“Dillon!”
She sat up, looked around. She saw Jack huddled over Lucy on the ground twenty feet away. They were both moving.
Dillon, where are you?
She couldn’t lose him now. They hadn’t had any time together, dammit! It wasn’t fair!
Kate stood, pushing back the nausea that threatened. People ran back and forth, SWAT and feds and local police and fire crews. Debris covered a body in Dillon’s front yard. Her mouth fell open and she cried out.
No, Dillon, please no.
She stumbled back across the street and a fire-fighter stopped her.
“You can’t go there.”
“No, no,” she said, staring at the body. It wasn’t Dillon. The body wore beige slacks. Like Adam Scott had been wearing.
“Kate.”
She heard her name and turned slowly around. There. Dillon. Up against a car parked across the street. She ran to him. Touched his face. Kissed his swollen lips. Buried her face in his neck.
“Oh, God, Dillon. I thought-” She couldn’t say it. She wouldn’t say it.
“I know.” His voice was weak.
She sat back on her knees and saw his leg was bleeding extensively. “Medic!” she shouted as loud as she could. “Medic!”
“I’m okay.” He closed his eyes.
She laughed nervously. He was not okay. “Oh, Dillon.” She tore her shirt and tied it around his thigh.
Lucy limped over with Jack at her side.
“Is he okay?” she asked.
Dillon nodded. “Luce, I’m fine.”
Kate was concerned about the pallor of Dillon’s skin. He’d lost a lot of blood. She checked his vitals. Strong. Of course. Dillon was the strongest soul she knew. “Scott is dead,” Kate said.
“I know,” Dillon replied. He opened his eyes, searching for her. She clasped his uninjured hand, tears of relief falling freely.
“I’m not sorry I killed him,” Lucy said defiantly. Her eyes had a pained, faraway expression.
It would hit her later, Dillon thought. No one could kill another human being, even an evil bastard like Adam Scott, without conflicted emotions.
Jack asked Kate, “What about other bombs?”
“I didn’t see any more set up, but we need to get this computer to the FBI immediately.”
Quinn Peterson ran over to them. “Where’s Scott?”
“Dead,” Kate said.
“In the explosion?
Kate and Dillon looked at each other. “Yes,” they said in unison.
Jack led Lucy away and Quinn said, “An ambulance is on its way. Hang in there.” He went to coordinate the authorities.
Dillon squeezed Kate’s hand as hard as he could. “I don’t think I’ll be making dinner tonight.”
“Damn.” She leaned over and kissed him.
He touched her throat, where bruises were beginning to form, where dried blood coated her neck. “He hurt you.”
“Well, he hurt you, too,” Kate said. “Now he’s dead.”
She sat against the car next to him, put her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I made such a stink about meeting your family.”
“I’m sorry I pushed you too hard.”
“You didn’t. I was just scared. But that fear was nothing compared to the thought of losing you. I don’t want to lose you, Dillon.”
“You won’t, Kate. I love you.”
Jack walked over to them. “Carina has Lucy and there’s an ambulance on the way.” He glanced over at Dillon’s burning house. The first fire truck had arrived. “Your house is a goner.”
“I won’t need it for a while,” Dillon said. “I’m heading out to Washington for a couple weeks.”
“You are?” Kate asked.
“I told you I’d stand by you through the hearings.”
She smiled through her tears. “You meant what you said and you said what you meant.”
Dillon nodded. “One hundred percent.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
THE FOLLOWING MONDAY MORNING, Kate walked into the scheduled hearing in the Office of Professional Responsibility. She was nervous, she couldn’t help it. Even with Quinn Peterson’s assurances and Dillon waiting for her outside, she knew she had to answer some serious accusations.
Nervous, but ready. More than ready to put the past behind her and live for the future.
She was surprised when she walked in and both Quinn Peterson and Jeff Merritt were sitting at the conference table. Quinn hadn’t told her he’d be here; the last she heard he had returned to Seattle. Merritt had lost weight, his skin was pasty, and he had no gun in his holster.
A gun-and badge-sat in front of the director of the review committee, Madeline James.
“Sit down, Agent Donovan.”
She sat. It was the first time someone had called her “agent” in…years.
“Regardless of what Mr. Merritt is about to say, this committee has determined that you will have to answer for leaving the country when you had been ordered to report for a debriefing after Special Agent Paige Henshaw was murdered. Though you have been forthcoming about your illegal activities since, hacking government computers is still a crime and one we cannot take lightly.
“But it has also been decided that you may return to active duty provided you complete a probationary period as punishment for your crimes. We’ve decided that should you stay with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, you must return to the training academy, all sixteen weeks, and successfully pass every test as if you were a new recruit. Afterward, you will not be allowed in the field for a minimum of one year. Instead, you will be required to teach a class in e-crimes at the Academy.”
“And if I don’t want to return?”
“Then you’ll be a civilian.”
She glanced at Quinn, but his face was unreadable. She looked at Jeff Merritt, frowned.
“You mean,” she asked for clarification, “I will be free?”
“If you mean you will not be serving prison time, yes. You’ll be free. But if you choose not to return to the Academy, you’ll lose your rank, your pension, and your gun permit, and will not be allowed to work in law enforcement or touch a computer for a period of two years.”
Madeline James continued. “Your crimes were serious, but the committee has determined that there were extraordinary circumstances that would likely not be duplicated should you return to the FBI.”
She nodded to Merritt. “You may speak.”
“Paige is dead because of me,” he said. “I have resigned from the Bureau.”
Kate didn’t say anything. But the final pieces of the puzzle began to click into place as Merritt spoke.
“When Paige told me she was pregnant, I told her to quit. She had always been a little reckless, and I felt that the two of you together were dangerous. You pushed the boundaries, but Paige was the one who really crossed the line. Over and over. That undercover operation seven years ago? Before you were partners? Paige went in against orders. I covered for her then, lied, so she wouldn’t be reprimanded or fired.
“But then she became pregnant. With my child. And I knew she wouldn’t stop her recklessness. I asked her to leave the field. I could have gotten her a position anywhere-at Quantico, at the laboratory-something safer. She refused.
“I was the one who canceled the backup the night you and Paige confronted Adam Scott. I honestly didn’t believe you were in danger. I thought you were just meeting the girl, Denise Arno. You had called Evan before you left and told him I’d cleared backup. But he heard from someone else that they’d been put on a different assignment, so he followed you to the warehouse. He saw what was happening, called it in, but by the time anyone arrived it was too late. He rushed into the warehouse to help cover you and Paige-”
“He sacrificed his life to save mine,” Kate whispered.