Chapter 12 Shots Fired! #3
Her smile touched her eyes. “You look hot yourself, Mr. Muscles.”
“Got your weapon?”
“Always. You?”
“Absolutely.”
Side by side, they headed toward the kitchen. As they turned the corner, the smell of salmon and baked chicken wafted in their direction.
Greystone and Caroline were standing in the kitchen smiling at each other.
“Too cute,” Sydney said.
“Slash is out of surgery,” Caroline said. “She’s sleeping off the anesthesia. Carrera’s with her, so we made extra.”
“I’ll bring him a plate,” Teddy said.
“He said he’s not hungry,” Greystone said. “But he wants to thank Sydney.”
Teddy and Sydney headed to the surgery wing where they found Carrera sitting by Slash’s bedside, staring at his wife.
After the cousins hugged it out, Carrera hugged Sydney.
“Thank you,” Carrera said. “That sounds so lame, but it’s all I can do right now. When I heard Slash had been shot—” He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
“I get it,” Sydney replied “How’s she doing?”
Relief filled Carrera’s face. “Surgeon said she did great. The bullet in her shoulder was lower than expected. It did some damage, but nothing that won’t get better over time. Her shin was grazed, so not as bad. I’m grateful you stopped him before he killed everyone.”
Sydney offered to bring him something to eat.
“I can’t eat,” Carrera said.
“Let us know when she wakes.” Teddy squeezed his cousin’s shoulder. “She’ll get through this.”
He and Sydney returned to the kitchen.
While they ate, Teddy said, “I’m going to the restaurant tonight.”
“It’s not safe,” Greystone pushed back.
“Non mi tiro indietro, fratello,” Teddy said. “Cosa dici sempre?”
“Combatti il fuoco con il fuoco.”
“Se non lo faccio, verremo tutti uccisi.” A growl shot out of Teddy and he pushed out of his chair.
“Are you getting any of this?” Caroline asked Sydney.
“I think Tank said he’s not backing down,” Sydney said.
“Very good,” Teddy replied. “Greystone has a saying—”
“Fight fire with fire,” Caroline added.
“That must be combatti il fuoco con il fuoco,” Sydney said.
Teddy nodded. “Good job.”
A hint of a smile brightened her eyes.
“Tank said something about getting killed,” Sydney said.
“I said, ‘If I don’t do this, we’ll all get killed,’” Teddy clarified.
“I’m going to the restaurant because Sin’s meeting some guy who sells high-powered rifles on the black market,” Teddy reminded them.
“I need a break in the case. Something—anything—beyond our getting ambushed every damn time we leave here. It’s only a matter of time before they find this place and figure out a way to get in…
or blow it up. Don’t forget, they’re explosives experts. ”
“Ohgod,” Caroline murmured. “He’s right.”
Silence while the group digested his bitter words.
“When I get back, I’m uploading the pics of the dead terrorist,” Teddy said.
“I’m coming with you,” Sydney volunteered.
All eyes on her.
“You were told to stand down,” Greystone said. “A direct order.”
Caroline chuckled. “Yeah, so when does my sister ever do what she’s told?”
“I hope never,” Teddy replied. “Did you see the rules and regs on Tucker’s wall? It states, ‘NO FIREARMS IN TUCKER TOWN DURING PAINTBALL DRILLS.’ If Sydney hadn’t been armed—”
“I can’t stay here like a prisoner,” Sydney said. “I get the risks of leaving, but we don’t have confirmation that King A, or anyone else in his organization, has eyes on me. I’m never gonna stop hunting him. He’s an apex predator.”
“Sydney’s with me,” Teddy said, his mind made up.
“We’ll weapon-up and watch each other’s backs,” Sydney said.
After Teddy cleared away their dinner dishes, Sydney started washing them.
Teddy didn’t like that Sydney was disobeying a direct order and leaving the Black Site, but her reasoning made sense. She was a woman of action. Being forced to hide wasn’t Sydney.
The more he learned about her, the more he liked. His gut told him they had the beginnings of something special, something real, and something long-lasting.
Carrera entered the kitchen. “Slash is awake if anyone wants to see her.”
“You two go,” Teddy said. “Sydney and I will swing by after we’re done.”
Once Greystone and Caroline left, Teddy and Sydney cleaned up the dinner dishes.
They worked in a comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to talk.
But he was keenly aware she was there, and he stole several glances in her direction.
While her beauty shone through, the determination in her eyes held his attention.
“Are you afraid?” he asked, breaking the silence.
Sydney added a soap pod, started up the dishwasher. Then, she leaned against her backside against the counter and studied his face.
There was something so incredibly hot about her checking him out. Only, this time, he could see her thinking. While her gaze drilled into his, he stood there, appreciating so many things about her.
She was different. She wasn’t attached to her phone. She never took any selfies—for obvious reasons—and she was the most understated badass he’d ever met. She’d saved Slash, saved them all. Even though the event had triggered her PTSD, she wasn’t backing down.
“I’ve been afraid since I was ten,” she said.
“My life changed that day. The Sydney I used to be died when Bree did.” Then, her expression hardened, the anger taking root around her eyes.
“Back then, I was just trying to get through the night without a night terror. My sleepovers were me and Car in the family room. I never stayed at anyone’s house, never had a friend stay over.
For a kid, I became very situationally aware, although back then, I didn’t know that’s what I was doing.
We stopped going out to dinner because I’d have a panic attack for no reason.
But the single biggest event in my life was when my dad took me to the firing range and showed me how to use a gun. ”
“How old were you?”
“Eleven.”
“When did you decide you wanted to go into law enforcement?”
“I didn’t,” she replied. “They came looking for me.”
Greystone and Caroline returned to the kitchen. “Slash would love to see you guys,” Caroline said.
“We’re gonna take off,” Greystone said. “You don’t need bodyguards.”
“No, we don’t,” Sydney said. “I appreciate you both being there for me.”
Caroline stepped close to Sydney, clasped her hands. “Please, please keep me posted.”
“Of course,” Sydney replied, “but we have Location Share turned on. I’m one-hundred-percent confident you’ll be checking on me every ten minutes.”
“No good,” Greystone said. “If somethin’ happens and you get taken, they have the location of the Black Site.”
“Babe, we have Location Share turned on,” Caroline reminded him.
“Fuck,” Greystone bit out.
“I’m gonna put money on this one,” Teddy said. “I’d be surprised if anyone on the team didn’t have that feature turned on with their spouse.”
“Well, let’s just invite the son of a bitches over for a fuckin’ tour,” Greystone growled.
Sydney chuffed out a laugh.
Caroline rubbed his back. “We got this.”
Teddy and Sydney made their way to the recovery room. Carrera was sitting in the bedside chair holding Slash’s hand while they spoke in hushed tones.
“Knock knock,” Sydney said from the doorway.
Slash’s gaze jumped to them, and a smile filled her face. “Hey, come on in.”
They entered the room. Teddy pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed, gestured for Sydney.
“You take it.” Sydney stood at the foot, crossed her arms, and peered over at Slash. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” Slash said. “I wanted you to know I’m the team badass…”
The group laughed.
“But I’m passing that title to you,” Slash said. “You don’t follow the rules—and everyone follows them to the letter at Henninger Security, especially in Tucker Town. Not you.” She paused. “You saved my life. I was a dead woman.”
“Babe,” Carrera said.
“It’s true,” Slash said. “All of us were dead.” She flicked her gaze to Sydney. “Thank you.”
Sydney’s eyes softened, she unfolded her arms, and her shoulders relaxed. “Happy to be of service. Seriously, being there for all of you means everything to me.”
“Sydney needs to work with us,” Slash said. “For real.”
“I’ve got a mission to complete,” Sydney said. “Been chasing a predator for a while now, and I’m not stopping ’til I find him.”
“Well, I think everyone’s in agreement,” Carrera said. “King A doesn’t stand a chance against you.”
“When I send lead, I do not miss.”