Page 72 of Deep Cover

Those same instincts were screaming now, and growing steadily louder with every mile they drew closer to the warehouse.

Rome was behind the wheel of the black van with Cannon beside him, taking a call from Blackout Command. Rivers figured the orders had finally caught up with them, giving the official green light to an op already well underway.

The rest of the team rode in silence except for Caryssa, seated directly beside him. Every so often she would murmur under her breath as though running through the plan one more time.

Cannon ended the call and stared through the windshield. The headlights cut through the full dark, catching on black shapes of shrubbery along the road and the occasional glow of an animal’s eyes.

Caryssa muttered again, and this time Cannon picked it up. “Do you have something to share, Lane?”

She was silent for a beat and then spoke in a clear, clipped, professional tone. “I want to go over the plan. We already know Bill owns the warehouse. We aren’t looking for the ownership tie. What we need is the link to the person Bill answered to. When we get in there, I’ll head straight for the office to search for ledgers and any connection to him, Echo or Antonio’s Ristorante.”

His gut tightened with that same feeling. He didn’t want her going into that warehouse. Period.

The others might still see an FBI agent they weren’t sure they could trust. Rivers saw Caryssa. He trusted her without question.

And right now, he wanted her anywhere but here.

“It’s possible everything is already wiped clean by the time we get there. You need to be ready to walk out emptyhanded.”

“I know the odds.” Her jaw was set and she didn’t glance his way as she spoke, but he saw her fingers tighten on her thigh. “I realize it could be another dead end.”

Her finding nothing to hand the FBI on the case was the least of Rivers’s concerns.

“But my gut says there’s something,” she said with a little more force. “So far, Bill’s left digital and paper trails. I’d bet my career that there’s physical evidence in that building.”

And he’d give his life all over again to keep her from stepping foot in it.

His fingers twitched into fists on his knees in an effort to withstand the urge to pull out a stash of zip ties and secure Caryssa in the van. She’d be furious and might never speak to him again, but at least she’d be safe.

They sped through the night, and he tried to ground himself. Fact was, he knew Caryssa. She wasn’t going to stand down, which left him only one option—guard her.

He’d learned his lesson with Jolie and Stina. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight. A warehouse full of stolen weapons was certain to have guards.

Some part of him recognized too that she’d earned her right to see this through. After all, he knew what it took to do a job. He knew exactly how it felt to finish a thing that cost him everything. He’d traded his whole life to see that threat on Philly eliminated, all the way through to the bitter end.

He couldn’t stop Caryssa from having the same closure.

“Approaching the target.” Rome’s ominous tone plucked at the tension inside Rivers and made Caryssa sit up even straighter, if such a thing was possible. The woman quivered with anticipation.

“Cut the headlights,” Cannon ordered.

They rolled along the final street in darkness. When the large building came into view, Rivers was already scanning the perimeter. An industrial building had corrugated siding, a chain-link fence on the east and a gravel lot on the west. One exterior light burned with a weak, greenish light over the side entrance.

Awaiting Cannon’s order to move, Rivers reached for the door handle. Suddenly, Caryssa’s warm fingers flexed around his forearm.

He turned his head. Her eyes glistened in the darkness, too bright. He covered her hand with his and gave it a light squeeze.

“Move!”

He released her and whipped open the door. The team piled out and quickly slipped into formation, spreading out along the perimeter of the gravel lot without a word needing to pass between them. Years of running ops together had worn every motion down to instinct.

Rorke peeled off toward the back of the building, disappearing into the tree line without a sound. Rome swept his weapon in a slow arc, covering the approach while Rivers pulled Caryssa in close behind him, one hand steady at the small of her back.

“Stay on me,” he murmured. “Every step.”

She nodded once, jaw set, already moving.

“No movement,” Rorke’s voice came over comms. “No vehicles in the side lot.”