When Atticus got to his feet once again, they hurried to the door of the room, flanking it on both sides.Archer met Atticus’s gaze, waited for his instruction.When he got it, he reached down and turned the knob, shoving the door open.They took fire from inside the room.When it died down, the only sound was that of a girl screaming.
Because he didn’t have eyes in the room, he couldn’t take out the bad guy without risking hitting the girl.He needed a location to know where to aim.
Nodding his head toward the room, he silently urged Atticus to take a peek since he was in a better position to do so without taking a headshot.With his eyes on Atticus the entire time, he waited for a signal, informing him where the bad guy was.
Atticus used two fingers, signaling that he was on the right.
“And the hostage?”he mouthed.
Atticus signaled to the left side, then straight back.
Taking a deep breath, Archer took a chance, darting into the room, aiming his weapon, and firing.He took out the bad guy, dropping him with a shot to the neck.Atticus was right behind him, both of them holding their weapons at the ready.He had enough experience not to trust that the hostage was the one they were seeking.She could’ve easily been a plant—just another baddie looking to take them out.
Under the guise of loosening the ropes holding her, he checked for weapons.When he found none, he signaled to Atticus.
And the overhead lights came on.The pain in his arm disappeared instantly.
“Congratulations,” Z said into his ear.“At least you’re not dead.”
Yeah.At least.
Brantley read the stats on the screenas the exercise ended.
“Are you sure the sensor’s readin’ right?”he asked RT.
“It is.”He pointed to the side of the screen reflecting Atticus’s stats.“And look at this improvement.The kid’s got somethin’ a lot of people don’t.”
Yeah, he did.And surprisingly, Atticus was coming into his own in a very short time.Hell, since he’d gone through training, he’d done a complete one-eighty, and it was damn hard not to notice.It was one of the reasons Brantley had put him and Archer as leads on this case.
“They’re comin’ out,” Z announced.
Brantley looked up to see both men grinning as they talked.He wasn’t sure what was being said because the mics had been turned off, but whatever it was, it looked like they were having a good time.
Suddenly, Atticus stopped and began digging in his pocket.He pulled out his cell phone, frowned at the screen, then tapped it to take the call.He turned away.
Brantley headed out of the control room to talk to Archer, curious what the man thought about the training facility.
“Pretty impressive,” he said as he approached the big guy.
Archer huffed a laugh.“You’re tellin’ me.”
“I meant your score.”
Archer’s eyebrows rose slowly.“They were keepin’ score?”
“Everything’s scored or graded around here.Everything’s measured.”
“Figures.”
“You and Atticus came in the top ten for that course and level.”
“Lemme guess.You and Reese hold the number one spot.”
Brantley grinned, not bothering to answer.
Archer shook his head, rolled his eyes, and grinned.“Of course you do.Navy SEAL.”
Nudging his chin in Atticus’s direction, Brantley asked Archer, “Who’s he on the phone with?”
