Page 54 of Fast Justice

Now he was free for the night, and he planned to run home and grab a quick shower before bringing Rowan some dinner. The woman never fed herself when she was busy working, and he would use any excuse just to see her again. Since he had the right security clearance and was on her short list of approved visitors, he could make it happen.

A familiar ring tone filled the truck cab on Mal’s Bluetooth system. Surprised that Taggart would be calling when they’d only just left HQ a couple minutes ago, he answered. “Commander. What can we do for you?”

“The satellite WITSEC safehouse was just attacked.”

What the fuck? “When?” Mal demanded.

“Fifteen minutes ago. They need a new temporary detail for Oceane. How soon can you guys get over there?”

But not Anya? “We’ll head there now,” Mal said, stunned but secretly glad it wasn’t Rowan.

Taggart gave them the address. “I’ll meet you there,” he said, and hung up.

Malcolm pulled a U-turn in the middle of the street and raced off in the opposite direction.

“How the hell did the perps find them, let alone manage to attack fucking U.S. Marshals?” Lockhart said.

“No damn idea,” Mal replied, driving faster.

When they arrived at the house ten minutes later, the road was choked with emergency vehicles. He and Lockhart jumped out, showed their ID and were allowed access to the backyard.

Paramedics were working on a marshal off to one side of the lawn, and they were rushing Anya toward the gate on a stretcher. She appeared unconscious. Her torso was covered with a bloodstained sheet, her brown skin an ungodly shade of gray and an oxygen mask placed over her mouth and nose.

Jesus Christ…

“Out of the way,” one of the medics yelled, the urgency on his and his partner’s faces making it clear that Anya was in dire danger.

Mal and Lockhart stepped well to the side, allowing them to pass. And when they turned around, he spotted Oceane in between two cops. They appeared to be holding her up as she watched with a tortured expression while her mother was hauled away. Her haunted gaze landed on them and the little composure she had left crumbled.

Her face twisted and she wrenched free of the cops’ supporting arms to lurch straight to Lockhart. Mal caught the flare of surprise on his teammate’s face an instant before she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Lockhart didn’t say anything, just held onto her.

“They won’t let me g-go with her,” she sobbed, the pain in her voice so raw that Mal winced inside. “I need to go with her.”

“They need to transport her as fast as possible and get her stabilized,” Lockhart said, his voice low, calm, but not unfeeling. “As soon as we get everything dealt with here, we’ll take you to the hospital to see her.”

Oceane lifted her head to stare up at him. “P-promise?”

“I promise.” He set her away from him gently, grasping her shoulders. “Now tell us what happened.”

It took a few tries for her to get it out. Mal listened in shock as she described the scene she’d arrived to, ending with her finding and shooting her former bodyguard in the house. His brain hummed as he tried to put the pieces together. WITSEC was the best protection program in the country for a reason. There was no way anyone should have been able to locate the women, let alone within hours of moving them here. And to be able to get the jump on so many highly trained federal agents and kill or wound them all? What the hell?

He glanced over at the sagging back door as forensics techs emerged from the house. It would take a while for them to sort out all the evidence. He hoped they would be able to ID the other attackers and get a lead from them or the bodyguard. They needed a damn break in this case if they were going to crack it open.

Two FBI agents came to take Oceane in for questioning. She balked, protested again about needing to see her mother.

Lockhart intervened. “I’ll go with you,” he told her. “And I’ll take you to her as soon as possible, okay?”

She looked up at him with swollen blue-gray eyes, and nodded. “Thank you.”

The special agent in charge of the investigation came through the open back gate, spotted them and headed their way. His eyes fastened on Oceane, who’d gone still. He stopped in front of her, his expression sympathetic, and Mal knew what was coming.

Ah, shit…Even with all he’d seen and all his training, it was always hard to watch someone he knew suffer.

“Miss Nieto, I’m so sorry to tell you—”

“No!” she cried, her face paling even more, eyes dilating with shock. “No, she can’t be gone!”

“I’m so sorry, she passed on the way to the hospital,” the SAIC continued.

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