Risky Love (Dirty Hacker 2)

Ryder clicked the button on the telephone. “Yes. Hold.” He left the communication open.

Alex moved closer to the monitor, and as inappropriate as it was, Rowan hardened watching her. She was gorgeous and powerful, and damn, he wanted her. “He’s got quite the set-up here.”

Jeff moved in next to her. “Video feed?”

“That’s what I’m seeing too,” Alex said, examining the four monitors and the three computers beneath the table. She glanced over at Ryder. “I need to get my hands on those computers.” She looked at Rowan. “We need those files.”

Rowan nodded, his gut churning to take Lewis down.

The deep voice through the phone said, “Looks clear on our end to enter.”

Ryder studied the monitor then glanced at Alex and Jeff. “Anything of concern?”

“Clear,” Alex said.

Jeff nodded, returning to his seat. “Clear.”

Ryder arched an eyebrow at Rowan. “Anything we’re missing?”

“Clear,” Rowan said after studying the monitors himself.

“You’re clear to enter,” Ryder ordered, moving back to his spot in between Alex and Jeff.

Everything slowed after that. Rowan’s breath mirrored what he imagined the teams did. Calm and easy, something every soldier learned. Steady. Through the body camera, another team member approached with a bolt cutter. When the lock clanged to the ground, the seconds felt a minute long as the door was lifted.

Then there was a bang.

The camera shook and went dark.

A scream tore through the night.

“Jeff, an ambulance. Now,” Ryder roared, moving closer to the monitor. “Higgins? Higgins?” When only silence greeted him, Ryder snapped at Alex, “Get me another body cam and some goddamn communication.”

Rowan settled in front of the monitor of the storage unit seeing nothing but smoke. He squinted, trying to find bodies…anything.

A second that felt like a lifetime later, Alex’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “I’ve got Colter’s body cam.” She hit enter. Hard. “Now.”

A shaky view popped up on the screen, revealing thick smoke and a bloody body.

“Colter,” Ryder called. “Report.”

Colter’s voice was rough and erratic through the speaker. “Higgins is down. Blown into the unit behind us.” Through the monitor, Higgins moved and blinked, his face covered in soot.

“The blood?” Ryder demanded.

Colter ripped off Higgin’s helmet, revealing a gaping wound at the base of his neck. “Deep laceration. Burn on the side of the neck.” Colter dragged Higgins to him to sit up, placing a cloth from his pocket onto the back of his neck. “Hold that,” he said to another guy. “He’s gonna be pissed off later and feeling like shit, but he’s stable.”

Alex’s shoulders sank, and Rowan moved to her, cupping her shoulder. He expected her to lash out at his hovering, but instead, she placed her hand over his and looked at him. Relief weighed heavy in her eyes.

“Flanagan,” Ryder said, drawing Rowan’s focus. “Show me that unit.”

“Closing in, sir,” Flanagan said.

Alex hit another few keys and another body camera came on the monitor. The thick, heavy smoke wafted out of the unit, while Flanagan kicked at the debris. “Explosion seems to have come from the computers themselves.”

“Fucking Lewis,” Rowan growled.

“Fucking FBI,” Ryder shot back.