Whatever it was, it worked impressively fast, and within seconds, the world around her began to fade. The last thing Shadow saw was her father’s still, unmoving face. The last thing she felt was regret.
I’m…sorry…Slade.
The thought whispered its way through her muddled mind half a second before the drugs fully took effect. When they did, any pain and fear she’d felt earlier vanished…just like everything else.
* * *
Slade satin the parked SUV, watching the house across the street. Andrew Reiner and his wife lived in one of Charlotte’s upscale neighborhoods. It wasn’t gated, but even if it were, he wouldn’t have cared.
Thanks to a quick social media search Falcon had done on the drive over, they’d quickly confirmed Reiner’s wife wasn’t at home, but rather out of the country for work. According to her latest post, made only a few hours prior to their arrival, Mrs. Reiner—who worked for a major marketing firm—was in Hong Kong until next week.
It still amazed him how freely people volunteered such information. Especially on platforms so easily accessible and easy to hack. In this case, however, the information proved quite useful.
With her out of the way, and since the couple had no children, the chances of an innocent getting in the crossfire were slim to non-existent.
“You sure you don’t want me to call Shadow?” Apollo asked from the passenger seat. “We could have her hack into Reiner’s security system, so he isn’t alerted when we go inside.”
“I’m not worried about him calling the cops.” Slade kept his eyes on the two-story brick colonial home. “What’s he going to say? That four of the five people he almost killed with a bomb he set have broken into his house?”
“The man does have a point,” Bones chimed.
Slade met the medic’s gaze from the rearview mirror and gave him a nod.
“Okay, boys.” Falcon spoke up next. “We ready to do this, or what?”
To go face-to-face with the man who tried to take Shadow away from him forever? Oh, yeah. He was more than fucking ready.
“Still going with the shock and awe approach, Dig?” Apollo looked at him for the answer.
Slade nodded in the affirmative before opening his door. It was broad daylight, and there was a good chance any number of their neighbors were watching from their windows.
He didn’t care.
When they got to the home’s quaint front stoop, Slade pulled the small breaching device he’d picked up from the office before making their way here. The low-NEQ assault IED disrupter. Compact and lightweight, the device fit in the palm of his hand.
As a SEAL, and then later as Tac-Ops’ demolitions expert, he’d used ones just like it in the field dozens of times. Working quickly, he placed the device on the interior portion of the doorjamb, next to the gold-colored deadbolt.
He stepped to the side and made sure his team was out of the way. And then…
The device was ignited, and the door burst open with a small blast. Pulling their pistols from their waistbands, Slade and the others entered the home as if they were S.W.A.T. going in for a raid.
Room-by-room, the four operatives efficiently cleared the house with Bones and Falcon taking the second floor. Slade went left, checking the home’s formal living room and den while Apollo went right.
After his teammate cleared the dining room and kitchen, they regrouped near the home’s expansive mudroom and half-bath.
“Upstairs is clear,” Apollo announced as he and Bones made their way back down the stairs. “No sign of Reiner or evidence connecting him to the bomb.”
“It’s here.” Slade looked back at his teammate. “We just have to keep looking.”
“Uh, no offense, Dig…” Bones shot him an uncertain stare. “But this guy could’ve hired someone else to build the bomb for him. Or hell, he could’ve done his planning and constructing at a different location that couldn’t be traced back to him.”
“I don’t think so.” He shook his head, slowly walking back through the den. As he scanned the room for anything out of place, his gut was screaming at him that the evidence was here. “From what I read in Shadow’s intel on the guy, Reiner’s a mid-level agent who’s only been with the agency a couple of years. The bulk of their money seems to come from his wife’s corporate job.”
“So?”
“So, on paper, at least, this guy doesn’t feel like he’s been on the wrong side of things for very long.”
It was total conjecture, and Slade wasn’t even sure why his gut was leading him down that path. But the lack of strange activity in the guy’s finances made him think Reiner wasn’t necessarily a willing participant in Stanton’s game.
