Page 75 of Cold Silence
In the end, he’d hurt her all the more, and he didn’t know if they could come back from his dumb mistake.
17
Eryn had come through for them again. Travis couldn’t be more thankful for her skills because this was all over now. Almost anyway. They still had to take White down. Travis should trust the police to nab the thief, but he didn’t. Nor did his team. Or maybe he just wanted to be the one to look the man in the eye and tell him they knew what he’d done. Then recover the prototype and give it back to Claire. To set her free from her worry.
Maybe a peace offering for his screw-up. Yeah, that too, because she hadn’t talked to him—looked at him—since they’d left Lynch’s office.
“I’m coming with you,” she stated but stared over his shoulder.
“This isn’t up for discussion,” Travis said.
She flashed her disappointed gaze up to him. “You mean like the job offer?”
“This is nothing like a job offer,” he said, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. “This is dangerous.”
She tilted her head and studied him. He felt like one of many palmetto bugs, a fancy name for a cockroach around here, that she would lift her foot over to squash.
“I’ll wait in the SUV,” she said. “But once you have Warren, I want to talk to him.”
“Things could go south. I can’t risk it.”
“With four spec ops guys and a former FBI agent against a network security manager?” She cocked a brow. “Not likely.”
“Things happen.”
“You’re overreacting,” she said. “I’ll be going with or without you. I think it’s better if I’m with you, right?”
“Fine. You win.” He tried to contain his frustration but he didn’t manage it at all. “But I’ll sit out the takedown and wait in the car with you.”
“No need.”
“I think there is.” He held out his hand. “The others are waiting. Let’s go.”
He followed her to the exit. With Robb behind bars and Gage having eyes on White, she wasn’t in danger. He whipped open the door and then marched her out to the vehicle driven by Coop.
Claire slid in the back behind Jackson, who rode shotgun.
Both men raised their eyebrows at that, but Travis shook his head to warn them off questioning. “Let’s move.”
They rode in silence to the motel, where they parked on the far side of the lot by Gage’s vehicle. He was leaning against the front of the SUV with Eryn standing next to him. The building was a long, two-story, run-down affair with faded blue paint and a blinking neon sign at the road. Just the kind of place where a guy up to no good went to hide out.
Travis looked at Claire. “Stay here while I update Gage on the plan.”
He slid out and got the SUV keys from Coop before he joined his buddy.
Gage eyed him. “You brought Claire?”
“It was either that, or she would’ve driven herself.” Travis tried to keep his anger in check. “I’ll remain in the vehicle with her while you all take White down. Text me when it’s safe for her to enter his room so she can talk to him.”
“You know I don’t like that,” Gage said. “Things happen.”
“I don’t either, but we don’t have a choice if we don’t want her to interfere in the takedown.”
Gage handed a comms unit to Travis. “You can listen in, and you’ll be able to see us breach the room from here. I’ll let you know when we’re ready for her.”
“Let’s do this by the book,” Travis said. “We don’t want this guy skating.”
Gage nodded. “I’ve scouted the place. No windows in the room except the front one. Eryn, you’ll knock. Pretend to be looking for someone else. We’ll hang to the side out of his view. The minute that door opens, you push your way in. We’ll be right behind you, weapons drawn. Since you can’t have your weapon out without alerting him, fade to the left, and we’ll take him down.”
