Page 111 of Final Exit

Gannon went as white as a sheet.

“Every word, Special Agent Quinn.” The agent stared at Gannon in disgust, then motioned toward some of his men. Two of them cuffed fake Abby and hauled her out of the room, while two others cuffed Gannon.

“You’re making a mistake,” Gannon yelled. “You misunderstood. I was just agreeing with Quinn to get him not to kill me.” He struggled against the hold the agents had on him, but they easily managed him. “For God’s sake, Kendall, at least let me get my pants on.” His curses followed him outside as the agents dragged him from the room.

In his boxer shorts.

Kendall waved another agent over to take the listening device off Kade. When that was done, Bailey practically knocked the agent over in her zeal to reach Kade’s side.

“I can’t believe you partnered with the Feds to get Gannon,” she said, as she pulled the edges of his shirt together. But she gave up trying to make it stay closed without any buttons.

“I’m a Fed, too,” he reminded her. “Or, I was.”

“Yeah, well. Everyone has to have a flaw. I suppose that’s yours.”

He laughed and kissed her.

“Special Agent Quinn?” Kendall said.

He tucked Bailey against his side, before answering. “Yes?”

Kendall nodded at Bailey, and shook Kade’s hand. “Thank you for contacting me tonight and clueing me in on what was going on. I’ll need a full statement, probably several days’ worth to figure out all the details and wrap this thing up nice and tight. But, personally, I’d like to get some sleep tonight. So how about you call me up in the morning and start then?”

“You got it. Thank you, sir.”

He smiled. “It’s good to see you again. Sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”

“No problem, sir.”

Kendall gestured toward a nearby agent. “Has that call come through yet?”

“Just did, sir.” The agent handed the phone to Kendall, who handed it to Kade.

“You might want to step into the kitchen to take that,” Kendall advised. “You’ll want to be able to hear everything without all this noise out here.” He waved toward the increasingly chaotic scene as the agents began searching every drawer, every cabinet in Gannon’s office and the main room. Some of them were even heading up the stairs.

Kade took the cell phone and stepped back out of the way, pulling Bailey with him. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to let her go again. It had practically killed him when she was in danger during the fight with the mercenaries. And then, seeing her standing in the doorway earlier, worried she might get hurt, that had nearly killed him all over again. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, and then held the phone up to his ear.

“This is Special Agent Quinn.”

When the caller announced who they were, Kade straightened and stared at Bailey. “Yes, Mr.President. It’s an honor to speak to you.”

Bailey’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

It was a short call, and very much to the point. “Thank you, sir. Understood.” He stepped into the other room and returned the phone to Kendall.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” Kade said.

“Just doing my job. I didn’t see any cars out front when I got here. I take it you both took cabs?”

They nodded.

“I figured. I took the liberty of ordering a car brought around for you. I’ll send someone over to pick it back up after you call me tomorrow.” Kendall handed Kade his card. “Let me know if you need anything else, anything at all.”

He held Bailey’s gun out to her as if he were handing her her purse. “Ma’am.”

“Um, thanks.” She shoved it into the holster at her waist.

He handed Kade his pistol, too, then gave them both a jaunty salute before joining some of the other agents in Gannon’s office, which seemed to be the main focus of the search.

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