Chris jogged behind 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 was doing.

He’d promised Denise he was going to get Kaden and Kimber and he was damn well going to deliver.

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 polite knocking.

“FBI!” the breacher shouted before slamming the metal battering ram into the door.

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 the right.

“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 of her.

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 the bedrooms.

“I have the left.”

“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 the other.

“Clear,” he said into his throat mic.

“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 empty room.

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 wasted effort.

“Target down,” the agent said. He then moved into the other room and returned quickly, shaking his head.

Chris’s heart squeezed. Fuck. Where were the kids?

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 he was.

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 closed doors.

“Kaden. Kimber,” he said softly. “It’s Chris. I’m going to open the doors, okay? Don’t be afraid.”

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 his hand.

Chris swallowed hard. “Hey, guys. It’s okay. I’m here to take you home.”

“Where’s Aunt Denise?” Kaden asked.

“She’s waiting for you. But we need to get you out of here. Can I carry you?”

Kimber nodded and pulled Kaden’s hand away from her mouth. “I want to go home.”

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 each arm.

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 a carcass.

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’s shoulder.

For the first time in hours, Chris took a worry-free breath. His eyes stung and he dropped his head back blinking. Thanks for not being a dick, Murphy.

* * *

Denise rushed through the automatic Emergency Department sliding doors, turning sideways to squeeze through before they were wide enough for her.

“Ma’am, unless that dog is a service animal it can’t be in here.” A guard stepped in front of her, a hand outstretched.

She skidded to a stop. “What?” She looked down at Sprocket and realized she’d forgotten her vest and lead in her car.

“Shit.” She looked back at the guard. “She is. I swear.” She held out her keys. “Look, here’re my keys. Her vest is in the passenger seat.”

The guard held his hands up. “Ma’am—”

“Please. My niece and nephew were brought in.” She didn’t have time to go back for the vest. Sprocket lay down and rested her hands on her paws.

“Denise.”

She whipped around and strode to meet Chris.

He flashed his badge at the guard. “I’ll escort her back.”

The guard nodded and backed away from them.

Chris took her arm and led her through reception and a set of double doors.

“How are they?” she asked.

“They’re fine. They’re still a little nervous. Kaden bit an orderly when they tried to separate him and Kimber, so I convinced the nurses to examine them in the same room.”

“But they’re okay? Physically?”

“I promise, Denise. They’re fine.”

Relief sucker-punched her and her knees buckled. She clutched his arms and he pulled her into his embrace, tucking her head into his neck as tears poured down her face.

“I’ve got you.”

For the first time in longer than she could remember, she didn’t hold it in. Didn’t lock it down and hide it. The hurt, the pain, the fear. It flowed out of her. She couldn’t have stopped it, even if she wanted to. For once, she could not be the strong one. She needed someone to take the weight from her shoulders and she let Chris do it.

He surrounded her and held her tight. One arm wrapped tightly around her, the palm of his hand cradling the back of her head. His lips warm and firm at her temple and he repeated, “They’re okay.”

Finally, she nodded and pulled back enough to wipe her palms under her eyes.

“Does she always do that?” Chris asked.

Denise looked up at him, but he was looking down. She followed his gaze and found Sprocket wedged between their legs, lying on their feet. She hadn’t even noticed.

A small laugh escaped and she wiped under her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “Yeah. When I’m not doing okay, she sits on my feet.”

“There is one thing.” He took a deep breath. “Eddie is dead. He pulled a gun and was shot twice.”

Another wave of relief washed through her and she dropped her forehead to his chest. That respite was followed quickly by shame at being glad for the death of another person, no matter how horrible they were, and sorrow for Kaden and Kimber. They’d lost both their parents. Not that Eddie was ever much of a parent, but her heart still broke for them.

She snapped her head up. “Did you…?”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t me.”

It shouldn’t matter. For fuck’s sake, she’d tortured a guy for information, but she was glad Chris hadn’t been the one to kill Eddie.

“What about your situation?” he asked.

“I called in a favor from an old Army buddy.”

“Will you tell me?” His crystal blue eyes gazed into hers with worry.

“Not today.”

“Okay.” He kissed her forehead. “You ready to see them?”

She nodded.

Chris threaded his fingers through hers and led her a few more doors down the hall to a room with another guard in front.

“Why is there a guard in front of their room?”

“Just to keep non-essential people out, that’s all.”

Sliding the glass door open, then the curtains, he revealed Kaden and Kimber curled up asleep on the hospital bed.

She let go of Chris’s hand and hugged them, pressing kisses to their cheeks and foreheads.

Kimber’s eyes fluttered open. “Aunt Denny!” She popped up to her knees and threw herself at Denise, curling her arms and legs around her.

Denise stumbled back a step and felt Chris’s hand on her lower back. Catching her balance, she braced her arms under Kimber’s butt and turned, sitting on the edge of the bed. Kaden wrapped his arms around her neck. She untangled one arm and hugged him closer.

Looking between their heads, she mouthed, “Thank you,” to Chris.

“When can we go home?” Kimber asked.

“Soon. As soon as I talk to the doctor.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with us,” Kaden said.

She brushed his hair back from his face. “I know, but they want to be careful. It won’t be long.” She looked at Chris for confirmation.

He nodded, then pulled his phone out of his pocket. Holding up a finger, he stepped out of the room, putting the phone to his ear.

Kaden’s arms had a strangle hold on her and he mumbled something into her shoulder.

“What, buddy?”

“I’m sorry.” His small shoulders shook.

“Hey. What are you sorry for?”

“Weshouldn’thavegonewithhimbutheknewourcodeword.”

She tried to lean away to hear him better. “What?”

It came out in a rush of words again and it took a moment for it to click. Eddie had known what their code word was. That was how he’d gotten them out of the school so easily. Why the secretary said she hadn’t sensed any problem when the police had questioned her.

There was no undoing the past, but she’d be damned if he blamed himself for what happened.

“Kaden, look at me.” She shrugged her shoulder to get him to pick up his head.

He lifted tear-swollen eyes to hers.

“This is not your fault.”

“But I knew something wasn’t right. Even though he knew our word. I didn’t think about it until later that you didn’t know what our word was so no one should have known what it was.”

“I want you to listen to me very carefully. This is not your fault. If it hadn’t happened today, it would have happened some other day and maybe someone would have gotten hurt.” She flinched a little on the inside because someone had been hurt, but not because of anything Kaden had done. “You kept you and your sister safe. That is what’s important. Okay?”

He nodded, but she didn’t think he believed her. The guilt was going to stay with him for a long time, but she’d help him understand that there was no second-guessing the past. She pulled his head down and kissed his temple.

“What is your code word?”

“Pipsqueak,” he said.

She squeezed her eyes closed as the tears started again. That had been her nickname for Sarah for as long as she could remember. She’d hated it.

“How could he know?” Kaden asked.

At one time, Sarah had loved Eddie. She’d been excited to start a family and probably talked about all kinds of things with the man she thought was going to be their father. Including how to keep them safe from people like him. She couldn’t even begin to explain all that to them.

“I don’t know. Maybe your mom told him that I called her that when we were little and he guessed.”

“I want to go home,” Kimber said.

“I know, baby.” Denise kissed her forehead. “I want to go home, too. Soon, okay?”

She laid her head down on Denise’s shoulder. “Okay.”

Denise felt the rise and fall of her back under her hand and squeezed her eyes closed, quietly blowing out a breath. Kaden rested against her shoulder and she dropped her head on top of his.

Chris opened the door and beckoned for her to come out.

“Let me talk to Chris real quick and then I’ll find the doctor so we can leave, okay?”

“Okay,” Kaden said.

She patted Kimber’s back and helped her slide off her lap onto the bed. Stepping from the room, she pulled the door closed behind her. “Is everything okay?”

He looked down at his phone, then at her through his lashes. “I need to go.”

“Okay,” she said.

“I’ll try to be in touch.”

Wait. He—What? Her stomach flipped. He was leaving, leaving. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She wanted to ask him to stay. To choose her over his job, but she couldn’t. It was important to him, so she did what she did best. She sucked it up, locked it down, and pretended to be strong.

She opened her eyes. “Okay.”

He stared at her, opened his mouth and closed it again, then said, “Okay.” He turned and walked away.

She took a bracing breath before going back into the room. A hand on her arm spun her around and he grasped her face and kissed her. His tongue delved deep as he pulled her close. She went up on her toes and inhaled sharply through her nose. She wanted it to go on forever and it ended too soon.

He released her and stared at her for several heartbeats. “I love you.” Then he left.

She gaped after his retreating back. Turning in a half-circle, she looked at the guard trying his best not to smile or look directly at her. She threw up her hands. “What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”