Reid braced himself by willing his body to relax—too taut and every fucking bone would break. But no matter what, the impact would still be a bitch and a half.
“You wanted this,” he said, wasn’t sure if Crystal registered his words or not. Either way, Reid’s ghosts were dying tonight in this truck.
He’d do everything necessary to make sure he didn’t go down with them. Now he just had to close his eyes and pray that the motherfucking guardian angel would show when he needed her again.
He wasn’t sure how long it was before his eyes opened. He felt the concrete under his back and realized he was half inside the now-flipped truck. He smelled the gasoline and smoke and knew that wasn’t a good combo, even in his groggy state. Tried to pull himself out, looked inside and saw Crystal, slumped and unmoving.
They were both out of their misery now.
Strong arms grabbed and pulled him from the downed vehicle.
“Going to kill you one of these goddamned days,” Kell was muttering.
“Did you even stop to ask if I could move everything?” Reid shot back and Kell smiled, and Teddie was there too, and so was Dylan, cursing, and yeah, things were right back to the way they should be. Finally.
EPILOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER
All the bruises had finally healed. Kell had barely left Reid’s side in the hospital—neither had Teddie—not until Reid sat up and insisted that they get the fuck out of here and clear up Teddie’s shit.
And they’d listened. Up until that point, Dylan had kept the marshals and the FBI at bay—the FBI had the evidence about Chambers’s bank accounts that Reid had given to Grier. But Teddie still had to face some music, because she had been part of witness protection and therefore subject to all their rules and regs.
The marshals hadn’t been happy with her—and even less so with Kell and the fact that he refused to leave her side through any of the proceedings. Neither had the lawyer Dylan utilized, an ex-JAG who was effective as hell at cutting through bullshit.
It had taken a month to untangle everything, but the murder she’d committed was obviously self-defense, so she wasn’t charged. Teddie was then cleared of jail time for possessing an illegal firearm and shooting in a public restaurant, instead pleading to lesser charges in exchange for a year of probation. The judge had okayed her checking in with a parole officer in upstate New York, where she’d be staying put—with Kell—until the year was up.
All in all, it had been a relief to bring Teddie here, to Mace’s.
Today, a week after Kell had brought her in to meet the other members of the team he’d only told her about, they were all gathered in the newly renovated bar, which boasted two additional floors—enough room for all of them—plus a war room with banks of computers. And an underground bunker.
Yeah, they were prepared for anything.
Kell surveyed the scene playing out in front of him as Teddie leaned against him, his arm draped around her waist. Paige and Mace were dancing, married ten minutes earlier in a no-nonsense ceremony that still brought tears to everyone’s eyes. And then Caleb and Vivi joined them on the dance floor, followed by Dylan and Riley.
Cam and Sky were too busy making out in the corner, like teenagers, which made Kell snort when he caught sight of it. Then he looked down at Teddie and wondered if he could pull her into the back room.
She glanced up at him and wagged a finger, because what he was thinking must be written all over his face. And for the first time in forever, he didn’t care that no poker face in the world would work on her any longer.
“Fine, I’ll be good. For now,” he muttered, and she snuggled against him.
“When are we going to look at the property?” she asked, referring to the piece of land two hours away he’d purchased years earlier, and now planned on building a home on for the two of them.
“We can go tomorrow,” he told her. It wouldn’t be their last solo trip. He’d already made plans to go with her on an extended photography tour of Jakarta at the end of the month.
Translation—she wasn’t going anywhere like that without him. But he was damned glad he’d get to see her doing a job she loved. After that, he’d alternate between her work, and his with this group.
And he could think of nothing better.
Reid had cut in and was dancing with Vivi now and Caleb was grumbling good-naturedly.
“Does he know?” Teddie asked, and Kell shook his head. Because he’d known Reid would’ve refused to contact the marshal so Kell had done so himself.
And even though Reid might kill him for it … Grier knew where to find him.
The rest would be up to them. For the first time, Kell realized that it really was that simple. And when he pulled Teddie in for a kiss, murmured, “I love you” and heard her say it back to him, he knew Reid had been right all along.
For TJ and DP—they know why.
BOOKS BY STEPHANIE TYLER
NIGHT MOVES
IN THE AIR TONIGHT
PROMISES IN THE DARK
LIE WITH ME
HOLD ON TIGHT
TOO HOT TO HOLD
HARD TO HOLD
BOOKS BY STEPHANIE TYLER
CO-WRITING WITH LARISSA IONE
AS SYDNEY CROFT
TAKEN BY FIRE
TEMPTING THE FIRE
TAMING THE FIRE
SEDUCED BY THE STORM
UNLEASHING THE STORM
RIDING THE STORM
ANTHOLOGIES
HOT NIGHTS, DARK DESIRES
(including stories by Stephanie Tyler
and Sydney Croft)
Night Moves: A Shadow Force Novel Page 28
