Risk and Rebel

58: THE CLEAN UP CREW

[ RISK'S POV ]

"Believe me now?"

McCann and his buddy signaled their men to stick near the door as they approached us.

Meanwhile, Team Bravo and Slick headed straight past Rebel and I toward the rest of the former LASAR agents, their low tones of conversation growing a little louder behind us.

McCann forced a smile. "Kind of hard not to," he admitted to me. He waved toward the shorter man who stood next to him, whom it felt safe to assume was his partner. "Risk, this is Detective Elson."

I nodded at the other detective. "I'm Risk."

"Rebel," Rebel volunteered from beside me. He was sticking closer than normal. I could practically feel him side-eyeing my injury.

"Right, more incredibly unusual names," Elson mused with a wry smile. He looked around the entirety of the room, then between the two of us before his gaze settled on me. To his credit, he didn't seem at all phased by the number of bodies that were on the floor. "So. Ghost organizations and government infiltration. That sounds like a fun little escapade. Got any more information on that front that you might be interested in sharing?"

"We've got three of ours in there," Rebel said, nodding toward the connected room, "interrogating each of the UN leaders. They're determining which of them are and aren't legitimate."

"And they can do that ... how?" McCann asked carefully.

"One of them's a lie detector and the other's a truth inducer," Rebel said frankly.

Elson arched a brow. "And the third?"

"He's commonly considered intimidating," I said with a sharp smile.

"Ah," Elson nodded, his gaze cutting to the closed door before returning to myself. "So when they find the traitors ..."

"They have orders to send them out here. Originally we were just going to hold them," I said, "but since you're here, you can go ahead and arrest them."

"We don't actually have any interest in dealing with them," Rebel said.

"Absolutely none," I agreed.

"What about them?" McCann asked, looking past us at the rest of our team. "They were involved in this ordeal too, right?"

"They're to be left alone," Rebel said, an undertone of warning to his voice.

Elson and McCann exchanged a quick look that, for a moment, reminded me of any LASAR team engaged in wordless communication. They both looked back to us simultaneously. "Seems manageable," McCann said slowly.

"Though there'd be less to worry about if they weren't here," Elson added bluntly, giving us a pointed look.

"Way ahead of you there," Rebel said. He turned just enough toward the others for them to notice his attention and cease all conversation, and his short nod was all it took for them to move.

"Ay, coppers!" Cat called as he leaned out an open door, one of his hands on the shoulder of an older man. "We've got the first fake for you!"

McCann and Elson both looked between Cat and us.

"Yeah, I'd get a move on that before Catatonic decides to take matters into his own hands," I said with a barely concealed smile of amusement.

"Right," McCann said. "Okay. Elson, if you keep a list, I'll arrange to have our people escort them downstairs."

Elson gave a quiet sigh before nodding. "On it."

The two detectives headed off toward the connecting room then. I watched for a moment as McCann signaled two of the police officers who had stuck near the doors.