Page 52 of Unexpected Redemption

He lowers his chin, then shifts his focus back to the mission, his face waxing over.“Let’s move along, team. Mia, are you good to go?”

“10-4. Neighborhood secure. No calls to 911 to report our presence. No phone calls in or out of the house from the tango. Clear to proceed.”

Ah. That’s what she was checking for earlier. Makes sense. If I peeked out my window in the afternoon and saw a pack of SWAT guys approaching, I might call too.

From what I heard earlier when I was...listening without explicit permission, they didn’t want to wait until night because he was such a flight risk. The car they caught him driving to the store was parked inside the garage, so they couldn’t put a tracker on it. The longer they waited, the greater the potential for shit to go wrong or more people to arrive.

“Klein?” Big Al asks.

“All clear on my end,” he replies.

Boss Dad unfolds his arms and shifts his stance. “Check in with team leads. If they’re good, then count it down.”

Following his directions, Klein asks each team lead if they’re ready. Both answeraffirmative.

I get a dash of excitement when I hear Tomer’s voice. He’s so focused. Confident and determined. Damn. That’s hot. Plus, Ialwaysget hot when he’s in military mode. That’s been the case since he first told me he was in military intelligence all those months ago. My sexy soldier.

As Klein counts them off,Kri bustles into the lair, closing the door behind her. “Did I miss it?”

“Breaching now,” Big Al answers without taking his eyes off the screen or fists off his hips.

She grabs a chair from the table, rolling it up beside me. Keeping her volume low and vision on the op, she leans close. “You okay? Didn’t think I’d see you in here.”

“I want to watch that shitbag go down,” I whisper back, balling my fidgeting hands into fists.

Most of my anxiety has morphed into anger. While I’m still nervous for Tomer and the team, I can tell how seriously they’re taking this. The scan of the house Klein did with the drone helped calm my fears too. Knowing only one man is inside, and six military guys on the outside goes a long way to reassuring me that it’ll be fine. I suppose all that leaves is hatred of Yev to fester inside me.

Kri reaches over and takes my hand, weaving her fingers with mine. I spare a one-second glance at her. She’s nibbling her lower lip, tension showing in the lines of her pretty face. It makes me wonder if she’s holding my hand for my comfort or hers.

Maybe it’s both.

I pulse my grip as Tomer kicks open the front door. Looks like Shep did the same at the back. Bangs ring out, and flashing lights flicker.

Gasping audibly, I stiffen in the chair, my eyes frantically moving from screen to screen. For whatever reason, I press my free hand to my chest, where my heart’s about to thrash right through my rib cage.

“Flash-bang,” Kri whispers to me.

“What’s that?”

“Like a smoke bomb. It disorients them.”

“Oh. Okay.”

That’s good. I think.

What the hell do I know?

It’s hard to concentrate on any single screen and even harder to visually detect what’s happening because of all the smoke from the bang thing. With the audio from the six different perspectives and the drone zooming in from the backyard looking inside the house, there’s too much for me to focus on. My squirrel brain is freaking out, trying to absorb it all.

Sounds of a struggle reach my ears, then what might be slamming doors.

A gruff voice yells, “Hands where we can see them, Yev.”

It all happens so fast.

I seek out Tomer’s camera just in time to see his fist flying into a familiar, wretched face. They found Yev instantly, exactly where they expected him to be.

Tomer punches him again, this time in the throat by the look of it.Ouch.

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