I feel like I've known him forever.

"What were you practicing for, Elias?"

Agent Atwell's next question tore Raegan from her scattered thoughts. Both she and Rocky turned their attention back to the happenings on the other side of the glass.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that hit was practice. I need you to tell me what you were practicing for."

"Something big."

Raegan's spine stiffened as all of Rocky's muscles locked down tight.

Here we go.

"So the bomb and the robberies are connected."

Elias nodded. "We only did five at first, just as a trial run. Samer wanted…" His skinny throat worked with a hard swallow. "He wanted to test response times. See how fast the cops could get to the scenes, how many showed up, how long they stuck around after…"

"I don't understand." Atwell rested her elbows onto the table's smooth surface. "Why would a guy like Samer care about any of that stuff?"

"Because the real plan…the one we're supposed to pull off soon…it isn't going to be just five US Bank branches." The kid's dark, defeated eyes lifted to meet Agent Atwell's once more. "It's going to be all twenty."

The air left Raegan's lungs in a rush. "All twenty?" Her eyes shot back up to Rocky's. "And he's speaking as if the plan is still in place."

"Samer's only down three guys." Rocky nodded. "Guy like him isn't going to let three tagged kids keep him from his end game."

That was the problem. They still had no idea what the asshole's end game was.

One thing she did feel positive on…

"It's a distraction." Agent Atwell seemed to read Raegan's thoughts. "Twenty bank heists all at once…" A quick shake of her head. "That would take up most of the city's emergency resources. We're talking FBI, the CPD, CFD, ambulances…" The pretty brunette gave a confident nod. "That's it, isn't it? Samer is planning to have his men rob all twenty banks at once, so we're spread too damn thin to stop the real threat."

Raegan watched Elias's reaction, the breath in her lungs frozen in place as she and Rocky waited for his response. Agent Atwell, however, had apparently run out of patience, because the next picture she placed on the table was one of the boy's mom and little sister.

"Think about your family, Elias."

He flinched, turning his gaze anywhere but that picture.

"That bomb Samer built? It's big. We're talking several city blocks just gone. Poof. Wiped out as if they never existed. Now, imagine your mother and little sister are within the blast radius. What do you think would happen to them?"

More tears fell in silver streaks down the boy's cheeks, but still, he refused to even look at the image of his family.

"I can't protect them if I don't know where the bomb is."

When Elias remained silent, Atwell slapped her hand down onto the table and yelled, "Tell me where the bomb is!"

"I don't know, okay?" He swung his tortured gaze back to the federal agent's.

"Stop bullshitting me, Elias."

"I'm not! I swear to you. I don't know where Samer or the bomb is. H-he…he never told us where he was taking it, or what the target was. We'd just meet up at random locations, discuss the plan for the banks, and that was it. I swear!"

"How did he communicate with you?"

"Untraceable flip phones."

"And he never said anything, not even once, about who he was targeting?"

Elias looked much younger than his nineteen years as he sat there, shaking his head in defeat. "No. But…"

"But what?"

"He has a computer. A laptop."

"Did you ever see what was on it?"

"Only once. I walked by while he was on it."

"You see anything that can help me find him?"

"No, but I…I'm pretty sure he kept all his notes and stuff on there."

"Okay, good. That's good, Elias. But you see, without Samer, I can't get to his computer. And without that, I can't find the bomb."

Clarity filled Elias's eyes just then, and his head tilted to the side a tiny bit when he asked, "Your people searched the house, right? The one where you found the picture of me with Samer?"

"We have."

"Then you should've found it."

The comment had Raegan perking up.

"What do you mean?" Agent Atwell asked.

"I mean, the guy kept it there, at the house."

"My people searched that place from top to bottom. There was no laptop."

"Did your people know about the hidden space beneath the floorboards of the upstairs bedroom?"

"Which one?"

"I don't know. The one at the top of the stairs." Elias sat back against his chair and sighed. "And before you ask, I only know this because I heard him telling one of the other guys about it once."

"What's that guy's name?"

"Lawrence something. I don't know his last name. I just heard him saying he helped Samer carry some stuff into a house in the suburbs once. Apparently, the guy had to take a piss or something, and the bathroom downstairs was being used, so he went upstairs. Said he saw Samer putting the computer into the floor of the bedroom at the top of the stairs. But that's all I know, I swear."

"You're saying Samer kept his laptop inside the house, rather than take it with him?" Atwell sounded a bit unconvinced. "Why would he leave something like that behind?"

"He said something about not wanting to risk anyone finding that kind of evidence on him or in his apartment or car or wherever." Elias shrugged. "I thought it was weird, but whatever. It's not like I was going to argue with the dude. The guy's crazy."

"You're right." Atwell began gathering up the photos and putting them back into the folder. "He is crazy. Which is why we need to find him before he has the chance to detonate that bomb." Pushing herself to her feet, she kept a no-bullshit tone when she added, "For your sake, and your family's, you'd better hope like hell that we do."

Raegan watched as the federal agent turned and walked out of the door. Taking it as their cue to also leave, she and Rocky went into the hallway to meet with her.

"We need to go back to that house," Raegan told the other woman the second she saw her.

"I'm going to gather up my team now. If that computer's there, we'll find it."

"I'd like to be there."

"Not this time." Atwell's long, brown ponytail swayed back and forth with a shake of the woman's head. "But I will keep the both of you posted on what we find."

"Anything we can do in the meantime?" Rocky offered.

The other woman looked at them both and nodded. With a solemn tone and seriousness in her pretty blue gaze, she said, "You can pray we find that computer. Because without it…we have no Samer."

And he was the key to finding the bomb.

Twenty minutes and one silent car ride later, and Rocky was walking Raegan to her front stoop. "I hate this."

"The waiting?"

She stopped, nodding to him as they reached her door. "I just feel so useless."

In the sweetest show of support and comfort, he reached up and cupped her cheek. "You're far from useless, sweetheart."

Raegan fixed her gaze to his as she relished the feel of his gentle touch. "We have to find that bomb, Rocky."

It wasn't even about finding Samer anymore. Did she want the asshole to burn in hell for all he'd done? Absolutely. But her priority had to be to the people of Chicago, first and foremost, and if they couldn't locate the bomb in time?—

"We'll find it."

An odd, unfamiliar fluttering rippled through her swelling heart. Placing a palm against his chest, she kept her eyes locked with his when she asked, "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" His light brows bunched together in the center.

"Always know the right thing to say."

"It's a gift."

She smiled, loving that he could do that to her, even in the midst of trying to stop a terrorist from blowing the city to oblivion.

Rocky started to lean in closer. Understanding his intent, Raegan lifted onto her tiptoes to meet him halfway.

Their lips met in a soft, chaste, lovingly sweet kiss.

"It's late, and you've had a helluva day," he whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers. "I should go home so you can get some rest."

"You could do that." She pulled back, because she really wanted to be looking into his eyes when she said, "Or you could stay here tonight." The tip of her tongue gave her lips a nervous lick. "With me."

Leaving the ball in his court, Raegan dropped her hand and turned to unlock her front door. Pushing it open, she took a few steps into her living room before stopping for a quick glance over her shoulder.

Her heart kicked hard against her ribs as Rocky's booted feet crossed over her threshold. He shut the door behind him before securing the locks and walking to her.

Without a word, the first man to make her think of things like a future filled with passion and hope covered the distance between them. Raegan held out her hand and waited.

He reached out, linking their fingers together in a gentle embrace. And with his hand in hers, she began leading him down the hall to where her bedroom awaited.