Page 41 of Declan's Hope

Yes, she had been.

"So…" He’d been neck-deep in all kinds of shit with these people, but he found himself floundering with what to say. It wasn’t a sensation he liked—at all. He glanced past his friends to the two DEA agents. The younger of the two carried a slight grin on his face while Trussell’s deadpan expression gave nothing away. "Um," he said, eyeing Garrett. "What have I just walked into?"

Garrett grimaced, his glare going to the two men standing side by side in silence. "Our FAST buddies here," he said, indicating them with a wave of his hand, "were conducting an intelligence operation in conjunction with the US Consulate in Hermosillo when Salazar struck the Ruiz home."

"We had bad intelligence," the younger of the two men noted, stepping forward, his clean-shaven, dark brown features earnest. The guy couldn’t be too much over twenty-five, but he had to be good. The DEA’s Foreign Deployed Advisory and Support Teams—an agency working to enforce foreign drug policies, as well as targeting high-level drug traffickers—didn’t take just anybody. Then the man’s unusual topaz eyes glanced toward Trussell before resting his sincere gaze on the colonel. "Our informant wasn’t as forthcoming as we’d believed."

"Jennings, the bad intelligence came from your boss here," the colonel said through gritted teeth, before glaring at the stone-faced, gray-haired man standing to the younger man’s right, "that somehow led us into a setup. Bad intelligence that got my friend shot."

Declan couldn’t help his surprise at being called the colonel’s friend. But the rest? In those first few days in the hospital, Declan had reported to the team what the younger Salazar had revealed. He hadn’t been informed of any new developments on that front. Most likely due to the fact he’d cut them all off.

Stupid, Declan.

"It makes me wonder," the colonel continued, "how much you actually knew." He raised a brow. "Well, Agent Trussell?"

"I take exception to what you’re implying," Trussell responded, his body tensing. "Today and to what you’ve been implying for months now. And it still doesn’t deserve an answer."

"What’s he talking about?" Jennings stepped farther away from whom Declan had to assume was his superior in the department, his gaze narrowing on the older man. "Sir, your report—"

"His report is full of discrepancies," the colonel interrupted, his voice hard.

"We’ve had this discussion before on other matters, Jennings." Trussell glowered at his fellow agent. "I won’t have you questioning me. The report is accurate. Do I make myself clear?"

Jennings’s jaw clenched as the two held a stare-off lasting several seconds, before he gave a slight nod to the other man. "Yes, sir."

Jennings may have agreed, but it was a reluctant agreement from the tension radiating from the younger man. Then Declan caught the speculative gaze Colonel Sheppard gave the young DEA agent—one he’d seen from his leader before. It was the same one he’d given Declan when he’d been sizing him up years ago while putting together the Elite Squad.

"You’ve dicked around with us long enough," Cal groused, crossing his arms while his hard gaze went to Trussell.

"Agreed," Solace chimed in.

Trussell’s gaze went toward each of the members of the EPA team before finally landing on Declan. "It’s actually quite fortuitous you’re here."

"Why?" A shiver of unease crawled up Declan’s spine.

"We believe you’re about to be targeted," Jennings said, his eyes cutting toward Trussell. "It’s the reason we were supposed to be here." Declan didn’t miss the censure in the man’s tone.

And neither did Trussell as he rounded on Jennings. "Do you have something to say to me, young man?"

"Sir, with all due respect, we were sent here to warn and assist. And that’s not what we’ve been doing since we got here."

"Targeted how?" The colonel pushed his way in front of the team and faced off with Trussell whose face had gone an interesting shade of red as he glared at Jennings.

"Salazar is in the States."

Everything inside Declan froze at Trussell’s abrupt words.

"Not just in the States," Jennings provided. "But here in Virginia. And from what we understand, close."

"How?" the colonel demanded. "And why was I not informed of this sooner?"

Once again, Jennings gave his superior another telling look. All was not well with this professional relationship. "As you know, immediately after finding his son dead…" Jennings eyed Declan, but not in any kind of accusing way. "Salazar had a massive heart attack that almost killed him."

"No," Declan said, frowning. "I didn’t know."

Jennings nodded as Solace nudged him with her shoulder and whispered up at him, "You would have if you hadn’t been such an asshole and been where you were supposed to be."

He gave a grudging nod at his friend. He should have been here. In whatever capacity he could have been used.

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