Page 145 of Risky Passion

“I wish I was,” Aria replied, to whatever he’d said. “Let Lacey know, and I need you and Lacey to keep an eye on Watts. I’m curious to see if he learns of our raid before it becomes public knowledge.”

“I’ll dig into Watts’ family history,” Piper whispered. “There has to be something.”

Cobra bounded into the room with Charlie nipping at his prosthetic leg and Onyx chasing after Charlie.

“Okay, Maya, step up here, madam.” He pointed at an empty table and tipped out the contents of a box, spilling out all sorts of surveillance equipment.

As Cobra showed her how to fit the body cam, a screech of tires outside added to the madness.

“That will be Levi,” Aria said, ending the call. “Someone go tell him we’re in here.”

“I will,” Ryder said, marching out of the room.

Levi’s voice boomed down the hallway. “Where is everyone?”

“Jesus,” Yasmin cried. “If that won’t wake Jayden, nothing will.”

Levi strode into the gymnasium, and Billie raced to keep up with him, pushing the pram.

“Come on, guys, I thought you lot would be ready by now.” Levi grinned like a kid at Christmas. “We got an evil bitch to catch. Time to fly.”

“Hang on, Wasp,” Aria said, using Levi’s codename. “I wanted to show you the target. Cobra, can you . . .?”

Cobra bounded over and brought the satellite image back up on the wall-mounted monitor.

Aria pointed at Beatrice’s house. “Check out the location. I need you to tell us if you can land?”

“I can land anywhere, you know that,” he said, but as he leaned in, the cockiness faded from his face.

Ryder snapped his fingers. "What about Indiana's boat? She's got a helipad and a Zodiac we could use to slip in by water."

Alpha Tactical Ops had given Indiana an old Border Force vessel a few months back, after her salvage boatRhinowas riddled with bullets and sank. Last I'd heard, she and Tyler had made the new boat their home, living aboard full-time. With any luck, they would be anchored somewhere along the coast.

"Perfect," Aria said, lifting her phone. "I'll get Tyler to track her down."

While Aria made the call, Maya, Ryder, Levi, and Xander loaded up with weapons and body cams. They wore the calm focus of people who'd done this a hundred times before.

This was what they lived for.

"Indiana's bringing her boat in closer," Aria said, pocketing her phone. "The rest of you keep digging through those boxes. We need more intel on Beatrice, and we have to figure out if Watts is dirty."

She nodded at her team. "Let's roll."

Levi caught Billie's face between his hands. "Love you, babe."

She leaned into his touch. "Be careful."

"You know me . . . careful is my middle name."

Billie gave him an exasperated look that said she knew better. He just smiled and kissed her forehead before leaning over the pram.

"Daddy's gotta go catch some bad guys. Be good, buddy." He pressed his kiss-touched fingers to his sleeping baby's cheek, then straightened. "Time to move."

The group headed down the hallway and out to the side paddock, where the chopper had landed the day before.

Maya and Zac paused to share a quick, fierce hug while the others strode to the helicopter and climbed in. The rotors began to spin, their rhythmic thrum cutting a frantic beat through the afternoon stillness.

"Wait for me!" Maya shouted, bolting toward the chopper like a kid chasing an ice-cream truck. She leapt aboard just as the blades reached full speed.

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