Page 42 of Declan's Hope

"Intel has him recovered—though not fully," Jennings continued. "But enough he feels well enough to travel."

"And to kill me?"

Solace took hold of his forearm and dug her fingers in. "That’s not happening."

"He’ll die first," came Cal’s reply.

"Over my cold, dead, and buried body," Garrett murmured.

"No one’s dying," the colonel said low, lifting a hand and cutting it through the air as his gaze whipped over them, then to Trussell. "No one except Salazar if he thinks he’s coming after one of mine." Then he raised a brow at Trussell’s derisive snort. "You have a problem with that?"

"You’re not killing Salazar. He’s on American soil and we have jurisdiction."

Solace gave a derisive snort of her own as Cal’s growling words of, "Just watch us," came with a grunt of agreement from Garrett.

Trussell’s haughty expression didn’t set well with Declan as the older man smirked. "We have questions for him. And we’ll do what we have to in order to accomplish that." And there it was. The real and only reason Trussell gave a rat’s ass about any of this.

The DEA wanted Salazar in custody. And it seemed at any cost.

Jennings’s body tensed, his muscles straining the seams of his suit jacket. "We…" Jennings shot a glance at Trussell, before turning to Declan. "Well, I don’t think he’s going to come after you directly," He held Declan’s stare. "You took someone he loved from him, and I suspect he’s going to reciprocate."

Trussell shook his head.

"Hope," he whispered. But how would he know about her? He couldn’t. It had to be his family. "You bastard," Declan yelled, charging Trussell and grabbing him up by his suit lapels. Then he dragged him within an inch of his own body, his burning stare holding the other man’s startled one. "How long have you been sitting on this? Huh?" Then he shoved him away and threw a helpless glance at the colonel. "We’ve got to—"

"Garrett!"

"Destiny?" Garrett tensed, then rushed from the room, nearly knocking Chance down on his way out, with Declan close on his heels and the rest of those in the room right behind him.

"Where is everyone?" Destiny cried out just as he and Garrett rounded the corner from the hallway into the reception area. Then Garrett sprinted over to a panting, tear-stained faced, barefoot, wild-eyed Destiny with a phone in her hand. "Someone has her," she sobbed, stumbling into Garrett’s arms. His friend picked her up and cradled her against his chest as she pressed the phone to his ear.

Declan didn’t need to ask who someone was or who they had.

"Salazar has Hope," Declan murmured.

"What’s happened?" the colonel pressed as everyone gathered around Destiny and an intently listening Garrett, whose brows drew down and jaw clenched the longer he listened. His cheeks flushed red as his hardening eyes met Declan’s over Destiny’s head. His eyes then flicked to the colonel before going to Trussell and back.

Jennings’s features tightened before his glare went to Trussell. "I told you we should have let them know days ago—had teams ready at possible target locations."

"We had teams where we needed them." A statement that obviously took the younger man aback if his expression and menacing, "What?" was anything to go by.

Then Trussell shook his head. "Our intel—"

"Your intel is fucking late," Declan yelled as he hauled back his fist and lunged forward. But hands from several people—he wasn’t even sure which ones at that point—held him back. He strained against those hands and arms around his waist as Trussell stumbled away. "If anything happens to her, you’d better keep someone watching your back."

Trussell glared at him, then at Jennings. "Are you just going to stand there?"

Jennings’s angry stare went to the team, then his boss. "No," he finally said, stepping completely away from Trussell. "I’m not going to stand there," he said, a cursory nod of his head indicating a place beside his boss as he joined ranks with the Elite Squad. "Not anymore. I’m standing here."

"You’re finished with the DEA. Hand over your—"

"Chance," the colonel interrupted, "see Agent Trussell out the back."

Trussell sputtered as Chance took hold of his arm. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"Nothing you will be involved in." The colonel turned his back on the man as Chance escorted him out of the room.

"Put it on speaker," Declan growled, though how he could say anything was a miracle.

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