“Sure?” His fingers tucked beneath her chin in a gesture that she should look up.
“I’m fine.” She pulled from him easily before staring ahead once again.
From her side, she heard the subtle little growl from Nik, an indication of disappointment, or disapproval. But thankfully, if he had glimpsed the wound, he was keeping his mouth shut.
“Boss, long-range link.” Noah handed Jordan the larger satellite-connected link. “We have backup online.”
“Who’s backup?” she asked Nik quietly, wondering if the team attached to the Elite Ops for ten years was the same team providing backup now.
“We have a small team of marines currently on leave. Emergency backup. We’ve had them waiting in case they were needed.”
For a group that wasn’t government backed or government funded, the Elite Ops had always had several military groups as well as advanced weapons at their disposal.
“They got away.” The satellite-communications link was jerked from his head minutes later and thrown carelessly to Noah who caught it easily. “Son of a bitch. That would have never happened if Clint and Reno were here.”
They got away. Everyone of them.
Tehya stared through the windshield ahead and drew in a deep, shaky breath.
Whoever had invaded her home, whoever had torn aside the shield of safety and security that she had built for herself over the past months, had escaped.
“The team has the house secured and are checking the doors for prints but my guess is they’re going to come up empty,” Noah spoke then, obviously listening on his own link. “The team commander is dealing with the authorities as Tehya’s cousin. Everything’s covered.”
Tehya gripped her arm tighter. The hard thudding of her heart was pushing blood through her veins and straight to the wound. She could feel the liquid dripping to her jeans, dampening her thigh. She could feel her heart breaking, raging. They had dared to attack her home.
“Head to D.C.,” Jordan ordered Micah. “Let’s get her secured, then we can figure out the rest of it.”
Tehya shook her head.
She felt her breathing hitch, felt the tears want to fall. She could feel the blood at her temple as it eased down her cheek from where the splinters from the bullet striking the door frame had slashed her skin.
The wound in her chest hurt worse, though. Her heart.
Someone had stolen her home from her, not just invaded it.
“Why wait this long to strike?” Micah asked as he hit the interstate heading to D.C. “She said herself she felt she was being followed for weeks. Why not attempt to take her sooner, before she had help? Or hell, when she least expected it?”
“They know she has help.” Tehya felt Jordan lift his arm to rub at the back of his neck in irritation. “I was careful coming in and I haven’t left her house since arriving. Either they saw one or more of us going in or the house is wired.”
“The house isn’t wired. I checked while she was at the bar,” Noah said.
“We’re not going to figure this out now.” Jordan’s tone was savage. “We will figure this out though, and we’ll figure out who’s behind it.”
“Then we really get to have fun,” Micah mused as they sped toward D.C. and the plan Jordan had obviously decided to put in place.
Tehya stared down at her lap, her eyes closing momentarily.
Someone was playing with her, she decided. A cat-and-mouse game in which they had decided to raise the stakes with this attack because they feared she would soon have protection. They had to have suspected or known Jordan was there, that was the only answer.
“Whatever they have in mind, let’s see if we can’t up the ante for them,” Jordan decided.
“We weren’t seen,” Noah assured him. “We were still pulling together the backup team when her alarm went off, triggering the alert I placed on my cell phone. We barely arrived in time to catch that second team. We wouldn’t have if we had actually moved farther than just down the street.”
“They knew when to attack,” Tehya stated faintly. “Are you certain we’re not being followed?”
“We’re not being followed.” Micah gave a quick shake of his head. “We were out of there before anyone could catch us. Trust me, Tehya, no one’s following us and there’s no tracker on us, you should know better than that.”
Yes, she knew better than to doubt the fact that the team knew exactly how to protect her.