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Cole was silent for a moment, and Joey winced. She thought her little trick was good, but maybe she should have checked with Cole about the right tactic to–
“That’s brilliant. You can do that?”
Her smile grew wide. “You sure ask me that a lot,” she said, thinking of their first meeting.
“You’d think I’d have learned by now,” he agreed.
“I think you’d know I’m thebest bynow,” she teased.
His chuckle was low, and a thrill ran through her chest. “Can I see you tonight?” he asked.
“I’ll be here,” she confirmed. “We’ve got a lot going on in the other operation, but I’ll be watching my little Hansel and Gretel bug send me breadcrumbs. When we have a team ready, we’ll get Flint to approve a strike team.”
“I can’t believe we might really get him.” The bewilderment in his voice let her know where his thoughts were. Capturing the culprit would fix everything. The therapy project timeline, the trial for Laura’s death, her hiding out under protection. All of it could finally come to an end when they had him in custody.
“We’ll get him,” she said firmly. “You can trust my guys.”
“That’s what Flint is always telling me. That’s what he told me about you, and that turned out all right.”
She twirled in the conference room chair with a smile on her face. The exhilaration of the spinning was nothing compared to the euphoria she felt when Cole Kensington reaffirmed his affection for her.
* * *
Once again, Cole sat next to Joey in her office cave, illuminated by the screens surrounding them. Flint stood behind them, arms crossed and his eyes on the screen. She wore a headset, but they could all hear the audio from the strike team.
Cole had met each man before they headed out in an armored SUV. He knew Ryder from hanging out with Flint. Marshall and Jackson Kelley were new faces to him, but the brothers seemed competent, though completely different than one another. Jackson was a typical showoff personality—Cole had come across far too many of them during his career. Marshall was more serious and focused. The fourth member of the team was Connor James. Joey said he was new but solid.
“Team Alpha is in position.” It sounded like Ryder, but Cole couldn’t be sure. “You sure this is the place, Joey?”
She nodded, then answered audibly. “The signal has been pinging from this address for the last four hours—every thirty minutes, just as expected.”
“Pretty nice house for a killer. Maybe we’re in the wrong business.” That was Jackson. Even Cole could figure that one out.
“Shut up, Jax. Team Bravo is in position.”
“We should get another ping in one minute, boys. Then you can move in,” Joey instructed the team.
Cole felt his heart rate tick up another notch. “What if he’s not there?” he wondered out loud.
“He’ll be there,” she responded confidently.
Cole wasn’t so sure. Just because the computer was there didn’t mean that the culprit was.
“Here comes the ping,” Joey said. “Three, two, one… Wait.” She furrowed her brow. “I didn’t get a signal.”
“Hold your positions,” Flint commanded, turning toward her. “Joey, what’s going on?”
Her fingers were flying across the keyboard, her eyes intensely focused on the screens. “I don’t know. Give me a minute.” Her eyes widened and she leaned forward. “Sneaky son-of-a…” She didn’t look away from the screens for a second as she talked. “He’s on the offensive. He’s tracing me back.”
Cole sucked in a breath and watched, feeling helpless.
Flint was as intense as Cole had ever seen him. “What about the team? Do I need to abort?”
She shook her head. “Just give me a minute.”
“There’s movement inside the house,” Ryder gave the update with a far calmer voice than Cole would have.
“Hold on! I’ve almost got him.”
