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“He’s walking right into a trap.” Jocelyn stepped forward.

Ben grabbed her by the back of the shirt. “You stay here.”

“But Connor needs—”

Feeling her body tremble under his hands, Ben leaned down and whispered in her ear, “He’s only opening that back door when he wants it open. He’s got this. I promise.”

As if they’d conjured him up, Connor’s voice broke through the garage. Jocelyn jumped and let out a little squeal. Ben held a hand against her but joined Joel in watching that back door across the yard.

The intercom speaker was in the ceiling and Connor gave a play-by-play on the whole scene as it unfolded outside. That was what happened when you had a state-of-the-art security system.

“Two heat signatures. I’m coming around the side in five.” Connor’s steady voice echoed as he started the countdown. “Five...four...”

Jocelyn’s eyes widened. “Is Connor crazy?”

“Popular question.” Ben pointed at the far wall. “You stand there and don’t move.”

“I have a gun.”

Now was not the time for this. Joel inched toward the door to the backyard and sent Ben the “move it” signal, so he went for the hard truth. “And I don’t want to worry about you being shot.”

“Okay.”

That was almost too easy. “Like that?”

“This time, yes. Go.” She went on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

“Two...one...”

Forcing his head back in the game, Ben took his position on the opposite side of the doorway. He nodded at Joel as he slammed the garage door open and the humid night air rushed in. The two in the yard spun around at the sound. The one on the right didn’t even get his gun aimed before Joel peeked around the doorway and nailed him in the shoulder. When he tried to get off an off-balance second shot, Ben’s shot took him down.

The steady pings of gunfire rang out. The silencers filtered most of the noise, and the property’s setback in a group of trees and up on a hill hid the rest. The one remaining attacker took a hit to the thigh and doubled over. His leg seemed to go to sleep. He dragged it behind him as he tried to take cover on the back porch. The railing didn’t help and Connor didn’t keep furniture there. It was an open space and gave the team an unrestricted shot.

Another shot and the guy went down. On his elbow and still shooting, he dragged his body to the back door. His shots went wide as the barrel bounced around from all the shifting. Nerves seemed to be settling in and his movements turned jerky.

Got him
.

Ben gave Joel the signal to move outside. “Let’s go.”

They could disarm the guy and grab him for questioning. Crouched and going in, they ran across the backyard. The attacker did a double take at the wall of men coming at him. Going faster now, he groaned and half crawled toward the side of the house. His hand slapped against the wooden slats as his gun clanked at his side.

He made it a few feet, but only thanks to the lack of firepower coming at him because of the stated goal to take the guy alive. Joel and Ben were up on him, just a few feet behind, when Connor moved out of the shadows and stepped on his hand hard with a work boot.

“That’s far enough.”

The guy screamed as the crunching sound filled the night air.

“That had to—”

Joel’s words were cut off as the attacker made a lunging move. A gun appeared in his other hand and a roar of rage escaped him as he aimed for Connor’s stomach.

Ben slammed a bullet in the back of the attacker’s head before he could fire the shot. He fell in a boneless, dead fall, thudding against the wood.

Connor dropped down on the balls of his feet and felt for a pulse. He picked up the weapons as he shook his head. “He’s done.”

Ben refused to feel sorry about that. He went off plan, but Connor’s death wasn’t on the menu, either.

Connor stood up and glanced over at Ben. “Thanks for that.”

“You guys made that sort of gunfire run-around thing look easy.” Jocelyn offered the comment as she started across the yard. She still held the gun. Instead of shaking on her feet, she walked tall and the tremble in her voice stayed at a minimum.

In that moment, Ben knew she’d ignored his order. She’d been outside and watched it all. She wasn’t the type to hide. Not anymore.

That she walked into danger frustrated him, but he admired her spirit. Other people in her position, including many of the tough guys he worked with at NCIS, would be asking for protective custody and riding the danger out in a hotel somewhere. Not her.

Still, the urge to pack her off did kick strong. “You okay?”

She looked at all three Corcoran men but not at the guys on the ground. “I had the safe part of the job. Just stood over there with my fingers ready to dial 9-1-1.”

Connor put his hands on his hips. “I hate when people come to the house. You’re just begging to be shot when you step on my property without an invitation.”

“Obviously,” she said. “So, now what?”

“We clear these two out.” Velcro ripped as Connor grabbed his phone out of a pocket in his vest.

“How exactly?” Her question sounded more confused than anything.

Ben couldn’t blame her. Until he threw in with Corcoran, he’d never known a private group who could “handle” this sort of thing. People broke in, you called the police.

Not Connor. He had government and police contacts, and depended on those to clean up a lot of messes. To preserve Corcoran’s anonymity and ability to do the job, Connor kept the name out of reports and the paper. In exchange for letting other law-enforcement agencies get the credit, Corcoran stayed undercover.

“We know people,” he said.

Jocelyn smiled at that. “You mean Detective Willoughby?”

His smile slipped at the mention of the new guy Connor didn’t have under control. “Not if I can help it.”

“I guess that means it’s time for me to finally throw up as I’ve been promising, then go to sleep with a gun under my pillow.” She shot Ben a side-glance as she mentioned that last part.

He hated to postpone whatever she had in mind, but he knew Connor would want to move. You did not crash his house and expect him to wait to respond. “Connor plans for us to leave in the next ten minutes.”

“Exactly,” Connor said. “We call Kent and demand a meeting. I want us back in that bank right now. No more waiting, because the bad guys sure aren’t.”

“But they aren’t winning,” Ben pointed out because he wanted to put a lid on the anxiety welling inside him. “You know, to the extent that means anything.”

“If I have to break through that wall on the bank’s second story, we’re seeing what’s behind there. I’m tired of the lying and games.”

Joel pocketed two more weapons from those scattered on the ground. “I can stay here with Jocelyn. Guard her or maybe take her over to Davis and Pax for safekeeping, then circle around to give you backup.”

“We all go.” Connor glanced around. “And we need these bodies moved before a nosy neighbor decides to go for a walk and calls in the cavalry.”

The words sent a shock of denial through Ben. Connor was the boss, but still... “All of us are going to the bank?”

Jocelyn nodded. “Except for the part where I’ve lost all feeling in my legs, I agree with that plan.”

“You do?” Connor must have found it funny because her response eased some of the strain over his eyes.

“If the bad guys are storming the house, I’m not going to be here to welcome them. I would much rather be wherever you guys are.” She frowned at Joel. “And what are you thinking? I am not leading attackers to a pregnant woman’s front door, so forget about the Davis angle.”

On one level—the professional, commonsense one—Ben knew that was the right answer. That didn’t mean he liked it. His brain and body were definitely not working together on this plan “We’ll see.”

Joel joined Connor in smiling. “I’m thinking we’re growing on Jocelyn here. She’s started to get used to having us around.”

“I think you’re basically comparing us to mold,” Connor pointed out.

She stepped over the first attacker and headed for the back porch. Her footing faltered when she looked down, but she quickly recovered. “Call yourselves whatever you want, but I’m coming along.”

Ben knew she’d made up her mind. That meant he was stuck now.

Chapter Fourteen

They got to the bank across town in record time. Jocelyn stood in Kent’s private office with a wall of male protection around her. Safe and cocooned by Corcoran Team members with Ben at her back and Connor and Joel on either side. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Really off.

Kent sat in his big leather chair and twirled his cell phone around in his fingers. Between the fidgeting and the sweat staining the armpits of his dark blue shirt, she almost felt sorry for him. Or she would if it weren’t so obvious he was hiding something. Even Ed stood guard at his side, frowning down at him.

“Anything you want to say, Kent?” Connor asked for the second time, this version in a lower, huskier “I’m done with you” tone.

Jocelyn realized if he used that voice with her she might crawl under a desk. He sounded two seconds away from whipping that gun out and taking aim. Clearly the man did not like people storming his house.

Plastic thudded against the wooden desk as Kent dropped the phone, then slapped it flat against the top. “It is after hours. Why did you call me here?”

“Wrong question.” Ben shifted his weight until his legs were hip-width apart and he crossed his arms over his chest. “We should be asking why you were already at the bank at this hour and not home with your wife.”

“It is almost midnight,” Joel added.

“My life is not your business.” Kent slid the phone toward him under his palm.

Before the cell traveled one more inch, Ed reached over and snatched it. Jocelyn had been about to do the same thing and sent Ed a half smile in appreciation for stopping all the unnecessary banging.

Connor didn’t move. “Oh, I think it is.”

“Not to cause trouble, but what is going on here?” Ed asked. “It’s late and the bank’s business is done. Why not meet at Kent’s house or at the police station? I don’t understand.”

“Because they’re not police.” Kent reached for the phone. “Maybe we should call and double-check their authority.”

Connor shrugged. “Go ahead.”

When Kent hesitated and the phone stayed in the cradle, Jocelyn zeroed in on the subject that mattered most to her. “Call your wife while you’re at it. I’d love to meet her.”

“What?” Kent’s gaze flew to Jocelyn’s. “I barely know who you are.”

Maybe it was the tone or the way his gaze met hers then quickly skidded away. A bunch of tiny little clues that led to one very obvious conclusion—he knew exactly who she was and not just because she used this branch for her banking.

No, guilt vibrated off him. He had put her in danger or he had stood back and let it happen. She’d bet her life on it, and that was exactly what she’d been doing for days, whether she knew it or not.

“I think you do.” Jocelyn gained confidence the more the thought spun around in her mind. “You know who I am and why I’m in danger.”

Ben put a hand against the small of her back. “She’s the one your employee dragged into this mess. The one people keep trying to kidnap or kill.”

After a swallow big enough to see his throat move, Kent folded his hands together on the desk in front of him. Then unfolded them. Then they disappeared on his lap. “I understand the bank robbery was upsetting, but—”

“Enough.” Connor barked out the warning, and all motion and the small noises in the room stopped. Even the desk chair ceased creaking as Kent rocked.

“What?” he asked as he wiped away a new sheen of sweat on his forehead.

“Stop with whatever you’re hiding.” The words exploded out of Jocelyn. The frustration that had been building finally burst loose and she refused to hold off one more second from breaking into the interrogation. “Enough women are dead.”

Kent’s head wobbled as if he was about to go down. “What are you talking about?”

Ed stepped in closer, glancing from Kent to the rest of the room. “Wait, uh, who’s dead?”

“Okay, this isn’t getting us anywhere.” Connor pointed at the ceiling. “Where does the staircase up to the balcony eventually lead?”

“Emergency exit.” Ed gave the answer.

Connor ignored him. “Where else?”

Jocelyn liked his style. All of them, actually. She started thinking of them as her men. They came in, they took charge, they refused to back down and they were willing to die for women they didn’t even know. Even now Ben touched her back, giving her a lifeline and reassuring her of his presence.

“We checked.” Ed nodded in Joel’s direction. “Right? There’s nothing else up there.”

Connor exhaled, letting his displeasure flow over the room. “That’s not true, is it, Kent?”

“Keep in mind this is your last chance to come clean,” Ben said from behind her.

Kent started shaking his head and didn’t stop. “You can’t do anything worse to me.”

Joel took a step closer. “Worse than what?”

“Me.”

At the sound of the familiar male voice, Jocelyn felt a hand push her forward and heard Ben yell at her to move. She stumbled into the desk and looked around in time to see Gary press a gun to the back of Ben’s head.

Another man pointed one right at Connor’s face. The surprise visitors had them all shifting and all weapons up and aimed.

She still hadn’t processed all she was seeing when Kent stood up and his chair shot back. The men crowded closer to Ben’s side of the desk until the guy with Gary pulled a second weapon and aimed that one, too.

Everyone had moved but Ben. He had picked pushing her out of the way and getting her out of the direct attack line over getting a jump on his attacker. He’d traded his body for hers.

Seeing him now, hands raised and anger straining in every muscle of his face, had her fighting off a gasp. She would not give this Gary person the satisfaction of knowing he scared her, that terror stormed through every cell.

“Gary Taub.” The harsh tone ripped out of Connor.

“What are you doing here?” Ed asked as he took a step forward.

“Nuh-uh.” Gary made a tsk-tsking sound. “Everyone stays where they are. Guns on the floor or the NCIS hero gets a bullet through his brain.”

“No.” She jumped forward and only Connor and Ben putting out their arms to stop her kept her from running into the madman’s hands.

Gary laughed as he talked over her, acting as if her anguish bored him. “Although, I’m not sure how devastating Ben’s murder would be to anyone. His own father is disgusted and embarrassed by him, isn’t he, Ben?”

“Ask him.” Ben said the words through a locked jaw as his intense gaze drilled into Jocelyn.

She knew he wanted her to stand still. To not antagonize the lunatic with the gun. Despite the fear pumping through her, she had no intention of starting a battle that ended with bodies scattered all over the floor. But if Gary went for Ben, her control would never hold.

Connor stiffened his stance but his gun’s barrel never left the direct line to Gary’s head. “That’s enough.”

“Touching.” Gary spoke right into Ben’s ear. “Looks like I’m wrong. A woman who barely knows you thinks you’re worth saving. Maybe if she’d spent more time with you she’d know you’re not worth it.”

What was that...? Jocelyn blinked. She swore Connor and Joel closed in on Gary but she hadn’t seen them move and they hadn’t made a noise. She chalked it up to an optical illusion, maybe wishful thinking. With a second glance at the floor, she knew the sensation of shrinking space wasn’t in her head. Connor’s foot had inched in.

She glanced up for verification. Connor didn’t look at her but his head dipped in what she took for a nod.

“Let’s show her how wrong she is about you.” Gary pushed on Ben’s shoulder. “Get on your knees.”

“Not happening.”

“I said no moving.” Gary’s voice kicked up as he scanned the room. “You have one second to get those guns on the ground or Mr. NCIS will have a nasty accident.”

“We’re listening.” The anger left Connor’s voice. He sounded reasonable and calm, as if he wanted to have a nice chat over coffee. “You clearly want to tell us something. Do it.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have time.”

“He’s transferring money.” Kent said the words so fast they ran into one long word.

Gary barked right back. “Shut up.”

“He’s running out of time.” Kent swallowed and shifted his weight until he balanced his palms against his desk. “He has less than an hour.”

“Now is not the time to play the hero, Kent. You know what will happen if you do. I believe I’ve made that clear over the last few days.”

The pieces clicked right into place. Jocelyn saw the total picture. Kent being blackmailed. His wife in danger. “You have his wife hidden somewhere. You’re threatening her to get Kent to help you.”

Gary’s grin bordered on feral. “Aren’t you the smart one?”

“Is she even still alive?” It hurt Jocelyn to ask the question.

The idea of this woman, and Pamela, being dead at this man’s hands made Jocelyn’s stomach heave. An overwhelming wave of sadness crashed over her as the very real possibility that the men she’d come to believe in so much might be too late this time.

The horrible thought floated through her mind and she used all of her concentration to push it away. The worry and the guilt. Later, in the quiet with no one around, she’d analyze everything and let her emotions bubble over. Right now she needed Gary’s attention on her while Connor and Joel, and possibly Ben, followed through with whatever plan had them shrinking the room by barely moving their feet.

“Sharon is dead?” Ed asked.

Kent lost all restraint. He came around the side of the desk with his arms waving and eyes wide with fear. “No!”

Jocelyn shifted along the front of the desk or else Kent would have run right into her. He seemed blind to anything but getting to the man holding his wife.

“So, all this really comes down to a burglary.” Ben almost shouted the comment. The force of his voice stopped Kent’s drive to Gary. “Just greed.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be stupid. I have plenty of money.”

It had been so long since Jocelyn hated someone. When she’d changed her life and her name, she’d promised not to wallow in negative emotions. She had too many other issues to handle.

But with Gary it didn’t fester. It imploded, fueling the white-hot heat rolling over her. “Then what? You like kidnapping women and faking bank robberies?”

“Some men might find your feistiness refreshing, Ms. Raine. I am not one of them.” Gary’s dark eyes squinted at her. “You may wish to keep that in mind.”

“What’s the plan here?” Connor asked, dragging the attention back to him.

“You’re going to spend some time in the bank vault while Kent unlocks the door to his other office upstairs. The one filled with computers and servers and, not too long from now, the information I seek.” Gary nodded to his sidekick. “Colin here will watch over all of you while Kent and I take care of our pressing business.”

“What does that mean?” But she knew. There was no way this Gary guy would leave witnesses. He ran a legitimate business. Had clients. He couldn’t afford to have anyone out there knowing the kind of man he really was.

“Kent looks like a loser, doesn’t he?” Gary laughed while he said it, as if he was telling some sort of private joke. “You’d never know the government trusts him and this small know-nothing bank to transfer huge sums of money to undercover field operatives. The money comes in and Kent’s other division, the one he can’t discuss without risking the government’s wrath, holds the money, then transfers it into the appropriate accounts.”

Connor’s gaze narrowed even further. “So, this
is
about money.”

So much death because one stupid man had to collect more and own more. She hated men like him. Had spent the last year outrunning the memory of one. “You’re a petty thief. No better than the guys who rob gas stations.”

“Jocelyn.” Ben gave the warning. One word, her name, and a look of boiling fury.

Gary gave the clock behind Kent a quick glance. “You may want to listen to your boyfriend and stop talking.”

“But she has a point,” Connor said.

The sound coming from Gary sounded like a growl. “Money is the least of my concerns. This is about information.”

Joel switched his gun to aim at Colin. “Enlighten us.”

“Why not? You won’t be able to use what you learn to your benefit anyway.” Gary smirked, clearly pleased to share his brilliance. “For that moment when the money goes in, identifying account information for those top secret accounts is not as well protected as it normally is. Parts are decoded and, with the right equipment, which I have, can be caught in that fraction of a second before shutting off again.”

Any way she added it up, the answer was money. The man who professed to have enough wanted more. “And you take all the cash.”

“No, I’m grabbing the account information. The whereabouts of the people in the program. There are people who would pay for it. Or I can make the necessary arrangements to have an undercover operative found. My choice. Their lives will be in my hands.”

“This is about your brother,” Joel said.

“Murdered.” Gary uttered the horrible word but didn’t say anything else.

“You’re saying this is about revenge for you?” Ed asked.

Tension choked the room. Jocelyn wanted the team to move. They were waiting and talking, and it didn’t make sense.

Gary’s eyes turned wild as he spoke. “My brother’s team failed to protect him and he got killed. I got a bogus story about his death. Facts I knew were wrong.”

Connor nodded. “But he worked undercover and no one could talk.”

“But they could pay, and they’re going to. They let him die. Hell, they may have killed him to shut him up. Doesn’t matter. I’ll burn it all down.”

“Which means we all need to die, as well.” Her terror cut off her breath and threatened to suffocate her.

Greed was simple and straightforward. A ridiculous excuse for so much pain, but an emotion she saw at the hospital in the way heirs fought over dying parents and insurance companies battled about paying out claims. But vengeance came from a twisted place. It consumed, burning everything in its path. Worse, it meant Gary wouldn’t care how many people he took with him so long as he went out in his brother’s name.