“HOLY SHIT.”
Ethan looked up at Calvin sitting at his desk interface, his jaw all but hitting his desk’s surface. Had Dex sent out another memo with Ash’s picture? Ethan listened intently. Nope. No cursing or chaos.
“What is it?” Ethan asked.
“Have you checked your inbox?” Calvin glanced up at him, eyes wide. Whatever it was, it was big. Ethan shook his head. He tended to leave his e-mails for when he needed a break from his reports and invoices. They always had so many e-mails, and the ones from Intel made his head hurt. He needed Google to help him decipher the text. It was THIRDS policy for Intel to explain every upgrade, every change to Themis, every tiny detail of anything and everything they did that affected all the other departments. The problem was that Intel agents seemed to speak a different language that no one understood. Except for Cael.
Calvin swiped his hand across his desk interface, sending the e-mail onto Ethan’s desk.
“She did it. Sparks amended the no-fraternizing rule.”
Ethan couldn’t believe it. Sparks had kept her word.
“She’s added a shitload of subclauses, but she did it.”
Ethan read through the amended rule, which had been sent out to everyone at THIRDS HQ. Agents were instructed to be discreet and professional, but relationships were no longer subject to discipline or transfer unless it resulted in an agent being unable to perform their duty to the best of their ability. The new amendment was extensive, but the gist of it was they were no longer subject to disciplinary measures simply for conducting a romantic relationship with a teammate. He wondered if Dex and Sloane had seen this.
The alarms blared, and Ethan sat up. They listened intently as Dispatch called in Destructive Delta. Suspicious device found off Times Square at the Deimos Tower. Calvin cursed under his breath as they both jumped to their feet and rushed out of the office, joining the rest of their team in formation as they hurried out of Unit Alpha to the elevator. Their sergeant took up the rear.
As they descended to the armory, Dispatch called in Theta Destructive and Beta Ambush. Looked like Seb would be joining them. Ever since Seb was promoted, Ethan noticed that Theta Destructive was often called on to assist Destructive Delta. Not that Ethan was complaining. Having his big brother near was comforting, but it meant there was a greater chance of Seb and Hudson running into each other. In fact, it was pretty likely they’d be working the same scene.
Downstairs, Ethan grabbed his EOD Packbot from his weapons locker and two EOD X-Ray kits, then handed one to Calvin. Anything else he might need he could pick up from the BearCat. They hurried to their tactical vehicle, parked in the garage next to Theta Destructive’s. Before Ethan could climb up into their vehicle with the rest of his team, Seb pulled him aside.
“You be careful out there, little brother.”
Ethan gave him a big smile. He playfully poked his brother in the chest. You be careful too. He didn’t have to say the words. Seb knew. His brother chuckled and knocked their helmets together.
“Yeah, all right. Get going.”
With a nod, Ethan turned and climbed into the truck. He secured his equipment in the weapons cage before heading into the front cabin. Calvin was already buckled up in the passenger seat.
“Everything okay?”
Ethan gave him a wink and buckled up before starting the truck. Time to get his baby moving. And boy could she move. Dex was always teasing him that he drove the BearCat like he was at NASCAR, and maybe he did, but he had years of maneuvering her through the streets of New York City. The BearCat might be an oversized beast of armored steel, rubber, and bulletproof glass, but Ethan had quickly tamed her wild ways. Her engine purred like a kitten, and she vibrated under his touch, her every move graceful and flawless.
“Seriously, I think you’ve got a kink for this truck,” Calvin muttered, his blue eyes narrowed.
Ethan laughed. He threw Calvin a suggestive look. Don’t worry, baby, your engine’s the only one I love to rev.
“By that look, I’m gonna assume you just gave me a cheesy pickup line.”
The fun and games quickly came to an end when they reached their destination and the chaos that surrounded it. Ethan parked the BearCat at the end of the block, maneuvering it so it blocked the street and any possible oncoming traffic. One would think a bunch of flashing lights and law-enforcement vehicles might deter motorists from entering that particular street, but nope. Unless the street was on fire, citizens would try to drive through, and even then there were always exceptions.
Ethan waited for Calvin to exit the cabin first, then joined their team in the back. He tossed the keys to Maddock and removed his Packbot from the weapons cage. Calvin helped him secure it to his vest before handing Ethan one of the EOD X-Ray kits.
Maddock gave Ethan’s shoulder a pat. “All right, Hobbs, you get in there and check it out. The device is said to have been found in the server room on the twenty-third floor. Calvin, you’re his backup. Assess the situation. I want you giving Sloane updates as soon as you have them. Destructive Delta, clear the building. Let’s get these people out of here.” Maddock opened the back doors, and they all jumped out. Taylor and Seb were organizing their teams when Sloane joined them.
Seb presented a map of the area on his tablet, and with a swipe of his finger, Sloane circled the perimeter. “Four-block radius. Get your teams to clear the area. As soon as we get word on the device, we’ll reassess.”
Ethan was about to head to the building when Taylor grabbed Dex by the arm and jerked him against him. Dex made to shove Taylor away, but the guy wasn’t budging. What the hell was he doing?
“What the fuck, Taylor?” Dex tried pulling his arm out of Taylor’s grip, but Taylor held on. He sniffed at Dex, a low rumble of a growl coming up from his chest. Shit. Was it the mark? It had to be. They all knew Taylor had a thing for Dex. He’d been sniffing around Dex since he joined the THIRDS, but Ethan thought they’d reached an understanding. With a feral growl, Sloane jerked Taylor away from Dex. He got up in Taylor’s face, his larger stature imposing as he loomed over Taylor’s smaller leopard Therian size.
“There are people’s lives at risk. We don’t have time for this posturing bullshit. Get your team in gear, Taylor, and do it now!”
Taylor looked like he might take a swing at Sloane, but instead he thundered off, hissing and shouting orders at his team. Sloane gave Dex’s arm a squeeze, and the two seemed to exchange unspoken words before Dex gave him a nod.
“All right, everyone, move out.”
Ethan hurried down the street and into the building with Calvin close behind him. THIRDS agents were already clearing the building, but it would take time, considering how many floors and offices there were. Ethan took the emergency exit, rushing up the stairs as fast as he could. The elevators were out of order due to the evacuation procedures put in place. Calvin was a few steps behind, but he did his best to keep up with Ethan. They were both sweating by the time they reached the twenty-third floor. Toward the end of the hall, he spotted the door marking the server room. As soon as they reached the room, Calvin held up two fingers and switched his earpiece to channel two. Ethan did the same.
After they’d been hired, Ethan had been surprised by the speed and length to which the THIRDS had accommodated his mutism. Sparks set up a line of communication for him. A special frequency on channel two reserved for him and Calvin. With the simple click of a button on their earpieces, Calvin could switch between their channel and the main channel used by their team. Ethan’s com was specially programmed. He could still hear the rest of their teammates through his channel. However, they wouldn’t hear him unless he specifically set his earpiece to do so. Only Calvin would hear him.
“Let’s see what we’ve got.” Calvin opened the door for Ethan, and they began to search the large server room. He tapped his earpiece. “Sarge, what are we looking for?”
“According to security, the network went down this morning, so they called in tech support.
A technician came and repaired the network, only to have it go down again an hour later. Just when they were going to call tech support again, one of the techs showed up. Apparently they were answering the first call. Whoever came in earlier wasn’t one of theirs. That’s when the real tech found a box that shouldn’t be there. I’m getting word now. Unit Twelve-B.”
“Got it.”
Ethan checked the servers and went through the numbers until he found the one they were looking for. He scanned the outside of the unit. All the lights were on, and the wires were where they were supposed to be. Moving lower, he found a shelf in the center of the unit. His pulse sped up at the sight of the large cardboard box. Inside the box was a large roll of brand-new, unused Ethernet wires. Upon further inspection, he noticed the shelf rolled out. Carefully, he pulled it toward him and studied the roll of wires, checking to make sure they weren’t attached to anything. Underneath it, he could see a blue glow, but the whole thing was under a black lid.
“I have a visual on the device,” Ethan said as he gingerly removed the roll of cables.
“Affirmative.” Calvin spoke into his earpiece. “Sloane, Sarge, Ethan has a visual.”
“Keep me posted,” Sloane replied.
“Got it.”
The door burst open, and Ethan stared at the couple in expensive suits as they sucked face and grabbed at each other’s clothes. Are you fucking kidding me? Ethan ignored the two and went back to work inspecting the device in front of him while Calvin tried to get the couple to leave.
“Folks, I need you to evacuate the building,” Calvin told them.
“You scared the shit out of me, man.”
“Sir, miss, you need to leave right now. There’s a possible incendiary device in the building.”
The yuppie in the thousand-dollar suit sneered at Calvin. “It’s a drill. We get these all the time.”
“Sir, please, I need you to head for the exit as quick as you can. This is not a drill.”
“Yeah, give me five minutes.”
“Sir—”
“Hey, you work for the government, right? Which means I pretty much pay your salary. So you can wait a minute.”
Uh-oh. Ethan smiled to himself as he removed the Packbot from his vest so he felt less constricted. From the corner of his eye, he saw Calvin’s nostrils flare.
“Get out of the building now!” Calvin barked, his hand going to his rifle.
The guy nearly shit himself as he took off. His girlfriend swiftly followed.
“Un-fucking-believable.” Calvin shook his head before joining Ethan. “What have we got?”
“Let’s find out.” Ethan removed his knife from his belt and inspected the edges of the lid before slowly inserting the blade underneath one corner. The lid wasn’t wired, simply an outer casing. Carefully he removed it and cursed under his breath. The explosive was nestled inside a shitload of C-4. He removed his smartphone to snap a few pictures of it just in case. His phone would send the images to his desk interface, where he could analyze them later for more information on who put this together.
“It has antihandling measures. A mercury tilt switch. I need to lower the temperature. It’ll take a few seconds,” Ethan said, grabbing his kit containing the dry ice. “You need to go.”
“Fuck. Okay. How long do you have?”
“Four minutes and thirteen seconds.”
Calvin relayed the information to Sloane before turning to Ethan. “Get it done and be safe.” Calvin kissed his cheek before running off.
As quickly as he could without compromising himself, Ethan removed the dry ice rocks with his tweezers and one by one placed them on the tilt switch, watching as the temperature steadily dropped. With each degree, seconds ticked by.
“Come on.” As soon as it hit the temperature he needed, he used his knife to lift the clock, revealing the wires underneath. He was familiar with this device. Carefully he snipped the blue wire, and the clock turned off. With a sigh, he tapped his earpiece when he heard a faint beep.
Calvin’s voice came over his earpiece. “Ethan, what’s your status?”
“The device has been disarmed.” He quickly walked down the wall of servers, listening to the beep. Something was wrong.
“That’s great. We’ll send in Disposal.”
“Wait.” Ethan rounded the corner. He scanned every server, and then he saw it. One of the servers had a disconnected wire. The light was flashing to indicate the loss in connection. Someone had tampered with it. “Shit.”
“Ethan?”
“There’s another device.” Ethan pulled out the shelf and inspected the box. It was identical to the other one. He slipped his knife under the lid and gently pulled it off.
“How much time?”
Ethan took off around the corner and grabbed his bag. He removed the dry ice and hurried back to the second box. There was no time for him to take a picture. Hell, he was lucky if he had time to disarm it. The two devices had been set to go off at completely different times, with this one meant to explode first.
“Ethan,” Calvin demanded.
“Forty-three seconds.” Ethan plucked the dry ice rocks from his container and dropped them one by one on the tilt switch.
“Ethan, you need to get out of there. That’s not enough time.”
“Is the building clear?” Come on. Hurry up. He willed the dry ice to work faster, but the clock seemed determined to beat him.
“Negative.”
“I can do this.” Ethan added another piece of dry ice. That was it. He couldn’t add any more, or he’d risk the stability of the switch. It wasn’t enough.
“Please, you can’t do this to me again.”
Calvin’s frantic plea was followed by Maddock’s growl.
“Hobbs, you get your ass out of there right now. That’s an order.”
Ethan considered ignoring his sergeant, but he knew better. There was no time. He dropped his equipment and broke into a run, rounding the servers and bolting out of the room. He sped down the hall, skidding when he reached the corner and almost running into the wall when he turned. Shit. Shit. Shit. He ran as fast as he could, when the bomb exploded, the force of it blowing through the corridor until it hit him in the back, propelling him forward. Then everything went black.
WITH A groan, Ethan stirred. His ears were ringing. The muffled sounds grew louder until he realized they were voices, one laced with fear. Air rushed into his burning lungs, and he gasped. Everything was murky and gray around him. His eyes stung, and his muscles protested his every movement. At least nothing was broken. Pushing himself to his feet, he leaned against the wall for support, coughing at the smoke that burned his lungs. Giving himself a quick once-over, he was grateful to find no puncture wounds or blood. When he could manage it, he tapped his earpiece, his voice hoarse.
“Cal? I’m okay.”
“Oh thank God!”
Calvin’s voice came on the line, and Ethan got himself moving. The corridor was filling with smoke, and the sprinklers were going off. By the time he made it down to the lobby, he was soaked. His hair was plastered to his brow, and the water had made a streaky, muddy mess of his face despite how many times he tried to wipe it.
Downstairs, Calvin ran into his arms. He hugged Ethan tight, and Ethan held him, the rest of his team rushing over to make sure he was okay. The disposal team arrived and headed to what was left of the twenty-third floor. Ethan was lucky the bomb hadn’t been powerful enough to take out the whole floor, or it would have taken him with it. If he’d known there was a second device from the beginning, he would have been able to disarm both in time.
Maddock approached and motioned toward the ambulance. “Get yourself checked out. Everyone else, let’s clear this mess and start asking questions. Cael, start on the surveillance feeds. Dex, Letty, Rosa, start with the employees. Sloane, coordinate with Seb and Taylor. I want to find out who would want to blow this place up.” Maddock looked to Ethan. “What kind of threat are we talking about here? Professio
nal?”
Ethan shook his head. Anyone could have put those bombs together. He removed his phone and pressed his thumb to the screen, signing him into Themis. A few taps and he showed Sarge the device, along with a diagram and the materials needed to construct it.
“All right. Get yourself checked out and start on your report. I want to know everything about this device, along with a list of places that have sold supplies in the last six months, and I want it all cross-referenced with potential suspects. Calvin, I want you cross-referencing suspects with any and all personnel in this building. Intel’s already started the algorithms. Oh, and Hobbs, I want to see you in my office after this.”
Damn it. Ethan nodded and headed for the ambulance waiting by the curb. He really didn’t need it, but it was better than facing Sloane, who looked pissed at him, though not nearly as pissed as Calvin was going to be. And now he had to face Maddock. Great.
After the EMT told Ethan what he already knew—that he was fine and lucky—Ethan went back to his truck. He climbed in and went to the medical station to grab some wipes for his face. His pulse was finally steadying and his adrenaline dropping. It always took him some time after an incident to calm down, and that was without a device going off mere feet away from him. He hoped this wasn’t about to become a thing.
Ethan cleaned himself up as best he could and changed into a clean uniform, balling up the one covered in debris, dust, and grime. Once he’d stuffed it into one of the black laundry bags, he clipped his thigh rig back into place. Damn it, he’d lost his Packbot and both EOD X-Ray kits in the explosion. On the bright side, he’d made it out in one piece. That made two close calls in one year. He cringed at the impending argument with his best friend.
Feeling somewhat better despite not having been able to prevent the last device from going off, he took a seat on the bench. Even though he’d been cleared by the EMT’s, Maddock wouldn’t let him drive the truck back to HQ. With a sigh, he removed his tablet from his tac pants. He might as well get a head start on his reports. As Themis logged him in, Ethan took a moment to observe the chaos outside the truck’s ballistic window. Lights flashed from the dozens of service vehicles, THIRDS and HPF tape everywhere, a couple of strips flapping in the crisp air like streamers at a Fourth of July picnic. Human and Therian service people ran around, momentarily united by the greater good of helping their citizens.
Ethan was on the fourth page of his report when the back door opened and his partner climbed up. Calvin took a seat on the bench and Ethan opened his mouth to speak, when his partner narrowed his eyes. Ethan promptly shut his mouth. Cal was pissed. Whether at him or someone else, he’d soon find out. If it was with someone else, Calvin would go off on a rant. If it was with him, his partner would stew in his anger and explode later. Calvin buckled up and stared at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. Damn. It was with Ethan.
Locating his backbone, Ethan turned in his seat and put his hand to Calvin’s shoulder.
“Don’t,” Calvin replied. He was seething.
Got it. Ethan turned back to his tablet and put it away. At that moment the rest of their team was returning, including their sergeant. Recon agents arrived to take over the investigation. Any and all information they collected would be sent in to Maddock, who’d review it and pass it on to Intel for more algorithms. Defense was done here for the moment.
While Maddock drove them through the barricade toward HQ, Ethan occasionally glanced in Calvin’s direction. His partner was a statue. He didn’t move from his spot, barely even blinked. His team discussed the information they’d collected after questioning employees. After a recent downsizing resulting in the loss of over two dozen jobs, there were a lot of disgruntled employees. A few had been having financial problems long before losing their only income. The decision had come from the company’s executives, which meant those who’d lost their livelihoods were just numbers to be cut off the payroll. The floor the devices had been planted on also happened to be where the offices of said executives were. Ethan had been doing this job long enough to have seen it all before. Now it was a matter of narrowing down the list of suspects.
Traffic was a nightmare, and it seemed to take forever to get back to HQ. Maddock hadn’t even put the BearCat in its parking space before Calvin was jumping out. Ethan was almost grateful he was heading straight to the sarge’s office. Calvin needed time on his own to cool off. Maybe by then he wouldn’t look at Ethan with those big blue eyes filled with anger and disappointment. Ethan hated disappointing Calvin most of all. He’d known there wasn’t enough time to disarm the bomb, yet he’d pushed his luck. It had been a stupid move, and now he had to answer for it. In his position, a few seconds meant the difference between walking away or having his name end up on a plaque on THIRDS headquarters’ wall of fallen agents.
The team headed upstairs, with Dex and Sloane getting off on the fifteenth floor to get some lunch and Dex’s third cappuccino that day. By now he was normally on his fifth. Ethan hoped Dex didn’t find out Sloane had convinced Debbie the barista to make Dex’s every other cappuccino caffeine free. He could imagine the pandemonium it would cause.
Ethan reached Maddock’s office in Unit Alpha. His sergeant had somehow beaten him to it. He was typing away at his desk’s interface. Finishing up, he tapped the surface before raising his head to study Ethan, his lips pursed. Ethan knew that look. It was the Sergeant Maddock “What’s the best way to make you suffer without physically strangling you” expression. Usually Dex was the one at the end of that look.
“I was going to chew you out, but I decided against it.”
Ethan cocked his head to one side. Oh? Okay. That sounds good to me. Wait. Ethan narrowed his eyes. There was a catch. He could see it in Maddock’s eyes. Oh boy. Was he going to be on equipment duty for the foreseeable future? Surely what he’d done couldn’t be worse than any of the dozens of harebrained schemes Dex had involved himself in over the last year and a half. Okay, maybe it was a tad worse.
“I’m not going to chew you out because your boyfriend is going to do it for me.” A smug smile spread across Maddock’s face. “And that will be much, much worse.”
Ethan wrinkled his nose. Yeah, it would be. Cal was going to—Wait, boyfriend? Ethan’s expression must have said it all, because the sarge sat back in his chair with a sigh. He laced his fingers over his stomach and shook his head.
“Which part are you surprised about more, the word boyfriend or the fact I know about you two?”
Ethan held up two fingers together. Both. Definitely both.