Every Tuesday someone from Linear Tactical had to get up at the ass crack of dawn and go to Reddington City for a special meeting with state bigwigs. It was actually an honor to be included in discussions about security and best practices, and usually Zac represented the company. Finn didn’t want to sit in a meeting if he had another option, no matter how important the other members were.

Ethan was generally Finn’s get-out-of-jail-free card when it came to this duty. He couldn’t go to Reddington City if he had to get his kid to school. But it was summer and Finn’s brother, Blake, or Baby as everyone had called him since birth, had crashed on their couch last night after a marathon viewing of Phineas and Ferb with Ethan and a competition to see who could build the highest Lego tower.

So normally Finn would not be heading back to Oak Creek from Reddington City at nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning. He wouldn’t be passing The Cactus Motel at that time. It was easily the shadiest in both Sublette and Teton Counties—it was only a matter of time before they started renting rooms out by the hour. And the things that went on there. . .Well, suffice it to say, it wasn’t a place anyone booked on Expedia. And it was not on the side of town Finn would normally hang out in.

He’d be able to protect himself if for some reason he decided to, thanks to his close-quarters combat training during his time in the Special Forces. But that didn’t mean he was stupid enough to want to push his luck.

So, seeing Charlie Devereux leaving one of the rooms as he drove by nearly caused him to wreck his beloved Jeep.

Utter disbelief flooded his system. He could not think of one single good reason why Charlie would be there. Hell, he could hardly think of bad ones. Even if she was meeting a man for some illicit tryst or buying drugs. . .Why would she do it here at a shithole so seedy even a lot of criminals avoided it? No single thing about the Cactus was classy, from the vacancy sign that was only ever half lit, to the trash blowing constantly back and forth across the parking lot, and the overgrown hedges surrounding the front of the one-story building.

Finn couldn’t leave without gathering more information.

He continued to drive past so he wouldn’t draw attention, then swung his Jeep in a U-turn right smack in the middle of the road. He pulled into the parking lot of the mostly abandoned strip mall across from the motel.

He parked facing the strip mall, then adjusted his rearview mirror so he could see behind him. He was tempted to confront Charlie right now, ask what she could possibly be doing that was worth putting her very life in jeopardy by even being there. He had to tamp the urge down.

He’d only been there ten seconds and had already spotted two potential threats: a drug addict and/or drunk sleeping in the alley next to the hotel and a man who seemed to be just loitering half a block away. He wouldn’t expect Charlie to notice the possible dangers. Most civilians didn’t until it was right on them. That was one of the first things they taught at Linear Tactical: situational awareness.

Finn wanted answers, and he would probably be crossing the road to get them right now if Charlie weren’t scheduled to tutor Ethan in a few hours. Finn would be able to get his answers then. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to leave here without making sure she was safe. Even if she was doing something stupid, no woman should be in this section of town unprotected.

And he wanted to gather intel, know as much as possible when he confronted her. It would be too easy for her to lie or twist the truth.

Why would she be here?

She put a box of something inside her car, then turned and walked back through the room’s door she’d kept open by propping a chair against it. A few seconds later she was outside with a suitcase she loaded into her trunk. A laundry basket of clothes was added to the back seat.

What the hell was all that stuff? It couldn’t be Charlie’s possessions. The entire planet would have to face nuclear annihilation before she would stay at a hotel of this caliber. There were at least half a dozen places between here and Oak Creek she would stay at first. Dozens more in Reddington City.

She brought out a blazer next, holding that over both arms in front of her. She carefully draped it across the back seat.

Finn kept waiting for someone else to come out or something else to happen. Maybe she was moving an acquaintance. Providing assistance. Anything that would explain Charlie’s presence here. But on the next trip inside, she pulled the chair away and let the door close, walked back out empty-handed, got in her car, and drove away.

He was tempted to follow her, enough that he even put his Jeep in gear. But he stopped himself. He had to get back home to Ethan, so Baby could go to work. And besides, Charlie had done absolutely nothing suspicious as he watched.

Except for being here in the first place.

All she’d done was carry out a suitcase and some clothes and lay them in her car, like thousands of travelers at hotels every day.

He ran a hand over his head, rubbing the short-cropped hair, attempting to ease some of the tension clamping his skull. He tried to process the ramifications of Charlie in this place but wasn’t coming up with much. He’d never been a tactician, like Zac and Aiden. He’d never been one to look at all the angles and come up with a plan. He’d been their eyes. A sharpshooter. Patient, observant, and watchful.

It hadn’t been a skill set he’d entered the Army with. He’d been much more impulsive and foolish when he’d been young. It had taken watching Charlie marry someone else to bring out that cold focus. But once it had, it had never gone away.

Eagle.

That had been his radio call sign and nickname, thanks to his ability to be patient and observe. And that’s what he would do now. He didn’t understand what he’d just seen this morning, but he would find out.

Maybe it was something benign, innocent, like Charlie being so exhausted she couldn’t make it back to her house last night so she’d done the responsible thing and stopped before she hurt someone. God knew that would be the right thing to do. Zac had lost his family because a driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel.

Maybe it was just a matter of explaining how truly dangerous it was. He’d never been inside, but it couldn’t be much better than the exterior. If for some reason unknown to God and man she hadn’t figured that out after her stay there, Finn would tell her.

Who was he kidding? There was no way in hell Charlotte Darlene Devereux did not know this place was a dump at best, crime and bug infested at worst.

The itch in the back of his gut that had saved his life more times than he could count was going haywire now. Charlie was hiding something.

And she was meeting with the most precious thing in his world in just a few hours. Until he knew exactly what was going on with her, Charlie and Ethan wouldn’t be spending even a minute out of his sight.