Chapter 21

“Bridger’s not coming,”the stunning pilot, Kate said as she bounded up the stairs to their teammate’s mansion behind the rest of Mason’s team.

Avery watched the impressive group file into the mansion, duffle bags in hand. Having met them online in no way prepared her for the sheer presence of Mason’s friends. The men were all sharp and fit, taking up more space than their muscled bodies actually required, filling the room with sheer personality and swagger.

Tai was … scary. The man was huge, but it was the way he moved that was even more frightening. He moved quickly and silently, but his smile and ready sense of humor made the intimidation factor fade quickly. The older man, Graham, reminded her of an aging gladiator. Scarred and battered, but still standing tall. And still powerful as ever.

She guessed Mason and Tai and Bridger were growing to look more and more like their older colleague as they aged equally as gracefully.

While ultra-fit, Fenn was leaner, and truth be told, by far the most classically handsome of the group. But for the air of edgy anticipation, he could have been a male model, only his intensity and the way he studied the space, silently doing recon, gave away his military background.

The two women, Paige and Kate, the pilot, were even more impressive, if that was possible. Kate was tall and stunning, with model-looks and a fire in her eye. Shorter and slighter, blonde Paige was all sweetness on the outside, but despite the Barbie-pink streak in her hair, Avery already knew the woman had a core of steel and a mind like a supercomputer.

If anyone could help, it was these amazing folks. She was glad Mason called in the cavalry.

And that surprised her. In the space of 48 hours, she’d gone from being a secretive lone wolf to looking forward to being part of a team. Well, part of Mason’s team.

A temporary situation, for sure.

Mason made the formal introductions, his deep voice echoing off the high ceilings of the mansion. The team members were cordial to Avery and uber-professional, but she could see the way they looked between her and Mason, as if they knew something she didn’t.

They were nice to Paul, too, who was uncharacteristically quiet.

Avery got it. She, too, was feeling like the entire Marvel Universe cast just descended on them.

When Fenn tried to engage Avery in conversation about the case, Mason slipped between them, his broad shoulders blocking Fenn’s view of her. “Why don’t we get to work making a plan?” he suggested gruffly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Tai cleared his throat, his deep voice rumbling through the room. “Anybody else starving?”

Avery felt her cheeks heat again, and she shook her head. “I’m no cook.”

“Mason is,” Tai said. “The man’s a maestro of the grill.”

Fenn nodded enthusiastically. “And the stovetop and the panini press and the?—”

Mason glowered at Fenn and held up a large hand. “We get it.”

A new color in his cheeks, he stalked off to the kitchen. The team followed, waving Avery and Paul in with them.

Once the big group gathered enough chairs and stools, they started tossing around ideas for ways to move forward while Mason studied the contents of Bridger’s fridge and began prepping food.

Paige would dig deeper into the corporate angle to get a better handle on who actually owned Rain Bay Trucking. And she’d take care of getting the three drug samples to a lab. She’d also keep on top of the investigations into the deaths of the three Rain Bay employees.

Avery turned to Paige, her brow furrowed in confusion. “How did you learn that my boss accessed that traffic cam footage?” she asked, her voice low.

Fenn cut in, his voice filled with admiration. “There isn’t a system Paige can’t hack.”

“But it’s the FBI,” Avery protested.

Fenn and Paige exchanged an amused look.

“Everything can be breached, given enough time,” Paige insisted, her voice matter-of-fact. “The Bureau’s system isn’t even that sophisticated. Now a Russian Oligarch’s tech domain? That’s a challenge.”

Avery twisted her fingers together. She had to ask, but the words stuck in her throat. “How did Ryan know to access that footage?”

“You mean who tipped him off?” Paige brushed long, golden bangs away from her eyes. “I’m not sure yet. The main server’s easy to hack, but Bureau-issue cell phones, not so much. He probably got a text or a call. I’ll find out though, okay?”

Paige’s sympathetic expression made tears rise in Avery’s eyes. She blinked them back and nodded. It could be nothing. An anonymous tip or a call from some other agent or a local LEO. Just because Ryan looked at the footage didn’t mean he had any connection to Rain Bay.

But it didn’t mean that he didn’t, either.

While Mason chopped and cooked, tossing boxed pasta into a huge stockpot, the team asked Avery and Paul to go back over the fine details of the case. By the time Mason plated up the meal, she’d caught them up to the present.

Over plates of pasta primavera, Mason and Paige exchanged a look. “Should we ask her now?” Paige asked him, her voice low.

Mason shrugged, but he didn’t look happy. Which made Avery’s stomach hurt. “The drug samples will make great evidence,” he said, “but we need to prove who Rain Bay is buying from … and selling to, right?”

Exactly. Whether they were buying stolen pharmaceuticals and reselling them, or buying and distributing counterfeit meds, the info would be invaluable. And they couldn’t spend the rest of their time following delivery vans around.

“Right,” she agreed. “Plus, I’m hoping for some leads on the murders. Solid info on the four victims would help.”

Paige jumped in, her voice eager. “What we need is access to the warehouse’s data files.”

Avery was confused, and she told them why. She was okay with them looking at whatever files Paige could access. Then she was hoping their surveillance, and Paul’s testimony about the pills he found in the warehouse, would give the Bureau enough evidence for a legitimate search warrant.

Paige explained that that wasn’t the problem. “The problem is getting our hands on the data files in the first place. They’re not on a networked system.”

Avery’s continued confusion must have shown on her face because Fenn took up the explanation. “Paige has accessed every Rain Bay database she could find. And that online pharmacy’s a dead end. It’s basically just a storefront that accepts orders. There are no related data files to access. Nothing. The files must be stored on a non-networked computer. Or maybe even on paper. Whatever file system they use exists only in a physical location. My guess is it’s located inside the warehouse.”

“So we’re done,” Avery said.

Yup. Done. All that was left now was for her to face whatever consequences her superiors had in store for her.

And she’d likely never know whether Ryan was involved.

“Looks like this is the end of the road.”

“Or not.” Mason stared her down. “We can handle this. Not a problem.”

“Aside from the fact that breaking and entering is against the law, yeah, it is a problem.” Avery shook her head. “The place is patrolled by armed guards and has extremely sophisticated defenses. Way more than a normal warehouse. That’s part of what convinced me something weird was going on there.”

“Not at night,” Paul said abruptly, drawing everyone’s attention. “At night there’s no merch to guard. They use a four-man crew.”

Graham looked up. “To handle an empty warehouse? That’s some major overkill.”

Mason held up a hand like a stop sign. “No more details in front of Avery. She needs plausible deniability.”

“What I need is for you to stop planning an illegal activity.”

She was a federal agent. She couldn’t be part of planning a break-in. Sitting by while Mason stole packages was bad enough. No way she’d let them skirt the law on her behalf.

But deep inside, she was angry. Angry that Ryan and their superiors had pushed her to this point. Angry that Ryan made her doubt him. And angry that she was going to miss out on a real-life military op with real-life heroes.

She and Paul made eye contact across the table. She could see the same regret in his eyes.

Paul’s look hit her like a bucket of cold water, reactivating her need for justice. And just like that, she changed her mind.

She wanted in on anything that would help destroy Rain Bay.

Even if it ended her own career. Which was probably toast already anyway.

Remaining in the FBI wouldn’t honor her father. Seeking justice––and saving lives––was all that mattered.

“Never mind deniability. I’m all in,” she said, before she could change her mind. “Let’s do this.”