Page 45 of The B-Team

A grunt sounded from the corridor just as the cell door closed, and Harris wondered if the man spoke to his wife in actual words or used some sort of grunted morse code.

Claire’s phone rang, and a glance at the screen told her the number was withheld. Around her, everyone was on a laptop or some other device, going through the Benson Security files to see if something about Commander Fitzwater would pop out. It was tedious work.

“You going to answer that?” Isobel asked.

“It’s a withheld number,” Claire said. “Probably some telemarketer.”

“You should answer anyway, just to be sure.”

With reluctant agreement, Claire answered the call. “Hello?”

“Baby,” a voice rumbled, sending waves of warmth through her body.

“Samuel,” she breathed as her eyes closed against tears of relief. It was absolutely the right decision to answer the call. Just hearing her husband’s voice eased some of the anxiety that had wrapped around her heart, growing tighter with each passing hour.

Sure, she could put on a brave face with the best of them, telling everyone that she knew Grunt would be fine, but he was still the father of her children and the owner of her heart, and the thought of him being taken away from her was almost paralyzing.

“Are you coming home?” She mouthed, “Grunt,” in response to Isobel’s questioning look before hurrying from the room.

“Not yet,” Samuel grumbled. “Still waiting to be interviewed. Things are taking a bit longer than they planned and myinterview was shifted to tomorrow. How are you holding up?” His voice deepened. “I’m worried about you.”

That was her man, always thinking of her. To the rest of the world, he was a monosyllabic mountain who terrified the life out of almost everyone he met. To her, he was Samuel: doting father, wonderful husband, and massive teddy bear.

“I’m okay. I’m with the rest of the gang at Julia’s house. We’re going through the Benson Security server to see what this Fitzwater guy might be interested in. We think that’s what this is all about—keeping our tech people out of action so he can access our server.”

“Not possible,” he said. “Elle’s ensured our server is locked up tight.”

Claire waved a hand as she walked along the hallway to the conservatory. “Apparently, the cops made a deal with the secure storage place to get access to another server. Julia thinks Fitzwater’s using their physical access to the facility to hack our server.”

He fell silent, mulling over that information. She could almost see his brows furrow as he thought, making the scar curving from his hairline to his temple more prominent and drawing attention to his crooked nose. Nobody could call Samuel handsome, but to Claire, he was the sexiest man alive.

“Okay,” he said at last. “I can see how that might work. What do you think he’s looking for?”

“We don’t know, and there’s alotof information stored on that server. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack when you’ve no idea what a needle looks like.”

Twilight had settled over the garden, bleaching the colors to shades of gray. Claire sat in one of the white-cushioned chairs and stared out into the dimming light.

“Not sure if this helps, but word is that somebody’s putting pressure on the commander to get the job done,” Samuel said.“He’s taking secret phone calls that are making him twitchy. Might be that somebody much more powerful is pulling his strings.”

“Is there anybody out there whodoesn’thold a grudge against Benson Security?”

He snorted. It sounded amused.

Claire swallowed hard. “They are going to release you, aren’t they? You haven’t done anything wrong. None of you has. Well, except maybe the hackers. And Rachel. She’s probably pissed off half of London, and they’ll all have an axe to grind.”

“I don’t know what’s happening, babe,” he said. “But the lawyers are good. Gotta trust the process.”

“I don’t want to trust the process!” Claire flopped back in her chair. “There’s a lunatic with his own agenda running the process. Nobody’s safe.”

Samuel made the same low, soothing sound she’d often heard him make while cradling their babies to sleep. “It’s gonna be okay. We have a lot of smart people on our side, ones with a boatload of serious connections. This investigation won’t get far.”

“They’re talking about holding people for two weeks while they investigate terrorism charges,” she said. “You and I both know that if they dig deep enough, they’ll find plenty of situations where Benson Security has flouted the law. It wouldn’t take much to twist some of that into evidence of terrorism. For goodness’ sake, Elle’s hacked everywhere!”

“It’ll be okay,” he murmured.

She scrunched her eyes shut. “I just want you out of there. I want you back with me. You’re mine, and nobody has a right to take you away.”

“Damn straight I’m yours,” he said with fierce conviction. “Have you spoken to the kids yet?”