“And isn’t it your job to have guys to do the heavy stuff for you?”
She was disconcerted enough to blush. “I was a field agent before I took the desk job, you know. Nothing wrong in keeping up the training.”
“In special cases.”
She nodded. “In special cases, indeed.” Her eyes met mine. This one was personal.
I grinned again, though there was a painful tug to my shoulder that made it difficult to move any of the muscles around it. “Joe Lam’s going to be glad he’s found someone who can whoop his ass on high days and holidays. You make a perfect couple.”
Her brow furrowed. “Tanner, you may be injured, but that’s no excuse for appallingly rude personal comments.”
“Hey, cut him some slack,” Junk broke in, and to my surprise, Judith didn’t immediately slap him down. “He knows a kick-ass woman when he sees one. Like we all do.”
I saw Judith’s mouth open, then close again. I was even more amused to see a flush appearing on her cheeks.
Junk grinned at me. “Just look at this gal! She’s got the balls without needin’ to carry the bat between her legs, right?”
I bit the inside of my cheek very, very hard trying not to laugh. “Right, man.” I saw Judith was nursing her left leg, standing slightly awkwardly. “Your ankle again?”
She shrugged, but when Junk pushed her gently to the couch, she sat down quickly beside me. “It’s okay. It’s just flared up again from the activity. I’m already having treatment. Joe says I should consider acupuncture, and we’ll discuss the benefits when he starts a course for himself….” She broke off, as if embarrassed at talking about something personal.
“Someone told him yet you took the guy down yourself?” I asked softly. She shook her head and we exchanged rueful smile. I imagined there’d be hell to pay when Joe heard she’d put herself back in the front line. Despite a physical equality in their work, I suspected they might both be harboring a strong protectiveness towards each other. The way she’d rushed straight to the hospital; the vulnerable tone to his voice when he’d spoken to me on the phone. I felt a strange warmth at being back with her, at sharing things again.
“But what the fuck happened?” Memories were trickling back into my mind. I looked across at the door, suddenly reminded of Greg’s strange exit. “Greg was groggy from the electric shock, sure, but he could still have dodged you and run for it. But he went down outside the door like a ripe pear from a tall tree. What happened?”
Judith grinned then, a smile of pure pleasure. “Don’t I always say the simplest strategies are the best?” Junk coughed rather self-consciously behind her, and she laughed. “This smart man came back to the site at about the same time as we arrived.”
“Junk?”
He had the grace to glance away. “No one fuckin’ tells me to leave my own park, you know. Especially not kids like you two. Ruthie just needed settlin’ with her cousin in town, then most of us came straight back.”
Judith pursed her lips. Maybe it was her turn to hold back a smile. “Junk showed me the quickest way to your trailer, the way through the back so that Greg wouldn’t see us approaching. We had no way of knowing what lookout arrangements he’d made, what weapons he might have had. And then when we heard the furor inside the trailer and heard someone fumbling with the door, we had to find a quick and safe way of stopping his flight.”
“So?” I stared at Junk suspiciously.
“I took the fuckin’ steps away,” he said cheerfully. “I said your trailer was a box o’ crap, didn’t I? Those steps ain’t been fastened properly for months. You can kick ’em back ’n forth, easy as pie. Dylan knows it well, he’s been nosin’ around ’em the last couple o’ days, seekin’ any more shit left behind by that kid. So I just whipped ’em off to the side, and when that bastard came out front, he took a runnin’ step into fresh air. Never saw it comin’. And once he was down, he never had a chance against kick-ass princess here.”
“Call me Judith,” she said, a little tightly. I smirked and stored Junk’s nickname away for future reference. From the glint in her eye, she knew I had.
“And Niall….” I said, slowly. I’d been biting my lip, trying not to gabble on about him, trying surreptitiously to read Judith’s expression. “I mean, if he were hurt badly or something, you’d have told me by now, right? If he had to go to hospital… if there were any kind of serious problem at all.”
“Well, of course.” Judith looked genuinely startled. “I thought it’d be the first thing you asked, but I didn’t know what you remembered, how you were feeling, so I didn’t say anything directly. Surely you knew he was all right?”
I breathed a little more deeply. “Yes, I knew. You see, no one does a bandage quite like Niall Sutherland.” I smiled pityingly at her confusion. “I saw his handiwork on Sheri. So I knew at once he was okay, more or less. But now that’s enough of the chat and the update on Greg’s capture, and I just want to know that Niall’s more okay, not less, and I’d appreciate being put out of my suspense as soon as fucking possible.”
Another body pushed through the people by the door, and then Niall was beside me. I stared at him—no, much more than that! I drank in the sight of him. My eyes ranged up and down him, checking him for injury and finding nothing. No searing stab wounds; no bloodstained shirt; no cold, gasping breath and tortured gaze. He looked tired and messed up, but his eyes were steady and warm and welcoming like some kind of human hot chocolate, and he was offering the whole damned sweetness to me.
“Sheri says you saved her life.” He smiled. I was watching his smile, reading the meanings behind the words, just enjoying the low timbre of his voice in my ears. “And then, dammit, you saved mine too.”
“He didn’t…? The knife?” I didn’t seem to be able to make a decent sentence. I reached out a hand, and he moved quickly to crouch beside me. He held my hand and let it rest in his own. His movements nudged Judith to one side, but she didn’t protest. I wasn’t about to, either. I only had eyes for him.
“No, he didn’t get me. You got to him just as he tried to stab me. You took the back edge of the knife on your injured arm, and it re-opened your wound. That’s what your pain was. I was winded, and I couldn’t get up fast enough to stop him escaping. All I could see was you on the floor, and blood all over your chest….”
I looked down at my shirt then and saw the mess for myself. Someone had ripped the material apart at my upper arm, and I was sporting another of Niall’s professional bandaging efforts. I was in considerably more pain this time around. Guess my body was getting well and truly pissed at being target of the day, every day.
“But you’re okay,” I said, a little stupidly.
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
We continued to stare at each other for a while, until Judith coughed for our attention. “Did you see Greg carrying anything other than the gun and the knife?” she asked. “We’ve searched the trailer and the path from his car to here, but we can’t see any more evidence of explosives or hidden weapons.”
Niall shook his head. ”I think he was at the end of both his resources and his imagination. His whole vendetta was folding up around him. That just made him all the more desperate.”
Sheri appeared at Junk’s shoulder, holding the rope I’d thrown. “But you got the other guy out as well, right?” she said, looking from us to Judith, then up at her father. “The cute blond? Greg had a pile of this rope, and much thinner stuff, and he’d wrapped it all around him, along with some electrical-looking gadgets like Phil has in his trailer. I didn’t know what it was all for, but then he dragged me out into his car and we set off for here, so I never got a chance to say anything to the poor bastard.”
Much thinner stuff… electrical-looking gadgets.
Niall’s eyes met mine, wide and shocked. “Fuses,” he said. “Detonator.” He didn’t need any more in the way of explanation.
The other guy….
I lurched up, feeling the pull on my wound all over
again. “Simon!”
How the fuck could we have forgotten the danger he could be in?
“Brad’s on his way to find him. Brad’s going to walk right into whatever booby trap Greg set up.” I was babbling, I knew, but it didn’t matter because Niall was already reaching for the battered radio, and Judith grabbed a cell phone from Junk’s hand. She spoke rapidly and sharply and then clipped it shut.
I met her horrified eyes.
“There are people on their way now to that hideout,” she said. “Believe me, they’ll be there in minutes.”
“Call Brad!” Greg was in custody and no longer a threat to us. But his legacy still held one of our Team members in captivity—our friend—and it sounded like he’d still had some of those explosives left to play with.
He’d left one hell of a calling card.
Thursday 02:20
WE ALL waited for the call. I’d never felt so tense in my life. Phil hunkered down with Niall and got the radio working well enough for us all to listen in. Judith stood at their side, trying desperately not to look as fraught as she obviously was. Now and then the cell would ring and she’d go off to answer the call in privacy by the kitchen alcove. At one point, I could see the anger in the set of her shoulders, and she seemed to be bawling someone out. Seconds later she was obviously more satisfied with the response, and was nodding firmly.
Sheri tried to get me to rest, but I batted her away and went to sit on the floor beside Niall. She didn’t complain. In fact, she brought a cushion to me and tried to get me as comfortable as possible. Then she went to stand beside Junk as our small group clung to whatever hope and prayers we had to call on.
When Brad’s voice came through, there was a collective sigh throughout the room.
“Status report, Brad,” said Judith. Her voice was very tight, but she was obviously trying not to snap. “Both you and Simon.”
Brad’s voice sounded odd, as if he were sleepy. “We’re… alive. I’m at the hideout. I’m injured, but not badly. There was a small explosion on my entry, and the door burst apart in my face. Simon is….” His voice failed.
“Why have we lost transmission? Is it the reception?” Judith urged someone to explain, anyone. Phil shook his head, bemused.
“No, I’m here,” came Brad’s voice again. Now he just sounded distraught. “I’m sorry, Judith. I only have my small portable radio with me, and anyway this is… hard.”
I caught Niall’s eye. If I looked half as miserable as he did, things were bad. Brad’s voice continued, shaky but tenacious. “Simon is bound at the far side of the room. He seems to be connected up to some more explosives. It doesn’t look too sophisticated, but I’m no expert. Trouble is, when I came in and the first bomb went off, it seems to have triggered the fuse on the stuff around Simon.”
“You mean he’s primed now,” Niall said.
“Yes,” Brad answered. “I don’t know how long we have.”
I had a sudden, vivid image of Brad staring desperately at Simon across a dirty, abandoned room and yet not being able to go to him. My chest tightened painfully. Niall was watching me but I couldn’t even formulate words to explain my vision.
“Can he talk to us?” Judith leaned in beside me.
“No, his mouth is sealed too. I… don’t want to get too close… in case there’s more… in case I accelerate it.” Brad’s voice got suddenly higher and faster. “I need help here, Judith. I don’t know enough about explosives. It could be ready to blow any minute.”
“You should get out, Brad, while you can,” she urged. “I have bomb disposal experts on their way now—”
“You should know better than to say that,” he snapped back, sounding more like the Brad we all knew. “I’m staying here. We get saved or we go down together. Whatever it is, I don’t go anywhere without him.”
Niall looked up at Judith, keeping his voice low so that Brad didn’t hear. “What about Greg? Can we persuade him to tell us anything about the device?”
“No time,” she muttered back. “He’s on his way to a high security facility with federal agents. They’d not release him quickly or easily enough.” I saw her hold his gaze. “Niall, you must help him disarm it.”
Niall stared back at her. So did I. “Judith, I don’t have specialist knowledge of explosives.” I thought it was fucking amazing he sounded so calm. “I can’t see how it’s configured, can’t see what we’re really dealing with. I could only guide him through the basics.”
“So we’ll have to hope Greg knew no more than that,” she said. “At least until the experts get there.”
“We can’t risk it,” Niall persisted. “I think Greg did know more than that.”
“But so does Joe,” I interrupted. Everyone turned toward me. “Look,” I rushed on. “Joe Lam is more of a combat guy, I know, but he has a damned good knowledge of weaponry as well, almost as good as Niall. And he’s been studying the explosion at Niall’s apartment. Maybe he has some idea of what Greg used, how he set up the devices, if he has some kind of signature.” I could feel the weight of their gazes on me. I could almost hear the crackle of Brad’s breath on the other end of the radio connection. “I mean, I don’t fucking know, do I? But it’s worth a try.”
For five seconds, I don’t think anyone breathed.
Then Judith nodded and handed the cell phone down to us. “You call him, Niall. I’ve programmed in the hospital number. Tell them you’re calling on my behalf and they’ll connect you to Joe.”
Niall stood up, flipped open the phone, and keyed in the number. As he waited for it to answer, he looked into my eyes. “This is okay with you, Tanner?”
“Fuck, of course it is,” I said, but I knew what he was saying to me. He was asking if I was truly rebuilding my bridges, if I’d truly made peace with myself. Three months back, I’d have rather cut his hands off than have him spend any more quality time alone with Joe Lam. But then, I’d been the prick then, hadn’t I? I was on a new lease of life now. “I want you to work with him on this, Niall. We’re all on the same side. The two of you will work it out. We must save the guys. In fact, I’m fucking well insisting you do this!”
“Okay, okay.” His mouth quirked in a small, twisted smile. The hospital connected him, and he moved away from the radio to hear his call more clearly. He swiftly started speaking to Joe.
I turned back to the radio. “Brad, how much did you hear of that?”
His voice was just a thread by now. “You mean you and Niall arguing? Just like old times.” The joke was weak. His voice caught again, and he continued more slowly. “I understand you want me to disable the bomb on Simon. Niall and Joe will talk me through.” There was a scuffling noise in the background, but it might just have been interference. “Look, Tanner, if anything happens to us, I want you to know how much we care about you all—”
“No, it’s cool,” I said quickly, breaking in. “Don’t say any more. You’ll both be fine.”
There was silence from his end, then soft shuffling as if he were easing his way a little nearer to Simon. I could hear him murmuring words, but I couldn’t make them out. From the soft, caressing tone of them, I knew I wasn’t meant to. They were for Simon alone.
Niall came back over with a grim expression and an open connection to Joe Lam on the cell. He spoke directly to me, not Judith. “Joe thinks that Greg had a favorite way of setting his detonators in a domino effect. That’s what happened at the apartment. It sounds similar to the initial explosion at the hideout, when Brad broke in. There can’t be many stages to find in a small house, so if we can disable a switch somewhere along the line we can probably delay the process until the bomb guys get there.”
Phil spoke gruffly, stepping forward from beside Junk. “I know about detonators,” he said. “I can help some. So long as you ain’t bothered how I got the practice.”
I started shifting backward on my ass, to keep out of their way. “So get on with it!”
Thursday 04:10
THE LOW, muttered
conversation had been going on for many long minutes. I was too far away to hear all the words, but it felt better for me to have some distance. Occasionally Niall turned toward me, and I could see the sweat on his face and the white of his knuckles where he held the cell phone to his ear. I guessed it was going well, but I had the hideous feeling that I’d only know to the contrary if I heard a God-awful explosion through the radio. Phil was standing close to Niall, offering help when needed. I prayed the radio connection would last long enough to get through the job.
Sheri sat beside me on the couch with a glass of water for me. She was also watching Phil.
“He’s done a good job,” I said, just for something to break the tension. “Are you two dating yet?”
She swung around, a look of surprise on her face. “He asked, but I don’t know… fuck it, Mac, I didn’t tell you, did I? So how come you know that stuff? You drive me nuts. If you hadn’t saved my life, I’d kill you myself right now.”
“Funny kind of gratitude, I must say.” I felt very weary. I was terrified about Brad and Simon, and if I clenched my fists much tighter to keep back the pain from my arm, I’d be through to the bone.
She was peering into my face. “You know why I haven’t said ‘yes’ yet, don’t you? It’s because I’ve been waiting for you.” She had such a refreshing bluntness; I think I was meant to be flattered. “You’re cute, and you’re good to me. I like you. A lot.” She was trying to sound so cool, but she blushed regardless. I hoped Phil was going to be good to her, too, else I’d want to know the reason why. “But you’ve just got me really messed up.”
I knew I’d regret it, but I thought I owed her the discussion anyway. “Why’s that, honey? I never meant to.”
“You and this guy, Niall….” She pushed an escaping lock of red hair back behind her ear and frowned as she concentrated on her words. She looked so confused and so much younger that I wanted to hug her. “Couple of days ago I thought you were an item, even though—let me tell you—I think that’s just the most disgusting waste of two such hot guys, you know? But then there was all that crap you said about him to the terrorist guy….” When she faced me again, her expression was very bleak. “Was that all true? That he treated you like shit and you were glad to turn him over? You were really upset, and then you were fighting, for fuck’s sake. You said you hated each other’s guts, you even offered to kill him. And the look on his face….” She put a comforting hand over mine. “Shit, Mac, there were a couple of times I thought he’d go for your throat!”
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