They had warrants in hand within thirty minutes, and after a joint planning meeting with the sheriff’s office and the PD, multiple teams went out to serve the warrants and bring Mozi's conspirators in. Parker watched the men plan and offered a few pertinent suggestions, which were received and implemented. Once they realized he'd been a SEAL doing insertions just like this for so many years, and that he spoke several different dialects of Middle Eastern languages, they asked him to ride along.

He said yes without a moment of hesitation, then snapped his mouth shut so that he didn't let out a mighty yell of excitement. It had been years since he'd been in on a plan like this, and in spite of the amount of pain he was in, he was going to go.

Andromeda gave him a conspiratorial smile, as if she knew he felt like a kid that had just been told he was going to Disney World. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Where can you go while I'm doing this?"

"I'll go to my condo. Roz and Mac are there waiting for me. The people that attacked me in the garage couldn't get onto the elevator because they didn't have a resident’s card. Once I'm in my condo I'll be fine."

Parker nodded. "You're probably right."

"Besides," she continued. "Mike had the chief put officers on my building."

Okay, that made him feel a lot better about the situation. As excited as he was about being invited into the SWAT command vehicle while the warrants were being served, he didn't lose sight of the fact that Andromeda was his priority. Since Mozi had taken the plea agreement, they would no longer need Mac to testify in court against him. It was smart for Andromeda to keep him close, though, just in case.

She looked up at him, her big golden eyes concerned. Even without makeup she was beautiful to him, and the worry in those eyes for him made his feel… humble.

"I suggest that you take one of those pain pills Roz gave you before you go out. It's hard to tell what you'll get into."

Parker loved that she was comfortable with him doing this. He was a long ways from running raids like he used to, but it was satisfying to be included even in a peripheral way. If he could help the SWAT teams with communication, he absolutely would. And it would keep up his end of the deal with Lambert. He would be exposing this sleeper cell of terrorists and putting them out of business.

* * *

Andromeda wanted to kiss Parker before she left the conference room with all the bigwigs in it, but she didn't think that would be a smart move. Parker looked like such a badass in his black BDUs and t-shirt, and sidearm, the muscles in his crossed arms bulging. She bet he had more weapons on him she didn't see, too, but no one had said a single word about him being there. Actually, they all seemed to appreciate having an expert sit in on what they were doing. When she stepped out the door he was talking about tactics that had worked for his team when they were in the field.

Just at the last minute he glanced up, smiled and gave her a wave, and that meant as much to her as a kiss. Even in the midst of his excitement he acknowledged her.

Andromeda went to her office and grabbed her clothes, stuffing them into a spare bag. Then she headed down to her vehicle. The place was crawling with cops right now, so she felt very secure walking through the parking garage. When she got to her own condo building, a CPD officer met her in the garage and walked her to the elevator. She swiped her card and greeted Hampton on the monitor when she got inside.

"It's been a little crazy around here, Ms. Pierce. Your guests arrived safely and are in your condo. If you'd like to order out just let me know and I'll make sure the food arrives safely."

Andromeda laughed. "Thank you, Hampton."

Maybe she ate out too much if the security guard was anticipating her dinner.

When she let herself into the condo, she was greeted by warm, spicy smells and Roz walking down the hallway toward her. Andromeda wrapped her in a hug, laughing. Mac ducked his head out of the kitchen and Andromeda moved to give him a big hug as well before releasing him.

"I don't think you're going to have to testify,” she told him. “Mozi signed the plea agreement and turned over his family. SWAT is getting ready to serve warrants now. Within a couple of hours, the entire terrorist cell could be no more. All those babies are finally going to get justice."

Columbus was a great city, but its greatness had been marred by the attacks. It would be epic if they could get vindication for the families.

Roz had driven through and bought Italian for dinner, which Mac was heating up in her oven. Andromeda's mouth watered at the garlic aroma. "That smells so good! I haven't eaten for hours. I'm going to go change real quick and I'll update you."

Shucking her business suit, she slipped on a pair of jeans and a red OSU sweatshirt, as well as a pair of fur lined slippers, then returned to the dining room. Roz had gotten her fettuccine with grilled chicken, just how she liked it. Mac was working on an aluminum pie pan of lasagna, and Roz had gotten penne with meatballs.

"There's a sampler plate in the fridge for Parker, whenever he gets here."

"Parker is working with SWAT right now while they serve a buttload of warrants. We got a list of about fifteen people out of Mozi al Fareq and they're going to try to serve them as close to simultaneously as possible. Two of the families will probably be together, so that might make it a little easier. But Parker is good with middle-eastern dialects, so he's going along to interpret if they need it."

"Wow," Roz breathed. "I hope he doesn't get into anything physical. I know he thinks he's Superman but he's not."

Andromeda laughed. "I'll let you tell him that when you see him."

"So, you got what you wanted?"

Andromeda nodded at Mac. "More than I ever hoped for. I don't think we'll get all of the people named in the warrants, but if we can get at least some it could be massive, because those people can be investigated. It's like ripples in a pond. We investigate whoever they're connected to, see what they've done. Mike said the FBI was going to be getting involved as well."

"Damn, girl," Roz breathed in awe. "Way to go. I'm so tickled for you. This is an incredible job you've done. I know you worked your ass off on it."

"I did," she agreed. "But I'm not going to lie. I'll be happy when it's done. I mean, so many people died for this terror group to operate and try to keep themselves hidden. I just think about all the witnesses I lost and it makes me sad and infuriates me, all at once. I'm glad they're out in the light of day now. I want them to burn."

"I think we all do," Mac agreed.

After they ate and cleaned up their dinner mess, Andromeda turned on Netflix and let Roz surf. Living on the mountain top she didn't have an actual TV to watch, so she caught up when she came to Andromeda's house. Mac charged up his tablet and perused her book shelves, then settled into a comfortable chair.

Andromeda watched her phone, waiting for a text message or a call from Parker. When it finally came she bounced in her seat.

First warrant served, 3 in custody. All safe.

A few minutes later a second message pinged her phone. 4 more in custody. Shots fired, 2 injuries. Suspects in custody.

Feds arrived, they don't like me being here. May have to pull some strings to stay.

That made Andromeda frown. What kind of strings could he pull?

* * *

Parker didn't appreciate being made to cool his heels.

As soon as the feds arrived, their translator had taken his place, but the guy wasn't catching everything. Parker listened to what the crying woman was choking out between sobs and the federal translator repeated, but they weren't the same. Just where did they get this guy?

Parker motioned to the CPD's SWAT team captain, a competent man with hard eyes. "Just to put a bug in your ear, she says there are three kids in the apartment, all under the age of six. The federally sanctioned brainiac just reported that there are six kids under the age of three. You might think about passing it on unofficial-like to your men so they're not tearing the building down looking for more kids than we’ve got."

Robertson snorted and shook his head. "I'll pass it on. Thanks, Quinn."

They conducted the raid on the apartment. Four adult women came out, three of them carrying a small child. The fourth woman was pregnant. But there was no one else in the apartment.

Captain Robertson immediately went to his chief, Bill Bellus. Parker saw the men talking, then Robertson motioned to Parker. The chief's face darkened, and he headed toward the Federal Agent in Charge, Nelson Tate. The gray haired man with the standard issue FBI earpiece prominently displayed and the ubiquitous FBI jacket had taken over the operation as soon as he arrived.

"Tate," Bellus snapped. "Your interpreter is feeding us bad intel. He said there were six kids in there."

Tate turned a resigned look on Chief Bellus. "They must have moved the kids out, Chief."

"Or your interpreter doesn't know what he's talking about. Our man Quinn said there were three kids under six. Look over there, Agent Tate. Do you see three kids or six?"

Tate glared at Bellus, but the Chief stood firm, heavy arms crossed, waiting expectantly.

"Three kids, Bellus. Everyone is entitled to make the occasional mistake."

"Not when it comes to the safety of my men," he growled. "I'll be using Quinn from now on."

The agent scowled. "He's not even a part of your department. You told me you just met the man tonight."

"And over the past three hours he has proven to me how valuable he is. If I need to I'll swear him into service right now."

Parker tried not to grin at the AIC, but it was hard.

After four years gone, his touch with languages was a little rusty, but it came back the more he used it. And he'd used it a lot tonight. They'd taken seven suspects into custody, as well as another six people of interest. The women they'd just rousted out of the apartment were neither, just neighbors that might have seen something, but who needed to be approached with caution.

Bellus motioned Quinn over. "Do you mind wading through this mess with us? I can either swear you in as an auxiliary officer or list you as a private contractor."

Parker thought about the two options. "I think contractor would be better for both of us."

Bellus held out his hand and they shook.

"Agent Tate has agreed to sideline his interpreter. Haven't you Agent Tate?"

"For now," the man agreed. He left their little group to talk to the kid that was supposed to be his interpreter.

The captain glanced at Parker out of the corner of his eye. "I appreciate the work you've done tonight, Quinn. You've made all of our lives easier. And safer, which is the most important thing. Once we're back on regular office hours we'll find that punk that the prosecutor's office uses. I've left him half a dozen messages at the on-call number, but he apparently turns his phone off when it’s inconvenient.”

"I'm not worried about it. I'll stay on the job as long as you need me."

Parker's legs throbbed, not to mention his side. The pain pill had worn off hours ago. He glanced at the clock on the wall of the command van. It was creeping toward midnight, and they still hadn't found everyone they were looking for. They hadn't found Mozi's father, for one, or Ibrahim, the brother that had helped him set up the art fair attack. Those were the two they needed the most, and no one had 'seen' them.

They had apprehended Mozi's mother and sisters. He had a feeling if he pressed the right buttons he could get them to talk. As well as the two teens that had attacked them in the park. Parker followed Bellus out of the van and toward the subjects.