“How you doing?” he asked her.
She sat up, cracked her back. “Hoping the monsters show and my aim is exact.”
At eight o’clock, the team was still in place, but at 9:30 pm, Carrera broke rank. “I’m heading to ground zero.”
Fuck. Fuck.
Frustration morphed into anger. Teddy had fully expected the terror cell would take advantage of the situation and attack. It would be a tremendous win for them, clearing the way to go after the Eagle.
At 10:10 pm, Teddy stood. “It’s over.”
“I’m staying here until everyone leaves the restaurant, but don’t tell them,” Sydney said.
“Team, thanks for your efforts,” Teddy said into the comm. “Time to call this. Head inside, dinner is comped. Detour barricades remain in place.”
Within minutes, the BLACK OPS SUVs pulled into the restaurant lot, parking out front.
“Team, drive around back,” Teddy instructed them.
“No,” Sydney pushed back. “Keep them out front. Those oversized SUVs with their black-tinted windows scream lawenforcement. It’s like we’ve posted a banner across the restaurant that says, ‘Here we are! Come and get us!’”
After Teddy told the team to leave their vehicles out front, he asked Sydney, “What are you thinking?”
“My gut says this isn’t over,” Sydney replied. “And my gut is rarely wrong.”
SYDNEY
Sydney disagreedwith Tank’s decision to call it. She’d already pushed back and told him to keep the SUVs out front, but she wasnottelling him the team needed to stay at their assigned posts. Disrespecting mission lead—and the man she loved—wasn’t happening.
As far as gigs went, this was an easy one. No car chase, she wasn’t tailing a dangerous criminal in a foreign country. She wasn’t hoping her CI was legit. She wasn’t on the run either. She was simply waiting for the perps to strike. If the terror celldidtake the bait, it would be tonight. Everyone in BLACK OPS and most of ALPHA were squirreled away in that restaurant. With the operation over, they were enjoying a delicious dinner, maybe even tossing back a drink or two.
For Sydney, her job was to hide in plain sight and take out the enemy. If she abandoned her post while seventy-five ALPHA Ops and BLACK OPS had dropped their guard, she would never forgive herself if the unimaginable happened.
“Tank, you should head inside, grab something to eat,” Sydney said.
He was crouched at the other side of the rooftop, his night binos pressed to his face, his regular ones in his other hand. Because of the lampposts and car lights, he’d alternate from one to the other.
“Tank,” she called out.
Staying low, he made his way over. “See something?”
“Nothing.” Using the night scope on the rifle she looked east, then west. “Go have some dinner.”
Even in the dark, she couldn’t miss his furrowed brows. “Not leaving you.”
Movement caught her eye, and she switched to the regular binos. “Someone’s walking down the sidewalk toward us.”
He followed her gaze, looked through the binos. “Got him.” He snapped a pic. “I’m uploading this to IDware.” Several seconds passed. “Too grainy and the guy is too far away.”
Sydney had her eyes trained on him, then she swiveled toward the other direction. “Someone must’ve moved the barrier. Cars are coming from the east.”
“Fuck,” Teddy bit out. “I shouldn’t have let the team go.”
“It’s fine.” She studied the lone figure. “He’s walking with a limp and his pants are super baggy. I’m wondering if he’s got a rifle strapped to his leg.”
Tank eyed the guy. “He’s crossing the street.”
“Got him,” she said as adrenaline kicked in. “It’s too dark out to confirm.”
