“Man, I didn’t know shit could be stacked this high,” Shane said.
“Got any good news for us?” Nick asked from next to her. At least she wasn’t the only one who seemed to think the situation seemed more and more impossible. Her stomach flip-flopped when she imagined what their odds were against an organization like that.
“For operational purposes, maybe,” he said, waking up the laptop with the largest monitor. Some of this equipment they’d bought today, but some he’d brought with him. “We’re working on the assumption that the tattoo Becca saw on her assailant belongs to a Churchman. Yes?”
Becca nodded, so frustrated with herself that she couldn’t be definitive when so much hinged on that damn tattoo. “I’m pretty sure, but in fairness I can’t say with total certainty.”
“Mind if I see that?” Jeremy asked, pointing toward the gang booklet. Marz passed it over.
“The fact that the hotel maid associated Charlie’s abductors with being heroin dealers adds another piece of circumstantial evidence,” Nick said.
Marz nodded. “Agreed. Well, then, I propose this lead is worth investigating further until we have something more to go on. It’s gonna take me a while to see if I can work this bank info. Everyone good with that?”
Easy held out his big hands. “You know where I stand. If there’s a chance this is who has Charlie, it makes sense to learn everything we can as soon as we can.”
“I’d rather be doing something than sitting around Fort Living Room,” Shane said. “Besides, we need to figure out the link between this gang and Merritt, assuming there is one.”
Beckett nodded, crossed his big arms, and leveled a thoughtful gaze at Marz. “We’re on board. What is it you have in mind?”
Anticipation sent a shiver down her spine. She glanced to Nick, so appreciating his reassuring smile. She couldn’t begin to express how grateful she was that he was with her in this.
Derek was suddenly a flurry of activity. His fingers flew over the keyboard in front of him for a moment before he shoved a pile of papers aside to clear space on the desk. He slapped down four pieces of paper. “Church has four known front businesses.” He tapped his pointer finger against each sheet as he spoke. “A barbershop, a shipping business and storage facility, a storefront church, of course, and a strip club.”
“How original,” Easy said, leaning in with the other guys around the table’s edge to see what the pages said.
Becca glanced to Jeremy, who’d hung back beside her to study the book like he was trying to catch up to speed. He gave her a small, crooked smile that told her to hang in. It was pretty clear he and Nick were cut from the same good-guy cloth.
Marz pointed to the laptop monitor and shifted sequentially through live images of buildings, headlights flashing across the screen as cars passed by. “I found traffic cameras that give us a visual on three of the four. The barbershop is in the corner of a strip mall, and I haven’t been able to find an eye in the sky on that. Yet.”
“Shit, dude, is there anything you can’t hack?” Beckett asked, admiration clear in his expression.
“Heh. I live for challenge. I propose we put boots on the ground and check each of these out. At the very least, we can plant the electronic surveillance devices we picked up this afternoon and acquire firsthand info on interior physical layout, guard presence, and any special security systems you might be able to identify. Maybe one of you can sex up a waitress at the club and see if she’s heard anything about a missing guy that might’ve found himself on the wrong side of the Churchmen.” He aimed a smile at Shane, and everyone else’s gazes slid his way, too.
Shane’s answering grin was smug as all hell. “You know I’d make any sacrifice for you assholes.” Becca bit back a laugh, but then her mind conjured Nick doing the sexing up of some scantily dressed dancer . . . and that was so not funny.
She studied Nick’s strong profile, jaw tense, eyes narrowed, shoulder muscles bunched. Every inch of him was all business, and it was so sexy. The thought of anyone else’s hands or lips on him didn’t just make her jealous, though her brain buzzed with displeasure. Despite how recently they’d met and how much they still had to learn about one another, her soul looked at this harshly beautiful man and thought, mine. It wasn’t even a conscious thought, really, more a reaction to the intense connection this crazy situation had forged between them. Not to mention a bone-deep wish. She wanted him.
It was that simple and that complex.
As she watched him make plans with his team, her chest suddenly constricted. Because she realized she was looking at someone who had the power to send her flying or crashing from the heights. And, oh God, the more they talked about the possible risks at each of the locations, the more her gut clenched with the understanding of just how much danger they were in, and how much more they might yet face.
And he doesn’t think he has much to lose.
Becca nearly gasped at the memory of his words. She had to tell him. He had her.
Murda cut away from the group, pulling her out of her head. “I’ll be right back,” he yelled, boots echoing off the hard floor as he double-timed it toward the door.
“Probably only need two or three men for this,” Marz said. “I figured I’d stay here to make sure the bugs were coming through loud and clear and look for additional cameras on our hot spots. Too much testosterone traveling together might raise suspicion with these guys. And someone should stay with Becca. Who’s up for some recon?”
“No offense, Marz, but I’ve been your computer bitch all damn day, so I wouldn’t mind a boondoggle,” Easy said with a laugh.
“I’ll stay with Becca,” Nick said, giving her a smile that just hinted at the dimple.
Shane pointed to himself. “You just voluntold me I should go for the sexin’ up.”
“Dude, I got that shit covered, and then some.” Easy winked, and Becca couldn’t help but chuckle. The black Under Armour shirt he wore highlighted every dip and ridge of his muscles. Saying he was impressively built was a gross understatement. No doubt if he and Shane walked into a bar, every other man’s arm in the room would grow cold as the women all drifted their way.
“All right, this doesn’t need to turn into a jack-off contest,” Marz said with a chuckle.
Geez, good thing she didn’t embarrass easily. The people she worked with—doctors and nurses alike—could be some of the most humorously crude people she knew. The high-stress environment of the emergency department demanded the release. If people weren’t having sex in the on-call room, they were at least joking about it.
“Prepare to be impressed, Marz,” Beckett called, returning to the gym. “I have toys.” On the edge of the table, he laid out an oversized tablet with antennae sticking out and several small cell-phone-sized devices.
“Aww, man,” Marz said, picking up the camera like he was Gollum discovering the ring.
“What is it?” Becca asked.
Beckett crossed his arms. “An X-ray camera with see-through-the-wall technology. Can determine a person’s location, speed, and direction through walls as thick as one foot. It’s essentially a radar system that measures changes in WiFi wave frequency. It’s so sensitive, it can tell the difference between an inanimate object and a person’s breathing pattern.”