Chapter 3
Grant rounded the hood of the car and slipped into the driver’s seat.
He pulled out onto the road in front of the hospital and weaved his way through the streets, heading northeast out of Waco toward Shadow Valley.
Once he cleared the congestion of traffic, he shot a glance toward Avery.
“How was the sting operation in Florida?”
Avery’s brow furrowed. “Stressful.”
“I heard they captured all the main players in the syndicate.”
Avery nodded. “For the most part.”
“How was it coming back to the real world?” he asked softly.
She shrugged. “Strange. It’s like I’m still that person, but I’m not. I don’t always answer when people call me Avery.” She snorted softly. “When they asked me my name at the hospital, I told them Sofia Delgado.”
He didn’t tell her he knew that based on the call from the nurse. “Two years as Sofia leaves a mark. You had to become her to convince them of your authenticity.” He stole a glance at her again. “How was the takedown?” he asked softly.
She didn’t answer right away.
Grant thought she might not have heard him and was willing to let the question go. She didn’t have to tell him anything about the culmination of two years undercover. It was enough that she’d lived through it.
“It was intense,” she finally said. “A full-fledged battle scene like what I imagine you endured as a Navy SEAL.”
He reached across the console and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She didn’t pull away from his touch. Instead, she curled her fingers around his and stared down at their joined hands. “Do you still have nightmares about your missions as a Navy SEAL?”
His fingers tightened around hers. “I do. Not as often, and usually when I’m stressed. Although sometimes it happens out of the blue. It’s called PTSD. Have you talked with a therapist? Did the bureau offer to set you up with someone?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I haven’t told them about the nightmares. I said I was fine and ready to go on to my next assignment.” She huffed a breath, and her lips twisted. “I thought they sent me to San Antonio as an easier assignment.”
Grant shook his head. “And the first thing they send you to investigate is a serial killer case?”
“The San Antonio office doesn’t know how deeply undercover I was on my previous gig.”
“Or the toll it took,” Grant added. “You might want to clue them in. Between a head injury and the stress of maintaining your cover for long with an exceedingly dangerous syndicate, it might not be a good time for you to take on a serial killer.”
She sat up straighter and stared at the road ahead.
“I’m fine. Really,” she said, as if trying to convince herself.
“My vision isn’t blurry, and my memory is returning.
I feel almost physically normal, except for some bruising and a bit of a headache.
I can do this. I just need to get there.
And like you said, the nightmares will eventually fade. ”
Grant shook his head but held his tongue. Avery was an excellent agent. She had nothing to prove to anyone else. But she pushed her limits as if she had to prove something to herself over and over. It was as if she had to right all the wrongs to make up for not being there for her mother.
Grant had been with her when she’d gotten the news that her mother had been murdered in her home in Kansas City.
He’d flown with her from Virginia to Missouri to stand with her at the funeral and work through the nightmare of disposing of her mother’s home and belongings.
As her mother’s only child, the responsibility had fallen on her alone since her father had died of a massive heart attack when she had been a teen.
She and her mother had been tight, best friends.
Upon returning to Virginia, Avery had thrown herself into her work, always taking the tough cases and putting herself at risk to bring criminals to justice.
Grant had hated the toll it took on her mentally and physically. When she’d volunteered to go undercover, he’d hated that nothing he’d said would change her mind. He’d tried and now had a divorce decree to show for the effort.
“I heard you went back to Montana when you left the bureau,” Avery said, turning the conversation back in his direction.
“I did.” He glanced her way. “How did you find out?”
She shrugged. “I had my contacts, even while I was deep undercover.”
He’d had his too and had asked for updates regularly.
“I thought you liked working for the FBI,” she said.
“I did.” Until they’d split.
“Then why did you leave?”
He wasn’t going to tell her it was because he hadn’t been able to go back to the place he’d met and fallen in love with her. “I missed the mountains and wide-open spaces.”
“You missed home.” She nodded. “You never liked the traffic and overabundance of humanity in Virginia.”
“And there never seemed to be an end to bad guys. We’d put one away, and ten more took their place.”
“Yet you’re still fighting bad guys with the Brotherhood Protectors, aren’t you?”
His lips curled on the corners. Again, she knew things about him.
It gave him hope that she hadn’t totally forgotten what they’d had together.
“It’s different.” He tilted his head to the side, thinking about his words.
“Most of the time we’re protecting people against the bad guys, before they can take innocents’ lives or livelihoods, not always cleaning up the aftermath. ”
“You and the founder served together in the Navy, didn’t you?”
“We did.” Grant smiled. “He took me under his wing when I joined the team fresh out of BUD/S training. Saved my life on a mission.”
“And you returned the favor,” Avery said.
He shot a glance her way. “How do you know about that? It was a top-secret mission.”
Her lips curved. “I have my sources.”
His heart warmed. She hadn’t totally stopped thinking about him.
He sure as hell hadn’t stopped thinking about her.
“I’m glad you found work you’re passionate about,” she said softly, “in a place that brings you joy.”
He’d reconnected with other men who’d served on special ops missions—and being back in his home state of Montana had been a bonus. Yes, it felt good, but there was always something missing to dull the passion, as she would’ve put it.
Not something, but someone.
His chest tightened. When the nurse had called, he hadn’t hesitated. Losing Avery had been the blow that had put a gaping hole in his passion for everything.
Hearing she’d been in an accident had set his heart in a tailspin.
For the two years she’d been undercover, he’d tensed every time his phone had rung from his contact back at the bureau.
He’d expected each time to receive word that Avery’s ruse had been discovered.
That the syndicate had dealt with her betrayal as they dealt with anyone who turned against the organization.
He’d died a thousand deaths between identifying the number and answering the call.
When he’d heard they’d blown the lid off the syndicate and Avery had made it out alive, he’d gone out on horseback on Hank’s ranch and cried.
Getting a call from a random nurse from Waco, Texas, with news his wife had been in an accident, had sent him back to that horrible place he’d been for two years.
He’d almost cried when he’d found Avery sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed.
The GPS brought them into the small town of Shadow Valley a few minutes before noon.
Grant drove straight to the county sheriff’s department and pulled into the parking lot.
A man with his teenage son held the entrance door open for a woman as she came out before they entered.
The woman wore a black baseball cap, a black leather bomber jacket and dark jeans.
She smiled at the man and his son as she stepped past them and turned to the right, heading for the far end of the parking lot.
A long black ponytail poked through the back of the hat, bouncing slightly with her assertive strides. She slid into a dark SUV.
Grant frowned. There was something familiar about the woman, but he hadn’t gotten a clear enough look at her face to put his finger on it.
The SUV left the parking lot, heading east.
Grant shook his head and turned toward Avery.
She was already halfway out of the car by the time Grant opened his door. He hurriedly got out and joined her at the front of the vehicle.
“What’s your plan?” he asked as they strode toward the entrance.
“I need to find my counterpart, Melissa Bradley, and the sheriff, and get caught up on the case.”
Grant opened the door and held it for her.
Avery charged in, ready to go to work despite having been out cold for three days.
She walked up to the front desk and asked, “Is the sheriff in?”
“He’s right where you left him. You can catch him before he breaks for lunch.”
“And Agent Melissa Bradley?”
The deputy behind the counter frowned. “Again, still here, like they were just a minute ago.”
A door opened in a hallway behind the desk, and a tall woman with auburn hair, wearing black trousers and a black polo shirt similar to Avery’s, emerged. She turned to say something to the man following her out.
When she turned and spotted Avery, she frowned. “Did you forget something, Agent Hart?”
Avery frowned. “No,” she replied. “I just—”
“Actually,” the woman said, “I’m glad you came back. Sheriff Taylor and I are on the way for a bite to eat. I meant to ask if you want us to pick up something for you and bring it back here for when you’re done at the Medical Examiner’s office?”
Grant frowned and almost said something, but Avery shot him a quick glance and spoke first.
“No, thank you,” she said. “I’ll grab something later.”
“Okay, then. Hopefully, the M.E. has something helpful for us.” The woman passed Avery in the hallway and kept going.
The man behind her nodded at Avery. “Thanks for taking the lead on this. We need a break in this case before he strikes again.”
Avery nodded without responding, a frown creasing her forehead.