Page 57 of Declan's Hope

He swallowed hard. Not because he was about to lie to his niece, but with worry about her reaction when he admitted the truth to her. "I did."

Silence met his answer. Seconds later, a light kiss landed on his cheek followed by a whispered, "Thank you," before Kara buried her head in his neck and softly sobbed.

He closed his eyes and held her close, rubbing over her back. Soon, Declan found Mercy’s arms wrapping around him and Kara in a tight embrace. No words passed between them. They had no need for them as far as Declan was concerned.

His family was safe, and so was the woman he loved.

Nothing else mattered.

* * *

"Tom, tonight, thanks to Homeland Security, a busload of kindergarten students and their teacher, along with an assistant district attorney and her daughter, are safe. Janice Dupont will have more coming up next on the dramatic rescue from earlier today."

"Dramatic is right, Wendy. Following Janice’s report, we’ll hear from—."

Declan reached over and turned off the radio.

"Homeland Security, my ass." Bastards loved the spotlight. And they’d basked in it for the past six-plus hours. But he’d let them take the credit. He threw his truck into park and knocked his head back against the headrest of his seat.

Circus had ended up being a mild word for what had gone down once the Director of Homeland Security had announced to the world they’d defused the situation with Salazar. Reporters, local law enforcement, parents, school officials—they’d all converged on the Sheppard house.

If this had been any other operation, matters would have been taken care of quietly, or, as Mercy had so aptly put it, swept under a covert carpet. But with the number of civilians in the mix—namely a busload of children—they’d had to get creative.

Creative.

He let out a slight chuckle over that.

What the colonel and Director of Homeland Security had come up with as a cover story had pushed the boundaries of creativity—bordering on the unbelievable—but so far they’d pulled it off.

He glanced over at the seat beside his and managed a half-grin at his passenger. It didn’t last long—fading as the faint light from his garage shone through his windshield. Lines of strain marred Hope’s pale features—even in sleep. It didn’t surprise him. Exhaustion had been pulling at her by the time they’d managed to leave the colonel’s property, and she’d passed out not long after they’d gotten on the road.

Before that, Hope had played her part in the ruse—dedicated teacher keeping the children in her care calm, while being clueless about why they’d been taken. The dedicated teacher part wasn’t a problem, it was the rest of the script she’d had to make sure she followed to a tee.

The script?

It was one full of half-truths that kept the team from being taken into custody for taking matters into their own hands. Leaving dead bodies lying around was usually frowned upon by law enforcement.

So, now, as far as the world knew, Salazar had taken the children to use for his advantage in foiling a Homeland Security operation—one the colonel had quietly been assisting with. They’d targeted Mercy because Salazar hadn’t appreciated how she’d managed to screw up his supply chain in some of her more high-profile drug-related cases. Kara had been taken as collateral.

"I’ll go along with this," Mercy had said, her jaw tensing as she’d glared at the Director of Homeland Security, before casting a quick glance at Declan. "But only for the sake of my brother."

Hope had had her own issues with what was expected of her, but just wasn’t as confrontational about it.

"I don’t like lying to them," she’d whispered to him while her troubled gaze had followed after a single mom heading toward her car holding tightly to her little girl. The mother had cried in Hope’s arms over how terrified she’d been.

"It doesn’t feel right," she’d said, wiping at her eyes just before a father and mother had pulled her aside. Hope had cast her guilt-stricken gaze toward him several times as the parents had expounded on how much they’d appreciated her diligence in protecting their child. She’d thanked them, but had quickly changed their attention to how brave their son had been.

It was the same thing over and over until the early evening as parents had arrived to secure their children. Hope had smiled, commiserated, and even wept with some of the families while keeping up the pretense—no matter how much it had gone against her moral compass.

In between, she’d had to deal with the media. But at Hope’s helpless look at him when one particular reporter’s questions began crossing the line into badgering, Declan had stepped in.

He’d stood behind the cameraman and muttered, "Turn off the camera."

The man’s irritated glance had turned toward Declan. "But—"

"Now."

The man’s eyes had widened as they’d moved up toward Declan’s head—so well over a foot higher—to the glare Declan had for him. "Uh, yes, sir," he’d said, fumbling with several buttons until the light on the camera had gone out.

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