“I needed to see you for myself. No one had any answers.”

She stared up at him, those eyes of hers burning through him. Did she even have a clue what hell he was feeling right then? He’d never been so scared in his life as when he’d heard that one of the CCU had just been hit and it had been Team Four out there. “There are no guarantees. We both know that.”

“Hell, I know that. But I need to say it.” There was a damned hole in her arm, and he hadn’t been able to stop it. He’d only been two damned blocks away when it had happened.

How was he ever supposed to do anything about it? He hadn’t felt so damned useless in a long time. Cam had broken the news, after getting a call from Kyra. All anyone had known was Team Four. He’d seen the same panic he’d been feeling mirrored in Leina’s eyes. “You scared me today.”

“Scared me, too.”

“I could kick Chalmers’s damned ass for this.” Ezra knew exactly what the shooter was thinking. Knew the guy had most likely studied them all and focused on the weakest link. The easiest target.

And the one target most likely to piss off the rest of the agents out there today.

Her.

The asshole had winged her for a reason. He knew damned good and well the shooter could have taken her, Chalmers, Stephenson, Knight—any of them—out within seconds.

No one would have been able to stop him.

The shooter had hurt Shannon for a reason.

The sniper could have killed her with a head shot. Ezra knew far too well how that would have looked. He’d never forget what he’d done in the course of his duties, first with the army and then with the FBI. He’d remember every single face that had been in his sights, whether he took the shot or not. Forever.

There was a professional element in the targeting that had happened today. It wasn’t just some wannabe. Whoever had pulled that trigger had known exactly what he had been doing.

He pulled her closer. She wrapped her uninjured arm around his waist and pressed against him. He held her as long as she let him. Then she pulled back. “You’d better go. I’m sure Agent Brockman will be looking for you soon. And...thanks. We can...talk later.”

Ezra fought the urge to just say to hell with it all and scoop her up. Carry her out of the hospital to someplace he could defend. Like warriors of old when their women were threatened. She made him feel exactly like that. Shannon had always brought out the most primitive side of him. Ezra had long admitted that to himself before.

Surround her with everything he could, just to keep her safe, while PAVAD did the rest of it.

“You have a ride home?”

She hesitated, then nodded. Technically, she was still on the clock—they both were. But he’d square it up with his supervisor later. “Ken’s waiting. I’m not supposed to drive.”

“IA interviewed you yet?” It would be standard procedure to get her initial statement, as well as every other agent out there today.

“Yes. Phone. We’ll do more formal statements tomorrow.”

Kyra, no doubt. She’d no doubt gone all little green-eyed guard dog over Shannon immediately.

“You’re not leaving this building without me. You got me?” There was no real reason to suspect she was still a target. Ezra suspected she had been a target of opportunity.

He’d seen it before. There would be more victims. It was just a matter of time.

Hours, at the most. The St. Louis field office had pulled the sniper case, but now...now it was PAVAD’s.

“How did you hear? Leina?”

He shook his head. “Cam. I skipped out on paperwork to come over here.”

“You didn’t have to. Ken’s with me. But I appreciate it.”

He cupped her cheek. Shannon had the softest skin of any woman he had ever touched. The dozen lopsided freckles were right there. He fought the urge to kiss every one of them. “I was worried. I can’t get you out of my head. It might take me a while, especially if you keep doing things to get my attention.”

“You’re such a snarkass, Hahn.”

“What’s the expression? ‘Takes one to know one’? Come on, we’ll check in with Chalmers. Then I’ll get you home. Buy you Chinese and fortune cookies.”

He’d never felt this gentle tenderness for a woman before. Not his sister; not his teammates. Not his former lovers. Just her.

Ezra was starting to get the feeling that it would always be just her.