Page 20 of Raider Unleashed

“I overheard Denlo on the phone earlier. They’ve broken into a couple other banks looking for something. Whoever he’s working with thinks whatever it is, it’s in this bank. Denlo’s starting to lose it. The stress is getting to him. He was threatening whoever was on the other end of the phone. He said this is his last job so what they were after had better be here.”

“Well shit,” Chambers said. “That puts a new spin on things. Collins,” Chambers bellowed. A young guy hurried around the corner. He was wearing a button-down with a pair of jeans and he looked to be in his mid-twenties. Raider stared. When had everyone gotten so damn young? The kid had been one of the agents on the computer when they’d come in, probably the computer geek of the lot. Had to be young to keep up these days. He had no idea how Waylen did it.

Chambers pointed at him. “I need a list of bank robberies here and in the whole US in the last six months. See if you can find any pattern or if anything weird sticks out.”

“On it,” the kid said and disappeared around the upholstered wall that created Chambers’ cubicle.

“What else can you tell me,” Chambers demanded.

“Not much,” Piper said. “All I know is we were supposed to rob a bank.”

“So why are you here?” Chambers asked.

She shrugged. “Denlo was starting to unravel. The whole job feels…off.”

“It’s too fast,” Raider supplied. “From what I can gather, they changed the timeline. I think they were planning on it doing a couple of weeks down the road.” He looked to Piper who nodded her agreement. “But when the volcano blew, they decided to move up the op. It’s pretty smart. All the first responders would be busy elsewhere and honestly if the bank alarm went off, it would be a second priority to getting people out of harm’s way.”

Chambers leaned back in the chair. “So why are you here?”

Piper sighed. “Because Denlo seemed to be losing it and none of us thought the job was going to work and the whole thing gave us a bad feeling.”

Chambers looked back and forth between Piper and Raider. “So what? You thought pulling the plug was a good idea? Goddammit, Piper, you jumped on a plane with no backup, got involved in this mess without approval, and now you want to just let it go? I’ve gone to the mat for you on this. You can’t just pull the plug now.”

Raider had the urge to punch Chambers. “What the hell was she supposed to do? Wasn’t like you had everything under control on your end. She’s out there on her own. It’s dangerous.”

“I thought you were there to help her,” Chambers shot back.

Raider leaned forward in his chair. “She jumped on a plane and you left her hanging out there. She had no idea what level of readiness you’re at and Denlo is starting to fall apart. The situation is volatile and, like the fucking volcano, this can blow up at any minute. She came in because she was in danger. This thing looked like it was turning south.”

Chambers’ face was a dull red. “I did the best I could within the time frame I was given. Piper never should’ve gotten on the plane, but she did, and now we’re here. She needs to go through with this so we can nail this guy and find out what the hell is really going on. This could be our only line to Marta’s killer.”

Raider couldn’t believe his ears. What a line of bullshit. He knew Chambers had put his ass on the line for Piper but telling her to go back in was just batshit crazy. He leaned forward to tell Chambers just what he thought when there was a commotion behind him. He turned to see a man in a suit arrive along with two other suited agents.

“Who the hell is that?” Raider asked.

“Tom Fielding,” Chambers grumbled as he stood and then walked out of the cubicle.

Piper watched Chambers meet and shake hands with Fielding. She met Raider’s gaze. “He’s the Assistant head of the field operations group. So Chambers’ boss’s boss’s boss.”

“What the hell is he doing here?”

Piper shrugged “No idea, but whatever’s up won’t be good.”

Raider’s stomach rolled. He’d thought he’d gotten Piper out of harm’s way and that now she’d be safe, except his gut told him, she was still in trouble. The way things were going, he might not be able to save her this time.

9

Piper didn’t know which was worse. Raider who so obviously wanted to flatten John, or John who was completely oblivious and kept not so subtly threatening her. She sighed and stood. She had no interest in talking to Fielding. By all accounts, he was a flipping blowhard who was great at the political stuff but not so good at doing the actual work.

“Piper,” John called and waved her over. She stood and moved around Raider to go stand with John and Fielding.

“Agent Holloway. Nice to meet you.” Fielding cast a disdainful eye over her ratty blond hair and her dirty clothes.

Yeah, she wasn’t looking her best but that’s what undercover was like. Of course, his look made her want a shower even more. “Assistant Director Fielding,” she greeted him with a nod. She might look like hell, but she wasn’t going to let him run over her.Keep it professional, Piper.

He glanced around the room. “Is there somewhere we can talk, John?”

Chambers nodded and led the way out of the main room. Fielding followed him, walking like an overrated jock on the football field. Piper trailed behind and wondered what Raiderthought of the man. He’d always had good instincts. Chambers proceeded down a hallway to a small office. Fielding entered, ushered Piper in like he owned the damn place, and then closed the door. He sat behind the desk. John ushered Piper to the guest chair by the wall and he sat down beside her. She had the instant impression that she had been cornered.

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