“I’ll do my best.”
“Promise?” he asked.
“Promise,” she said, and jogged down the steps.
She gave the ERT leader instructions and her business card. By the time she thanked him for coming out so late at night, Mack and Evan were headed for the SUV. The three of them rode in silence back to the office. She knew her thoughts were on Mack’s comments, but she had no idea what the guys were thinking.
They found Cam and Sean in the conference room. Kiley updated Cam on their lack of progress in capturing the suspects.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I know where they are.” He grinned. “Or at least where they were when they hacked the Tacoma police server.”
Kiley gaped at him and ripped off her vest. “Seriously, that panned out?”
“I know, right?” he said. “Rarely does. But I tracked the hack to a dive motel in Los Angeles.”
“L.A.,” she and Mack said at the same time.
“I thought the URL I sent you was a hotel login page, but it might’ve been the beginning of Los Angeles.”
Evan grimaced. “L.A. makes sense. According to the team reports, we have a double threat there. The Isabella Dam undergoing retrofitting, and a bunch of chemical plants.”
Mack fired a sharp look at Cam. “You know which room we’re looking at?”
Cam’s grin widened. “I might’ve taken a peek at their reservation system. Our suspects booked under their aliases in room 104.”
“We need to get to L.A. now!” Kiley’s thoughts immediately went to logistics.
“I already checked, and there’s a Joint Forces base south of L.A.,” Sean said. “Eisenhower should be able to get a flight scrambled.”
“We’ll still need our L.A. SWAT team to watch the place until we can get there.” Kiley grabbed her phone. “I’ll call Eisenhower to arrange the flight and SWAT while you all pack and load the gear. I doubt we’ll get another chance to get any sleep before this all comes to a head, so take advantage of the flight for that.”
Evan touched the scar on the side of his face. “What can I do now?”
Stop worrying so much.“Pack your personal items and help load the vehicle.”
Everyone shot into motion, and Kiley made the call, her heart pummeling against her chest at the thought of finally facing down the terrorists.
CHAPTER 23
SEAN PULLED THE SUVinto the seedy motel lot, and Kiley glassed the area with her binoculars. Bright moonlight shone down on the dingy one-story motel with pale-pink stucco walls and bright aqua trim.
This could be the moment they’d spent days anticipating, and her nerves raced as she scanned the parking lot filled with older-model cars and littered with trash. “No black Honda.”
“They could’ve ditched that car by now,” Evan said, “or taken public transit to get here. Or it might not be Nabi and Shah.”
She searched the rest of the lot, glad to see SWAT hadn’t parked their assault vehicle near room 104, but had taken stealth positions behind two large, rusty dumpsters across the lot.
Kiley stowed her binoculars. “We’ll check in with the commander, then come back for our gear.”
“I’ll grab a key from the front desk.” Sean slipped out and went straight for the motel office.
Evan ran a hand over his hair. “It would be a good idea to at least put vests on now.”
She knew he would be concerned for her safety again, but she was shocked to see a slight tremble in his hand. Still, his suggestion wasn’t a bad one. She got out and opened the hatch to distribute the vests. By the time Sean returned and the team crossed the lot, the SWAT commander had stepped out to meet them.
He was a giant of a man wearing a green tactical suit, body armor, and a helmet, and he held an assault rifle under his arm. He shoved out his massive hand. “Commander Bart Hawke.”
Kiley shook hands and made the introductions. “Any sign of life in 104?”
