Nick merely nodded. “Just after my mission to spring Dalton, I ran a counterterrorism task force overseas for a few months. We were tracking foreign bioweapons when we picked up chatter from an asset inside one of the CIA’s black sites. He described a ghost-maker drug that some hardcore pharmaceutical company was testing. Unfortunately, he was compromised and eliminated before he gave me any substantial details, and the official report buried any mention of this mysterious drug as an unsubstantiated rumor. But that explanation never sat well with me, and when you mentioned the toxin… I can’t see this being just a coincidence.”
Bodie whistled. “What, exactly, did all this intel cost you, buddy?”
Nick chuckled. “Let’s just say if Sloane suddenly needs a kidney, I’ll be offering her one of mine.”
Avery snorted. “Like you wouldn’t have done that before. Why you two keep dancing around all that sexual tension’s a mystery.”
“Except where she’d rather shoot me.”
Avery leaned back in the chair. “So you claim.” She rocked to her feet. “While all this intel’s interesting, it doesn’t get us any closer to raiding that hospital or bringing down Walsh and Veridian. God knows we can’t use any of it publicly against them without having a damn CIA wet squad sent our way. We need tangible proof. More than identical alloys or similar chemical makeup of multiple bombs. Those can all be reasoned away.” She paused as she glanced at Rowan. “We need Dr. Scott and anyone else they’ve tested this toxin on. Walsh might be able to talk his way out of reports and photographs, but living subjects…”
“It’s always more with you.” The desk creaked as Nick braced more of his weight on it. “But you’re right, and I’m working on it.”
Avery arched a brow. “You or Sloane?”
“Both of us, though, now that we have more video footage, I can ask Sloane to scour it, as well. In the meantime, I’ll do some digging from Bodie’s computer, call in a few markers. It might take a couple days, but we’ll find it.”
Bodie stood. “First, you’re going to rest.”
Nick eyed Bodie. “Since when did you become a mother hen?”
“Since you showed up bleeding.” He motioned to his computer. “I’ll help you send all the footage to Sloane, then, you’re going to park your ass either in my loft or you can take the guest suite. And Dalton’s going to be your shadow, just in case you get any ideas about ditching us. In the meantime, we’ll head back to the cannery — search every inch. With any luck, we’ll find something they missed — get a bead on this hospital because Avery’s right. This isn’t just an evidence-finding mission, it’s a rescue op.”
Bodie stopped, looked Rowan’s way, his mouth curving up at the sides, making her stomach flutter with anticipation. “Rowan’s dad has been waiting long enough. It’s time we brought him home.”
Chapter Fourteen
Two days.
That’s how long they’d been scouring every inch of the old cannery, only stopping long enough to get a few hours of sleep, recharge. And yet, they’d come up empty.
Bodie raked his hand through his hair, exhaustion weighing heavily on his shoulders as he turned onto the last road toward home. They’d stopped at the Lighthouse Café, picked at their burger and fries, before grabbing some takeout for Nick. Rowan sat beside him in her Tahoe, gaze focused out the window as the scenery passed in a shadowed blur. Fog crept across the ground, clawing at the lower branches, sections of the mist glowing along the horizon as the moon slowly rose across the ocean.
He sighed. He knew she’d been disappointed at the lack of intel, but they needed to rest if they had any hopes of holding off another group of paramilitary assholes when Veridian’s forces came knocking. And he knew, without a doubt, they’d eventually come knocking.
Rowan stirred beside him, catching his gaze in the window’s reflection before she turned, smiled. “I recognize that look. You’re worried Graves is going to send another team our way.”
“We’ve gone two days without an altercation. Feels like we’re out of time because a man with that much to lose doesn’t just give up.”
“Nick’s been at your office the entire time. Swears no one’s come remotely close.”
Bodie merely nodded, tapping his fingers on the wheel as he pulled into his parking lot, hid the Tahoe in his garage.
Rowan jumped out and stepped in front of him before he could dart through the door. “Do you think we screwed up? That I screwed up? That they’ve dismantled their operation here? Maybe moved it? Did we miss our only chance at bringing them down?”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “I think they’re biding their time until they’re confident they have the upper hand before striking, especially when they have the perfect disposal tool.”
“If they planned on using that toxin, they’ve wasted a lot of bullets.”
“But that’s the issue. They haven’t been able to eliminate us with firepower, so…”
“Or maybe, they realize you’ve got backup, now.”
Bodie laughed, Nick’s voice echoing through the space. He met Nick’s gaze as the other man leaned against the doorframe, hair aimlessly raked in every direction, the outline of the bandages on his right shoulder visible through his shirt. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting your asses inside so you can show me what you found?”
Bodie sighed, handed Nick the bag of food before he palmed Rowan’s back and guided her into the building. “Sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but we didn’t find anything useful, or maybe, just nothing that we recognized. Buck took a bunch of photos. Dalton’s checking the perimeter with him, then they’ll both drop by. You can go through the footage, but whoever helped clear out the place was thorough.” Bodie arched a brow. “The kind of job I’d expect from an agency-level cleaner.”
