Page 18 of Dangerous Devotion

Henner twitched his head for May to follow him.

“How do you know where you’re going?” she asked.

“Didn’t you hear that text come in about an hour ago?”

The way she looked at him told him she hadn’t. Being oblivious was probably very unlike her, but he wasn’t about to question what else was on her mind during their hasty drive through the dark of night.

The instructions that came in via that text replayed through Henner’s mind as he led her to the dock and took up position behind a tower of stacked crates. They were out of sight but had a clear view of the operation.

May edged up next to him, seeming even smaller behind the massive containers they hid behind.

A ship was docked, and a crane arm swung in slow arcs, unloading the cargo.

“There it is,” he whispered to May.

“It could take hours to unload the crate. And hours more to get through customs. Do you know what we’re looking for?”

He withdrew his phone and held it out for her to examine the photo of the crate snapped just before it left the port in Turkey—out of Charlie team’s reach.

A cool breeze swept across the dock. May shivered.

“I should have thought to bring my coat.” She kept her voice pitched low.

“I don’t even have one to give you.”

They kept an eye on the ship for long minutes.

“This could take hours.”

Had he noticed how silky her voice was before? Or was it just that husky whisper she used?

“Nothing moves fast in any op. And when it does, you haul ass to keep up.”

Her short, stifled laugh ended in a gasp. “There it is!”

He followed the angle of her chin across the dock. The container they’d been watching for—theircontainer—was offloaded first.

“That was fast,” she whispered.

“Too fast.”

“It will take ages to get through customs. That inspector over there has been going through the same crate the whole time we’ve been here.”

They had a long wait for paperwork, inspections and red tape.

Or so they thought.

Instead, the crate, painted military green and marked with non-classified insignias, was waved straight through.

No secondary checks. The lid wasn’t removed and the contents searched.

It rolled right off the dock like it had been pre-cleared.

May let out the breath she’d been holding. “That isnotnormal.”

He reached for his phone. “We need to call Con.”

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