Targeted (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 2) (4 page)

Seeing Evers and Rachel together was yet another smack upside the head that said he’d better make a move and find out where he stood with Celida. Soon.

At movement in his peripheral vision he turned to see his direct boss, Agent Matt DeLuca, former member and now commanding officer of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team striding toward them from the detention facility, his thinning brown hair covered by a Chargers ball cap. A former FORECON Marine, he kept in good shape and his bright green gaze was laser sharp. “You hear anything new?” Tuck asked him when he was close enough.

“Nothing yet. You find out about Celida yet?”

He nodded. The guys all knew he and Celida had been partners fresh out of the Academy and worked together for the two years he’d been required to serve before applying to the HRT. A couple of them even knew he was hung up on her. Namely Evers and Bauer.

“Evers spoke to Travers, who said she’s okay.” She had to be shaken up after this incident though. Dammit, this was her first day back on the job after nearly being killed in the line of duty two months ago.

“Good,” DeLuca grunted, staring past Tuck’s shoulder. His jaw flexed. “Fuckers blew up my new ride.”

Tuck darted a glance from him to the smoking wreckage behind him and back. “Seriously?”

DeLuca nodded. “Just picked her up two days ago, too. Brand new, had a custom paint job and tow package on there and everything.” He shook his head as he gazed at the charred remains of his truck.

It was impossible to tell what the true target was yet, but both Celida’s and DeLuca’s vehicles appeared to be near the epicenter of the blast. “Were you in on the interrogation?”

“No, I was upstairs filling out more damn paperwork about the arrest warrants for the two assholes who got Celida when the bomb went off.” He looked at the others standing around, all members of his hand-picked team. “So one of you’s gonna have to give me a lift home sometime tonight.”

“No problem,” Evers replied before Tuck could. “We still on standby?”

“For the time being. Don’t think whoever did this has the balls to try more right now, but you never know.” He turned to address the rest of the group and clapped his hands once. “All right, nothin’ to see here. Everybody back to work.”

Bauer looked at Tuck, vivid blue eyes studying him. “I’m heading to base. You heading in, or…?” He raised his dark eyebrows.

Due to their rotating shifts, this was supposed to be a day off for them both, though it didn’t surprise him that Bauer was reporting in after this. They might get called out to go hunt the bastards responsible for the bombing.

Tuck shook his head. “I need to see her.” He’d put it off far too long already, and he’d almost lost her yet again less than an hour ago. Two scares like that in such a short time span were more than enough to make him take action.

“’Kay. I’ll get a ride home with one of the guys later if I don’t see you.”

If they didn’t get called in for a mission before that, Bauer meant, since their team was part of the HRT unit currently on the four month long ops cycle. Another unit was on training cycle and the third unit was on support cycle. “Thanks.”

Bauer slapped him on the shoulder once. “Tell her I said hey.”

“Will do.”

“Yeah, give us a shout if you need anything,” Evers added before leading DeLuca to his truck.

When his teammates were gone, Tuck stared at the mess before him and took a moment to reflect on his life. The past few months had been tough, but they’d also forced him to take a long, hard look at himself and re-evaluate what his priorities should be.

Due to the nature of his job, his work, his team, had to come first. He’d known that from the outset and made that choice when he’d applied for the team and he’d gone into this knowing full well what kinds of sacrifices would be required of him. As a result, family had to come a close second, something that was especially hard now because his relentless schedule meant he didn’t get to spend a lot of time with his dad. With each passing day he was increasingly aware that time was running out.

And Celida… Shit, he just needed to see her and make sure she really was okay. Because he was willing to bet she wasn’t, and would rather die than admit it, even to him. Maybe especially to him.

His FBI ID got him through the layers of security posted around the facility and allowed him to gain entrance into the building. An agent posted near the elevators told him where Travers was, and since they’d followed protocol by locking down the elevators, Tuck took the stairs up to the fifth floor. The hallway was swarming with people rushing back and forth carrying files and evidence kits.

He pushed his way through the stream of bodies to the office he’d been told to go to and his heart leapt in reaction when he caught sight of Celida there, her dark head bent as she spoke to Travers and two other men. Her back was to him but he didn’t see any bandages on her and she seemed to be alert enough. Thank God.

Travers saw him through the window and Celida turned her head and met his gaze. Tuck saw the flash of surprise and relief that crossed her face when she saw him, but then she offered him a tight smile and dismissed him by turning back to her conversation.

Finally able to take a full breath now that he’d seen for himself that she was okay, Tuck waited outside the room and leaned against the wall. It took over forty-five minutes for her to come out with Travers. Tuck nodded at the other agent in acknowledgement, then focused exclusively on Celida.

She wore a snug pencil skirt that hugged the rounded curves of her hips and a no-nonsense white top that stretched across the generous swell of her breasts. A two inch long pink scar marred her right cheek where one of the bullets had grazed her back in April.

Her lightly bronzed skin seemed unnaturally pale and the shadows beneath her eyes looked like bruises, but that could have been due to the fluorescent lights overhead. He ran his gaze over her as she approached, noting the scrapes and cuts on her arms, hands and bare knees where she must have fallen during the blast.

She and Travers both halted in front of him but he had eyes only for Celida. And now he could tell it wasn’t the unforgiving lighting that made her look so stressed. He could clearly see that she was exhausted. She’d just been cleared to return to duty after healing up from the attack, and now this. It pissed him off. She’d had more than her share of shit to deal with already.

“You okay?” he asked, wanting to hear it from her.

“I’m fine,” she answered, tucking a stray lock of her dark hair behind her ear in a rare gesture he knew meant she was either nervous or uncomfortable. Shit, he hated to think he made her feel either of those things. “What are you doing here?”

“Evers called me to tell me what happened and said you were here when the bomb went off. You didn’t answer my calls so I came down to make sure you were all right.”

Her expression softened. “Oh.”

Yeah,
oh
, he thought, still holding her gaze.

In those first moments after Evers had informed him about the bombing, he’d flashed right back to when she’d been attacked at the hotel, when he’d seen her lying so pale and still on the stretcher, all bruised and bloody and defenseless. All those things had hit him hard, but it was the last part that had been the toughest to take. She was such a fireball, so fierce and beautiful and strong, seeing her that way had sliced him up inside.

God, he wanted to touch her right now. But he knew if he tried it she’d probably go all stiff or pull away, especially since Travers was standing right there.
Go away, Travers.

“She’s gonna need a lift home,” the other agent said, as though reading his mind. “I’ve gotta stay and work on this, probably right through the night. Can you take her?”

“I can stay for a few hours. And don’t talk about me like I’m not even standing here,” she said, shooting a glare at Travers.

“You’re done for the day,” he said, glaring right back at her. “And there’s a reason I didn’t ask for your opinion just now.”

Tuck shifted his gaze to Travers, a little surprised that the man was giving him the perfect excuse to seize the opportunity he wanted most. Time alone with her. “Yeah, it’s no problem. What about her security situation?” If there was any hint that she was a target, he wouldn’t take her anywhere without a security detail to back him up.

“Nothing’s come in so far about motive or intent, and since she only decided to come down here with me at the last second, I’m confident that she wasn’t the intended target.”

“And
she
is standing right here and more than capable of answering that herself,” Celida pointed out, a warning edge to her tone.

Tuck hid a smile as he turned his attention back to her. God, she was sexy when she got fired up like that. “I know it, sunshine. Sorry.”

The endearment just slipped out, but it did the trick because her eyes turned soft for a moment before she caught herself. “Can you drive me to the Baltimore office first then? I have some paperwork there I want to go over at home.”

“Sure.” Any excuse to spend time alone with her right now, he was taking.

They said goodbye to Travers and Tuck automatically took her by the upper arm to steer her through the crowded hallway. He knew the gesture was possessive and yeah, territorial, but he didn’t give a shit. He just needed to touch her.

He kept his grip gentle, mindful of her scrapes and bruises, and was thankful that she didn’t try to pull out of his hold. She was so dead set on not needing anyone for anything, and while he liked that independence to a point—because a clingy or needy woman would drive him freaking bananas—sometimes he just wanted her to drop her guard down around him and let him in.

He took them out the back exit rather than the front, so she wouldn’t have to see the carnage all over again. Once was more than enough. “I’m over there,” he said, nodding at where he’d parked beyond the security perimeter.

“Thanks for this.” She still hadn’t pulled her arm free. Taking that as a good sign, he released it and put his hand on her lower back instead. She shot a sideways look at him through her lashes but didn’t say anything.

“It’s no problem.” And Christ, this whole too-polite and awkward thing between them had to stop. For two years they’d worked together, trusting each other with their lives. That bond was still there, but faded now. Even still, he’d trust Celida to have his back in any situation. “Helluva first day back, huh?”

She snorted. “Yeah. Never knew this job would be so exciting.”

He glanced down at her face as they neared his truck. “Did you hit your head when you fell?”

“A little, but the EMTs said I’m fine. No concussion this time.”

Yeah, but even a moderate bump was cause for concern because of the cumulative effects of post-concussion syndrome. “I’ve got some ibuprofen in the truck.”

“I won’t say no to that.”

Good. God knew the woman had rarely let him or anyone take care of her even that much during the time he’d known her. He opened the door and boosted her into the front passenger seat, unable to keep from staring at the way her pencil skirt hugged the round curves of her ass and inched up her bronzed thighs to reveal those gorgeous, toned calves. She had the kind of curves that made his palms itch with the need to stroke them.

In his fantasies she’d melt and purr under his touch. The reality was she was just as likely to deck him for trying.

After climbing behind the wheel he reached over to fish the bottle of pain killers out of the glove compartment. He and the guys he worked with were pretty much always working injured to some extent, and some over the counter meds helped make the aches and pains a little more bearable so he always kept them on hand. He handed her three tablets along with a bottle of water he always kept in the cupholder, and started the engine.

“I see you still love your country music,” she said in a wry tone as the stereo came on.

One side of his mouth quirked. “Yep. You don’t love it yet?”

“Nope. Still a rock or pop kinda gal.”

“Well, nobody’s perfect.”

Her lips curved in response as she stared straight ahead out the windshield.

As he steered them out of the parking lot, he saw her looking at the wreckage behind them in the side mirror. “So, Zoe’s coming in tonight?” he asked.

Celida faced forward once more, staring through the windshield a moment before looking over at him. “Yeah, at five. I’m supposed to pick her up. She told me you guys have some sort of plans tomorrow night?”

“Just dinner. You can come too, if you want.” He’d like that, spending time with both of them in a relaxed setting, getting to see Celida smile and laugh a bit.

She looked back out the windshield. “Maybe.”

Wasn’t a flat out no, so that gave him hope that she wasn’t averse to spending more time with him. “How long’s she in town for this time? She never said.”

“Until Sunday.” She shot him another glance. “It’s not a problem for you that she stays with me while she’s here, is it?”

“No, ‘course not. I like knowing that you guys are still tight after all this time.” They’d hit it off right away the very first time Tuck had introduced them, a couple months after he and Celida had been partnered together.

“She’s awesome.”

“Yes, she is.” A little unorthodox, maybe, but that was one of the things he loved most about his cousin. Zoe was definitely unique.

“Don’t know what I’d do without her. She was amazing when I first came home from the hospital. She dropped everything, literally, even took two weeks off work to take care of me.”

“And I bet you hated every second of her fussing over you, too,” Tuck said dryly.

A half-smile stretched her lips. “Well, I didn’t hate
all
of it. Probably a good thing she left when she did, otherwise I could’ve gotten way too used to it.”

That surprised him. “Really?” He glanced over at her, wishing again that he’d told his cousin to take her earlier advice and shove it where the sun don’t shine, and insist on taking care of Celida himself after she was discharged from the hospital. Ever practical and the living embodiment of a steel magnolia, Zoe had pointed out how fucking dumb that plan was because of how thin he was spread already.