The Ex Assignment (Rogue Protectors Book 1)

by Victoria Paige

  She gave a watery laugh. “I don’t care.”

  “Mind if I join in?” said a rough voice beside them.

  Without looking at him, Gabby reached for Declan and drew him into their tiny family circle. His much broader frame engulfed them. His strong arms kept her standing when she was buckling with emotion. Tears tracked down her cheeks. She wasn’t sobbing yet, but she felt wetness at the side of her temple and on her head.

  She didn’t know how long they stood there without words when Levi’s voice came through them from the door.

  “I can’t let you in. They’re having a family meeting.”

  “Family meeting? What the hell are you talking about.”

  Nick.

  “We just want to see Gabby.”

  That came from Emma, and Theo leaned back from her. “Can I let her in?”

  “It depends. Am I still your best girl?” Gabby teased.

  Theo flashed her a cocky grin before pulling away from her to open the door. Declan engulfed her in an embrace, and she settled contentedly against him. There were still many things to talk about, adjusting to a new normal, but she couldn’t help anticipating this second chance of happiness that was within reach.

  “Hi!” Emma spied them by the bed and took a step in.

  “I’ve got things to tell you,” Theo told the girl.

  “Gabby, how are you?” Nick asked, obviously unhappy at seeing Declan in the room.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Gabby is my real mom!” her son declared to Emma. It warmed her heart to see how proud Theo seemed.

  Nick’s head whipped around toward Theo. “What did you say?”

  “The boy has no filter on his mouth,” Declan muttered.

  “Tell me you didn’t know this, Nick,” Gabby asked.

  “What are you all talking about?” the other man said, bewildered. She knew him enough to note that his shock was genuine.

  “I don’t think he did,” Theo said.

  “You sure about that?” Declan drawled. “He could be a better actor than I am.”

  “Anyone’s a better actor than you are, Roarke,” Nick shot back.

  “Ouch! Is that supposed to hurt?”

  “Would you two stop with the dick fight?” Gabby said in irritation.

  “Hey, minor here.” Theo covered Emma’s ears. “Ah … I think we need to let you grown-ups talk it out. Nick’s gonna handle our press anyway.”

  “Don’t go too far!” Roarke called. “And get Levi.”

  “Yeah, yeah …” Theo waved.

  Emma hesitated. “But my Dad wants to say hey to Gabby.”

  “Your dad is here?” Theo asked.

  “Yes,” the teenage girl replied. “Dad wants to show his support—”

  “You sure he’s not here as Claudette’s attorney?” Gabby blurted out before she could stop herself.

  Emma’s face reddened. Declan squeezed her shoulders and, when Theo scowled, she knew she’d gone too far.

  “Come on, baby,” Theo said, ushering the girl out the door. “Let’s see Mr. Haller and bring him up here. It’s okay. Right, Mom?”

  Gabby winced at the coldness in her son’s voice. Wow, the warm and fuzzies fizzled pretty quickly as she watched Theo close the door.

  “I don’t think I can handle any more visitors.” She massaged her right temple.

  “I’ll talk to Theo,” Declan murmured by her ear.

  “I guess I’m not his best girl after all,” Gabby muttered.

  Declan chuckled and turned her in his arms so he could stare into her eyes. “Does it matter if you’re mine?”

  She couldn’t help the goofy grin that formed on her lips.

  A clearing of the throat reminded them they weren’t alone. They turned their heads to see Nick glowering at them, a vein throbbing at the side of his neck.

  “Sorry to interrupt this lovers’ reunion,” he spat. “But could we talk about how we’re gonna spin this to the press? And do we have—”

  Declan advanced menacingly toward him, blocking Gabby’s view. “You’re bringing this up now?”

  “It’s not only Theo’s career on the line here.”

  “Do you even hear yourself?” Declan growled. “Gabby almost died yesterday and that damn well outweighs any fucking career anyone has. Got me?”

  Gabby laid a hand on Declan’s back, his tense muscles bunching underneath her palm. She needed to diffuse the situation before he threw Nick out of the room.

  “Dec, I got this.”

  “No, you’re not well.”

  “I am well enough to talk to Nick myself,” she cut in sharply. Gabby was realizing that in the face of their imminent reconciliation, she needed to set a few boundaries. Declan had always been overprotective, and she could see this becoming a nails-on-the-chalkboard habit if she didn’t put her foot down.

  When she turned to face her other ex-husband, his expression was contrite.

  “Declan is right,” Nick said, pressing his mouth together as if trying to find the words. “I’m not gonna lie. It’s hard to see you two together and I just lashed out.”

  “I’m taking a few days off. Why don’t you call me and we can set a time to hash this out, okay?”

  He nodded. “I’m glad you’re all right, Gabby.”

  “Me too.”

  They exchanged brief hugs, the men exchanged curt nods, and then Nick left the room.

  Gabby turned to face Declan, hands on hips, about to berate him about jumping down Nick’s throat, but he beat her to it.

  “Don’t even fucking say I overstepped,” he warned. “He was out of line and you know it.”

  “Did you have to be that confrontational?”

  “Thinking that you’ve been married to that son-of-a bitch? Yes, I did.”

  “Are you saying you’re jealous of him? I thought we’re past that?”

  “You and me? We’re past that. Me and him. Never.”

  “But why?”

  He stared at her as if she should know. His mouth stubbornly set in a thin line.

  “Oh my god. You give me a headache.”

  Remorsefulness marked his features. “You need something? A pill?”

  “It’s not too bad yet.”

  Declan looked like he was about to say something when the door opened, and Levi stepped in.

  His partner looked around, his brows drawing together. “Where’s Theo?”

  26

  “You lost him?” Declan growled.

  “What’s going on?” Gabby gripped his arm. Fuck. This was not the way he wanted her to find out about the Ortega escape.

  “No time to explain.” He glared at Levi, who was returning his glare full force. “Where’s Bristow?”

  “Here,” the ginger-haired pretending-to-be-a-nurse CIA operative appeared by the open door.

  “Stay with Gabby. Explain the situation to her.”

  “I will if—” Bristow broke off. “Where the fuck is Theo?”

  “Good question.” This time it was Levi who responded.

  “Come on.” Declan exited the room, ignoring the outrage in Gabby’s voice as she demanded to know what the hell was going on again.

  “We got complacent,” Declan told his partner as they both prowled the hallways, looking for the teenager. He shot a text off to Theo, praying he’d respond.

  “We?” Levi barked a mocking laugh. “Need I remind you we were ordered to leave the room. He was in your care.”

  “Agreed. Theo left with Emma to go look for her dad. Where were you?”

  “I had an update from Garrison. Had to go somewhere to take the call.”

  “His phone is showing up in the parking garage,” Levi said, but instead of relief, his friend’s face darkened with worry.

  This couldn’t be good. Theo wouldn’t be dumb enough to go to the garage with Emma. When the elevator they took opened at the ground level, Levi checked the tracker on his phone again. It led them to a trash bin by the bank of elevators.

  �
��Son of a bitch!” Declan spat. He raked fingers through his hair, wanting to pull it out.

  Levi’s shoulders slumped. “I failed Theo.”

  “We both did,” Declan admitted. “Theo shouldn’t have taken one step from that door without you. I told that damned kid to look for you, but emotions were high and he probably didn’t think of it.” He blew out a frustrated and pained breath. Just when their family was whole, something ripped them apart again. This was gonna kill Gabby. She didn’t know about Ortega yet.

  “Let’s see if the hospital security can pull the surveillance tapes,” Levi said.

  Gabby listened, as calmly as she could manage, while Bristow explained what they knew about Ortega’s escape.

  “Has this been relayed to GHD?”

  “Garrison said the CDC just informed them.”

  “I’m not about to simply sit here and wait for news on my son,” Gabby said. “You’re going to take me to Claudette.”

  Bristow hitched a brow. “I don’t think Roarke’s gonna be pleased if you leave this room without him.”

  “I don’t answer to Dec.” And as if a thought occurred to her, she asked, “And while I get into my clothes, you mind telling me what exactly do you do? I doubt you’re merely a CIA asset.”

  She walked to the duffel Levi brought in earlier, thankful there were jeans, sneakers, and a sweater. Gabby felt a bit woozy, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t been through before, so she sat on the couch as she carefully slipped her jeans on.

  “Need help?”

  “No. Start talking.”

  “Counterterrorism task force proposed under the CIA.”

  “The CIA can’t command anything on U.S. soil.”

  “Garrison’s been given authority by Homeland Security and FBI since he’s more knowledgeable of how all the players work together or who’s fighting against whom. The U.S. healthcare system is vulnerable. Inject a super bacteria or virus into the system and tens of thousands could die. Ground Zero is Southern California whose borders are more vulnerable to the entry of terrorists in the guise of true asylum seekers.”

  Gabby stood up and fished a bra and shirt from the bag and turned away from Bristow. She slipped off her hospital gown. “Go on.”

  The door opened. “What the fuck?” Declan growled. “Cover your eyes, dammit.”

  “Nothing I haven’t seen before,” Bristow quipped.

  She hooked her bra and was about to pull on the sweater when she felt the electric presence of Declan behind her.

  “I know you said you’re used to guys in the locker room, but would you give me a chance to get used to it?”

  Rolling her eyes, she pulled the sweater gingerly over her head as Declan helped her the rest of the way. Then fingers clasped her shoulders and turned her around, her heart sinking at the turbulence in his green eyes.

  “Theo?” For the few minutes Levi and Declan were gone, she’d clung to the hope that they were overreacting … their son couldn’t be taken in the blink of an eye.

  He gave one shake of his head. “Found his phone in the trash.”

  “Oh, god.” The instinct of a cop warred with the instinct of a mother and she clung to his forearms as if to steady herself.

  “Gabby …”

  She focused on what she could control. “Bristow’s taking me to Claudette. You do what you need to do. Surveillance tapes—”

  “Got the ball rolling on that.”

  “If Ortega has Theo, let’s hope he’ll make demands.” The alternative was too painful to comprehend.

  “He will and you don’t need to see Claudette,” Declan and Bristow exchanged a look, and the nurse nodded. “We know what he wants.”

  27

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

  Gabby stared, open-mouthed, at the man standing beside Ariana. She yanked her hand out of Declan’s. No wonder he’d been evading her questions on the way home. What did he think she was going to do? Ask for a gun and shoot Biker Guy from the alley?

  “Gabby …” Declan started.

  “Don’t you dare Gabby me,” she snarled, avoiding his attempts to grab her hand again while keeping him, Biker Guy, Ariana, and Garrison within a forty-five degree angle of her sight.

  “What’s going on?” Kelso asked, moving to her side.

  “This man”—she stabbed a finger at Ariana’s bodyguard—“was the man I followed in the alley.”

  “Miguel Alcantara Walker. You can call me Migs.” The man introduced himself with a smirk.

  “How about I call you asshole?” She turned and scowled at her ex. “You played me. He pointed a gun at me and you …arrgh—I can’t even.” Gabby started pacing, waiting for someone to offer an explanation, but the room lapsed into silence, so she stopped wearing a hole through the floor and glared at Declan. “What? Nothing to say?”

  He had his thumbs hooked in the front pockets of his jeans, his feet braced apart as he rocked back on his heels. “Nothing. Just letting you cool down and realize that what I did was the best option.”

  His whole posture and words incensed her further. “Oh, really? What about saying ‘don’t shoot him—he’s on our side’?”

  “My cover was important,” Migs retorted.

  “Your cover ceased being important the second you got your ass caught by a police officer,” Kelso joined into the fray.

  Gabby turned her displeasure on Garrison. She was getting more and more furious with each second that went by that these men thought what they did was okay. “Don’t think because you’re this hotshot CIA officer that you can run roughshod over interagency protocol. This wouldn’t have happened if we’d been brought into the loop. Someone could have gotten hurt.”

  Garrison regarded her and her partner for one beat, two beats, and then said, “Right. That’s a risk we take—”

  “Don’t start spouting collateral damage to me—”

  “—but now that we’ve established that we’re on the same side, can we focus on getting the teenagers back?”

  Silence.

  Gabby knew he was right, and she knew that the CIA operated on a different wavelength. They could break laws in other countries, but not U.S. laws. She just wanted to get the steam out of her head, otherwise she’d explode later. “Come on, Kelso, let’s hear what these spooks have to say.” She didn’t look at Declan. Needless to say, she was fuming at every male in the house except her partner.

  Gabby sat on the couch, motioning Kelso to sit beside her.

  She could feel Declan’s glower in her direction, but she continued to ignore him, so he moved to stand beside Garrison. Bristow, who’d been standing by the door all this time, moved to join the CIA team.

  “Ortega never had cancer,” Garrison said. “He spread that rumor to make him appear weak and flush out the people conniving to bring him down. This is what we’ve gleaned so far from his CDC tests and his actions of the past few months.”

  “Do we know who broke him out?” Declan asked.

  “At first we thought Andrade had a plant inside the CDC but a source of mine indicated that he was completely in the dark about the Z-91,” the CIA officer continued. “Heads are apparently rolling in his organization, but the damage is done. The virus is out.”

  “Ortega escaped with the Z-91 pearls?” Gabby demanded.

  “No. Those have been safely transported to Atlanta, but Ortega himself has become the carrier. It’s still too soon to say, but there are indications within the CDC audit trail that a Z-92 has been synthesized using its equipment and research files.”

  “We cannot discount that Andrade is still behind this,” Migs said. “He has the means for misdirection.”

  “Agreed.”

  “And the cartel?” Kelso asked. “How do they fit into all this?”

  “They’re waiting to grab power,” Ariana said. “It’s gotten my brother so paranoid. I … I still can’t wrap my mind around how he faked his cancer.”

  “I know how we can flush Ortega out,” Gabb
y said. She stared at the other woman, trying to remain objective and hoping that in no way was Ariana complicit in her brother’s actions that killed Peter. “There’s one person Raul Ortega loves.”

  “No,” Migs growled.

  Gabby raised a brow. “I haven’t said anything yet.”

  “You don’t have to,” he snapped. “You’re going to suggest using her as bait.”

  “Gabby has a point,” Garrison said, looking at Ariana and ignoring the fuming biker beside her. “At this point, we’re banking on Ortega to be desperate to find out what happened to you. We’ve tracked numerous calls made to the numbers you use. We nearly captured someone who’s been staking out your business in Beverly Hills.

  “Unfortunately, Andrade wants Ariana, too. That’s the real reason why we put Migs undercover,” Garrison said, turning back to the room. “And why we needed her to stay hidden. See who makes the first move. Ortega did. We haven’t picked up any movement from Andrade’s end … but like Migs said he has a vast network to cover his tracks.”

  Gabby’s own division had been looking for Ariana but she seemed to disappear off the face of the earth, and now she knew how. This was fucked up on so many levels, Gabby couldn’t even comprehend going rogue on this.

  That is, if Theo and Emma’s lives weren’t on the line.

  The surveillance footage showed the teenagers being intercepted by two men dressed in scrubs. It was at a distance from the camera and their abductors appeared to know how to avoid having their faces seen.

  They needed to act quickly before the kidnapping reached the mainstream media. It would be harder to execute a rescue under the scrutiny of the public. Nick had not called her yet, but she expected a frantic call when Theo and Emma failed to show up for shooting. There was also the LAPD to consider.

  “Neither of them will get to you,” Migs told Ariana fiercely. “That I promise.”

  “Raul won’t stop until he sees me. He wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “Don’t forget,” Gabby seethed. “Your brother killed my father. He ordered a hit on me and Theo—a seventeen-year-old boy. He’s a sociopath!”

  “I know that!” Ariana cried. “No matter how much he tries to protect me, a part of me knows what he is. That’s what got our other brother killed. But he’s still my brother.” She ended on a whisper.