Page 4 of Tactically Acquired

I rushed into the OPS building minutes later, cursing that my dick couldn’t control itself around that woman. Thumper smirked at me as I raced off the elevator and slid into my seat just as Lock started the meeting. There were no jobs for us this week, but we were still digging into Kavanaugh’s shooting.

“—no new leads.”

“What about the senator?” Kavanaugh asked, his eyes intently focused on the screen on the wall.

Lock shook his head. “The trail is dead. We’ve interviewed everyone within his campaign and everyone who worked with him as a senator. It’s a long fucking list, and we’ve come up empty.”

Kavanaugh’s jaw hardened as he stared at the table. “We need to draw them out.”

“No.” Lock immediately shook his head. “There’s not a fucking chance in hell we’re using you as bait.”

“And what would you suggest?” Kavanaugh asked, his head whipping up. “You think I should just sit back and let them get away with this?”

“As long as they think you’re dead, we have time on our side.”

Kavanaugh shoved back in his chair, getting to his feet. “There’s no fucking time left. My mother is a walking fucking zombie. She deserves some closure.”

“What are you gonna do? Run off like Cash and get yourself killed? Is that gonna help your mom? She’s already buried your father, and she thinks she buried you. What more do you want to put her through?”

The whole room was silent as Kavanaugh sighed and sat back down, slumping in his chair. He hadn’t even recovered yet. He still wore his bandage and couldn’t work out. If he didn’t take it easy, he was gonna end up in the hospital again.

“We’ll keep digging,” Lock promised. “We’re not giving up yet. But you’re not ready for the field anyway. When you are, we’ll revisit how we’re gonna handle this. Until then, get yourself squared away.”

Kavanaugh nodded, leaning back in his chair.

“As for the rest of you?—”

That was all but Eli’s team.

“Knight had a few requests before he ran off to hunt down Cash. As I’m sure you know, one of those was that we keep an eye on Eva and the kids. That’s a given and has already been taken care of. But there’s another assignment we haven’t addressed yet. He asked that we not only keep an eye on Isabelle, but we get her trained when she’s ready.”

His eyes flicked to mine. I glanced around in confusion. “Me?”

“I’m not asking you to train her, but you’ve been…seeing Vira.”

Thumper snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”

“You’ve been around Isabelle. How is she?”

“Adjusting,” I answered. “She puts on a good front. But I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask. I only see what she wants me to see.”

His head swiveled to Jack. “What about you?”

“Same.”

“Alright,” Lock sighed. “Let’s get some training sessions for the women set up. The less it looks like we’re doing this for Isabelle, the easier it’ll be to get her to go to them.”

“Have Bree contact her,” I told Thumper. “She hates this shit. She’ll fit right in with her.”

He nodded, smirking slightly. “Can’t wait to tell her.”

“And Slider,” Lock called out. “I need you to be my eyes on the inside from now on.”

Spy on Isabelle. That was fucking fantastic.

I strode up the steps to Isabelle and Vira’s house, uncomfortable as fuck with my assignment. I had pizza and beer, which should be fine for a night with Vira, but I wasn’t sure if Isabelle would stick around or even want me there. She usually kept to herself or pretended I wasn’t there.

“You can do this,” I muttered. “Just get an idea of how she is.”

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