their feet. The dark wall of the elevator shaft stared back at them. He swept the beam of light upward to the top, where they could see a four-inch gap to what Kate assumed was the fourth floor.
Montana gave her a sideways glance. “You don’t suppose you could fit through?”
She shook her head. “I’m smaller than you, but I’d have to be a cat to squeeze through that narrow gap.”
Montana trained the light at the ceiling of the car. “Then there’s only one other way out of here. Here, hold the flashlight.” He handed it to her, cupped his hands and bent down. “Check it out.”
She stared at his cupped hands and didn’t move.
He glanced up. “Unless you want to boost me. I warn you, I’m a little heavier than you are.”
“I’ll go.” She stepped into his hands and raised her arms over her head.
Montana straightened, lifting her up as he did.
She found a loose panel in the ceiling, pushed it upward and then poked her head through. “I can see the fourth floor landing. We should be able to get out through here.”
“I’m going to raise you high enough to get your arms through, and you can take it from there.”
Montana lifted her until Kate got her arms through the hole, braced her elbows on the sides and pulled herself up to sit on the edge. Once she had her breath, she pushed to her feet and shone the light back into the elevator car. “Your turn. Need me to lend you a hand?”
“No, thanks.” He jumped, his fingers catching on the sides of the panel opening.
Kate backed up as much as possible, directing the flashlight beam near Montana without blinding him. He pulled himself up, his biceps flexing, stretching the shirt tight around his chest and shoulders. Squeezing his shoulders through the tight space, he soon had the rest of his body through and stood beside Kate.
She handed him the light and stepped over to the fourth floor landing and down onto the hallway floor.
Emergency lighting glowed softly, giving just enough light to guide them.
“Follow me.” Montana led the way, turning left at the end of the corridor. Midway down the next hall, he pushed through a doorway. “Everyone okay in here?” he called out.
A strong flashlight beam shone in his face.
Montana raised an arm to shade his eyes.
“Montana, is that you?” a voice called out.
Kate entered the room behind the Navy SEAL to find it crowded with guys as big and brawny as Montana, crowded around a couple of battery-operated lanterns. Interspersed with the big men were a few women and a white-haired man who appeared to be as physically fit as the younger men.
“Anyone sustain injuries?” Montana asked.
“We’re all good here. Thankfully, we were in the war room when the explosion occurred,” the white-haired man said. “I’m glad we put the extra money in the construction. It’s built like a bunker.” He stepped forward. “I’m betting this is our chameleon, Kate McKenzie. Hi, I’m Royce Fontaine, the head of Stealth Operations Specialists—or SOS, as we like to refer to it.”
“SOS?” Kate raised her brows. “Just what does SOS do?”
Royce nodded, a smile tipping the corners of his mouth. “Stealth Operations Specialists is a team of agents called in when the FBI, CIA and Secret Service can’t quite get the job done. Or the situation is highly sensitive and needs the utmost secrecy. Unfortunately, most of my agents are assigned at this time, thus the need to call in reinforcements.” He swept his arm out, his gaze circling the room. “Glad to have you all on board for this operation. We can use all the help we can get.”
Kate nodded, her gaze seeking and finding her old roommate from college, Becca Smith. “I didn’t realize there’d be an entire team of people on this gig.”
Becca pushed through the others and hugged Kate. “I couldn’t say much over the phone. We needed you here, where others can’t listen in on the conversation. As we’ve learned the hard way, we can’t trust anyone but the people in this room.”
“And based on the explosion outside the building,” Royce said, “there are those who will stop at nothing to keep us from doing our jobs. Don’t worry. I have people checking the structure. They will alert us if we need to evacuate immediately. When we had the structure built, we hardened it for just such an occasion. We could potentially continue to work out of this office, but coming and going from a targeted location will be dangerous.”
Kate leaned toward Becca and whispered, “What are you getting me into?” Her body quivered with excitement. She’d trained for covert ops. This was what made her blood sing.
Becca took her hand. “Come into the conference room. Geek is working on getting the computers and lighting back online so we can brief you. Then I’m sure we’ll move to our backup location. This building has been compromised.”
As Becca led her through another door, Kate glanced over her shoulder, searching for and finding Montana. Though she’d met him only a few minutes before, he seemed to be the anchor in this sea of people, with their plans that threatened to sweep her away from a desk job she loathed.
Becca had promised her a way to redeem and reclaim her status in the CIA, if they could pull off this mission. By the looks of it, and the people squeezing into the war room, they could well be a small army gathering to overthrow the government, for all Kate knew.
What had she gotten herself into?
Whatever it was, it sure beat the hell out of pushing paper.
Montana followed everyone into the conference room, amazed they weren’t evacuating, despite Fontaine’s assurance that the building could withstand a bomb blast.
Several flashlights and a couple of lanterns provided enough illumination that he could get around without tripping on the many people crowded into the large room.
“Take a seat,” Fontaine commanded. “The lights should come on momentar—”
The fluorescent bulbs blinked overhead and then glowed brightly.
A collective sigh and smiles were shared all around. Montana pulled out a chair for Kate and waited while she sank into it. Then he sat beside her. Now that everyone was in and seated around the large table, he had a chance to study the people Fontaine had gathered.
“I want to start by introducing everyone,” Fontaine said. “You’re all to be part of the team in one fashion or another.” He pointed to the man who entered carrying a laptop. “The heart of this group is Geek, our computer guru and all-around technical genius.” The white-haired man waved his hand toward the man helping Geek with wires and switches. “Lance will be working with him in the office or in a communication van, wherever we need him to support the operation.”
Fontaine waved next at a woman Montana knew from
