Chapter 33
Stanley drove fast and got them to the neighborhood in record time. The road was blocked by police vehicles, so they had to stop. Bean stepped from the vehicle, his gaze on the scene before him.
The cops were talking on a bullhorn. This guy was out of control. The police weren’t going to talk him down. He was a terrorist in the purest sense of the word.
The guy was pinned in on both sides. Both MPs were still fighting, though it looked like one of them had been hit.
If he or Stanley had a gun, they would take the guy out.
He couldn’t wrangle the rifle from the cops, not here in the States, plus he didn’t know if the police actually took care of their rifles or if the shot would be crap.
“If we’d gotten here before the cops, we could have taken him down,” Stanley said.
Bean crossed his arms over his chest. “We need to get inside the house.”
“Ain’t no way, not with all this excitement going on.”
Bean shook his head. “Not one single Army geek is on vacation or taking the day off on this street. Not one.”
Stanley shook his head. “Nope, not one person.”
Bean grunted. “Those MPs need more training at the range.”
Stanley shrugged. “They’re doing okay. That jerk hasn’t made it into the house.”
“Damn, we need to do something.”
Another police car pulled up, and Bean turned to face them. The guy got out of his car and raced over to them.
“You two live here?”
Bean nodded. “Yes, I do. The guy is someone we’re after.”
The officer raised his eyebrows. “And you’re FBI or something?”
“Army.”
“Is he one of you all?”
Bean shook his head. “No, sir. He’s probably feeling hemmed in. The only way to get him out of this situation is to disable him.”
The officer nodded. “Okay. So this guy is a problem.”
“That’s an understatement,” Stanley said.
The officer shook his head. “Great, just great.”
The officer on the bullhorn spoke again. The guy fired off a shot, striking a window on Link’s house, shattering it.
Bean clenched his fists. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I,” the officer said.
This wasn’t going to end well. They needed to get Ansley and Garnet out of that house, or something really bad would happen. He could feel it.
Bean took a chance. “Let one of us take him out.”
The officer narrowed his gaze. “What makes you think you can take this guy down?”
Stanley wasn’t one to keep his talents hidden, but he wasn’t boasting when he spoke. “We’re better shots than your guys. We may not be sharpshooters, but we probably have a few hundred, if not thousands, of hours more training than they ever would get. We can take him out. We just need a weapon.”
The officer shook his head. “I could get in trouble for this.”
“For what? Ending the standoff?”
The man pinched his nose, then nodded. “I can’t have video of this getting out. If you do this, you have to be hidden.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
The officer glanced back at his vehicle. “I have a rifle in my car. It shoots a little to the left. I’ll call my guys off and go with you to a location where we won’t be seen. I’ll hand you my gun, and you take the shot. I’ll tell everyone it was me.”
“Got it,” Stanley said. His buddy turned to him, his lips thinned. “I’ll take the shot, you get ready to go in and rescue the women.”
The rest of their friends pulled up, and Bean glanced at them, then turned back to Stanley. “Deal. I’ll see you in a few.” Bean turned to the officer. “Thank you.”
The wait was excruciating. The rest of the team waited for Stanley to take the shot. Then the two officers who’d been firing at their target, pinning him in place, stopped firing.
Bean held his breath as one shot was fired. Sound bounced off the houses, and the ensuing silence was a blessing. Stanley’s aim had been true.
“He’s down!” someone yelled, and Bean blew out a breath in relief.
Garnet heard someone in the house coming their way. She put her hand on Ansley’s back, fearing that they were about to come to a horrible end.
“I hear it,” Ansley whispered.
The seconds seemed to stretch, and she swore more than a minute passed, her hand on Ansley’s back, Ansley repositioned herself so she had a better position.
Garnet felt a scream rising in her throat. Her fingers tingled, and her brain started to pound. She thought she was going to explode.
Then everything changed.
“Garnet, Ansley.”
Air burst from her lungs as relief hit.
“It’s Brady.”
Ansley lowered her gun. Her whole body sagged. Then they both heard Link’s voice.
“Link,” Ansley whispered first, then she found her voice and yelled his name.
The door opened, and Garnet flinched, but then her gaze met Brady’s, and she jumped up, flinging herself into his arms.
Tears filled her eyes, and she was lost to emotions. Everything seemed too much. It was beautiful and wonderful, and she held onto him as her life depended on it.
Bean had never felt anything this good. Having Garnet in his arms was perfection. He held onto her, burying his nose in her hair, breathing in deeply. She smelled like home.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
Garnet nodded and mumbled something, but he couldn’t make out her words. His eyes burned with tears. It had been a long time since he felt the urge to cry, but if ever there were a reason, this was it.
Garnet was safe. There was still the one guy out there, but the dude was still in Europe, and there was a flag on his passport. He wouldn’t make it over here without someone pulling him in for questioning.
“You’re safe now.”
She nodded against his neck. He glanced up and saw that Ansley was still clinging to Link. A year ago, he would have sworn he would never feel like this. He cared deeply for Garnet. Heck, this might even be what love felt like.
He leaned back and stared into her eyes. He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb, then his lips were on hers, drinking her in. Yes. This had to be what love felt like.
He heard Ansley and Link talking. They had a lot to clean up. Link’s house was blown to shit, and his buddy needed support.
The kiss ended, and he cupped her cheeks. “You’re safe now. We need to clean up.”
Garnet nodded. “Yeah. How bad is it out there?”
“Not as bad as it could be, but not great.”
Garnet hugged him tight before she stepped back. He kept his hand on her, needing the connection. The reality that he’d almost lost her hit hard.
“We need to clean up some stuff,” Bean said.
Link nodded. “It’s a mess out there. But thank goodness you two are safe.”
Ansley nodded. “I’m glad he didn’t come in here. Our hiding place was good, but not great.”
“It was Jack Pearson,” Garnet said. “At least I think it was.”
Bean nodded. “I think so. Someone still needs to identify him, but we believe it was Pearson.”
Garnet shook her head. “I can’t believe he was behind everything. I guess he must have been watching me or something. But I never talked about it. Maybe something was said, and I didn’t deny it, but I don’t know for sure. I was at work with people who had clearance. I thought I could trust him.”
“Don’t worry about that for now. We’ll deal with it later.” Bean was sure there would be no blowback on Garnet. She would have to be debriefed, but he couldn’t imagine it going bad for her. She’d survived, that was the most important thing.
They still had to get the guy in Europe, but that could wait. They would eventually take the guy into custody, and maybe then they would have a good idea how this all came about.