Page 23 of Stealthy Seduction
Thick trees and dense hedges concealed the mansion, and heavy metal gates barricaded the driveway. Now, her legs were shaking with exhaustion and adrenaline, but she ran forward, aware of the security camera mounted above the call box that tracked her movement with a blinking red light.
Breath hitching, she pressed the button and waited, staring directly into the camera lens.
“It’s Izzy Cruz. I need sanctuary.” Her voice broke slightly. “Please let me in.”
FIVE
The war room had fallen into the kind of tense silence that preceded a breakthrough…or a catastrophe.
Steele sat rigid in his chair, phone clutched in his white-knuckled grip, staring at the blank screen that mocked him with its lack of response from Izzy.
Radio silence from all fronts was making Steele’s skin crawl with unease.
“Still nothing from Izzy?” Dante glanced up from his laptop where streams of data cascaded down the screen.
“Nothing.” Steele’s voice came out rougher than he intended.
Every minute that passed without word from her felt like he was counting down to disaster.
“I know she throws every ounce of energy into her work, but she should have texted back by now.”
She wouldn’t ghost him.
Steele jolted to his feet and crossed the room in stiff strides, his usual calm demeanor showing cracks around the edges. “Where the hell is she?”
Before anyone could answer, an alarm began blaring throughout the base—abrupt, insistent beeps that made every man in the room galvanize.
“Perimeter breach,” Dante announced, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Someone’s at the main gate.”
The overhead monitors flickered to life, showing multiple camera angles of the entrance. At first, Steele saw nothing butempty pavement and the imposing steel gates that protected their unit.
Then a figure moved into frame.
“Jesus Christ,” he breathed. “Izzy’s at the gate.”
Izzy stood before the call box, her chestnut hair disheveled and her professional composure nowhere to be found. Even through the grainy security footage, he could see the way she kept glancing over her shoulder.
Not Izzy’s tell.
But the sign of someone running scared.
Everyone moved at once, with Steele in the lead.
Dante yelled, “Wait! Just give me a minute! Give me a minute!” His hands danced over a secondary laptop, pulling up additional camera feeds that showed the streets leading to their location. “Checking to make sure she wasn’t followed.”
But Steele already reached the door. Every instinct he possessed was screaming at him to get to her, to bring her inside where she’d be safe.
The tactical part of his brain knew Dante was right—they needed to verify she was alone, needed to ensure this wasn’t some elaborate trap to pull Charlie team out of hiding.
The human part of his brain, the part that had been going slowly insane for the past two hours, didn’t give adamnabout protocol.
“Steele, hold position!” Con’s bark seemed to come from very far away, drowned out by the thud of Steele’s boots. “Steele! Goddammit, that’s an order!”
His bellow brought Steele jerking to a halt with his hand already on the door handle. He twisted to meet his commanding officer’s stare. “If she was followed, I’ll deal with it. But I’m not leaving her out there.”
He was through the door and running for the gate before anyone could stop him. Behind him came shouts—Mason calling out camera positions, Con barking orders—but it all faded to background noise.
Too late for worrying about being followed. Izzy was in trouble or she wouldn’t be here.
