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break from his brother’s company, and he wanted to do it on his own. So he’d spent all his free time updating and decorating the house he’d found while Lucy spent New Year’s with her family in San Diego.
    While she loved her job, she loved coming home even more. For the first time in her life, everything was working together. A job that was her vocation, a home that she felt was truly her own, and a man she loved beyond anything else.
    Which made Sean’s sacrifices for her all the more noble. He’d given up his position with his brother’s company, and though he wanted to leave, it still meant he had to create something from the ground up here. Because he loved her.
    “Ready, Kincaid? Quiroz?” Donnelly said. “Finally got the damn warrant.”
    They nodded, and the three of them bumped fists. Even with the tension between Ryan and Donnelly, the operation came first. They were a unit.
    They rode into the red zone via the tactical truck, cramped in a narrow space that was dominated by communications equipment. The van followed. They parked directly in front of the entrance and exited immediately. Speed was essential in case there were external security cameras that announced their presence.
    Donnelly used his hands to signal each team, and everyone moved out seamlessly. Lucy had only trained with SWAT as part of rescue scenarios, years ago when she’d been an intern with the Arlington County Sheriff’s Department. Because she was a certified EMT, she’d trained as the team medic. She was very comfortable with the process.
    Donnelly was lead, and he silently counted down, then shouted, “Go, go, go!” and kicked open the door.
    “DEA! We have a warrant to search these premises!”
    Lucy surveyed the main room. It was a hardware store with several long, narrow rows of supplies, but there was more open space than shelves. Several Hispanic males were lounging on couches, and they jumped up as soon as Donnelly breached the entrance. Two ran toward the back.
    Ryan shouted, “Down, down, down!” The three remaining men slowly sank to the ground. “Keep your hands up, above your head.”
    Donnelly nodded to Ryan. “Got them?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Into his mike Donnelly said, “I need backup to secure three hostiles in front.” Then he motioned for Lucy to follow him in pursuit of the fleeing suspects.
    The two on foot hadn’t left the building. Lucy motioned to the floor. She’d felt a vibration beneath her, but hadn’t heard a door closing.
    Donnelly understood. In his mike he said quietly, “I need plans on this building. Is there a cellar?”
    As he waited for information, they searched all potential hiding places, but came up empty. Beta team, from the rear, entered. “They didn’t come out this way, sir,” the Beta team leader said.
    Donnelly slid over the counter. There was an old manual cash register. He motioned at the floor. Lucy saw exactly what he did: The wood was different from that in the rest of the store.
    He took out his cell phone and read something, then said into his mike, “Expand the perimeter, possible tunnel escape.”
    He gestured to Lucy. “Get that door open.” He trained his gun on the opening.
    Lucy slung her rifle strap over her back and felt around the boards. The hinges were on top, flush with the wood, but indicating that the door would swing out, into the store. On the opposite side where the opening should be the boards were wider apart and discolored. A small handle was barely noticeable. She tried to open the trapdoor; a faint sound of scraping metal came as she pulled.
    “They have it locked from the underside,” she said.
    “Stand back.”
    Lucy complied. Donnelly fired two bullets at the lock. The lock gave and the door sagged. Donnelly reached down, pulled it up, and leaned it against the counter.
    Dull-yellow lights lit the cellar below. There was no movement and no sign of the two suspects, but that didn’t mean they weren’t waiting to ambush anyone who