Chapter One #3
The bald man with a linebacker build glanced over his shoulder at Dani and ran toward the front of the house.
As she sprinted after him, Dani called behind her. “Assailant on east side of the house, headed toward front. I’m in pursuit!”
“That’s not the target. Stay in position!” Macy’s voice sounded far away, barely registering as Dani’s boots pounded the landscape rock.
“He can’t get away!” A deep bass crackled in Dani’s ear. Spurred her on.
Oh, he wouldn’t. Not on her watch! The guy had to have a hundred pounds on her, but he was fast.
Just not fast enough.
He didn’t have a weapon in hand. She couldn’t justify shooting him. She’d have to take him down the hard way.
Dani holstered her weapon, launched herself at his knees, wrapping her arms around both legs and holding tight. They hit the ground with a thud. The man yelled and kicked. She caught a foot to her sternum and lost all breath.
But she didn’t let go.
“Get her off me!” he yelled.
He threw a wild punch that only glanced off her helmet. His next punch caught her in the chin, but she kept her vise-like grip. With all he did to exploit innocent children, he wasn’t going to get away. That and she still couldn’t breathe after that blow to her chest.
Glass crashed somewhere above and rained down on Dani and her captive. A black jean-clad leg appeared in the window right above Dani’s head. Before she knew it, a man hit the ground and stood over her and her captive. Norman Prince.
She had the wrong guy! But she couldn’t move, her arms still locked around Not Norman Prince’s legs. Her paralyzed lungs refused to work.
“Thanks for clearing the way.” With a rude smirk, Prince glanced at her before dashing toward the front of the house.
He was getting away! Since she still couldn’t breathe enough to speak, she let her arms go limp and rolled over on the grass.
Macy sprinted over, eyes frantic. “You okay, Kim? What happened?” She grabbed the man in the flashy tracksuit, who attempted to scramble away as soon as Dani loosened her grip. He was no match for Macy, who quickly pushed him against the side of the house and held his hands behind his back.
Finally, Dani’s lungs inflated, and she sucked in a quick breath. “Prince. Got away.” She pointed to where she’d last seen him.
Macy ignored the curses and shouts from the man in her custody and called into the comms that the suspect was last seen moving to the front of the house from the east side. “He’s got a vehicle out front. Don’t let him get away!”
“No need to worry. I’ve got him right here. Northeast corner.” Clarkson’s raspy voice came through the channel loud and clear.
Because of course he would be the one to capitalize on Dani’s mistake.
She closed her eyes and groaned. With the adrenaline quickly leaving her body, the pain in her center mass grew.
But seeing the grim expression on Macy’s face hurt even worse. The special agent held a hand out and helped Dani up to her feet as soon as one of the other agents had the man in gold in hand.
“Why didn’t you follow my order?” she asked Dani.
“I reacted. I thought I heard someone else say—”
“It doesn’t matter what anyone else says, Kim, when I’m your superior and I told you to stay. Prince always sends someone to clear the way.”
Macy’s clear disappointment added to the deep ache pulsing in Dani’s chest.
She nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Obviously, becoming a federal agent had not cured her habit of creating messes. Undercover agents were supposed to be cool under pressure. Sophisticated. Precise. Not bumbling fools who went after the wrong guy and got the snot kicked out of them.
Dani fought the tears stinging her eyes as she followed Macy and the others. She wouldn’t give Clarkson the satisfaction.
Back in the field office, with Prince on his way to prison, Clarkson relished the congratulations floating around the long conference table as they waited for the debriefing.
Too bad Dani couldn’t crawl under said table and hide.
She tried to smile and ignore the pain as Reese gave them a play-by-play.
“You should’ve seen Clarkson’s tackle. He sailed through the air like Ray Lewis, I’m telling ya. It was beautiful.”
Clarkson didn’t hold back a cocky grin while the others slapped him on the back and congratulated him on his first takedown. His ego was probably inflating at an exponential rate.
“All right, let’s settle down.” Special Agent in Charge Francine Bettler walked into the room with a small stack of envelopes.
She stood at the front of the table in her navy-blue power suit like a proud matriarch who didn’t want things getting out of hand but secretly enjoyed the banter going around.
“Before we go over the op, I’d like to call the three rookies that have been following you around, learning the ropes.
Their training, areas of expertise, and their work here have all been under careful evaluation, and they will now receive their first assignments. Why don’t you come up here with me.”
Dani fought to keep a fake smile in place as she followed Clarkson and Reese to the front of the room and stood facing the table. The SAC handed an envelope to each of them. “We wish you the best on your next endeavor. Go ahead and see your permanent assignment.”
This was it.
Clarkson ripped into his and let out a whoop. “New York City, baby!”
They were sending Clarkson to NYC?
Reese was more methodical. He carefully pulled out his letter.
“Well? Where ya heading?” Clarkson asked him.
“San Diego.” Reese’s expression brightened considerably. He’d been hoping for the West Coast. He turned to Dani. “How about you, Kim?”
If they’d already figured the assignments out before her massive failure today, maybe there was still a chance. NYC might not be big enough for both her and Clarkson, but she’d make it work. Or maybe Miami…
She tore open her envelope and read the letter, her ability to breathe once more failing her.
“Well? Where are you going?” Clarkson asked.
She looked up from the words in black. The whole room stared at her.
Surely it was a mistake. A joke?
A rather cruel one, at that.
Not that she didn’t deserve it after her big fail…but still.
She waited. No one jumped up or started laughing.
“Do we get to keep you here in Baltimore?” Macy asked from across the table.
“What’s your assignment, Kim?” Reese nudged her.
“Renegade, Colorado.” She couldn’t even try to infuse any enthusiasm into her voice.
Not when they were sending her home.