Daphne sat up, the comforter falling from her chest, baring her skin to the cool air. “What?”
“You didn’t think I’dnotknow you’d make this call, did you?” she asked. Daphne could practically hear her sister roll her eyes.
“Uh, actually, I did. Or didn’t?” she added. She hated double negatives. “I didn’t know I’d make it, so no, I didn’t think you’d know I’d make it,” she clarified.
“I guess sometimes other people know us better than ourselves, then.”
Daphne’s gaze fell on the bedside clock. “Forty-five minutes?”
“Dress in a way that it’s obvious you aren’t carrying any concealed weapons.”
“Leggings, a fitted shirt, puffer vest, hat?”
“That works. We’ll have a vest for you, too. You can wear it under your puffer.”
“Superman?”
“You aren’t the only one who thought Lovell should have a reminder that he’s not alone anymore. Mantis convinced Stella to bring him in. Stella convinced Hershorn. Well, she convinced her enough that they’ll let the two of you through. Not happily, but they will.”
“What’s his real name again?” she asked, throwing back the covers. He’d mentioned it the first time they met, but she couldn’t remember.
“Most of the guys shorten it to S-Man, but his name is Marcus. He was one of the army’s top snipers back in the day. He got his name because he can see an ant move on a hill half a mile away.”
“An ant?”
“Okay, a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture,” she said. “Stick close to him. He’ll read the room better than either you or Lovell, and if he gives you an order, I expect you to obey.”
She’d never been good at obeying orders, not since she’d left the modeling industry when obeying her agent, photographers,designers, etc., had been her ticket out of hell. Well, those orders and the orders James issued. She didn’t mind those.
“Daphne, I’m serious,” Callie said, sensing her hesitation.
She rose and walked toward the bathroom. She needed a quick shower before Marcus picked her up. “I promise,” she said.
“Andthatsounded sincere,” Callie replied, sarcasm cutting an edge through the words.
Daphne started to snipe back, then paused. Her sister had gone to the mat for her. Daphne was stepping into a world she’d never set foot in before, one that, presumably, Callie, Marcus, and James knew all too well. And she had a niece or nephew she desperately wanted to meet in six months. She wasn’t a spoiled child; she didn’t need to prove herself to anyone. All she needed to do was be there for James.
“I promise,” she said, meaning it.
Relief threaded through Callie’s exhale. “Thank you.”
Love for her sister flooded through her, drawing the pinprick of tears. “I really did win the lottery the day you were born,” she said.
Her sister sniffed. “So did I,” she countered. “Now get this over with and come home tomorrow. We have a nursery to start planning.”
Daphne’s thoughts flickered to the houses she’d inquired about. They might have a home to furnish, too.
“I’ll be there,” she said, hoping that saying it would make it so.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
James listened to the raid playing out in real time in his ear. The FBI team, supplemented by six HICC operatives, were quietly making their way through the woods surrounding Sweet Dreams, incapacitating the security team. A cleanup crew followed, gathering each of the men into custody.
“Cameras looping in Zone 1,” a disembodied voice said. Tracking the activity from a drone hovering two thousand feet above the compound, the cyber team viewed the unfolding scene using its infrared technology, then relayed it over the comms. Lovell wore a small dot on the back collar of his shirt, allowing them to ID him as one of theirs. He assumed everyone on the task force sported the same. They wouldn’t be able to keep all the players straight otherwise. Already, fourteen of the Sweet Dreams team had been handled, and they still hadn’t reached the house.
“Team B, two at your nine, twenty meters ahead,” another voice said. He assumed the crew was from HICC, but Lovell hadn’t met any of them. Whoever they were, he had no idea if they were sitting in some building in DC or in a van around the corner. Or on the other side of the world, for that matter. Regardless, this op wouldn’t run smoothly without them.
Systematically shutting down the Sweet Dreams security cameras and motion sensors as the raid teams made their way closer to the house allowed them to move through the forests like ghosts.
