He’d been tempted to distract her.To force her out of the emotionless bubble she’d encased herself in, because the bubble hadn’t included him.
Any other time he would.He had no plans to let Bree shut him out just because she’d always kept people shut out in the past.
But right now that bubble was what was allowing her to function.To stay firmly committed to the task at hand and take down these murderous bastards.
They’d set up Bree’s workspace in the Sunrise, since it was closed while the Andrewses were gone.She was working in the office, a space already familiar to her, which gave her access to food and a bathroom, and didn’t have any windows that would allow someone to spot her.
Plus, the Andrewses’ absence gave Tanner the excuse to look in on the diner without suspicion.Noah and some more of his former Special Forces friends from Wyoming were providing invisible around-the-clock security for Bree, since Tanner couldn’t do it.
Tanner was being watched.He had no doubt about it.The question was, by who?
Had Steele backtracked to Risk Peak, looking for Bree?Had the Organization sent someone else to see if they could find her here?
Or maybe it was just the townspeople who were still angry with him for sending Bree off on her own, and then, worse, causing the town’s favorite diner to shut down for a couple weeks because the Andrewses were so heartbroken.
Tanner could take the evil eye from the town.But he knew they were running out of time.The symposium was in just a few hours, and Bree was exhausted.She hadn’t gotten more than a couple hours’ sleep here and there since she started.Hadn’t even stopped for a full meal.
Tanner didn’t like it.Every instinct had him wanting to pamper and protect her, and teach her how to accept it.
And he would.But right now he would accept/ acknowledge she was a woman on a mission and he was backup.So he would encourage her strength.
He let himself in the back door of the Sunrise like he had each day.He walked over and kissed Bree on the top of the head before removing the plates and cups piled up by the Grand County laptop she was using.
“We’ve got a problem,” she said.Her fingers stopped typing.
That wasn’t a good sign.
“How bad?”
“The Organization knows I’m in Risk Peak.They don’t know who I am or what exactly I’m doing, but they know someone’s pushing at them.”
He muttered a curse.“We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“I can’t leave now.I’m too close to breaking through, and we’re out of time.We need to leave for the symposium in no more than six hours in order for this to work.”She looked up at him with those green eyes.“Tanner, I need you to buy me some time.Make them think I’m somewhere else.But they’re going to be monitoring every cellular transmission anywhere they can within a fifty-mile radius of here.”
Tanner pulled out his dumb phone.“This still safe?”
She nodded.“Until tomorrow.Once the Organization’s new system goes live and they start piggybacking off the manufacturers’ systems, then no cellular phone will be safe.Every phone will broadcast data to the Organization.But I still wouldn’t use it just in case I’m wrong.”
“You keep working.I’ll buy you the time you need.”
She gave him a tired smile before her eyes and hands were back on the laptop in front of her.
Tanner turned on the back light of the diner, his signal to Noah that they needed to meet.A few minutes later, Noah showed up.Tanner led him into the kitchen so they could talk without disturbing Bree.
“Bree says the Organization is onto her.We need to set up a decoy, get her the space and time she needs.And we should deem all cell phones no longer safe.”
Noah grunted.“We can set something up at the ranch.Make them think she’s there.It would give you and me the tactical advantage since we know it so well.And my team is fully capable.”
Tanner had made the decision not to bring in law enforcement.Official channels meant too many modes of communication that could be monitored.
“Yeah, good.I’ve got my federal colleagues in Denver as soon as Bree cracks the system and we’ve got the proof we need that Communication for All is dirty.”
Noah nodded.“One way or another, it ends today.How are we going to get our bad guys out to the ranch?”
“They don’t know we’re onto them,” Tanner said.“So we use cell phones against them.”
Noah smiled.“And then we take them out of commission.My kind of plan.”
