Page 44 of Lion’s Den

Cam pressed his finger to his lips and searched the room for bugs. He swallowed hard when he found two. David would hit the roof over this. After disposing of the electronic listening devices, he turned his attention to the camera. In place and off.

He breathed easier. “It’s okay to talk now. Sorry about that, but if I’m to keep you safe, I can’t slip up on basic protection protocols. Rule number one is to make sure you don’t tell anyone your plans, especially your location. You never know who might be listening.”

“What now?”

“Now, we call in The Thunderhawks.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AFTER MAKING THE quick trip to Emma Montgomery’s childhood home, Cam monitored their surroundings from the picture window in the living room. Shouldn’t be long before his teammates arrived. He admitted to himself that he’d be more comfortable with men he trusted at his back.

He’d been right about David’s reaction to the bugs in Interrogation Room Two. Ticked off was a mild description of his friend’s explosion. He vowed to track down the culprit responsible for the listening devices, no matter how long it took. When he did, the guilty party could expect immediate walking papers.

Cam frowned. Why would anyone plant bugs inside the interrogation rooms? Anything the police learned in those rooms would be suspect. Not only that, but he suspected the two bugs he found wouldn’t be the last ones. It was just too easy to plant listening devices and scoop up information about future raids and planned busts all over the county. No wonder the deputies had come up empty on their raids for the past few months. No one had thought to look for electronic surveillance as a reason the usual tactics failed.

A sudden surge of energy and a loosening of his muscles signaled to Cam that his teammates were near. He turned away from the picture window and headed toward the kitchen.

Sedona looked up from Cam’s laptop. “Everything all right?”

“My team is here.”

“How do you know?”

He shrugged. Explaining the way his awareness shifted when they were near? Impossible. He couldn’t explain without sounding like someone who didn’t have all his faculties. Sometimes he wondered if he had it all together, but he had depended on those internal nudges to keep himself and his teammates alive. He wouldn’t doubt them now.

Sedona rolled her eyes. “It’s too difficult to put into words, right? Let’s try this. Why are you going to the kitchen?”

“The team won’t announce themselves at the front door.” They never had. Doing so on a mission was a good way to die. He still didn’t plan to die today, not when he was hours away from his first date with Sedona. “Want to meet them?”

Her smile was like the sunrise, bright and beautiful. “I’d love to meet your friends.”

He tugged Sedona to her feet and walked with her to the kitchen. In case he was wrong, Cam signaled for her to wait in the entryway. If this wasn’t Thunderhawk, she was to run and not look back while he took care of business. He wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t be able to find her again. Finding people was what his team did.

Cam pressed his back to the wall and eased the curtain aside enough to scan the area. Nothing, just as he’d expected.

Seconds later, one shadow after another separated itself from the darkness of the woods at the rear of the house. They stopped twenty feet from the house and waited for an invitation to come inside.

Cam opened the back door and gave the signal his friends were waiting to see. He stepped back into the kitchen and waited, weapon up and aimed at the door until he was sure.

They entered the home in single file, silent, alert, and armed to the teeth.

Dario greeted Cam with a chin lift. “Sir.” The rest of the team followed his lead.

“Good to see all of you. Thank you for coming to help.”

“We couldn’t let you have all the fun.” Spencer, their medic, grinned, then shifted his gaze to Sedona. “Introduce us to the pretty lady.”

He squashed the sudden jealousy. Cam knew his men. They’d shed blood for each other. Thunderhawk also knew how he felt about Sedona. No way would one of his friends set his sights on her for himself. “This is Sedona Hart. Tiger, these are my teammates.” He pointed at each one as he introduced them. “Dario, Rhys, Spencer, and Isaac. Spencer is our medic.”

“Do the rest of you have specialties?”

Dario inclined his head. “I like to blow things up, ma’am.”

Sedona looked puzzled for a moment, then said, “Oh. You must be EOD.”

“That’s right. How did you know that?”

“Buddy, I’m a teacher. I read everything. You never know what questions kids ask these days, and I like to be prepared.”