WHEN THEPHONE CALL ENDED,Tessa didn’t relax. She couldn’t. Not only were her own coworkers and fellow agents in the room, but Rodriguez, Carver, and seven other advance agents were present. This was not the time to give in to the full mental and physical exhaustion that had her in a vise. If she lived through the next twenty-four hours, she was going to put on her comfiest pajamas, curl up with Zane on her sofa, and sleep until Monday. Then she was going to eat a ton of carbs and go back to sleep.
She took a sip of coffee and went to her office to try to figure out what was going on and how to prevent it. Of course, it would be a lot easier to prevent it if she knew what it was.
Dawn hadn’t broken when her phone rang with an incoming call from Detective Morris. “Morris, you’re up early.”
“Yeah. And I’m not happy about it, Reed, so don’t mess with me.”
“Thanks for the warning. I can’t really tell any difference between this and your normally grumpy self, so I might have misread the cues and accidentally been insufferable.”
She infused her words with all the false cheeriness she could muster and had the satisfaction of hearing Morris groan. “Why do I put up with you? Why?”
“Doughnuts.”
“Yeah. That’s it. But I didn’t call so you could harass me. I called because we got a phone call from a concerned citizen who is convinced she saw three UFOs in the field behind her house.And it so happens that the Wake County Sheriff’s Office has some deputies nearby. As in, right on the other side of that field.”
All weariness fled as adrenaline spiked through Tessa’s system.
“Part of her concern was that her neighbors told her they would be in Arizona for the month and the house is supposed to be empty. So she asked us to go check things out.”
Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you.
“Raleigh PD, Wake County Sheriff’s Office, and SBI are working together to cover this, and I thought, in the interest of interagency cooperation and all, that you might like to be involved as well.”
Tessa was thankful. So very thankful, but it felt a little bit too much like a coincidence. “Morris?”
“Yeah?”
“Is the phone call legit?”
“Now, Special Agent Reed, I’m offended that you would ask such a thing.” Morris spoke with so much faux outrage, it almost made Tessa laugh. “However, as it seems you and I think a lot alike, I feel compelled to tell you that I asked the same question, and I have been assured that it is real.”
Whether it was or wasn’t, Tessa had done her due diligence, and there was no way she was going to miss out on seeing what was inside that house or flying around in that field. “Where do you want to meet?”
TWO HOURS LATER,Tessa was in a bulletproof vest, a helmet, full body armor... and a very bad mood. “Are we ever going to get inside?”
Zane stood beside her. He hadn’t moved in twenty minutes. She kept checking to see if he was breathing. Nothing moved but his eyes.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Is there a pea under your mattress, Princess?”
She glared at him. “I want to finish this.” When he didn’t respond, she nudged him with her elbow. “Since when do you stand so still that someone might mistake you for a mannequin?”
“I’m conserving my energy.” Another quick glance in her direction. “You should try it.”
“Why? Is it relaxing?”
“Nope. I’m about to jump out of my skin.”
She didn’t get to question him further because the signal she’d been waiting for finally came through her earpiece. It was time.
The sheriff’s office had a highly decorated SWAT team made up of mostly retired special forces operators. They had the skill, experience, and legal authority to take the lead in this situation. Tessa, Zane, Rodriguez, Carver, and the other advance agents were on the right side of the house nearest the driveway. Gil, Luke, Benjamin, and four FBI agents were on the left side of the house. A team from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Tactical Services Unit had the rear covered. The NCSBI officers were experienced with high-risk warrants and searches, and Tessa had every confidence in their ability to contain anyone who attempted to leave the property.
The homes on either side of the residence had been evacuated, and a perimeter was in place, manned by local officers. The neighbor at the back who’d called in the report had been delighted to have officers take positions in her backyard.
Regardless of the outcome of this search, most of these same agents, officers, and deputies would be working all day and into the night. As she tensed for the moment of truth, all Tessa could think was that if she was wrong about this location, this threat, she would never recover from the professional backlash.
At least she hadn’t had to be the one to make the call on how to handle the situation. Someone from NCSBI had found a willing judge, and they had a warrant to search the premises. Now to see how the people inside would respond.
Four officers armed to the teeth approached the door. They knocked.
