The phone was silent as Brenden watched his team flank the neighborhood. They had their weapons in their hands. He stepped back from Stephen and put his finger over his lips and then pointed back to the SUV. For once Stephen listened to his silent command to be quiet and stay put. Once Stephen was secured in the SUV, Brenden slowly followed behind his team members.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Paige. Any man would want you.” He was trying to keep her occupied, he could see that his team was closing in on the house she was in.
“I don’t want any man, I want you!” she yelled just as he heard someone yell, “FBI!”
He heard a gasp and the sounds of guns going off that echoed loudly throughout the neighborhood. Brenden reacted quickly and ran towards the house. Everything was a blur, Brenden didn’t know what to think or what he would see. But he had one mission in his mind and that was finding his son. He burst through the front door stopping short and gasped seeing Paige was lying on the floor bleeding and Baker standing over her.
“She shot first,” he mumbled.
Brenden nodded then looked at Baker who was as pale as a ghost. He took Baker’s gun from his hands and handed it to the nearest agent standing beside them. He looked down and saw the gun still in her hand. He kicked it to the side then he bent down and checked for a pulse, there wasn’t one.
“She’s dead,” Brenden said, stating the obvious. But he couldn’t believe it himself. That wasn’t the outcome he was hoping for.
Hearing noise behind him, Brenden looked behind him and saw Jaxson standing at the door. He shook his head telling his partner she was dead. He heard an anguished cry from one of the other rooms down the hall where the sound came from. When he got there, Stephen had Nicholas in his arms holding him and kissing his face. He wasn’t going to ask when Stephen got there he was just happy to see his son, alive, whole, and unarmed. Both Stephen and Nicholas were crying, and Brenden let out the ragged breath he’d been holding since he’d heard the gunshots going off. There didn’t seem to be any visible bruises, but Brenden still wanted the paramedics to look Nicholas over.
“Papa!”
Nicholas called out for him, and instantly Brenden was at their side. Ignoring the movements that were going on around them, but they didn’t care; all that mattered was that he had his family.
“You came,” Nicholas whispered. “I told her you would come for me.”
Brenden kissed him on the forehead as tears ran down his cheeks. “I will always come for you,” he told his son.
And that was the truth. Brenden looked at Stephen who had tears running down his cheeks as he whispered to Nicholas. He opened his eyes and Stephen’s eyes connected with his. Stephen mouthed “thank you,” but Brenden didn’t feel as if he did anything. He nodded and leaned over and kissed Stephen on his lips. Stephen rested his head on Brenden’s chest. No words were spoken between them. There was nothing that needed to be said.
** ** ** ** **
