Page 18 of All Twisted Up
I watched him turn away, sling an arm over his friend’s shoulder, and head for their car. I glanced back at Candy.
“You’re going to follow up with him later today, Hampstead, and Imeantoday. Are we clear?”
I frowned. “Why me?”
The captain thinned his lips, thinking only a few seconds before answering. “Because the two of you obviously hit it offsooowell.” When I opened my mouth to protest, I got a glare.
I swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
At the sound of boots, I spotted Patsy and the much taller Napoleon Smith coming over. There was a dark stain on Patsy’s vest, and it took me a few seconds to realize it had to be blood. The two men shook Candy’s hand when he held it out to them.
“That was good work, Patsy,” the captain said, patting him on the shoulder.
“Sure, it’s no bother. ’Twas all in a day’s work, Captain.”
Napoleon clapped Patsy on the shoulder. “You should have seen Irish, boss. It was pure poetry. You would have been proud. Gomez stepped through the back door holding a TEC-9, dragging the kid along with him and before he even saw us, Patsy had the KA-BAR buried in his throat. He didn’t get a shot off. Patsy had the kid out of his grip and her eyes covered before Gomez even hit the pavement.”
Candy nodded. “Like I said, good work, Patsy. And the little girl?”
“Back in her lovin’ mammy’s arms, sir.” A blush stained my friend’s face.
My boss smiled that time. “Well done.”
Alain Joy walked over. He narrowed his eyes the moment he spotted the shiny projectile still in Mickey’s vest. “Take it off,” he said, quietly holding out a large evidence bag so Mickey could drop the bullet, vest and all, inside. Once he’d done it, Joy patted him on the cheek and smiled at him. “Come on over to the rig and have a seat. I want to check you over.”
Mickey nodded then looked back at me. I watched him following the SAS soldier to the ambulance before eyeing the police barricade being moved to allow SACs Bradley and Bannister through. Reporters were shouting questions at them both, and I wasn’t surprised they were going unanswered as the two bosses approached.
“Where’s Carson Turley?” Hope Bannister demanded.
“Taking care of Gomez’ ID at the rear of the building, ma’am,” Candy replied. The boss’ expression was open and honest, but I could see pain behind his eyes. “You know he lost a man inside, ma’am.”
She glanced toward the building before looking back. “Agent Sibley, yes. What the hell happened?”
“As best we can tell, Agent Sibley fell in the stairwell. Our team killed Gomez when he popped out through a back door in the rear alley.”
“Yes, I know that!” she snapped. “SAC Bradley and I were listening. Our subject was able to take a small child hostage in the building next door after killing one of my team only after one ofyourteam allowed him to escape through a side door.”
“That is a vast oversimplification of what happened, ma’am,” Candy replied defensively, crossing meaty arms over his chest.
“Oh?”
“SAC Bannister, all of this will come out in the briefing,” Bradley said. “There shouldn’t be any finger pointing going on here.”
“Well, I lost an agent, Bradley.”
“And I nearly lost a best friend when Turley called for the breach without letting us know beforehand like he promised!” I shot back.
She turned to me, narrowing her eyes as I pointed to Mickey sitting on the bumper of the ambulance. His shirt was off and the blackening bruise forming on his sternum was blatantly evident. She looked back at me.
“Well, we’ll get to the bottom of this mess,” she said dismissively.
“Yes, ma’am,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “We will.”
“Like I said, all of this will come out in the briefing,” Bradley said, frowning at me before addressing Candy. “You did well, Captain Sorensen.” They shook hands.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I want all reports on my desk by five this evening. Briefing tomorrow morning, bright and early. See you all back at the office.”
