Seeking (PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense, #15) Read online

  And she was FBI.

  It was time she relied on her training—not her fear. Shannon forced herself to pull in a deep breath and to think.

  She and Ezra could do this—together. They’d survived a far worse situation together before. “Chas, I-I-I can’t breathe.”

  “It’s ok, honey. It’ll all be over in a moment.”

  Her stomach turned when the man holding her spoke. The lust and possession in his tone sickened her.

  Disgusting little weasel.

  Shannon pulled in a deep breath. Something was going to have to happen soon. They couldn’t stay here in this stalemate forever. Life just didn’t work that way.

  ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-SIX

  SHANNON SHIVERED. EZRA saw the tremor go right through her, but he didn’t shift his gaze toward her more than it already was. He knew Chas was just waiting for the instant his attention shifted to make his move. “What do you really want, Chas? I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to put it all together. Why Geoff and Nils?”

  “Why not Geoff and Nils?” Chas smirked at him, the expression designed to burn right through him. Chas had changed since Afghanistan. He’d put on a few pounds. His eyes were duller. But he still looked beyond forgettable. Invisible. No doubt people looked right by him on the streets. “After I’m finished with you, I’m on to the rest. Do you know what I lost that day?”

  “Yes. I do.” Ezra hadn’t forgotten Amelia’s eyes. He’d been too damned far away to stop what had happened to her. If he had been a hundred yards closer, he might have been able to hit the man responsible for killing her before she was hit. Maybe. He’d run the scenario over and over in his head so many times over the last six years since it had happened. The logical, rational part of his brain told him that there hadn’t been much anyone could do to change the situation as it had fallen.

  “Amelia was pregnant.”

  Ezra nodded. “I know. With Hollace’s baby. He told me.”

  “Mine. The baby was mine.”

  “I didn’t realize the two of you were that involved.” No one had given any indication that Chas and Amelia had ever been involved. No sign. Not that it mattered; the woman was dead. Any answers were now lost. “I’m sorry. I tried to get there in time that day.”

  “You think I don’t know that? It’s the only reason I haven’t shot you yet. But you told us to be there. Hollace said...”

  “Hollace lied. He was the one giving the orders that day, not me.” Because Schneider had told Hollace to take the west. “Schneider ordered Hollace to the west, and Leghari and I to the east. We heard the warning calls and tried our best to get there in time. But we were too late.”

  “No. Hollace was in the east. He told me he was.”

  “Hollace was in the west, Chas.” Shannon remained still; Ezra didn’t dare look at her. “Let Shannon go, Chas. You and I can figure this out between the two of us. We can talk. Really talk about what happened over there. I know I want to. I haven’t ever put it behind me. I wish I had been closer to her that day. But I wasn’t. And before I was, I took a bullet to the gut, remember? I did my best. Shannon has nothing to do with it. And she’s never hurt you or anyone else. Although she did kick me in the shin once.”

  “You deserved it.” Shannon said softly. He didn’t dare look at her again. Not with that rifle pressed against her neck.

  “No doubt I did.” He stared at Chas. “Let Shannon walk out of here, Chas. It’s the right thing to do. She has never hurt you. She never hurt Amelia. The only thing she did was be unlucky enough to know me.”

  “That’s not true.” Shannon said huskily. “I’ll never regret it, Ez. Never. You changed my mind. It’s that whole vulnerability thing Cam’s always talking about.”

  He got exactly what she was saying. “Just let her go, Chas. Just let her go now.”

  “Someone has to pay for Amelia.”

  “I think Geoff and Nils have. Jaynice still might. She has two grandchildren. How is she responsible for what happened to us in that hellhole? How were the others?”

  “Jaynice Miller was a job, Ez. Nothing more. Something your friends need to consider. Someone has a major grudge against all law enforcement and government in this city. Starting with PAVAD.”

  “You became the monster in those families’ nightmares. How is that right? What did they ever do to you? One of them was a kindergarten teacher. He worked with kids from the worst parts of town to make sure they had a better future. How is that right? You changed the world that day. He was just eating ice cream with his daughter. She’ll never be ok. She’ll remember it for the rest of her life.”

  “They were just examples, Ez. Victims of our own governmental training. Just like Amelia was. She wanted to make a difference in the world. To help people. Instead, she was murdered. Her blood is still on my hands. Every single time I close my eyes. If hers is already there, do you think it matters that there is more on mine now? Even Shannon’s. I shot Shannon just because I could. She looked so pretty that day. She always looks pretty, doesn’t she? Pretty, sweet, sexy. She has this thin, little T-shirt. It has Mickey Mouse on it. I love her in that shirt. I bet you do, too. Tell me, why is it right that you get her, and I have nothing? My everything is buried in Virginia. Dust by now. I have nothing. Had nothing. Until I found Shannon. You, you’ve had her. I know you did. I know she let you into her bed. Made everything perfect for the two of you. None of you bastards deserve a woman like her. Nils’s slut got what she deserved, and so did Geoff’s.”

  “Nils’s fiancée is a pediatric cancer specialist, Chas. Geoff’s is a social worker for disadvantaged kids, specializing in runaways. Neither of them is exactly the scum of the earth. Thankfully, they’ll both recover and go on to help the world. Like Amelia wanted to.”

  There was the slightest flicker of light behind Chas’s head. Just a deliberate movement of a tiny laser light that Chas would never be able to see.

  It was another prearranged signal.

  Jones, Jones, Brockman, Alessandra Lorcan and Chalmers were all in position. It was just a matter of Ezra making the call. Of getting Shannon out of the way and to the floor, where he could protect her with his own body.

  “So what exactly are you going to do about it? Are you going to kill me? Take her? What do you really see happening here?” Ezra took that first step closer.

  “I see...you losing the woman you love. Like I lost mine.” Chas’s voice broke. He was covered with sweat. His eyes were reddened, wide, the pupils dilated from his agitation.

  Yet he never looked away from Ezra.

  “I’m not going to let that happen. I will never let Shannon be hurt. Especially because of me. But...I saw the photos you took of her, Chas. I’d forgotten you were a skilled photographer. You saw her and wanted her, too. Didn’t you? The same way you wanted Amelia, even though she and Hollace had a thing first.” He was making a wild guess, but it was starting to make sense.

  Amelia Sandoval hadn’t been the type who would have been attracted to Chas Sefton. Not by any means. He knew that by experience. She’d hit on him her first week with the unit. He’d never believed that way was a smart choice—he’d turned her down and she’d moved to the next guy on the roster. Hollace. The one man on the team who’d enjoyed her particular brand of drama. The guy had been married, but that hadn’t mattered. Hollace had enjoyed letting Amelia chase him. Ezra had no doubt about that.

  It most likely had been Hollace’s baby. He highly doubted she’d ever slept with Chas. Then again, they had been in high-stakes situations nine times out of ten. Maybe she had.

  Or maybe Chas had just made more of what had between him and Amelia than what was there. The guy had done that a lot in the field. Chas just couldn’t handle what they’d had to face over there.

  Hell, Ezra could understand it to a great extent.

  Shannon was the escape from the world Ezra had wanted. Still wanted.

  Needed.

  Like he needed air.

  “Don’t hurt her, C
has. You don’t want to hurt her any more than you ever would have hurt Amelia. We both know that’s not the kind of man you are. You’re not like Geoff or Nils or Hollace; especially with women. Look at how small she is, Chas. Amelia was a good six inches taller than Shannon. Taller, stronger. She wouldn’t want you to hurt Shannon. Definitely not like this, and not because of her. That’s not the legacy Amelia would have wanted. We both know she just wanted to help people. Don’t do this. Not like this.”

  He needed Sefton to lower that damned gun away from her neck. Then he could act.

  But Sefton wasn’t a fool.

  Or he hadn’t been before.

  Instead of letting Shannon go, he tightened his hold on her. Then Chas dropped his arm around her narrow waist and pulled her closer to his body.

  Not an inch of space existed between them—Ezra didn’t doubt that, at all.

  Ezra was going to have to think this through somehow.

  He had to trust the agents out there, ready to help.

  Chalmers, Al, Carrie Lorcan, Mal Brockman, Max, and Jac. Others.

  People who weren’t just colleagues, but friends. Those who cared about him and Shannon. Who would do anything to protect her.

  He took a step closer. “Chas, you have to know I’m not going to let you hurt her.”

  “I have the gun, Ez. Or have you missed that?”

  “Hard to miss when you’re pressing it into her neck like that.”

  “Yeah, a bit hard to breathe here,” Shannon said. “Whatever is going to happen here, can we move it along? I...need to go to the ladies’ room. And I’m losing circulation in my fingers. I need them to type—and hack for the FBI, which is kind of my thing. And...you gentlemen realize that I’m here, don’t you?”

  “Babe, I know without a doubt that we aren’t alone here. And there is no way I would ever forget you—not with the Jones I have for you.”

  Her eyes narrowed when he glanced at her quickly. She blinked. “I always did like doing things by committee.”

  “Does she ever stop? From the moment she opened her eyes, she’s been snipping at me.” Chas almost looked bewildered for a moment. “I didn’t think she’d be this way.”

  Shannon had been making Ezra feel that way since the moment they’d met.

  “No. She doesn’t.” He wanted to look at her more fully but resisted.

  He couldn’t afford the distraction.

  ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVEN

  SHANNON GOT THE hint. At least one Agent Jones was out there. Ezra hadn’t come alone. But where they were, and how this was going to resolve without her—or Ezra—getting caught in the cross fire wasn’t clear to her.

  Shannon wished it was clearer to her about now.

  She had to get at least a little bit of space between her and the weasel behind her. Ezra wasn’t going to be able to talk this lunatic down.

  They both knew that.

  Ezra was just buying whichever Agent Jones was out there—and whoever else was out there—the time they needed to move in.

  No doubt there was another PAVAD sharpshooter out there, ready to take this murderer down.

  Jac could be out there, ready to do just that. Her friend was the best shot Shannon had ever seen. Maybe even better than Ezra. That could very well be what Ezra was hinting at.

  Shannon was going to be ready, no matter what.

  But that didn’t mean she couldn’t play the weasel from her side of the gameboard.

  Shannon had had enough exposure to profiling to know how to read a man’s cues. Chas thought she was some fragile flower, needing a big, strong man—she inwardly snorted—to protect her.

  Well, she’d just give him that—in spades.

  “Ezra, I... No matter what happens... I... You tell my mother and brothers and my dad and Kyra, Leina, Mia, and the others that I love them, ok?”

  She let her voice break on the end. She narrowed her eyes and blinked deliberately at the man she loved. Then she let a tear fall.

  It landed on the weasel’s bare arm.

  Shannon sniffled. Loudly. Let the tremors shake through her.

  She wanted Chas to see her as weak as possible. She was nobody.

  Just little Shannon, a crazy man’s pawn.

  The real drama was between the two men. She was just secondary. She bit back an absurd desire to roll her eyes at the ridiculousness of that idea.

  Shannon was so damned tired of being misjudged. “Ezra... I... I’m scared... I don’t want him to hurt me...”

  ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-EIGHT

  MAX SNORTED. HE had the binoculars trained on Shannon’s face. They’d heard every word. Shannon was no doubt terrified, but she wasn’t the type to break her training in this situation.

  She was playing Sefton. Appearing as the sweet, helpless woman. He had to admit it was good ploy. They’d profiled Chas Sefton as a bit of a chauvinist. He also needed a smaller woman to see him as the big, strong, male protector type.

  Sefton needed to triumph over Ezra here and impress the girl.

  His sound piece in his ear buzzed. “Can you see Sefton’s face?”

  Jac. In a seven-year-old’s brand-new treehouse. She was about to do the hardest part. The part no one ever wanted to think about.

  Jac held Shannon and Ezra’s lives in her girly, little hands. Everyone knew it.

  “Not yet. I need him to turn another fifteen to twenty degrees to his left for that,” Max replied. He could barely see the outline of Shannon’s head in front of the man’s chest. He did have a clear view of Ezra’s face while he did what he had to in order to distract the man who held the woman Ezra loved at gunpoint.

  “I have visibility. Repeat. I have the shot. Position A. Waiting on the word.” Jac’s slight southern draw came through the radios, flat and distant. She’d switched into professional mode. Ready to do what was necessary.

  Max tensed.

  It was just a matter of time.

  ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE

  EZRA HELD A hand out to Shannon. But he forced himself not to move. “Babe, don’t be scared, and don’t move too much, ok? This is between Chas and me. He doesn’t need to drag you into it any more than he already has. And we don’t need to distract him with that gun so close. Can you lower it a bit, Chas? Just so Shannon isn’t so frightened?”

  She let her body fall slightly, just into Chas’s chest. He might have been mistaken, but he almost swore she whimpered.

  But her eyes were dry now. Calculating.

  Shannon was running the odds in that super smart brain of hers.

  Like the highly skilled operative that he knew she was.

  She’d gotten his message, and she knew exactly what had to happen to make it work.

  “I think I’m going to vomit!”

  She bent sharply at the waist. Ezra fought a curse—it was a damned risky move—and started forward.

  It was now. She’d set it into motion.

  He just hoped like hell Jac and the others really were in optimum position to do what they had to do.

  Shannon was making retching sounds.

  Chas looked down at her. Ezra considered jumping him.

  The gun came up between them. “Stop, Ez!”

  Chas used his other hand to jerk her back up.

  Shannon resisted, using moves he recognized from his own training at Quantico.

  Chas yanked on her again. Shannon kept fighting. She scissored her legs and jerked herself away. Just enough to make a difference.

  Chas yelled out in rage.

  Ezra dove toward Shannon.

  That red light was moving right into position. Glass shattered directly behind him and Shannon.

  Ezra grabbed her and rolled, covering her head with his arm and tucking her beneath his body.

  ONE HUNDRED FORTY

  “NOW!” MAX GAVE the command that ended Charles “Chas” Sefton’s life the instant Shannon jerked free and there was a window of opportunity.

  Red bloomed.

  Three bodies went dow
n in a tangle of arms and legs. And red.

  Max would never forget the sight of all the red.

  It was the first time he’d ordered a shot be taken; he would never forget that moment.

  Hopefully, he would never have to give it again.

  Chalmers should have been the one to make that call. Or Mal Brockman. But it had been him. They’d insisted that it be him in charge.

  He understood with Chalmers. The guy was her direct supervisor. It was too risky. Chalmers could have hesitated at the last minute.

  But it had been Max.

  Damn it. He never wanted to do that again.

  “Get in there!” He yelled the command into his radio, even though everyone was already moving.

  Jac wouldn’t be moving. Someone would have to collect her and her weapon. Photograph her positioning.

  Someone would have to help her deal with what she had just had to do, too.

  Taking a life was never going to be easy. For any of them.

  He reached the body of Chas Sefton first.

  Jac hadn’t missed.

  Max rolled the much smaller man onto his back. Normally, he wouldn’t move a body until photos could be taken and procedure followed. Stephenson was already filming everything with his phone. Standard procedure was for the third-in-command—in this case, Stephenson—to capture evidence if someone else was attending to assisting victims.

  Ezra was moving. Cursing.

  Lifting himself off Shannon.

  Max focused on her.

  Shannon was pulling herself into a sitting position. Poor kid’s pale pink blouse was covered with red.

  And growing.

  “She’s been hit!” He yelled at the responders and strategic response agents flooding the building. They’d been held back at Chalmers’ insistence. But now...

  “Again? The weasel never fired. We have got to talk about me being a magnet for friendly fire, here,” Shannon looked at him. “Hey, Jones. I’m really glad to see you tonight. Jac around?”