“Go,” Paige said. “I’ll send you my information. If you need anything, let me know.” She tilted her head. “I missedyou."
Denise hugged Paige. “I missed you, too,” shewhispered.
Paige squeezed her eyes closed and rubbed Denise’s back. “Get out of here. We’ve gotthis.”
Chapter 25
Chris joggedbehind the three guys in front of him, his M-4 at the low ready. He’d conceded the point position, but he wasn’t about to let the team go in without him. Small team tactics might not be his bread and butter anymore, but he still knew what the hell he wasdoing.
He’d promised Denise he was going to get Kaden and Kimber and he was damn well going todeliver.
Taking up position to the right of the door, he knelt behind the other team member, ready to cover his back when they broke down the door. There would be no politeknocking.
“FBI!” the breacher shouted before slamming the metal battering ram into thedoor.
The door splintered and swung open as the agent stepped aside to allow the point man in. Chris was through the door in seconds, weapon at the ready as he swept to theright.
“On the ground! On the ground!” An agent had an older woman on her stomach in front of the couch, a bag of chips strewn on the floor in front ofher.
He ignored her shouts that they couldn’t do this. The hell they couldn’t. The adrenaline had begun to kick in and his pulse pounded in his ears, making the chatter of information difficult to hear. He fought to keep his breathing steady as he followed the point man down the short hall to thebedrooms.
“I have theleft.”
“Copy,” he said. “I have the right.” Putting his back to the wall, he opened the door with his left hand, pushing hard so it would hit the wall. He swung his weapon into the doorway and swept the room. With no one visible in the room, he approached the accordion closet doors from the side and pushed one open, then theother.
“Clear,” he said into his throatmic.
“Clear.”
Reentering the hallway, he took the lead and indicated the room on the left. He pushed the door open and repeated the clearing procedure in the emptyroom.
Two shots rang out behind him and he spun, rifle pressed to his cheek. Eddie Perry lay in the doorway. Another agent approached and kicked the gun out of his hand, before flipping him to his stomach and cuffing his hands behind his back. Chris could tell from the limpness of his body it was a wastedeffort.
“Target down,” the agent said. He then moved into the other room and returned quickly, shaking hishead.
Chris’s heart squeezed. Fuck. Where were thekids?
Think.Where would he be if he were a scared kid? Crouching down, he looked under the bed. Christ, he wouldn’t have crawled under there, no matter how scared hewas.
A small whimper came from the closet. He hung his head. The gunshots had distracted him from checking the closet. Turning his head, he looked at the closeddoors.
“Kaden. Kimber,” he said softly. “It’s Chris. I’m going to open the doors, okay? Don’t beafraid.”
He duck-walked three steps to the closet and eased the doors apart. Kaden had curled himself around Kimber to protect her as best he could and had his hand over her mouth to stifle her crying. Her tear-filled eyes looked bigger than usual over the palm of hishand.
Chris swallowed hard. “Hey, guys. It’s okay. I’m here to take youhome.”
“Where’s Aunt Denise?” Kadenasked.
“She’s waiting for you. But we need to get you out of here. Can I carryyou?”
Kimber nodded and pulled Kaden’s hand away from her mouth. “I want to gohome.”
Chris glanced over his shoulder for a blanket or sheet. They didn’t need the extra trauma of seeing Eddie’s body in the hall. He stood and pulled the knit blanket from the bed, throwing it over his shoulder. Beckoning them out of the closet, he squatted down and picked them up, one in eacharm.
Grunting, he said, “Oh my gosh, you two are heavy.” Kimber buried her face in his neck, but he wanted to be sure neither of them saw anything. “Can you pull the blanket over your heads? I want to protect you from all the lights outside. It’s going to hurt your eyes after being in the dark closet.” That was partially true. There were probably a lot of police and medical vehicles outside by now, in addition to the news vans that managed to show up like scavengers on acarcass.
Kaden pulled the blanket from his shoulder and stared at him with his all-too-knowing gaze. He had to have heard the gunfire and knew there was something Chris didn’t want them to see. He looked at his sister and pulled the blanket over their heads, resting his on Chris’sshoulder.
