Page 7 of The B-Team

“You have the right to call whomever you choose.” Fitzwater turned his back on her.

“Come on.” Rodrigo De la Cruz, another member of the American team, joined his boss. “We’ll sort it out later.”

With a terse nod, Rochelle started to climb the stairs out of the basement.

“Well,” Ryan said with some relief. “At least Abasi didn’t blow.” There was no telling what the former mobster would’ve done if he had.

When the police officers moved toward Ryan and Elle, he held up his hands. “I don’t work for Benson Security. I’m a writer doing research for my next book. If you want, I can give you my publisher’s number to prove it.”

“It’s true,” Elle said. “They gave him a really big advance to write a crime novel about the people trapped in the Paris Catacombs by that serial killer last summer.”

Recognition lit up the cop’s eyes as he studied Ryan. “You were one of them, weren’t you? I saw you on the news. If Iremember right, you haven’t worked for Benson Security for years. Injured out or something.”

“Got shot in the head.” Ryan lifted his hair at the temple to show the scar.

The cop winced. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Tell me about it. So, do you have to take me too?”

The cop glanced around. “No. I reckon we have more than enough people to fill our cells.” He smiled. “Good luck with the book.” He gave Elle a look of sympathy. “I’m afraid you do have to come with us.”

“Yeah, I figured. Seeing as the big boss singled me out and all.”

Ryan squeezed her hand. “What do you want me to do?”

“Get us out,” she said. “Don’t worry about the office computers; everything’s stored on a remote server now, and that thing’s titanium. They can dig all they like, but they won’t find anything useful. Just do whatever you have to do to end this mess.”

“I promise.” He gave her hand one last squeeze before the officer led her away.

“Where’s Julia Barone?” Fitzwater shouted. “I understand she’s the office manager. I want to speak to her.”

Joe sauntered across the room, an amicable smile on his face. “My wife is on bed rest. She’s nine months pregnant. You go anywhere near her, and I’ll rip your head off.” He spoke in such a genial tone that it took a second to realize he’d threatened the commander. Before Fitzwater could answer, Joe raised his voice: “Rachel, did you message Julia?”

“It’s already taken care of, her sister won’t let anyone in,” came the calm reply.

Joe visibly relaxed.

Fitzwater narrowed his eyes at Joe. “Let’s add obstruction charges to the mix, shall we?”

“Add whatever the hell you like, Fitz,” Joe drawled in his New Jersey accent. “None of them are gonna matter when this all comes out in the wash.”

Noah Merchant, one of Joe’s oldest friends and a member of the American team, pushed his way between Joe and the commander. He grabbed Joe’s arm and hauled him toward the stairs. When they reached them, he turned and caught Ryan’s eye. There was a question in his expression.

Ryan gave him a chin lift in reply. Universal guy language forI’ve got this. Don’t worry.

As Joe’s other childhood friend, Grunt, the mountain of a man who’d married Megan’s sister, passed Fitzwater, he growled low in his throat. The commander paled and took a step back. Satisfied, Grunt followed his friends out of the basement.

“That man isnota friendly giant,” Ryan muttered to himself.

As he watched them drag his friends and family from the room, he made a mental list of who he had to call to fix things. Unfortunately, most of the people on that list were currently being loaded into police vans outside.

It took only a few minutes to clear the basement. Then, all that remained was a lot of empty tables, some spilled mugs of tea, and a stunned-looking Isobel. Her big green eyes met his.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

A police officer stuck her head around the door. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You can’t stay here. This building is off-limits while we go through it.”

Ryan nodded to her before turning back to Isobel. “I guess we find a babysitter for your kids, and I call my wife.”