Page 134 of Wrecked
No, no, no. Sam rolled the guard over again.
Angel spoke softly to Phoebe as they emerged. “Don’t look at the guard.”
“Why not? I want that bloke dead.”
Angel chuckled at the future Hallene.
Sam scrambled and peered through the clearing smoke to see the phone lying at the edge of the stairs. He dashed forward, lifting it on his way down the stairs while dodging debris. He thumbed through recent calls.
Thankfully, the guard had not called anyone in the last thirty minutes, but one phone number was marked W.
Sam made it down the four flights of stairs by taking two at a time. Just as he suspected, the door had been rigged for any attempted breach.
His fingers were shaking. Not from the adrenaline rush but from fear he would not find Hallene in time. He drew in a deep breath and calmed himself as he’d done many times in the past, then quickly dismantled the trigger system.
Unlocking the door, he opened it to face weapons drawn.
“Good to see you, too, Cuz,” he said as Nitro and Blade lowered their weapons.
Sam explained the situation quickly, finishing with, “I’ve got to go.”
“We’ll all go, Partyman. Logan sent in three more members from ULFBR team.” Nitro told Blade, “Need boots for Sam.”
“I’m on it.” Blade took off running toward a Humvee.
Shit. Sam trusted Logan and everyone on FALCA, but he would not risk Hallene’s life with any unknown operators. “No. W will have eyes everywhere. I’ll keep you posted so you can follow close enough for a takedown. I have to get to her first or he’s going to kill her and get away with a massive hit on this soil.”
“Damn, Sam. First you want the freedom to run with an unknown operative and now you think we’re going to stand down?”
“Not asking you to stand down, Nitro, but I am telling you we have one chance of stopping a terrorist attack and getting to Hallene first is key because I think he’s going to use her in the attack.”
Nitro cursed up a storm.
Blade returned, handing Sam a pair of boots. His gaze slid to the side beyond Sam. “Is that girl okay?”
“Yeah, she’s tough.”
Angel walked up with Phoebe and explained, “I will take her to a safe location.”
What Angel didn’t say in front of Phoebe was that he’d lock her up somewhere safe and then rejoin the team. Sam could only ask for so much right now and Phoebe had proven herself to be resilient. She absolutely would be okay.
“Got a phone with W’s number,” Sam said, shoving his foot into the second boot. He lifted the device. “Get a trace on that number and don’t crowd him. Let me insert and give you a sitrep.”
One thing about Nitro was that he would not argue when they had a chance to take down a threat. “Give me the number.”
While Nitro called the phone number into their tech support, Sam looked around for wheels. “If that Humvee is yours, what’s the other one?”
Blade twisted around to stare at the only other vehicle. “Bad guy’s, I’d think.”
That one was a black SUV like the Feds used. Wouldn’t it fit for W to use federal vehicles to commit crimes?
Sam dug the guard’s keys out and clicked the button.
Lights blinked in response.
Nitro ended his call. “We’ll have a location in the next couple minutes. I also called in the other team to bring another vehicle for Angel to drive.”
“I’m leaving now,” Sam announced and started for his ride.
