She counted them down, and they entered the house. Frederica and her team cleared the first floor. It was empty.
“Report in,” she murmured.
“Copy,” she replied.
“We’re heading upstairs,” Frederica whispered before leading them up the stairs.
Midway, she paused.
Either she heard something or the stairs creaked. Moving with stealth, she led the team to the second floor. There, she directed them to split up, each clearing one of the bedrooms. She went into the room straight ahead, scanned the area.
Someone was lying under the blankets. She approached, pulled off the linens. And stilled.
“It’s a blowup doll,” Frederica muttered. “For the remote team, we’ve got blowup dolls positioned in the basement and in the other beds.”
“Team, the dolls are a set-up.” Frederica hurried out of the bedroom and into the hallway. “Abort, abort, abort! Team, GET OUT!”
Luciano’s guts twisted. “Jesus, no.”
“Ohgod, it’s an ambush,” Carrera said.
A flash of bright white light exploded onto the screen.
KABOOM!!!
Frederica’s camera went dark.
An eerie silence filled the room.
Luciano’s heart dropped.
“Jesus.” Carrera grabbed his phone, made a call. “Rebel?—”
“My team’s suiting up,” Rebel said through the speaker.
Sin also made a call. “Are you watching?” He listened, then said, “Agreed.” He hung up.
Luciano pushed out of his chair, the anger flowing through him. They’d been baited to the house by someone who’d planned to take them out.
“How the hell did he know?” Sin bit out.
“Someone on the inside,” Luciano said. “That’s the only way.”
His thoughts floated to Frederica. Though he’d only just met her, his heart broke for her, for all the Ops and their loved ones.
“Simone,” he murmured.
“First responders are on the way,” Sin said.
“It’s gotta be The Bomb Maker,” Carrera said. “That’s exactly what happened to ALPHA five years ago.”
“ALPHA Ops aren’t safe,” Luciano said.
“No one at ALPHA is,” Carrera replied.
“What a cluster fuck,” Sin bit out. “If we couldn’t find him then, how the hell are we going to now?”
Luciano tapped his fingers on the desk. “We’re smart. We’ll figure it out.”
