Page 186 of Unexpected Heroine

Well, that’s odd.

I didn’t expect to see Big Al this morning. Surveying the parking lot at HQ, I notice not only is he here, but so are Klein, Sawyer, Jonesy, and a few others who don’t normally work in the office on Sundays.

Interesting.

I hope they don’t get in my fucking way.

To expedite the search for the remaining traffickers in hiding and Yev, I came into the office to use the more powerful machines and put the enhancements Mia made to my software to use.

The sooner all these fuckers are behind bars, the sooner I can start working on my next mission—getting back my sugar bear. But I can’t do that until I know she’s safe.

Despite being under protection, she’s at risk so long as Yev, Viktor, and the others are free.

And on that note . . .

Once I park in my designated space, I check on Lettie by accessing the cameras in her apartment. Although I hate violating her privacy, I need to make sure she’s okay. That’s all I ever wanted to do.

In a way, we’ve come full circle, where she has no idea how obsessively I’m watching her. I’ll tell her this evening when I reply to her text from last night.

The one that possibly saved Skidmark’s life.

Even when we’re apart, she makes me a better man.

Looks like not much is different at the apartment since last I checked. Stella and Freya are watching TV in the living room, and Lettie’s sitting in bed with the light on. Since she left the door open, I can see her via the hallway camera.

It appears she’s gotten comfortable being one room away from them, which is huge for her. When I woke up from a nap earlier, I had a text from Josh letting me know Freya and Stella took her for a drive this morning. A dash of pride socks me in the gut.

She’s so damn strong. A thousand times more formidable than I could ever be.

Now that I know she’s safe for the moment, I shift my focus to figuring out why we have a full house at Redleg on a Sunday morning. After I badge in and wave at Todd at the front desk, I proceed quickly to the elevator.

Striding down the hall, I peek into Sawyer’s office. No sign of him. Same with Jonesy and Aaron.

As I enter the lair, my feet stop short. Big Al is manning one of the workstations. No sign of Klein or Mia. My eyes quickly scan the monitors as I take inventory of what’s happening.

It appears Boss is running an op. What the actual fuck?

He glances over at me, his face lighting up minutely. “Hey, T. You’re just in time.”

After setting my laptop bag on my desk, I scan the screens, examining things closer. “For what?”

Looks like Jonesy’s wearing a body cam. He’s with some of our guys, and they’re walking into a hotel lobby. On another screen, someone is remotely driving the controls, switching from camera to camera inside the hotel, viewing the lobby, stairwells, and elevators.

Before Big Al can answer, I’ve already put the pieces together. A zing of excitement skirts up my spine.

Rubbing my palms together, I jump in, firing questions and settling into my seat. “I presume Mia’s running this machine through VPN.” I point at one monitor and then gesture toward the others. “Who are they going after?”

I’d bet money this has to do with whatever gift was left on Mia’s bed last night.

“We found the mole from the trafficking task force. Last night, he took down Mia’s home security system again and left a present on her bed.” Big Al points to the table behind us, where an open box sits. “It was a shiny new tablet. When they powered on the device, a note instructed Mia to be at the pier at noon if she wanted to save her sisters.”

“Well, obviously we aren’t falling for that,” I toss.

“So rather than waiting for noon, we found him first. Sent some C-squad guys over to Orlando to guard her sisters too. Just in case.”

My eyes catch on the tablet.

Memories of that fucking jump drive flash through my mind, sinking my gut to the floor.

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