Chapter Seventeen

Tess came to slowly, blinking heavy eyelids as consciousness returned. She squinted against the bright light overhead, made out the curtains surrounding her bed and the quiet beeping of a machine nearby. Bits and pieces of the time between Reid leaving and the ambulance bringing her here returned.

They’d drugged her on the way and she only vaguely remembered lying on the operating room table staring up at the bright overhead lights and breathing through the mask placed over her nose and mouth a few seconds before she’d gone under.

Angling her chin, she tugged aside the neckline of her hospital gown with her left hand. A sterile bandage covered her right shoulder, and they’d bound her arm to her chest. The pain wasn’t too bad, way less than before the surgery, more like a bad toothache that pulsed with every beat of her heart.

The slice on her face throbbed a little too and her mouth and tongue were dry. She ran it over her teeth, aware of the rawness in the back of her throat from where they’d intubated her. Damn, it was hard to believe she’d survived being shot down a few hours ago.

The curtain around her bed swept aside to reveal a middle-aged nurse in cotton candy pink scrubs. She smiled at Tess. “Agent Dubrovski. How are you feeling?”

“Tess,” she corrected. “Thirsty. And groggy.”

“I would imagine so,” she said, efficiently checking Tess’s vitals. “I can give you some ice chips, but no water just yet.”

“What time is it?”

“Just after six. A.M.,” she added.

“How did the surgery go?”

“It was perfect. Your clavicle is all pinned back together again. You’ll have a nice bump there to remind you of today for the rest of your life, but after six to eight weeks you should be almost back to normal.”

Six to eight weeks seemed like a damn long time before she could use her right arm properly again.

“Agent Prentiss is waiting to see you, if you’re up to it.”

Her heart leapt. “Reid’s here?”

The nurse’s lips twitched in a quick smile. “Been waiting out in the hallway for over an hour now. I told him I’d ask you before letting him in here.”

“Sure, he can come in.” Had they found Autumn? Nailed Ruiz? She looked around for the remote to raise the head of the bed.

The nurse helped her and handed her a glass of ice chips. “Try a couple and see how they settle before you eat too many,” she warned with the shake of a finger. “If they stay down, we’ll go from there.”

Tess didn’t argue, already crunching on the ice chips. The nurse left the room, and a minute later Reid walked in. Her chest squeezed tight at the sight of him there in his tactical uniform, tall and strong. He gave her a tired smile and strode toward her.

“How you feeling?” he asked, taking her left hand.

“Did you find her?” she blurted, unable to stand it.

His expression froze, and she caught the desolation in his eyes. For one instant, her heart seemed to stop beating, an icy wave sweeping through her. “She wasn’t there,” he said.

Tess searched his eyes, her heart beating once more, but she needed clarification. “Ever?”

He shook his head. “They don’t think so.” He glanced around to make sure no one else could overhear them before continuing. “There were adult female hostages inside. Kept in cages.”

Tess winced and shook her head. Goddamn animals all deserved to be gut shot. And they’d taken Autumn. Distress flowed through her, making her pulse pound.

Reid rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “None of them had seen a little girl.”

That was both good and bad. “And Ruiz?”

His deep blue eyes hardened into glacial chips of ice. “He was never there either.”

She frowned. “But all the intel said he…” She trailed off, since her words would just make the situation worse. Reid was dealing with too much already.

He blew out a harsh breath. “Yeah. I know.” Another tired smile, the shadows beneath his eyes dark as bruises. “But at least you’re safe and sound and on the mend now.”

She swallowed, dropped her gaze to their joined hands. “Thank you. For coming in to get me.”

“Are you kidding me, Tess?” he said, sounding offended. “You think I wouldn’t come for you at a time like that?”

She squirmed inside. “I just meant that I realize you could have stayed behind to wait for word on Autumn.” She lifted her eyes to his. “But I’m really glad you didn’t.”

He gave her a hard look. “I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant protecting you.”

Why did that make her all teary? She blinked and dropped her attention back to their joined hands.

His strong fingers stayed locked around hers. “The doc said everything went well. If everything looks good they’re discharging you today, and your boss said the agency is flying you back to D.C. with your crew soon after that.”

She looked at him. “What about you?”

“I’ll stay down here with the guys. The analysts are chasing down other leads on Autumn and Ruiz. If they were in the area, we may get another tip that pans out next time.”

“That makes sense.” She blew out a breath. “I just hate not being here with you for the rest of this.”

Reid leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I know, sweetheart. But even when you leave, you’ll still be with me here.” Raising her left hand, he unfolded her fingers and pressed her palm against the center of his chest.

And right then and there, Tess lost the last remaining pieces of her heart to him.

****

Reid stayed with Tess while they transferred her to a room on the surgical floor, and waited until she was fast asleep before leaving her around two in the afternoon. He took a cab back to the hotel where the taskforce was meeting, exhausted, his heart heavy. Would this nightmare ever end?

Maka and Khan were standing in the lobby when he walked in.

“How’s Tess?” Khan asked, his expression concerned.

“Resting. Surgery went well, and they think she’ll have normal function of her arm after she heals up.”

“That’s good news.”

He nodded. The only good news he’d had in days. “Anything new come in while I was gone?”

Maka shook his head. “Sorry, brother. Nothing.”

The frustration and adrenaline had long since drained away now, replaced by a slow sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Every hour that passed without a tip on Autumn reduced the chance that she’d be found alive. He wasn’t ready to allow himself to think that she might be dead already, but it was there at the back of his mind, held at bay only by sheer will.

Khan eyed him. “When’s the last time you ate something?”

“I dunno.” He honestly couldn’t remember, or tell anymore whether the grinding pain in his stomach was due to hunger or despair.

“Come on.” Khan grabbed his arm and towed him into a conference room off the lobby. The rest of FAST Bravo was there with the HRT guys, gathered around the table laden with sandwich platters and other snacks. One of the HRT sniper teams must have been called in to assist as well, because Colebrook was talking with his brother Brody on the far side of the room.

“Eat,” Khan commanded, giving him a little shove toward the table.

Reid grimaced. The thought of food right now wasn’t appetizing in the least but his body needed the fuel, so he reached for a turkey sandwich and started chewing, the bread and meat sticking to the roof of his mouth.

While he ate, the guys asked him about Tess, then they filled him in on more details about the op. They turned his already touchy stomach.

“How many women were there?” he asked after he forced the last bite of his second sandwich down his throat.

“Nine. All in the basement, all in cages,” Granger answered, his expression full of buried rage as he polished off an iced tea.

“Assholes treated them worse than stray dogs,” Lockhart added with a shake of his head. He was the quietest one of the whole team, so him offering the comment was testimony of just how upset he was about it. “Made me sick, to see them like that.”

Reid understood that completely. Victoria Gomez had been chained to the floor by a collar around her neck. He’d seen the marks on her. Welts from whatever they’d hit her with, and little round burn marks probably made by cigarettes. Were they doing that to Autumn too? She was only nine, but that didn’t mean shit to savage animals like Ruiz and his men. He was terrified they’d abused her, sexually as well as physically.

The sandwich congealed in his belly, threatened to come right back up again. He swallowed hard.

A sharp whistle rent the air.

Reid swung around to find Taggart standing in the conference room doorway and HRT Commander DeLuca striding to the rear of the room. “Listen up, boys,” Taggart called out.

Silence descended as all eyes swung to DeLuca in his trademark San Diego Chargers ball cap. “Just received a tip on Ruiz saying he got spooked and took off for Florida. We think one of his men alerted him during our assault. Word is he’s trying to arrange a flight out of the country. We need to find him before that happens. We’re monitoring our channels to see if we can pinpoint a certain area, but if the cartel is helping him that’s gonna make it hard for us to get a lock on him unless we get another tip or some insider help.”

“God dammit,” Reid muttered, shoving a hand through his hair. Was Autumn with Ruiz? Was she even in North Carolina? Where the hell was she?

Across from Reid, Colebrook’s phone chirped. He grabbed it, showed it to his brother, their heads together as they started talking, their expressions intent. Then Brody Colebrook pulled out his own phone, checked it, and nodded as his brother put up a hand. “Commander, could we talk to for you a sec?”

DeLuca raised his eyebrows, appearing as surprised by the interruption as everyone else. “What’s that?”

“Check your phone. I think we might have a possible solution to our problem.”

We? Who did he mean by “we”?

A charged silence followed as DeLuca checked his phone. What, had they all gotten the same message from someone?

DeLuca frowned, then his head jerked up and he locked gazes with Colebrook. After a tense second, he swung his gaze to Taggart and beckoned him forward. “Commander.”

Reid had no idea what the hell was going on, but it was annoying as hell to be left in the dark. A low buzz of conversation filled the room as the Colebrook brothers and both commanders met over in the corner.

“Any idea what they’re talking about?” Reid asked the teammates standing near him.

“Nope,” Rodriguez said. “But it must be good, and DeLuca, Brody and Easton all seem to be on the same page.”

God, this was driving Reid insane. What the hell was going on? He battled his impatience as the four men talked, and Taggart’s fascinated expression as he listened to the others made him curious as hell.

An analyst rushed into the room and went directly to speak with the two commanders. She handed DeLuca a slip of paper and rushed out again. DeLuca read it and nodded, his expression tightening.

Brody Colebrook said something to him. DeLuca took off his Chargers cap and ran his hand over his head in clear agitation before putting it back. Whatever they were discussing, he didn’t look happy about it. DeLuca said something back to Brody, who answered, and then all four men swung their attention to Reid.

Every muscle in his body tensed.

Autumn. They knew something about her.

Without even being conscious of moving, Reid was pushing his way through the wall of bodies to get to the four men in the far corner. “What?” he demanded when he got close, not giving a rat’s ass about chain of command or protocol or any other bullshit. “Is it about Autumn?”

Whatever it was, he needed to know. He aimed a hard look at his commander. Fuck this, he wasn’t going to be kept in the dark if they knew something, and didn’t want them withholding intel in an effort to spare him.

His heart clattered against his ribs as he waited for a response.

Taggart’s gaze cut to DeLuca, then focused back on Reid. “I don’t want to get your hopes up in case we’re wrong.”

The pressure around his ribs eased slightly. “Just tell me. I’m dying here.”

“We think she’s still alive.”

All the air rushed out of his lungs and he slumped forward. Easton grabbed him around the ribs, as though afraid Reid would keel over.

Over the rush of blood in his ears Reid was aware of the stark, brittle silence in the room, of all the eyes on him as everyone stared. “How do you know?” he forced out, his throat tight.

“The tip we just got says she is,” DeLuca said. “Seems like a credible source. We’re trying to find out who sent it, but whoever it was, they’re an insider.”

“What else did the source say?” He wanted proof. A location.

“No location for your daughter, but the person said they’d be in touch with more details soon, including proof of life.”

The backs of his eyes burned and he had to blink a couple times as he dragged in a ragged breath. His baby was still alive and he was going to find her. Bring her home.

Then DeLuca’s eyes shifted to Taggart.

“And?” Reid prompted. There was something more they weren’t telling him.

Taggart’s pale turquoise gaze was steady on his. “We don’t know whether it’s authentic or not, but if it is… Someone in the Veneno cartel just offered up Ruiz to a contact of ours on a silver platter.”

Reid frowned. That made no sense. Except that the cartel world was as fucked up and cutthroat as they came, so he was just glad for the tip. “What are you planning to do?”

“If we do this, we’ve got five hours at most. Not enough time to get us all down there and stage a full-scale op. So we’d have to go with a plan B that involves a single agent and a…” He glanced at the Colebrooks before continuing. “Certain source we’re thinking of bringing in. For an off-the-books stab at Ruiz,” DeLuca said.

“A private contractor?” Reid asked.

“More like a consultant,” DeLuca said, sharing another loaded look with the Colebrook brothers. Reid glanced at his teammate, Easton, who didn’t say anything. What the hell? Why weren’t they letting him in on the details?

Impatience pulsed through him. “Whatever it is, whoever it is, I want in.” They needed an agent; he was it. And he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Taggart folded his arms across his chest and stared at him. “You sure about that? You don’t even know what we’re thinking about yet.”

“Hundred percent.” If it meant getting his daughter back, he’d do fucking anything. Including giving his own life.

His commander nodded once, not seeming the least bit surprised, then turned to DeLuca, the hint of a grim smile Reid recognized all too well on his face. It meant serious shit was about to go down. The kind that resulted in captured or dead tangos.

And a recovered little girl.

“And there’s your answer, DeLuca,” Taggart said. “Make the call.”