Page 83 of Too Guarded to Love

Kane pulled his hat off his head. “Everyone is safe and sound, and we wanted in on the action. Linc and Chris are monitoring the entrances.” He held out his hand to Joe. “Sorry you had to hang out with this guy until I got here.”

Nic laughed. Leave it to Kane to lighten a heavy situation. And to remind him that his brothers always had his back.

Unconditionally, just like he knew Olivia did.

As Joe said goodbye with a promise to be on-site if they needed anything, a mind comms from headquarters beeped in Nic’s brain.

“Status?” Ryan asked.

“Secure. Any intel from the shooter?” The guy who’d fled the airfield hadn’t stood a chance against the speed in Linc’s steel legs.

Edgar joined the conversation along with the team. “The shooter and his colleagues were sent by the Diablos with strict instructions to engage but not kill.”

“You mean they sent a team just to pick a fight?” Why waste resources if there wasn’t a tangible end goal?

A door down the hall opened. Two guys in scrubs, who looked young enough to be teenagers, walked out. The conversation in Nic’s head dimmed as one of them mentioned playing laser tag later.

Laser tag and teenagers. Like Hudson and Gage, when they demonstrated the wearables at the White House.

Nic paced the length of the corridor as an idea took shape.

“Maybe the Diablos weren’t sent to pick a fight. Maybe they were sent to observe how we engage in battle. Richardson’s been trying to gain intel about our capabilities. Maybe tonight was set up to be a demonstration.”

“Interesting idea, but Richardson knows how the V-Strikes work. He was hit with one during Scarlett’s rescue.”

“Maybe they thought we’d be wearing the wearables. Did the shooter give any indication about tonight’s motive for attacking?”

“No. That appears to be above his pay grade. We do know that he was given instructions about where to shoot you, but not told why. And they were all ordered not to hurt the woman.”

Relief stopped Nic in his tracks as red-hot rage thundered between his ears. Olivia had been safe the whole time, but the experience would stay with her forever. “If tonight was a demonstration of sorts, who was the audience? Verbally reporting back seems like a waste of time.”

Linc seconded the observation. “I didn’t see any cameras on the Diablo’s bodies, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t wearing them. Ryan, can you get a closer look at the surveillance from the airfield?”

“We’re on it.”

Nic paced in front of the operating room door. “What else did the shooter say?”

“They were instructed to shoot to kill if they spotted Natalie Durham on-site.”

It didn’t surprise him that she had a role in tonight’s mayhem. “Anything come of the money trail you were following on Jonathan Garrity?”

“Yes.” Ryan’s voice carried over the sound of fingers on a keyboard. “I just got a report. The transaction was well hidden, but he received a large sum last year. We’re looking into it further.”

As the mind comms ended, Nic’s phone chimed with a text.

Joe: Meet me in the stairwell at the north side of the building. I have something to tell you that I didn’t want to share in front of your teammate.

Nic’s pulse kicked up. Was Joe angry with him? He’d seemed okay a few minutes ago, but maybe the news about Stella’s death had sunk in and he blamed⁠—

He pulled out his tin of mints and popped three in his mouth. “Joe asked me to meet him. I’ll be right back.”

“Go. I got this.”

As Nic strode down the hall, he checked in with Olivia. “How’s the most amazing doctor in the world?”

“Good. We’re almost there.”

Her voice soothed his overactive mind as he hurried through the hospital. “I’m going to meet with Joe for a few minutes, but your brother is right outside, and Chris and Linc are monitoring the entrances.”

“There is no escaping the VIPER-verse is there?”

He smiled as he opened the door to the stairwell. Olivia was part of his world. He prayed she’d never want to go back to the ocean she’d come from.

As he ended the connection, a sea witch of the most lethal kind appeared like a nightmare.