Page 76 of Dangerous Secret

“Testing. Testing.” Liam had left earlier in the afternoon on a new case, so it was just Cooper at his six. It was going to be a quick in and out, so no problem.

“Copy,” Cooper said, verifying their comms were working. He was parked at the end of the street where he could see if Pressley unexpectedly returned.

Grayson had unlocked a window in a never-used bedroom at the back of the house earlier in the day. Clothed in all black, he made a stop in the garage, collected the keys to the three vehicles to keep Pressley from possibly escaping, and then he slipped though the dark to the window. “Still unlocked,” he quietly said after sliding it up.

“It spooks me when things go too easy,” Cooper responded.

“Shut your mouth. You’ll jinx us.”

Cooper chuckled. “Just saying.”

“Going in.” He pulled himself up and rolled through the window, landing quietly on his feet. “I’m in and going silent.” He checked that his gun was still tucked safely in the back of his waistband. He also had one in an ankle holster and a knife strapped to his belt. Not that he needed to be armed to the teeth for this little caper, but once a SEAL, always a SEAL, and a SEAL came prepared for the unexpected. No exceptions.

On silent feet, he moved through the house. Pressley’s home office was on the second floor, and as he made his way up the stairs, he was careful to avoid the steps he’d previously memorized that creaked.

The office door was closed, and he eased it open. The room was dark, which he’d expected. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. As he reached for the light switch, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

Danger. Danger. Danger.

He’d heard that warning voice on many of his missions, and he always paid it heed. With his finger on the switch, he hesitated long enough to whisper “FUBAR,” knowing that would alert Cooper. Then he turned on the lights.

It was only because he’d been trained for years that he didn’t react at seeing Pressley standing in front of his office chair, a gun in his hand. The chair was turned away, but Grayson didn’t need to see who was sitting in it, hidden from him, to know it was Harlow.

He felt her, sensed her, smelled her fear.

Pressley was a dead man. He just didn’t know it yet. There was no sense in trying to come up with a reason he was sneaking into the man’s study late at night, so he stood at attention and waited for Pressley to make the first move.

“You got nothing to say?” Pressley said. “Like about why you’re here?”

Grayson shrugged. “Why bother? You won’t believe whatever excuse I try to come up with.” He let his gaze shift to the back of the chair. “Let her go, and I might let you live.”

“Her? This who you mean?” Pressley put his hand on the top of the chair and spun it around.

“Affirmative. And the boy.” Grayson was surprised his voice sounded normal. Rage like he’d never known turned his vision red at seeing Harlow and Tyler with ducttape over their mouths. She had her arms around Tyler as he slept against her chest. The boy’s cheeks were red and tear-stained. “And you call yourself a father,” he disdainfully said.

“Careful,Grayson. You don’t want to push me.”

Oh, but he did. Pressley would soon learn he had picked the wrong person to mess with. But first, “How do you know my name?” He was truly curious.

“Interesting that. Ava insisted you couldn’t be a Richie, and Delgado didn’t trust you. I decided to have a little chat with my wife. She was more than happy to give you up.”

Harlow shook her head. Even without her denial, he would have known she hadn’t beenhappyto. She’d been forced to. Just another reason Pressley wasn’t going to see tomorrow. And damn Ava and her fixation on his name.

He locked eyes with Harlow and winked, sending a message to Harlow that she and her son were going to be okay. He’d make sure of it. So far, Pressley was keeping the gun down by his side. The moment that changed, it would be time to act. But Grayson intended for this to end before Pressley decided it would be a good idea to point his weapon at anyone.

“I’m making my way inside,” Cooper said over the comms.

Grayson stepped farther into the room. “What do you want?” he asked Pressley.

“A long list of things.” Pressley chuckled. “But from you? Nothing, because you won’t be around much longer to be a threat.”

“Actually, I—” The air behind him changed, alerting him that someone was sneaking up on him. The stink of cigars wafted to him. Delgado was about to find out he wasn’t as clever as he thought.

What most people didn’t realize, if you were going touse a gun against someone, never come within striking distance. A trained warrior could disarm you before you could blink. He had no doubt Delgado had a weapon, and he could see in his mind how this was going to play out. So, he waited.

“Let Harlow and Tyler go, and I won’t hurt you too badly.”

Pressley laughed as his gaze settled behind Grayson.

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