Kingpin Bear (A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Agency Book 4) by Amelia Jade Page A

proceeded to activate it. A box appeared after roughly a minute.
    All teams report.
    Then he sat back and waited.
    And waited.
    And waited.
    This was taking too long. There should have been a response by now from someone at least. Each safe house was equipped with a laptop and the encoded program. If anyone had made it, they should have been in earshot of the laptop to hear its soft ding when someone sent a message.
    Had they been the only team to make it out alive?
    Jared swiftly buried that thought, refusing to accept such a possibility. Someone had to have escaped safely. He checked the time, but it was still only mid-evening. He supposed that people could have been asleep, but he didn’t buy that for a second. Something was going on.
    “Jared?”
    He spun at the voice, realizing with a start that at some point in his distraction Nadia had finished up in the shower.
    “Clothes, right,” he said, acting as if he’d forgotten.
    “Please,” she said with a thankful look.
    He moved into the other room and grabbed them from where they had been hung on hangers.
    “Here you go,” he said, handing them over.
    Nadia took them.
    “They’re so warm!” she exclaimed, holding them tightly to her, even with the wet towel wrapped around her.
    “I hung them over the space heater, so they’d be warm for you when you got out of the shower,” he said, giving her a smile as he pulled the door shut so she could get dressed in private.
    He returned to the laptop, but there was still no response from any of his team.
    “Is everything okay?” Nadia asked as she emerged from behind him. “You looked stressed.”
    He did? Jared frowned, wiping the expression from his face as he turned around.
    “Yeah, everything is fine,” he reassured her, getting up from the chair.
    Nadia rolled her eyes. “Do I look like I just got off the train?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Don’t bullshit me.”
    He thought about telling her that it applied to her just as much as it did him, but he decided against it. Now was not the time to be petty.
    “I’m trying to make contact with the others,” he explained. “But nobody is responding.”
    Her expression clouded over. “Nobody else made it out?”
    Jared shrugged. “I find that hard to believe. My team is very skilled. There is no way they caught all of them.”
    Nadia came and sat on the edge of the desk. The black denim pants and white T-shirt were a little baggy on her, as was her preferred hoodie that she had draped over her once again.
    “You’re allowed to be worried for their safety,” she said, looking into his eyes forcefully. “It’s not a bad thing to admit that. You’re their leader, I gather?”
    He nodded.
    “Exactly. You trained them, you’ve looked after them. They’re more than just part of the team. They’re part of your family,” she said, pushing off the desk and forcing him back down into the chair.
    He didn’t fight it, and sat down heavily. The metal-framed chair squeaked and protested under the sudden weight addition.
    “So it’s okay to express your concern,” she continued, moving behind him.
    Jared sat upright as strong fingers dug into his tense shoulder muscles.
    “You told me that I would come down from the adrenaline high, that I would need to relax. But I don’t see you doing the same,” she admonished, kneading his muscles firmly, forcing him to sit back and relax.
    “Better,” she said in a softer, gentler voice, though her fingers didn’t stop moving. “If these men are anything like you, with your abilities and skills, I have no doubt that they would all have escaped. Perhaps they just weren’t able to get to the safe house?” she suggested.
    Jared nodded, his eyes closing as her fingers rubbed against his skin. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly before replying. “They have the skills, and the training,” he told her. “They’re the best of the best. But the Agency aren’t slouches. Their men aren’t at the same level