When she raised her head, she saw that Landon was now sitting at the table, watching her. By the tightness in his expression, she had a feeling that whatever he was thinking couldn’t be good.
She wiped away the rest of her tears. “What’s wrong, Landon?”
He clenched the phone on the tabletop, his knuckles white. “I don’t like putting you in danger.”
“Have other witnesses done this before?” She knew the answer without him responding. “Of course they have. So what’s so different about me?”
“Because you’re special, Tori.” He spoke in a quiet tone. “You’re special to me.”
Her eyes widened a bit. Of all the things he could have said, she never expected that.
She reached for his hands. His fingers felt big and strong beneath her palm. “I will be fine. Everything is going to work out.”
He rested one of his hands over hers while she squeezed his other. “Yes. It will all work out.” He spoke firmly, but she couldn’t tell if it was meant to reassure himself or her. Maybe both.
“Thank you for being here.” She swallowed. “You’ve saved my life more than once. It’s a debt I can never repay.”
“It’s not something you repay.” He leaned closer to her. “It’s my job. I protect people.”
Then he cleared his throat before continuing. “But you will be going into WITSEC shortly, and I can’t be with you while you are in the program. You’ll be taken out of hiding for only a short time to get Alejandro Jimenez, but then you’ll go right back into the program.”
It was happening. A cold chill traveled over her skin and she wanted to scream that she didn’t want to go into the program. She wanted to say she’d be safe with Landon, but he couldn’t always be there for her. And as long as she was with him, he would be in danger, too.
Even though they might—would—get Alejandro, there was still his father. The head of the snake, El Demonio, would still be free somewhere in Mexico. So, more than likely she would end up staying in WITSEC, unless somehow Diego and Alejandro Jimenez were taken out. Dead.
The thought of being in WITSEC echoed in her mind and her chest squeezed. What if the cartel got to her family and friends once she disappeared. What if the cartel hurt Paula, Sue, and Janice while trying to find Tori?
An explosion ripped through the air.
Landon grabbed Tori, pulling her out of her chair. He landed on her back, pinning her to the floor as the breath was knocked from her. She heard his muffled shout of pain as the impact jarred his shoulder.
Debris rained down on them as the whole building rocked.
Terror filled her as she heard shouting and screams.
Oh, God. The cartel had found her.
CHAPTER 24
A piece of the ceiling dropped onto Landon, slamming onto his injured shoulder. He barely held back another shout of pain. His ears rang from the volume of the explosion and his head swam. The lights had gone out and everything was dark beneath the debris.
Tori was pinned beneath him and he tried to push himself up so his body weight wasn’t crushing her, but he would still be protecting her. His heart pounded. More debris rained down on them and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out every time something hit his shoulder.
It seemed to last forever, but it was only moments before everything went still. An alarm blared, and it was all Landon could hear. He rose, feeling a little dazed, the debris on his back sliding off and falling away. He was lucky the panels that made up the ceiling were fairly light.
Emergency lighting came on, allowing him to see.
As he got to his feet, he felt unsteady from the ringing in his head and the pain in his shoulder. He looked at Tori who pushed herself to her haunches and held her head between her hands. She was clearly shaken, her eyes wide as she pressed the sides of her head. No doubt her ears were ringing like his.
The pounding of his heart was like thunder in his head and his adrenaline had spiked. His colleagues, his friends, were in the building. He had to get to and help whomever he could.
Jesus. How many had been hurt or killed in the explosion?
He looked at Tori. Thank God she was all right.
His mind raced through the options and he had three choices. One, he could grab another agent and get Tori outside to the truck, and risk the cartel being outside waiting for them. Two, he could keep her hidden, stay with her, and protect her in here. Or three, he could have her hide while he found out whatever he could about what had happened, who was injured, or worse, and see if members of the cartel were in the building.
And pray there wasn’t another bomb.
His head ached and he shook his head. Someone had to stay with Tori, and right now that someone had to be him.
“Get under my desk.” He didn’t know if Tori heard him over the alarm, and he pointed to the kneehole as he crouched. She scooted into the space. He took his backup weapon out of the holster on his ankle, and handed the Sig to her. “Know how to shoot?”
Whether she could hear him or not, he wasn’t sure, but she seemed to understand and shook her head. He showed her how to hold the weapon and then put his lips close to her ear and spoke loud enough that he hoped she heard him clearly. “It’s fully loaded and the safety is off. Don’t point it at someone unless you intend to shoot. Keep your hand off the trigger unless you’re sure of your target. Got it?”
She nodded and kept the weapon pointed at the floor. He could see that her hands were trembling, the gun shaking.
“You’ll be fine.” He squeezed her upper arm as he yelled the words. “I’ll be close.”
Her expression hardened and he saw the same determination in her gaze that he’d witnessed earlier when she’d insisted she wanted to be bait for the cartel.
He gave her one last look before getting to his feet and drawing his Glock. He climbed over debris to the office door and peered out. He looked to his left, in the direction of the blast, then to the opposite end of the hallway and back.
The ringing in his ears was starting to lessen, but the blare of the alarm wasn’t helping. He saw movement and raised his weapon.
Sophia Aguilar limped into the corridor from her office across the hall. She held her weapon but pain twisted her features as she tried to walk. Her gaze met Landon’s and she hobbled to him. When she neared him, he saw a cut on her forehead that bled down the side of her face.
The alarm stopped blaring but the ringing in Landon’s ears seemed worse. He lowered his weapon, but not his guard.
“Got thrown across my office and I think my goddamned leg is broken.” Aguilar gritted her teeth.
Landon narrowed his gaze. “Sonofabitch.”
Aguilar’s expression was furious. “If the fucking cartel just bombed us, they’ve declared war. We’re going to come down on them so damned hard they won’t know what hit them.”
“Sure as hell.” Landon looked up and down the corridor as he spoke, keeping his eye out as he spoke.
Aguilar frowned. “How’s our witness?”
“Uninjured so far as I could tell.” He inclined his head toward his office doorway. “She’s in my office, under the desk.”
“I can protect her.” Aguilar nodded in the direction the explosion had come from. “Make sure no one from the cartel is in the building and help who you can.”
Landon hesitated a fraction. Aguilar was more than capable of protecting Tori, yet he felt as if he had to be the one to stay by her side.
“Go.” Aguilar gestured her weapon. “That’s an order.”
“I need to let Tori know you’ll be here with her.” Landon turned back into his office, stepped over the debris, and made it to his desk. He crouched near the kneehole, close to where Tori was hidden. “Tori.” He didn’t want to startle her, but raised his voice. “It’s me, so don’t shoot.”
“Okay.” She had the Sig pointed at the floor as he peered in at her. She looked both afraid and determined at the same time. “What’s going on?”
�
�My RAC will stay with you.” He glanced at Aguilar who was limping into the office. “She’ll make sure you’re safe.” He put his hand on Tori’s and squeezed. “I’ll be back as soon as I am able to.”
“Go help who you can.” She didn’t falter. “We’ll be fine.”
“Whatever might happen, do not come out from under the desk.”
She nodded.
He gave her hand one last squeeze before turning and walking to where Aguilar stood, just in front of his office door.
“Tori knows you’re staying with her.” He gripped his weapon, ever on the watch as he spoke. “She has my Sig, so don’t surprise her.”
“She’ll be fine.” Aguilar gave Landon a firm nod before he left the office.
“I’ll get some paramedics here to help you,” Landon said.
Aguilar shook her head. “Not until those seriously wounded are taken care of. All I have is a fucking broken leg. I’m not losing blood, and I don’t have any other injuries. Now that’s an order. Got it?”
Landed nodded. He held his Glock in a two-handed grip as he headed down the corridor in the direction of the blast. He stepped over debris and peered around corners before continuing. Two agents, helping injured personnel, passed him in the hallway. The men were drenched, as if they’d been outside, and they left dirty wet footprints in the hallway. No doubt the blast had taken out part of the building, leaving it open to the elements.
Next came Dylan, also soaked, who supported another agent named Conway, who looked pretty banged up and dazed. “There are more injured.” Dylan’s wet skin was split along his cheekbone, blood mingling with water as the cut bled down the side of his face. He had small cuts all over his face and arms—it looked as though he’d been hit with shattered glass. His expression was grim. “I think we may have lost a couple of agents and administrative staff.”
Landon cursed and gripped his weapon tighter. “Where was the blast located?”
“Near the holding cells.” Dylan glanced up and down the corridor, as did Landon, both men continually on guard. “Graves and Perez were in there. I don’t know if they’re dead or if they managed to escape.”
“Shit.” Landon clenched his teeth.
Dylan looked past Landon. “Where’s the witness?”
“In my office.” Landon cocked his head in the direction he’d just come from. “With Aguilar, who’s injured. She thinks her leg is broken.”
“Damn. At least they’re both alive.” Dylan shifted to get a better hold on Conway. “I’m going to get Conway out of here and then I’ll check on Tori and Aguilar.”
“Thanks.” Landon gave Dylan a nod before he continued down the hall.
The farther Landon went, the worse the destruction. He passed other agents and administrative personnel, who were assisting individuals who had sustained significant injuries.
As he approached the corridor to the holding cells, he saw the door was ajar and water seeped through the opening. Dirty puddles were on the floor, leading away from the door.
A gust of wind slammed the door open and rain pelted onto the floor at the opening. He moved to the doorway and had to squint to see through the downpour.
Where once there was a roof and walls, a gaping hole filled with rubble had replaced it. The light was muted by the storm. The parking lot was a good distance away, and Landon couldn’t see if anything else had been damaged.
Thank God no fire had accompanied the explosion.
Still gripping his Glock, Landon climbed over support beams, concrete, twisted pieces of metal, and glass. Sirens blared, louder now that he was outside. He glanced in the direction of the highway and saw emergency vehicles turning onto the road leading to the DHS office. Red and blue lights flashed, reflecting off of wet surfaces.
As Landon looked around him, he saw a male figure half buried in the rubble, face turned away. Landon climbed over debris, toward the figure. His stomach clenched when he saw that all that remained of the man’s body was his upper torso. His face was unrecognizable.
Fury burned Landon’s skin as he continued on. No doubt others had suffered similar fates, but prayed he was wrong. He hurried the best he could toward the still intact corridor where the holding cells were. The door, which was a twisted mess, hung on one hinge and swung in the wind. No doubt the door could go flying at any minute.
He climbed over debris to get to the door. He checked the door hinge and saw it was about to go. He hit the door with his good shoulder and the door broke away from the hinge and landed harmlessly on rubble. Still, the impact jarred his other shoulder and he gritted his teeth.
Rain had been pouring in through the open doorway and into the hallway, and water covered the floor.
He saw the holding cells were open and strode toward them. He narrowed his gaze when he saw the cells. Fuck.
Graves and Perez were dead. The cartel had been here to take care of loose ends.
Moans came from further down the hallway and Landon headed in that direction, still holding his weapon and making sure that none of the cartel’s men were nearby.
Tori was never far from Landon’s thoughts as he helped the injured out of the building, through the storm, and into the hands of emergency personnel who had arrived. It wasn’t easy helping one-armed, but he had to do it.
He knew that Tori was in capable hands. Aguilar was one of the best shots, having set records when she trained at FLETC, so she could definitely hold her own.
Dylan met up with Landon a good twenty minutes after Landon had passed him and Conway in the hallway. Dylan had stopped by Landon’s office before he returned to the blast zone to assist. He’d told Landon that when he checked, Aguilar was in pain but the broken leg was her only serious injury. She’d insisted that she could continue to watch over Tori and had reiterated that she didn’t need medical attention. Those who were seriously injured needed it first.
Now that Landon had done all he could at the moment, he intended to return to his office, where Tori and Aguilar waited. The wind and rain had never stopped buffeting the men and women working the scene.
His head seemed to ache even more from the blast and the debris that had landed on him in his office. His shoulder burned and hurt like a sonofabitch, and it had started bleeding again, enough that the blood seeped through his T-shirt and spotted his overshirt.
A paramedic noticed Landon holding his shoulder as he trudged toward the door that would open up into the hallway.
“Hold on.” The female paramedic tried to stop Landon. “Let me check your shoulder.”
Landon gritted his teeth and shook his head. “I’ll be fine, but the Resident Agent in Charge is inside. If everyone in serious condition is taken care of, per her instructions, she needs medical attention.”
The paramedic signaled her partner, and in moments they were hurrying toward Landon’s office. Water ran in rivulets down his face and arms, and onto the floor as he walked to the open doorway that led to the corridor. His steps quickened as he headed to his office. He needed to see Tori, needed to see that she was safe.
He entered his office first and his heart nearly stopped.
Aguilar was lying on the floor, blood now soaking her shirt. Her chest rose and fell with rapid, harsh breaths. Her hand was pressing a piece of bloody cloth over her abdomen.
The cloth was the same color of blue as Tori’s shirt.
Heart pounding hard enough to feel like it was hitting his ribcage, Landon turned to the paramedics. “Take care of Special Agent Aguilar.” His voice was tight. “I need to check on someone else.”
The paramedics were on Aguilar before he finished speaking and Landon hurried to the desk where Tori should be hidden.
Before he had a chance to look, he saw his Sig resting on the floor. Chest squeezing with fear for Tori, Landon looked under the desk.
His heart nearly stopped.
Tori was gone.
Tori lay curled up on the floor of a van, her hands and feet bound with duct tape and a piece of the
tape over her mouth. She was cold and wet, her body prickling with icy fear as men around her laughed and spoke in Spanish. Thanks to her mother she was fluent in the language, and their words caused terror to clench her belly and grip her heart.
They intended to take her to Diego Jimenez’s compound in Mexico. The head of the cartel had decided to make her pay in ways other than death.
God, no doubt death would be better than anything they might do to her.
Someone kicked her in the back and laughed, and she gave an involuntary muffled cry as pain lanced her body, especially her chest. Her eyes watered and a tear rolled down the side of her face.
She should have stayed hidden, like Landon had ordered her to.
But she’d had to go to try to help the agent.
When Special Agent Aguilar had been shot, Tori had waited until she was sure the man who had shot the agent was gone. She’d crawled out of the kneehole, scrambled over debris, and had gone to the agent to try and stop the bleeding. She hadn’t seen any cloth around, and the only thing she could think of to do was tear off part of her shirt again, like she’d done for Landon. She’d pressed the cloth to the agent’s wound, her hands almost immediately covered in blood.
She’d been just about to take off her whole shirt to use when a man came by the office and peered in. Tori had raised her head to ask for help when terror had blocked a scream in her throat. The man had his gun pointed at her. She didn’t know who he was, but he’d clearly recognized her.
She hadn’t been able to run. She’d been trapped in the office. In that instant she had prayed for Landon to return, but he hadn’t. There had been no way to save herself.
The man had yanked her by her hair, dragging her to the doorway, and forced her to her feet. He’d taken her by gunpoint from the room, the gun digging into the small of her back. They’d gone out into the storm and the chaos, and no one had noticed.
No one.
Her head still ached from being dragged by her hair. The barrel of the gun had been pressed against her back so hard she was certain the man had bruised her skin. She also had bruises on her face and body from the men kicking her and backhanding her. It hurt to breathe and she was pretty sure one of them had broken her rib.
Hidden Prey (Lawmen) Page 22
