Page 38 of Silent Sins

Yup. Done. All that was left now was for her to face whatever consequences her superiors had in store for her.

And she’d likely never know whether Ryan was involved.

“Looks like this is the end of the road.”

“Or not.” Mason stared her down. “We can handle this. Not a problem.”

“Aside from the fact that breaking and entering is against the law, yeah, it is a problem.” Avery shook her head. “The place is patrolled by armed guards and has extremely sophisticated defenses. Way more than a normal warehouse. That’s part of what convinced me something weird was going on there.”

“Not at night,” Paul said abruptly, drawing everyone’s attention. “At night there’s no merch to guard. They use a four-man crew.”

Graham looked up. “To handle an empty warehouse? That’s some major overkill.”

Mason held up a hand like a stop sign. “No more details in front of Avery. She needs plausible deniability.”

“What I need is for you to stop planning an illegal activity.”

She was a federal agent. She couldn’t be part of planning a break-in. Sitting by while Mason stole packages was bad enough. No way she’d let them skirt the law on her behalf.

But deep inside, she was angry. Angry that Ryan and their superiors had pushed her to this point. Angry that Ryan made her doubt him. And angry that she was going to miss out on a real-life military op with real-life heroes.

She and Paul made eye contact across the table. She could see the same regret in his eyes.

Paul’s look hit her like a bucket of cold water, reactivating her need for justice. And just like that, she changed her mind.

She wanted in on anything that would help destroy Rain Bay.

Even if it ended her own career. Which was probably toast already anyway.

Remaining in the FBI wouldn’t honor her father. Seeking justice––and saving lives––was all that mattered.

“Never mind deniability. I’m all in,” she said, before she could change her mind. “Let’s do this.”

22

Avery was in.

Mason wasn’t totally clear on how he felt about that.

The determination shining from her deep, dark eyes told him just how committed she was. She’d be well aware of the consequences.

Just not the consequences for him.

Now he was responsible for her safety and her career. He wanted to call this off in the worst way, but his team could handle the op. No doubt there.

He paused at the head of the table, hands braced on the polished wood as he surveyed his team. The energy in Bridger’s luxurious dining room was electric, a mix of anticipation and determination that set his nerves thrumming.

Combat energy.

He locked gazes with Avery.

She didn’t even flinch.

Something twisted in his gut—a mixture of admiration and worry that he didn’t care to examine too closely.

But there was one huge, open issue they needed to resolve before they dug into the details of the mission. “Once we do this, they’re going to know we hit them. There’ll be no more hiding this investigation.”

“You’re thinking they’ll close up shop and run?” Tai instantly saw where he was going.