Page 84 of Ricochet

“That’s affirmative,” Parker replied.

“Good. I’m going to find Colin and—”

Parker and Colin simultaneously said he was there.

“Get to the war room. Pronto. And bring everything we know.”

“Will do,” Parker said.

The line cut off. Colin chewed on his bottom lip. It would be the first time he’d hold the title as second-in-command of Delta team on assignment,and Parker was right. There would be no time off. Damn it.

“That’s my cue to leave.” Ryder tossed Bacon a snack and left.

They filed out with Bacon trotting behind. Colin’s phone buzzed. He checked the number as they entered the elevator, and shit, it was Lenora.

“You need to take that?” Parker asked.

Jared’s pronto rang in his ear. “I can call back.”

He sent Lenora to voicemail. As soonas he figured out the logistics of the op, he could figure out how to get to Adelia. Not all jobs started right away, and some could finish up in a day. There was no point in calling before he knew what he was dealing with.

Lenora rang another time, and Colin declined the call. A voicemail notification and then a text message popped up.

LENORA: I’m heading out and trust you’ll be here soon.The town is small, and she has what she needs to wait.

He chewed the inside of his mouth. Colin wasn’t anywhere close to leaving for Maryland right now and his anxiety inched up.

“Everything good?” Parker asked as the elevator doors opened to their floor, and they headed toward the war room.

“No, it’s all good.” He hit reply.

COLIN: Hang on. I’m not there yet.

LENORA: Getting on theplane. Right. Now. Do what you need to do. I’ve gotta roll.

She was leaving her? But he tried to calm his concern. Adelia was a grown woman capable of being on her own. Lenora wouldn’t throw her into the wild.

COLIN: Does she have a burner?

LENORA: Ha. No. Do you think I’m stupid?

COLIN: How am I supposed to find her? What are you two getting into?

LENORA: Don’t you have an entire officebuilding that hunts people? And we’re up to absolutely nothing you should know about.

Hell. His anxiety jumped again.

“Dude,” Parker interrupted his thoughts. “You sure you’re okay?”

Colin looked from his phone and realized that Parker stood with his hand on the war room door, waiting for him.Shit. Shit, again.What the hell was he going to do?

He slid his phone into his pocket. “Yeah,everything’s great.”

Parker’s demeanor remained skeptical. “You know you lie for shit?” Still, he opened the door. “Relax your face some. That might help.”

“What the hell took you so long?” Boss Man grumbled.

Brock furiously wrote notes in the margin of a notepad until they approached the table. He looked up and tossed the pen aside. “You ready?”

“Yup,” Colin said. And he was. The title wascool, but he wanted action, leadership. He wanted to be part of the strategy and planning. He wanted to be in this room—and yet, all he kept thinking about was the cell phone in his pocket and what else Lenora might say before she turned off her phone and the plane took off.

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