Quinn and his apprentice, Nate, had been waiting for almost two hours. But waiting was part of the job, and they were both experts at it. They sat quietly, saying very little, their minds wandering but their senses alert. When their handheld radio came to life, neither of them even flinched.

“Give us five to clear out, then you’re on,” a male voice said on the other end.

Quinn clicked the Talk button. “Copy.”

He had no idea who the prime op was on this job. Wills had supplied Quinn with all the instructions he would need, so there had been no face-to-face with the other team. Sometimes you knew who you were working with, sometimes you didn’t. It was the world they lived in.

As far as his own team was concerned, after reading through the job specs, Quinn had determined there would be no need for more than the two people. So after Minnesota, Orlando had gone home to San Francisco to be with Garrett.

“Be careful,” she’d said. “If you need me, I can be there in a couple hours.”

“We won’t need you.”

“That warms my heart.”

“I need you, but not for this. Is that better?” he asked.

“It’s a start.”

Quinn and Nate waited quietly for five minutes to pass. The room they were in had served as an office at one time, but it had been years since it was last used. They had brought two folding chairs, a thermos of coffee, and a couple Styrofoam cups, but otherwise the room was empty.

“Time,” Quinn said without looking at his watch.

He tossed the walkie-talkie to Nate, who bagged it up with the thermos and cups. They then folded the chairs and set everything in the hallway to be picked up on their way out.