CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
It all happened too fast.
With one hand, she grabbed the chair she was seated on earlier and slammed it against his face, making him fall sideways on his knees on the ground.
I pounded on the door with my fist, shouting her name, as I watched her lose the control she held onto for too long.
She kneed Keyes’s nose, and he was thrown on his back, blood oozing from his face.
Edward and Edna were appalled. The two nameless agents were paralyzed. Mr. Dawson was freaking out, as Aaron, Ben, and Danny slapped the one-way mirror, yelling at her to stop.
Mia straddled Keyes’s torso, placing one knee over each of his hands, and started punching his face.
Shane and I threw our shoulders over and over against the door until we broke the hinges. I stormed inside as Mia held Keyes’s throat with one hand, constricting his airway, and jabbed his face with the other.
“You don’t talk about my brother.” Punch. “You don’t get to think about his name.” Punch.
I ran to them, circled my arm around her waist, and pulled her away from Keyes. She struggled against my hold, still kicking his ribs as I dragged her back—with herculean strength as if I was trying to control a bull. In a way, I was.
“Let me go! I’m not done!”
I hugged her tighter and stepped back until I was leaning against the wall. Shane stepped in front of us, looking at me for instructions, but I was just as lost. All I knew was that I needed to comfort her.
Mr. Dawson ran inside, calling for medical help for the fucking devil.
Keyes wheezed on the floor. “He would’ve died anyway…the decision was made…”
She fought again to free herself from my hold, and I had to tighten my arms around her.
Shane’s eyes rounded as he mumbled, “Damn, she’s strong.”
My brother stepped closer, his arms halfway up, as if ready to intervene at any moment. He nodded at me, reassuring me he’d help us get out of the room, so we marched beyond the waiting room.
One of the agents went after medical help, and one of the doctors who was tending to the victims ran our way to check on Keyes. I knew it wasn’t legal, but I wouldn’t care if the woman just let him die.
Mr. Dawson stormed out of the interrogation room and marched to us fuming. I hugged her tighter on instinct and was beyond grateful when my brother put himself between us and the jerk.
He stared at Mia as if he was seeing his car being totaled. “That’s absolutely…I’m completely…I’m speechless! First of all, why on earth did you assault an unsub with a chair?”
Mia struggled again, and this time I let her go. “Because the table was too heavy.”
“Have you any idea of the trouble you could’ve brought?”
She rounded her eyes and whispered conspiratorially as if they were two friends gossiping, “I know! Can you imagine how bad it would be if he revealed the names of the people behind this whole charade? Just to think of his pointing fingers and being held accountable for his many crimes is preposterous.”
He rubbed his hand over his mouth and breathed heavily as he stared at her.
Her shoulders dropped as her adrenaline seemed to wear off. She rubbed her forehead with her right hand, and for the first time, I noticed her small and delicate knuckles were swollen and bloodied. Mia closed her eyes in despair. “I need to sit down. If you want to arrest me, I’ll be in the next room.”
More than anything, I wanted to go after her. But as much as the guys loved her, no one would fight for her as I would against Mr. Dawson.
I gazed at Danny with pleading eyes, and he strode after her. He could comfort my girl until I could do it.
As soon as they closed the door, Mr. Dawson pointed at it. “She can’t be a part of the team anymore. I want her out.”
Aaron shook his head. “We can’t go on without her expertise.”
“She’s too volatile.”
Ben snorted. “If you think she’s volatile now, wait until she hears what you’re saying.”
“I can’t believe the stunt she pulled,” he said through gritted teeth.
Edward intervened, “Come on, Robert. We need to cool down—”
“Cool down? Cool down ? We can’t afford another mistake—”
“Are you kidding me?” I snapped. Mr. Dawson looked at me startled, while Edna seemed proud. I chose to focus on that. “What mistakes are you talking about? Rescuing the victims? Including the one who was brutalized by the cartel for years? Arresting Bryan Keyes? Putting a dent in their business every step of the way? Getting us closer than we’d ever been to dismantle the organization? The only thing we did since she arrived was move forward.”
“What happened just now…What if it happens again during an operation? She completely lost her mind today!”
“Because she’s passionate!” I stepped closer and pointed at him. “I don’t know why you’re so intent on taking her out, sir, but defending ‘she needs to leave because she cares’ isn’t going to stick.”
His nostril flared. “Careful, Cross! You’re on the verge of insubordination.”
I leaned my head to the side in contemplation. “That seems fitting. Isn’t that why she was fired? Let me make it easier: if the agency lets her go— again —then I’m out.”
He squinted at me. “I beg your pardon?”
“Either she stays or I go. And the DEA can go find another team as invested, as qualified, and as knowledgeable as this one.”
Mr. Dawson pursed his lips and breathed heavily. He placed his hands on his hips, and I could see his eyelid pulsing. He rubbed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and nodded. “The oldest victim might be in danger; we might need someone to guard her,” he mumbled grudgingly.
Shane stepped forward. “I’ll do it.” We all turned to him, but I couldn’t even say I was surprised. “I can communicate with her better than anyone here, and she isn’t as uncomfortable with my presence as anyone else’s.”
“Very well. We’ll arrange a place for you, although I believe she’ll be in the hospital for a while.” Mr. Dawson glanced back at the interrogation room and then gazed at me. “I assume you and Bryant will continue the interrogation?”
“We will, sir. Let’s just wait a few more minutes until we’re ready again and—”
“He wants to talk!” One of the agents sprinted our way with urgency. “Mr. Keyes said he wants to talk to you two again, he’s willing to give out a name.”
We all sprang into action, and I barged into the room Danny and Mia were in. They jumped in their chairs and stared at me with rounded eyes, but I was on a roll. “Keyes wants to tell us who the man is.”
Mia leaped from her seat, no questions asked, and we sprinted out of the room. That was when the power was cut with a loud thud.
I felt her presence close to me, but I couldn’t see a thing. I touched her arm to make sure she was fine. “What the hell is going on?”
“Why aren’t the generators working?” Mr. Dawson asked.
“Everybody stays close and ready,” Aaron warned, as we heard him getting his gun ready, so we did the same.
We huddled with our backs to each other, and Mia turned on the flashlight she had with her. Which didn’t help much since the room was filled with smoke from a smoke gun.
“Delilah!” Shane whispered, at the same time Aaron cursed. “Keyes!”
Mia handed her flashlight to my brother and nodded at him to go. He sped up along the corridor with Danny in his tow to check on the victims.
Mia and I pushed through the smoke, coughing the whole way, trying to find our way to the interrogation room when the automatic door that gave us access to the area closed and locked us in the waiting room.
She slammed her hand at the door. “He’s trying to escape!”
“There’s no way he could do it,” Mr. Dawson argued, but wariness was clear in his voice .
“Then why are we trapped with no access to him? There’s got to be another way in—”
Boom . A small explosion shook our room, the deafening alarm went off, and we just knew.
Bryan Keyes had managed to escape. Or someone else made sure he would.