Page 19 of Operation: Reckless Angel

A part of him felt awful about this. And he knew she’d be livid that he’d kissed her while his team conducted this takedown of them. She’d never say another civil word to him, let alone ever kiss him again. Those tormented thoughts ran through his mind as she deepened the kiss, moaned into his mouth, and added her roving hands to the make-out session.

Then the door swung open, and chaos followed. Lambchop pushed Cameron Woods in first, his large frame filling the doorway behind him. His hands were secured behind his back. Cameron Woods shouted obscenities about being detained and when he saw his sister in Roth’s arms, his shrieks turned to ‘what the fucks’. Mother crowded in behind him, closing the door after he was through the portal.

Briana broke the kiss first, reacting with a startled scream while pushing against Roth’s chest. He grabbed her hands and pinned them to the wall, leaning hard against her to hold her in place. She was strong. “Take it easy Briana. Federal Agents. Don’t fight.”

Her head swung, switching her gaze between her brother and Lambchop, and Roth. “What the fuck?”

“Federal agents, Briana. Stop fighting!” Roth repeated.

She stomped on his foot and then kneed him in the groin. The pain made him momentarily loosen his grip on her just enough for her to twist her way loose from his hold. He threw himself at her as she tried to sprint away, bringing them both to the floor.

“Mother, help Crash get her,” Lambchop ordered as he pulled Cameron Woods into his living room and pushed him onto the couch in a seated position. “And then unlock the backdoor and let the rest of the team in.”

In reaction to his sister being tackled, Cameron Woods now yelled, “Leave her alone, you fucking bastards!”

“Shut it,” Lambchop warned him. “You’re both in enough trouble.”

Mother reached the pair on the floor just as Roth pinned her. His high school wrestling experience did come in handy. “Calm down, Miss Woods,” Mother said. “We’re federal agents. You’re not going to get loose.”

“Briana, stop before you get hurt,” Roth added.

Breathing hard from the sudden fight and flight attempt, Briana stopped fighting and surrendered. She glared at Sebastian. How could he have done this? She felt utterly used, betrayed, set up. “Fucking bastard,” she charged.

Roth let go of her and sat back on his heels. He saw the hurt and anger in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Briana.”

She merely shook her head, too angry to reply.

“Get up,” Mother said, prompting her by pulling on her arm. “Do you have any weapons on you we need to be aware of?”

She didn’t answer as she pushed up from the floor to stand beside Mother.

“She’s got a pistol holstered on her ankle,” Roth said. “I felt it when I took her down.” He reached forward and relieved her of an M11 Sig Sauer p228. An after-market magazine extended the load to fifteen rounds. “Nice piece. I carry the same weapon,” he remarked. Then he felt over her other leg. “We need to search you for any other weapons. But being a prior MP, I’m sure you understand that.”

Briana knew her eyes went wide at Sebastian’s statement. They knew who she was, knew she’d been an MP. What else did they know? “I have a knife in my back left pocket,” she volunteered.

“Thank you,” he said. He nodded to Mother, who removed the knife. Then he performed a proper pat down. Finding no other weapons, Mother first secured her hands in zip ties behind her back, and then Roth brought her into the living room and sat her beside her brother as Mother went to the back door and let Taco and Moe in.

“Okay, first off,” Lambchop said as the five members of the team stood in an arc, facing the seated brother and sister. He nodded to Tessman. “Your creds.”

Tessman carried an FBI badge and credentials. It had been previously planned that he would flash his badge. FBI was appropriate for which law enforcement branch their crimes would fall under.

Heat spread through Briana, searing her senses, as she watched the man pull his wallet and flip it open to show his badge and FBI ID. She’d been suspicious of Sebastian, and she hadn’t followed her own instincts to steer clear of him.

“Where’s your ID and what name is it in?” Lambchop asked her.

Roth watched Briana Woods glance away, her face twisting into a pissed off grimace.

Briana couldn’t fucking believe this. How did these guys know her ID was in a different name? Who were they and why were they here? What she’d been doing wasn’t completely illegal, per se, well, borderline maybe. But how would they even know? She’d been so careful.

“Briana, answer the question,” Roth said. Her gaze snapped back, and her beautiful green eyes fixed on his and beamed pure hatred in his direction.

“It’s in my backpack and you can go see for yourself what name is on it.”

Mother walked the few steps to the entry and grabbed her backpack. He set it on the coffee table in front of her. “Which pocket? We’ll search the whole thing eventually, but how about you make this easier on all of us?”

“The front zip pocket.”

“Thank you,” Mother said. He pulled a pink wallet with a wrist strap out. Inside, he found the driver’s license. “Lisa O’Connor.”

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