Page 61 of Covert Mission

“Artemis is already inside the coffee shop,” Teagan said, scanning her phone screen. “So far, everything is clear.”

“Hope it stays that way,” he murmured.

“Activate the comm devices,” Violet said. “That way, the rest of our team will hear everything said in this meeting with The Brotherhood.”

After tapping his earpiece to activate the device, Seth exited the SUV along with Noah and circled to the passenger side to open the doors for the women.

He cupped Teagan’s waist with his hands and helped her to the old, cracking asphalt. Seth wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started toward the front door of the coffee shop.

Although Teagan looked completely relaxed, she was anything but as they crossed the few feet to the door. He felt the tension in her muscles as she moved with him. Like any trained sharpshooter, she continually scanned the parking lot and as well as shrubs and trees at the edge of the property, looking for snipers.

Seth opened the door and motioned for Teagan and Violet to walk into the restaurant. Like he expected, the alcove was empty except for a large round table with chairs set up around it. Witha little repositioning of the table, the setup would be perfect for their purpose.

As he guided Teagan toward the alcove, Seth ignored the three women drinking coffee, eating muffins, and chatting about plans for their supposed road trip. He had to hand it to Teagan and Violet’s teammates. They knew how to play the part of tourists. No one listening to them would suspect they were anything other than what they were pretending to be.

When they reached the alcove, Seth and Noah repositioned the table and chairs, then seated Teagan and Violet with their backs to the wall and joined them.

A waitress trudged back to the alcove and pulled out an order pad from the large pocket of her apron. “What can I get you?”

“A pot of coffee and nine mugs,” Noah said.

“Want some pie? Ralph makes the best pies in the area.”

“That sounds great,” Violet said. “Did Ralph make apple pie today?”

The server smiled. “He did. Would you like ice cream with that?”

“On four of them, please. Our friends won’t arrive for a while yet, so just bring pie for them without ice cream.”

“Yes, ma’am. Coming right up.” Soon, she returned with a tray filled with nine plates of large slices of apple pie, four with vanilla ice cream on top. She set the dishes on the table, then rushed off to bring a pot of coffee and nine mugs, along with packets of sweetener and creamer. “Can I get you anything else?”

Seth glanced at her name tag. “This looks great, Ari. Thank you.”

She beamed. “No problem. I’ll check back with you in a few minutes to see if you need a coffee refill.”

As they finished the last of their pie, Richardson and Peters entered the coffee shop.

“Show time.” Teagan poured coffee into their mugs.

Seth noted the confident swagger of the two men as they approached the alcove. Both were armed, as he’d expected. So were the three men Seth and Noah considered friends for life. From the expressions on their faces, their battle buddies weren’t happy.

They could join the club. Everything about this situation made Seth’s skin crawl. He hated dragging Teagan into this mission, no matter how much training she had under her belt. He flat out cared about this woman and didn’t want to see her hurt. Taking her into a situation that reminded Teagan of her past would cause her nothing but pain.

“Glad you could make it,” Peters said to Seth and the others as Richardson and the three detectives took their seats. Knight, Marsh, and Bowen sat on the same side of the table as Seth, leaving Richardson and Peters with their backs to the large dining room.

Teagan’s teammates seemed to be absorbed in eating their ice cream sundaes, giving them a natural excuse to remain silent except for an occasional comment about something they were looking at on their phones.

Another glance at his friends told Seth they were angry. Made him wonder if the three had also received the same threat he had or if something else had set them off.

“Coffee and apple pie.” Richardson sipped his coffee. “Not bad for a coffee shop that caters to truckers.”

“And workers on third shift,” Knight said.

Marsh cut into the apple pie with his fork. “Can we get on with this? I have a date later. I had to cancel the last three times, and I’d rather not miss this date if it’s all the same to you.”

Bowen rolled his eyes. “When is that something out of the ordinary? None of us have much of a social life these days. The job is all-consuming.” He frowned. “At least, it was.”

“Since we’re no longer employed, maybe my luck will improve.” Marsh sipped his coffee. “All the more reason to get out of here and back to town.”