“I like this guy,” he leaned toward her and whispered. “I like the way he operates.”
“You would. The two of you are so much alike, it’s scary. And Sean’s just like my father. I’m sure the three of you are going to get along just fine.”
“Hey,” Sean, impatient as always, interrupted. “What is going on here?” He was staring at the two of them with new interest, took his time about looking around the cabin, as well, as if he knew exactly what they’d been doing here.
Jamie groaned. “Give it a rest, Sean. Why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here?”
“Well, it was the oddest thing. I’m sitting at my desk, minding my own business—”
“You?” she scoffed.
“—when I start hearing odd complaints from the Marshal’s Service. You can imagine how happy they are to have people running around D.C. claiming to be their agents. Letting people who are supposedly theirs get beaten up and thrown out of moving cars. Checking people in and out of hospitals under false names, misleading the police and then disappearing. When I started nosing around and dug up the bit on the six-millimeter slugs, and I knew this had to be connected to Alex Hathaway’s disappearance. I knew Division One lost him, and I worried that you,” he pointed to Jamie, “were right in the middle of it. You weren’t home, you weren’t returning anyone’s calls and you weren’t on assignment, as you claimed to be. I have enough clout these days to check, you know.”
Jamie nodded.
“And when I started asking questions about the witness who supposedly got thrown out of a speeding car, what do I find? She sounds a lot like my baby sister.”
“Oh,” she said.
“That was four days ago. It took me this long to find you,” he complained. “Damn it, Jamie, I shouldn’t have to play detective to find out you’re in trouble.”
“I’m sorry—” she said.
“You damn well should be.”
“But this had to be kept quiet.”
They fell silent for a moment. She thought the worst of her brother’s anger had faded. “So,” she said, trying to be civil. “You’re trying to find Hathaway, too?”
“Everybody and their mother’s trying to find Hathaway,” he said, brushing his fingertips along her bruised cheekbone. “I think I’ll leave ’em to it. Right now, I intend to find the bastards who did this to you.”
“You’ll have to get in line for the chance,” Dan said.
“And I’m right behind him,” Josh said.
Sean perked up. “Know where they are right now?”
Dan and Josh shook their heads.
“I do.” Sean smiled.
Everything moved quickly from there. Dan could see that Jamie’s brother had clout and knew how to use it. The four of them took a helicopter to the outskirts of D.C., drove in an unmarked van to what looked like an abandoned building, and met two men dressed all in black and armed to the teeth, ready and waiting. They’d argued about calling in anyone to help. Sean, once he heard their story, was as paranoid as the rest of them. In the end, they settled for using the three men who’d been tailing their suspects all day, and no one else.
Josh looked over the equipment they’d taken from the helicopter and whistled appreciatively. “You think you’ve got enough firepower here? You could take over a small country.”
“I don’t believe in taking unnecessary chances,” Sean said, turning to Jamie. “Unlike some members of the family.”
“Jump off any barns lately, Sean?” she countered.
If Dan hadn’t been so tense, he would have laughed. He did like her brother. He was intrigued by the relationship between the two, wondered if her entire family bickered back and forth like this. He wondered if the love between the rest of them was so obvious, as well.
Sean would walk through a wall of fire for his sister. That had been painfully obvious when he saw the bruises on her face, when he was chewing her out for keeping him in the dark about what had happened to her. And he suspected Jamie was going to catch hell from her entire family—if the entire truth of what happened to her ever came out.
He suspected her family was too close-knit for it to remain a secret. Sean would tell. He, like Dan, would think he knew best for her and squeal on her. He’d think it was too important a thing not to tell the family. Jamie would be furious, but he figured she’d be too busy reassuring the rest of the family to take time to sink her claws into her brother. At least, not right away. Dan eased closer to her as they stood around the map of the neighborhood her brother was explaining.
Dan had a better understanding of a lot of things now. When Jamie told him he couldn’t push her away, couldn’t maintain any walls between them, this was why. She’d grown up with this kind of closeness, and she wanted the same thing for the family they would make together.
Dan stood beside her, feeling the tension in her body, wishing he could take her in his arms right here and tell her there was no reason to be afraid, that he wasn’t going to let anybody hurt her, and neither would her brother or Josh. He also wasn’t going to let her anywhere near the warehouse where her brother thought the gang members were holed up.
After Sean had finished his explanations, he took Dan aside for a private conference, while Jamie was talking to Josh.
“You and I need to talk. I know you want to go with us,” Sean said, his gaze sliding over the black cane in Dan’s hand. “Because they’re the ones who did this to you, too, right?”
“Because I couldn’t do anything but watch when they shoved your sister out of that car,” Dan said. Because she wouldn’t have gone after them in the first place, if it hadn’t been for him.
Sean stood back and studied him. “I’d like to wring their necks myself, but there’s one little problem. We can’t question them if they’re dead. I hope you understand that.”
“Yes.”
“It’s a damned shame, I know, but even I have to follow orders sometimes.”
Dan nodded toward Jamie, and said in a low voice, “How are we going to keep her out of it?”
“I’ll hog-tie her if I have to. I’ve been doing it since she was seven and too curious for her own good.”
Dan did laugh then. So did Sean.
Jamie swung around to face them. “What are you two doing?”
“Nothing that concerns you.” Sean ruffled Jamie’s hair. “You’re still in bad shape. Do me a favor. Stay out of trouble until I get back.”
“I’ll try.” She turned to Dan. “I suppose you’re going with him?”
“They took you. And they hurt you,” he groaned.
“Dan—”
“Excuse us for a minute,” he said to her brother.
Dan pulled her into the shadows at the corner of the room and kissed her soundly. Pulling back, he marveled again at how very far they’d come, at how much she meant to him.
“I can’t help this,” he said. “It’s personal. They hurt you, and they’re going to know they’ll answer to me if they ever touch you again. That’s something you’re just going to have to understand.”
“Dan—”
He tugged on the black turtleneck sweater she wore tucked into the waistband of her jeans until the ends came free, and then he slid his hand beneath the fabric, finding her soft skin.
“Please stay here,” he said, switching tactics. If she didn’t want to take orders from him, he’d have to find some other way of getting what he wanted, and he was certainly willing to consider asking nicely. “Do it for me. Because I asked you to.”
“Why do you—”
“They’ve gotten away from me twice now,” he said grimly. “They’re not going to do it again. They’re going to be behind bars, and you’re going to feel safe again.”
“I don’t—”
“You’ve been sleeping in my arms every night, Jamie.” He put his hand to the side of her face, the sight of the bruises still enough to make him murderously angry. “I’ve heard you cry out in your sleep. I know what your nightmar
es are made of.”
She sighed. “You don’t fight fair.”
“No,” he said unapologetically. “I don’t.”
She braced her hands against his chest, stretched up to kiss him softly on the lips. “All right.” She gave in. “Go.”
Dan nodded, kissed her one last time, and went to find her brother.
Chapter 16
They gave her a submachine gun and a headset, so she could hear what was happening inside and call for backup, if needed, then left her in an old building three blocks from their target.
Sean’s voice was calm, rattling off instructions as they moved in. She heard the faint sounds of scuffling feet, confirmation that all six of them were in place, that the suspects were in sight, then they moved in. There was shouting, then a few rounds of gunfire that startled her badly.
The radio erupted with chatter. She had a sinking feeling that told her something was going wrong. Drawing her weapon, she headed for the scene, hampered by ribs that were still sore, but irritated with herself for letting them talk her into staying behind.
It was pitch-black, the area eerily reminiscent of the alley where Dan had been shot, the building reminding her of the place where she’d been held hostage for a day and a half. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of getting anywhere near the people who’d beaten her, but she was afraid everything was unraveling, and she couldn’t just stay back and not help the people she loved.
Through the headset, she heard Sean counting suspects as they were rounded up. They’d gone in believing there were four men inside, although they had no way to be sure. The three men Sean had on their trail couldn’t watch all the exits and entrances to the building. By the time Jamie got to the building, they had five people in custody and were looking for more. She hadn’t heard Dan’s voice in fifteen long seconds.
Jamie paused, her back pressed against the side wall of the building. She checked her weapon one more time. It was ready to fire. Her heart was pounding. She waited until the last second to tell anyone what she was going to do, because she didn’t intend to argue about it. They needed her, and she was going in.
She took a breath, hit the mike button and told the rest of the team she was at the southwest entrance off the alley and coming inside. Sean started swearing. Josh got her oriented to the scene, telling her where he and the rest of the team was, where they were holding their suspects. She finally heard Dan’s voice; he sounded like he was running, something she didn’t think was possible given the condition of his left leg. He was chasing a suspect, moving toward her, he thought.
She opened the door just wide enough to slip inside, stood with her back pressed against the wall. It was pitch-black. She heard the sound of footsteps, moving fast, not far from her. Two sets of footsteps, she decided. The unfamiliar weapon felt strange in her hand, the whole scene seeming unreal to her.
This morning, they’d been safe in the cabin. She’d awakened in Dan’s arms, after they made love long into the night. She’d believed everything was going to be fine. The danger seemed so far away. And now they were in the midst of it once again.
The footsteps were coming closer. She crept along the side wall, then went right, along a row of tall crates toward the center of the building. Toward Dan and whoever he was chasing.
“Jamie?” His voice came through the headset. “He’s climbing. Watch up top.”
Her eyes scanned the rafters on one side. She was turning to look at the opposite side when someone fell on top of her. She heard him coming at the last second and lurched to the left, catching only a glancing blow to her head and shoulder. Still, she went down hard, the breath knocked out of her from the pain that shot through her ribs and the force of the impact. She lost her grip on her weapon only for a second, but that was enough. It went clattering against the floor.
When she opened her eyes, her assailant was beside her, on his knees, with his weapon in her face, snarling, before he recognized her and gave her a leering grin.
“Well, did you miss me?” he asked, adding a particularly vile name for her. “Did you think you’d come back for more?”
“No,” she said, an icy calm settling over her as she got to her knees. “I came back for you.”
The overgrown boy laughed softly and reached for her.
“Steady.” Dan’s voice came through her headset. “I’m coming. I’m almost there.”
She marveled at his voice alone, steady as a rock, never wavering. It calmed her, as nothing else could have at the moment.
“Okay, on my count,” he said. “Dive right.”
She never saw him coming, never heard him move, but suddenly he was there, seemingly falling out of the sky, landing between her and the suspect.
Jamie heard grunts of pain, heard them both swearing and the sickening thud of fists on flesh. She turned away long enough to grab her gun, and by the time she turned around, it was all over.
Dan had the suspect immobilized on the floor. She didn’t know what he’d done, but the suspect wasn’t moving.
Sean and Josh were there seconds later, and the realization that she’d come face-to-face again with one of her assailants was starting to set in. Jamie was shaking again. Sean knelt down beside her, his hand on her shoulder. “You all right?”
“Yes.” She nodded, surprised he wasn’t giving her hell about coming inside. “I just need to sit here for a minute.”
“Okay.”
He turned and said something to Dan, then he and Josh hauled the last suspect away, toward the center of the building. She heard Dan moving beside her, then he pulled her against his side.
“You sure you’re all right?”
She nodded, glanced up at the top of the crates on either side of them, marveling at what he’d done. “How in the world did you get up there?”
He kissed her forehead. “I don’t know. He was coming after you, and I just did it.”
She’d seen him struggling with his cane in the last week. She knew how difficult it was for him to walk. But she should have known nothing could stop him from getting the job done.
Dan’s hand moved gently along her rib cage. “Sore? It sounded like you went down hard.”
“It’s fine. Just knocked the breath out of me.” She had to stop to breathe, to tell herself it was all right now.
He must have needed to do the same, because he pulled her head down to his chest. When he finally spoke, she heard an odd quiver in his voice.
“God, Jamie. What am I going to do with you?”
“Keep me out of trouble?” she suggested.
“That would be a full-time job.”
She laughed, finally feeling better. “Well, you’re unemployed at the moment, right?”
“For the moment. Your brother seems to think I could be useful to his team at the Pentagon.”
“Oh, great. The two of you together? I’d never have a moment’s peace.”
He kissed her then, quickly, soundly, then held her for another minute before they went to find Sean and Josh.
Dan wanted to take her home, but Jamie knew the job wasn’t done.
They had six people in custody. Jamie recognized four of them from the time they’d held her hostage. Dan picked out the three people he’d seen the night he was shot, including the one who shot him and the girl he and Geri had tried to save.
Sean pulled some strings and arranged to have their suspects held at the nearby Marine Corps training center at Quantico, Virginia. Jamie and Dan stood in front of a oneway glass, watching and listening as, one after another, the five males in custody denied any knowledge of Alex Hathaway or where he might be. But the girl told a different story.
Looking scared and terribly young, she said she went for a drive with two of the teenagers now in custody, one of whom she considered her boyfriend, although he tended to get a little rough with her from time to time. They were acting strangely that night, watching the time, waiting for something, then drove down the street in front of the warehouse. The
y started arguing with her, pushed her from the car, started hitting her. She’d been afraid, had tried to run away. Dan had caught her, but she’d still been scared. When she had the chance, she ran again. She heard gunshots moments later, saw blood on the boys’ hands and their clothes when they caught up with her a few blocks away.
She claimed she didn’t know the name Alex Hathaway, hadn’t seen anyone that night but Dan and Geri and the two boys she was with.
“Do you believe her?” Dan said.
“I think I do,” Jamie replied.
The girl said the gang had grown increasingly uneasy after hearing a federal agent had been shot and killed that night. Their deal wasn’t about killing a federal agent. It was about being decoys. They were just doing a job for someone who had access to weapons they wanted. They had the prototype weapons they’d taken from the agents at the warehouse that night, but that was all. They wanted more of those same guns, and so far, they hadn’t been paid.
The girl didn’t know who hired them, but she picked up their instructions on the hit on the warehouse from a private company that rented mailboxes. She’d seen the man who dropped it off, a tall, lean man in his late twenties with short, dark hair and glasses. He wore a suit and tie. Apparently, they’d taken the precaution of following him, and weeks later, when they still hadn’t gotten paid for the job they’d done, they went to find him. That was when they saw him with Jamie, outside FBI headquarters.
They’d snatched her off the street later that day, after she showed up at the liquor store asking questions, because they were tired of being kept in the dark, tired of not getting their guns.
Jamie knocked on the glass to get Sean’s attention, then backed away from the window. Dan came with her, put his arm around her waist. “You okay?”
She nodded. When Sean came out, she said, “Ask the girl when they saw me with the man at FBI headquarters.”
The day before they grabbed Jamie off the streets.
“It was the day I came to the office,” Dan said. “What else did you do that day? Who did you see?”
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