Chapter 35
I doze off again, despite trying to stay awake. The next time I open my eyes, Dad's standing up, stretching. Looking at the monitor, I see it’s morning. “Sorry, I fell asleep again. I’m a terrible lookout,” I joke.
“I’m glad you’re resting. It will be a long day when we get out of here.
How about some breakfast?” Zander preps two MREs for us.
One oatmeal and the other eggs, and I choose the oatmeal.
As we’re finishing up, we hear a beep near the door.
Dad quickly pulls his gun, telling me to get down in the corner with mine ready.
Once I’m situated, he enters a code from our side and slowly cracks the door open with his gun raised, his body blocking me from harm.
After a few seconds, his arm with the gun lowers, and he opens the door wider.
Words are exchanged, but my ears are ringing too hard to listen.
Dad looks over his shoulder at me and nods. I get up, flick the safety back on, and set the gun down on the desk. Peeking around him, I see Troy and another man in the closet. Troy’s left shoulder is wrapped in a sling, and I can see blood on him. “Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m good, Summer. Glad to see you’re in one piece,” he smiles, but you can see pain in his eyes and tiredness etching his features. I notice Dad still has his gun in his hand, so something isn’t right yet.
“What’s next?” I ask.
“Waiting for Eddie to confirm all the bad guys are gone or locked up so you can leave the room.”
“All accounted for, Z,” he responds with a nod.
“Let’s gather up our things and get out of here then.” Zander puts his gun in its holster and pulls the door almost closed, encouraging me to stay behind him.
I step back further into the room as he grabs the laptop, handing it to me and stuffs some zip ties in his back pocket, before picking up my gun in his left hand, holding it behind his back.
Swinging the door open all the way, he gestures for Eddie and Troy to walk out ahead of us from the closet, keeping me behind him.
This is not good. Who are they worried about?
Eddie? Troy didn’t stop us from leaving, and he entered the code.
I follow behind them, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my body, making me more alert.
As I’m about to step out of the closet, Dad pushes me backwards and raises my gun, pointing it to the right.
Not knowing what’s happening, I flatten myself against the wall. Please let everyone be okay.
“That’s far enough,” Zander says. “Hands up where I can see them.”
Zander tosses Troy his phone, telling him to call his cell. I hear ringing coming from where I assume Eddie is. Seconds later, the gun goes off, and I hear a grunt and a thump. Oh damn.
Zander steps fully out of the closet, arms still raised as I remain still against the wall. I can see Troy coming closer to me, brows furrowed. His own gun pointing to the right. Fortunately, his injury is to his left shoulder, so he still has use of his dominant arm.
There’s some rustling and swearing happening. A few thumps later, Zander’s face enters the doorway with a grim smile. “Come out, darling. It should be safe now, but stay very close, okay?”
“Sure. So, he’s a bad guy?”
“Yes. He had Troy’s phone.”
Peeking out of the closet, I see Eddie sitting on the floor, hands behind his back, with a bleeding thigh. That must be where Dad shot him. He’s scowling at us but is silent. Troy is still standing guard with his gun raised, pointed at Eddie.
Dad grabs Eddie and hauls him up by his arm, and Eddie swears, probably from his gunshot wound. Pushing him in front and holding onto him with his left hand, Dad pulls his gun out again to have at the ready. “Stay between Troy and me until I say otherwise.”
Nodding, I walk behind Dad, in front of Troy, as Dad leads the man out of the bedroom. Troy still has his gun in hand, raised as well. We walk slowly down the hall and head out the front door to a mass of vehicles and people.
Troy steps up and grabs Eddie. “I’ve got him, Z.” He whistles, waving someone over with an FBI baseball cap.
Zander steps back, pushing me behind him, gun at the ready by his side.
Troy and baseball cap exchange words, then the FBI agent checks the pocket of Eddie, pulling out Troy’s phone.
He ushers two more FBI people over, and they escort Eddie away.
He then turns his attention to us. “Special Agent Kinsley. I assume you are Zander and Summer?” He asks, offering his hand for Dad to shake.
“We are,” Dad replies, not taking his hand. “What assurance do I have that there are no other crooked agents here and that my daughter is safe?”
“Except for the man you shot, Eddie, I chose everyone who is left. Troy tipped me off that his phone was missing, and he suspected that agent of taking it. He was also being too helpful, as Troy put it. I sent all the other agents away. There are local police officers here helping with cleanup that I can’t vouch for, though. ”
“Sean’s here,” Troy tells us.
Nodding, Dad looks around. “Summer stays with me, no exceptions.”
“Agreed,” Agent Kinsley replies. “We need your statements, and then you can get some rest. We’re using the local police station until we sweep the FBI office in Columbia. If you’ll follow me, I’ll have you three ride with me.”
Zander pulls me into his side as Troy comes up opposite, and we walk towards the vehicles. Dad and Troy both still have their guns out and eyes scanning. I can feel my body trembling, and I'm unsure if it's adrenaline or nerves.
Kinsley leads us to a black SUV, asking us to get in.
After Dad looks around, he nods to me. I open the door and climb in as Dad walks around the back to get in on the other side.
As I’m closing my door, it’s pulled out of my grip, leaving me off balance.
I fall forward as familiar tattooed arms I haven’t seen in so long stop me.
My body seems to register who they belong to before my brain catches up, and I’m leaping forward into his arms. “Grumpy,” I cry, squeezing the life out of him.
“Shortie,” comes a grunt and rumble, as Nick buries his face in my neck, pulling me completely out of the vehicle.
My legs automatically wrap around his waist as we cling to each other, wetness trickling down my cheeks. Nick is here! He’s real and in my arms. I can’t believe it!
He loosens his grip, pulling back slightly, and kisses my hair. A huge smile takes over my face as I lean back to see him, but my smile quickly dies away when I see his black eye. “Nick?” I question.
“Glad you’re safe. Talk later,” he says before lowering me to the ground.
In the time we were hugging, Dad and Troy have come over, so I reluctantly step back so they can greet him. Kinsley is also standing near the driver’s door watching. Once Troy lets Nick out of his bear hug, he turns to the FBI agent.
“This is Nick Bouras,” Troy introduces. “The one who got you the evidence.”
Nick shakes hands with Kinsley quickly before stepping back beside me. “I’ve got 2 people with me you need to meet. Cash and Amy. He gathered evidence for me, but his sister has PTSD. No men allowed near her.”
“I can make that happen,” Kinsley agrees, questions in his eyes, but thankfully he seems to realize now isn’t the time to ask. “Agent Martin can accompany them to the station.”
“They’re with Sean. She can ride with him,” Nick replies, no room for argument.
Kinsley arranges for agent Martin to go with Sean as Nick hops in the back with Dad and me, and we’re quickly off. I wrap my arm through his, threading our fingers together. From a nightmare to a dream in one day. The guys and Gabby are gonna to be so damn excited he’s home.
There’s crime scene tape near the end of the driveway, but no crowds. One cop car is ahead of us with its lights flashing, but no siren. I’m guessing Sean. I lean my head on Nick’s shoulder, exhaustion warring with adrenaline.
The police station is loud and crowded when we arrive, between the local police and the FBI sharing space. Sean meets us near the back door with a female FBI agent, a man, and a girl. This must be Cash and Amy. He leads us through the crowd with Nick, Troy, and Dad surrounding me.
We are separated into two rooms, with Cash and Amy moved to their own room. Kinsley gives us a minute to call our lawyer before Nick is sent to a separate room to be questioned along with Troy. I protest our being separated, but Troy assures me it’s standard procedure and he won’t leave Nick alone.
While we wait for Mr. Macleod, Zander asks questions. “What is your role in this mess?” He asks.
Kinsley takes a seat opposite us with a weary sigh, running his hand down over his face.
“I was brought in two months ago, with my team, to investigate corruption in Tennessee. This,” he waves his hand around, “was unexpected. I knew another team was sent to Columbia to investigate corruption, so when I received the intel last night, I decided to take this on myself. I wasn’t far enough along to trust anyone else in the office. ”
“Where is the Columbia investigation team?”
“Some of them were at your residence earlier, but I sent them away along with everyone else. They landed in Columbia a few weeks ago. Not enough time to accomplish much. Since this is an ongoing investigation separate from this case, I can’t disclose information, but, as you figured out with Eddie, there are issues here too. ”
“Was everyone captured who broke into our home tonight?”
“We have 5 in custody, including Mr. Fitzgerald, the boss of the drug, weapons, and trafficking trade in Tennessee. It was a very lucky capture, considering he is rarely seen in public,” Kinsley replies, looking curiously between Zander and me, suspicion clouding his eyes as he taps his finger on the table in front of him.