Charlotte rolled her eyes at him, but her shoulders softened. His intent had been to lessen the tension so she would relax—he was happy to see it had worked.
She wrapped her right hand around the grip, and he was impressed when she kept her index finger away from the trigger and, instead, extended it along the barrel. Most people automatically curled their finger over the trigger, which was an unsafe habit. Her left hand came up and wrapped around the grip and over her other hand perfectly.
“Excellent,” he said. “You’re a natural.”
“I don’t know about that.” A beautiful blush filled her cheeks at his compliment. “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Okay, next, loading it.” Hawk walked her through it one step at a time, had her do it on her own twice, and was confident she could handle it. “Why don’t you put this on your belt.” He handed her the holster.
“Is it normal for my stomach to be all jittery?” She undid her belt, threaded one end through the slots on the back of the holster, and slid it until it was resting comfortably on the right side of her waist.
“At first, definitely. But the more you practice, the more second-nature it will become.” Hawk spent a few minutes helping her adjust the holster and made sure the angle was correct. He had her holster and unholster the pistol a few times to ensure she could easily access the weapon. “How does it feel?”
“Strange but oddly comforting at the same time.” Charlotte rested her hand on his forearm. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His phone vibrated in a pocket on his vest. He yanked it free and saw Luna’s number. He tapped the screen, put her on speaker, then set the phone on the counter. “Hey, there. Charlotte’s here with me, and you’re on speaker.”
“I got a location on Kimball—he’s about ten miles out from your location.” Luna wasted no time with pleasantries. “At his current rate of speed, allowing for variations due to the curvature of the roads out there, you’ve got about twenty minutes before he’s at your front gate.” Computer keys clicked, his phone beeped, and a notification bubble appeared on his screen. “I just sent you his most recent GPS coordinates. At least you’ll know what direction he’s coming from. Also, HRA recently purchased a black, windowless cargo van, plate number VRZ-8134, and no surprise, Kimball is the one who approved the requisition. I’m guessing he’s using that or the Tahoe you saw him in before. Still no information on how many guys he has with him.”
“Team status?” He crossed his arms.
“ETA, approximately twenty-five minutes.” More clicking in the background. “Hawk, unless something happens to slow Kimball down, there’s a good chance he’ll be there before the team.”
“We’re ready for them.” He looked at Charlotte, and she gave him one succinct nod.
“If anything changes, I’ll let you know,” Luna said. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Hawk ended the call and tucked his phone back in his vest. “I want to show you something.” He took her hand and led her quickly through the house and to a door at the far end of the hall. “There’s something in here I want you to see.”
Remy’s claws clicked across the hardwood floor behind them. He stayed close, as if sensing the heavy tension hanging in the air.
Hawk released her hand, pulled a set of keys from his pocket, and unlocked the door. He swung the door open and stepped aside so she could enter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Wow.”Charlottestoodinthe doorway, and her gaze traveled around the room.
This was not at all what she’d expected to see behind that door.
There were nine flat-screen monitors mounted on the far wall in three rows of three. Below it was an old metal desk with drawers on both sides and a keyboard and what looked like a video game controller sitting on top.
Next to the desk was a closet with a glass door. Sitting on the floor inside was what looked like a black computer tower with some flashing red and green lights on the front.
Hawk followed her gaze. “That room is temperature-controlled for the standalone server.”
His own server. Impressive.
“There are motion sensors all around the perimeter of my property.” He strolled over, tapped a key on the keyboard, and one by one, the monitors flickered to life. “There are also nine strategically placed cameras with night vision capability.” He grabbed the game controller. “I can maneuver each one separately using this controller or my cell phone. Here, watch monitor number one.” He pointed to the top, left screen.
She stepped closer. “That’s your front gate.”
“Right. I can pan side to side and up and down.” His right thumb moved a little joystick on the controller to demonstrate how it worked. “If someone breaches the perimeter, it’ll trigger one of the motion sensors, and two things will happen simultaneously. All of the cameras will be activated, and you’ll hear three beeps.” He pressed a different button on the keyboard, and there were three loud, rapid beeps that rang throughout the house.
Her entire body flinched, and her hands flew up to cover her ears.
“Sorry, I should’ve warned you.” Hawk soothed her by smoothing his hand down her arm. “It’s critical that it can heard from everywhere in the house.”
Hell, people a mile away could probably hear it.
