Page 14 of Shattered

He cursed and straightened, dragging a hand over his face. It was shades of Ruby Ridge all over again, a nightmare and public relations disaster the Bureau was still trying to recover from. The media and public would go apeshit if the report was true. “DeLuca didn’t mention anything about this.”

“He probably doesn’t know yet. But I’ll bet he’ll be getting the call any minute now.”

Tuck set his hands on his hips.Dammit. This put his team in more danger in an already volatile and high-risk situation. “How many other people are in the cabin?”

“Including the suspect, last count was four—him, the wife, and two younger kids. Twins.” She twisted her head to look up at him, concern in her bloodshot, deep gray eyes. “I’ll keep monitoring it on my end. If I hear anything else important I’ll text you.”

Be careful, Tuck.

She didn’t say it, but the words were clear in her expression and it warmed him inside. As a fellow special agent and his former partner, Celida understood him better than any other woman could have. She knew exactly the kinds of danger his job entailed, and though she handled it well, she still worried.

It just made him love her that much more.

“You should go to bed,” he murmured, brushing a lock of coffee-brown hair back from her right cheek to expose the long-healed bullet graze there. She had shadows under her eyes, the result of too many all-nighters recently.

She shook her head, the stubborn tilt of her chin both familiar and endearing. “Not when you’re heading down there to deal with this.”

There was no point arguing with her about it. With Celida he had to pick his battles, and he already knew this was one he wouldn’t win. She would sit here at her computer with her cell next to her, watching for any intel that might be useful to him. And she wouldn’t sleep until he called to tell her the job was done, and that he was safe. Just another thing in the long list of why he adored her.

He took her face in his hands. “I ever tell you I love you?”

“No.”

His lips quirked at her serious tone. Always so saucy. She never complained about his job, the insane hours it demanded, or how often they were apart. It meant a lot that she fully supported him in his career, just as he supported hers. “Well I do.”

She curled her fingers around his wrists and leaned her cheek into his right palm. “Love you back.” She released one of his wrists to cup the back of his head and pull him into a hard kiss, then let go and eased away. “You watch yourselves out there.”

“Will do.” His team’s safety was paramount, and the most important part of his role as team leader. Taking care of his guys and making sure they all went home safe at the end of the day was always his top priority. The mission came second. “Bye. I’ll call you when we get to Atlanta, give you an update. Probably be gone for at least a couple days.”

“Just come home safe.”

“You know it, sunshine. Miss me.” He dropped another kiss on her upturned lips then grabbed his gear and walked out into the cool pre-dawn darkness to face yet another mission and its uncertain outcome.

****

Distant honking made Nate look up just as a V-formation of geese flew overhead in the pre-dawn sky, heading south for warmer climates now that fall was here.

Still overwhelmed by the news of becoming a father, he hoisted the straps of his bags higher onto his right shoulder and followed his teammates across the darkened tarmac toward the waiting Air Force C-130 parked near the end of the runway. DeLuca had briefed them via speakerphone from Atlanta, and arranged this flight for them. Between then and now, things down there had gotten damn ugly.

Rumors had been flying around that a SWAT sniper had shot the suspect’s teenage daughter when she’d stepped out onto the porch wearing her father’s hat and hunting jacket. Five minutes before leaving base, DeLuca had called back to say the fourteen-year-old had subsequently died.

Now the grieving father was even more traumatized and unpredictable. He’d threatened to blow up the side of the mountain his home sat on rather than surrender, and refused to allow his wife and two remaining children to leave, or to allow anyone to take away his daughter’s body. Right now, the teenage girl was wrapped in a plastic tarp, lying in the middle of the living room.

That was the scene Nate’s team would confront in a few more hours, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t have a gut-deep, bad feeling about this one. Dog teams and explosive ordinance disposal units were on site to search and clear the area below the cabin, but they could only do so much, and if they got too close, the suspect would likely open fire on them. So if Nate and his teammates received the order to make the assault and moved in, they’d be going in blind.

The C-130’s tail ramp was down, other members of the critical incident response group already on board. Nate strode up it, stored his gear, then planted his ass in a jump seat along the left-hand wall beside Bauer. Maybe not such a great idea, since Bauer was freaking huge, his shoulder shoved up against Nate’s. Too late to move now, though, because Tuck sat on Nate’s other side, taking the last empty seat.

Bauer was too bulky and hard to make for a comfy pillow. Covering a yawn, Nate folded his hands atop his belly, leaned his head back and closed his eyes, intending to catch some Zs on the way to Atlanta. But as the ramp closed and the engines throttled up, sending vibrations through the deck of the aircraft, he thought about Taya and found himself smiling secretly.

Bauer elbowed the side of Nate’s arm. “What’s funny?”

“Nothing,” he said without opening his eyes. “Just happy.”

“Yeah?” Tuck said from his left. “What about?”

Nate opened his eyes and turned his head toward his team leader, his smile widening. “Taya’s pregnant.”

Tuck’s eyes widened, his dark blond eyebrows shooting upward. “Are you serious?”

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