Page 32 of Fighting Salvation

He tipped his head as if really giving it some thought. “Yes, I do.”

She nodded once. “Okay then.”

“Alrighty then, we’re up. I won’t have this satellite for long because the US military gets a bit pissy when you steal their stuff but I’ll send you aerial shots of everything I have.”

“Thank you, Watchdog.” Bás seemed to pause as if weighing something up. “We could actually do with you here if you’re willing to come out of the cave for a few days.”

“Won’t he melt if he sees sunlight or something?” Lotus popped a bubble with her gum as she spoke.

“Oy, I’m not a vampire. I’d be a hunky werewolf, I’ll have you know.”

“Whatever. Just get your ass over here as soon as you can. It would be good to have someone techy on hand in case we need them.”

“I think techy is vastly underselling my skills, boss, but I’m going to let that go seeing as your brain is being flooded with so much dopamine and norepinephrine because of our lovely Val, that you probably aren’t functioning on all cylinders.”

“Oh my God, does everyone know?”

Val glared at Lotus who was very interested in her nails all of a sudden. She glanced at Bás, waiting for him to blow his top. He was such a private man but he only shook his head.

“I was excited, okay? We’ve been shipping you two for ages. Mum and Dad got with the programme finally. It’s sweet.”

“Shipping?” Bás’ brow furrowed as he looked at Lotus.

“Yeah, you know. We wanted this relationship. We backed it, we shipped it.”

“I have a few things to say to that. One, I am not sweet. Two, we’re not Mum and fucking Dad. Val is only a few years older than you. And three, my brain is working just fine, thank you.” He turned to the screen and pointed at Watchdog. “Now get your ass on the next flight here.”

“Yes, boss.” Both Lotus and Watchdog said in unison.

Watchdog cut the call with a smirk and they spent the next ten minutes going over the images Watchdog had sent over.

“Here. It has no access behind it and the tyre tracks all around it indicate high traffic. We start there.”

They loaded up on guns and ammo, never quite sure what they’d find with Hansen and checked in with Duchess. The team had seen no sign of the man in question but Val wasn’t surprised. It had been a long shot. They arranged to leave Duchess and Rykov in situ but Hurricane and Titan would meet them at the warehouse.

Val climbed in the car and closed the door but she saw Bás stop Lotus a few feet away. He bent so he could speak quietly and they exchanged a few words, with Lotus looking toward her and grimacing. Val had no idea what was being said but she doubted it was good if the look on her friend’s face was any indication.

She didn’t want to get involved but she hoped this wasn’t about her and Niall. She’d hate for their relationship to come between the team in any way. As Lotus climbed in behind her, she turned, her brow raised in question.

Lotus grinned. “All good, Chica.”

The drive took around an hour and they threw out different theories about Hansen as Bás drove.

Lotus leaned between the seats. “Did you ever steal a girl from him?”

Bás grit his jaw. “No. Nothing like that.”

“Hmm, then we need to dig deeper. What was his home life like?”

“He had a good home life as far as I could tell. His father worked at the embassy with mine. His mother was a stay-at-home mum. I wouldn’t say they were that close but he was super close to his dad.”

“Maybe there’s something there that a teen wouldn’t have picked up on. It’s worth a shot.”

Bás nodded as he made the last turn to where they’d meet the others and leave the vehicles.

As soon as she exited the vehicle, Duchess was hugging her. “You scared the crap out of me.”

Val closed her eyes, hugging her friend back. “I’m sorry I scared you all.”