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“Did you pack that?” she asked, bewildered.
Ryder smirked, straightening his collar. “Nope. These would be courtesy of Miranda. They were dropped off last night.”
“She really is a wizard,” Hannah mused out loud. A chorus of agreement from the men around her. “How does she…?”
Jackson grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. “She’ll never tell you her secrets. I’ve asked. I think she has some secret network of spies doing her bidding.”
“In every city?” Will raised an eyebrow with his question. “I get it when we’re in DC, right? We’ve got a network and everything. But when we land in random places, I’m always amazed at what she makes happen.”
“Her budget is huge, I do know that,” Ryder said with a shrug. “Bigger than Joey’s, and you’ve all seen her equipment.”
Hannah hadn’t, but it didn’t keep her from getting the point. Miranda was a magician, and Joey had been the one Will called multiple times during the operation. She couldn’t help but feel a little inadequate, like perhaps the team would rather have one of these others along today instead of her.
“She sent clothes for everyone. You too, Hannah.”
Hannah raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“She’s staying in the van,” growled Will from next to her.
Ryder shrugged. “She sent them anyway.”
“Tell her thank you,” she said, laying a hand on Will’s arm and trying to relieve some of the tension radiating from him.
“You’re staying in the van,” he reiterated with a serious look at her.
She nodded. “Yep. Wait. What van?” They’d driven the blue SUV everywhere until now.
Ryder jerked a thumb toward the street. “Bud’s Plumbing. Another Miranda special. It’s mostly empty in the back, but once we get our gear inside, it’ll be our own little mobile op command.”
Hannah walked to the front door and pulled the curtain aside to peek out front. Just in front of the house, down the street slightly, was an average utility van with a shiny label for Bud’s Plumbing. The windowless van wouldn’t look out of place parked on any street in the city.
“All right, enough gabbing. Everyone get dressed. Kevlar under your shirt, just in case things get dicey today.”
“Won’t that be obvious?” she asked.
Will shook his head. “Not ours. It’s not like the bulky ones you see on TV. We’ve got state-of-the art vests designed to wear under normal clothes.”
She was skeptical.
“Ryder was wearing his,” Will said with a shrug.
“What? Really?” She’d admired his shirt and not noticed anything. Maybe Will had a point.
“Yep. So don’t worry. We’ve got this.”
“I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” she said honestly, her voice tinged with the hints of anxiety that had plagued her through the night.
“This is my job, sweetheart,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
She tipped her face up for a real kiss, and he didn’t disappoint, swiping his lips over hers. “Just be safe,” she said.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Despite everythingthey now knew about Kuznetsov, the information Joey had been able to get from the hotel’s system, and the larger team for the op, Will still felt apprehensive about today. It felt too… easy. Kuznetsov was a professional. He didn’t play games, he didn’t take risks. He never let people see his face. So why was he staying at this hotel?
Will wasn’t a psychologist, though Miranda had assured him that this behavior wasn’t that surprising for a narcissist.
Still, he wasn’t sure.
