Page 127 of Ricochet

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

The screens lining Parker’s wall were lit with the expected blips of Titan Group’s teams in the field. They could have several ops at once, and he oversaw the logistics and coordinated with most of the team commanders. Depending on a team’s specialty and need for a direct communication, some teams never dealt with anyone at HQ besides him. Parker never saw them as anythingother than a blip on a screen and voices that he’d memorized.

But Delta team was not one of them, and as their team had changed over time, growing under Brock’s leadership, so had the men under his command. Tonight, they were a team of ghosts, virtually undetectable in lower Manhattan. Of all the places Parker could picture Delta team, New York City was not one of them. Yet Brock had headed tothe Big Apple himself for a client that Parker wanted to be rid of soon as the contract ended.

Gloria Astor was worth her weight in intelligence, but as a client, she was a headache. Or rather, her security team was. If Richard Delano’s name had chimed onto Parker’s phone one more time before the award dinner tonight, Parker was liable to ask Jared and Brock to call off the contract. Parker hadrarely come across such a needy counterpart. Handling Richard came almost to the detriment of their other clients. The man overshared unneeded details and made requests for unnecessary data. Half the time Parker nearly gave him more than Richard asked for to ward off the next request. If that was how they ran Gloria’s security, no wonder they needed a backup team for an event. They had to be buriedin data sets and other needless bullshit.

Jared’s bulldog Thelma padded into Parker’s lair, and Bacon rolled over, making room for her on the pup bed. Where there was Thelma, Boss Man couldn’t be too far behind. Thelma was sneaky, but she had a hell of a time getting through the retina scanner and thumb print pads on her own.

Jared walked in right as Thelma plopped down. “How’s it going?”

“Other than a decent-sized fire at Colin’s safe house…” And Boss Man’s pain in the ass Army buddy who Parker wouldn’t bitch over…

“Fire?” Jared’s expression remained surprisingly blank as though he wanted another piece of information before deciding to worry or rain hell. “Pray tell, what the fuck was the cause?”

Raining hell was imminent. “The official county fire report will read faulty electricity.”

“Whatshouldit have said?”

Parker hated this part of his job and tilted his head toward the desk like maybe there would be a Post-It note with a different explanation of reality. “From what I can parse together—”

“Simple question needs a simple answer.” Jared’s jaw ticked. “The fire was caused by?”

“A rocket-powered grenade launcher.”

His eyes widened and the rain of hellfire with Colin’sname in the middle of it didn’t start. Parker watched curiously as Jared muttered and stroked his beard. “Mayhem isn’t playing, are they?”

Parker shook his head. Mayhem was messy. The accuracy of a grenade strike to a suburban middle-class home would have been hard to ensure. Confirming Adelia’s kill? Harder. Parker wasn’t sure what the tactical purpose, but that was a military-grade operation.It was a scare tactic.

“Local law enforcement didn’t need medical transport, so for now, Colin and Adelia are gone.”

Jared’s hand stopped on his beard, lost in thought, until he crossed his arms and turned toward the wall of monitors. “Gone where?”

“Not sure.” He shrugged and hit refresh on his system though it already refreshed every few seconds. “I’ll update you when they surface.”

“What’reare they doing?” Jared muttered, shaking his head. “Why wouldn’t Colin check in?”

“Because his safe house is on fire,” Parker pointed out.

Jared’s brow arched as he lifted his chin. “Yeah, yeah.” He cracked a couple knuckles. “All right. How about for tonight? Delta team’s good?”

“Everyone’s in place.”

“And?” Jared waited.

“And?” Parker searched his screens for useful information. What moredid Boss Man want for an op that was essentially backup?

“That’s all you’ve got for a job that Brock felt the need to high-tail up to at the last minute?”

“I didn’t tell him anything different than you.” But that was odd. “They’re eagerly awaiting action or this contract to end.”

“I bet.” Jared stroked his beard again. “You?”

“Me?” He searched his desk again. “Was there an analysis I didn’t—”

“What’s your opinion?”

Parker shifted in his chair, rolling back. Giving his opinion was pointless and made him uncomfortable. “I’m better suited for statistical analysis.”

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