Free Hard and Fast by Raven Scott

shop. He reversed into the open spot closest to the large open garage bay, parking close to the sleek gray Porsche with matte black rims and hot red brake calipers.
    “We have a room that we can set up as our control center, so let’s get unpacked,” he told the team. “I want a plan confirmed by twelve hundred hours.”
    A couple of Magnus mechanics stepped outside from the shop floor with coffee cups and packs of cigarettes just as the four big men filed out of the SUV. All the agents were dressed in black with full-size handguns clipped into shoulder holsters worn over their shirts. The mechanics froze with looks of alarm on their faces.
    “Morning,” Lucas said smoothly with a nod as he strode by them toward the garage bay at the center of the building, carrying two of the equipment cases. Lance and Ned followed in a single line, similarly loaded up, with Michael in the rear carrying the last case, with only their personal luggage left behind in the trunk.
    Lucas could feel almost a dozen eyes following him and his men as they walked through the shop floor to the entrance to Magnus’s offices. One pair of eyes in particular felt so hot that it might singe his flesh. But he resisted the pull to look back at Alex as she stood with the other racing engineers in the right side of the shop. He had been much too distracted by her already over the last day and a half as it was.
    The Fortis team was entering the small conference room given to Lucas just as Norma and Marco came through the doors to the showroom at the front of the building. Their client and his assistant stopped short, with very similar expressions of alarm as everyone else in the building.
    “Marco, Norma, this is the Fortis team that will be on the ground for you,” Lucas stated in an easy, casual voice that was at odds with the armed presence now lined up behind him inside the small room. “Lance and Ned will provide security detail, and Michael will work with me on the investigation.”
    Each of the other agents nodded when their names were mentioned, even as they began opening the large cases to unpack the contents.
    “You’re wearing guns,” Norma stated as though she couldn’t quite understand what was going on.
    “Are those legal? Are you allowed to wear them?” added Marco, pointing at the weapon Lucas had not been wearing yesterday.
    “I assure you, all our weapons are licensed and very legal,” Lucas told them both in the same calm voice.
    “Is this necessary?” Alex demanded as she marched up the hall with indignation written all over her face. Lucas couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked, all agitated. “You can’t just walk around strapped to the teeth.”
    Lucas tried to keep his lips still to suppress a grin.
    “It is and we can,” he replied briefly.
    Her mouth hung open, as though his explanation meant nothing.
    “Who are you people, anyway? It’s not Texas, you know. This is Canada!”
    “I know where I am, Cotts, but thanks for the reminder,” he shot back quietly before turning to Marco and his assistant. “Marco, I’ll need ninety minutes with my men to get situated. Can I provide you a review of our plan by, say, one o’clock?”
    “Sure, that’s fine,” Marco told him, swallowing tightly.
    “I will be there also,” Alex demanded, practically vibrating with frustration.
    “As you’d like,” he told her politely before he walked into the meeting room leaving the door open.
    “Did you know anything about this, Markie?” he heard her asking her boss from a short distance down the hall. Marco’s response was too quiet for Lucas to hear as they walked away.
    “You weren’t kidding,” Michael quipped, barely looking up from his task of setting up a high-capacity computer system at the far end of the conference room table. “She’s definitely a handful.”
    The other men snickered, but Lucas ignored them. He was too busy trying to figure out how to get rid of the energy and anticipation that