He c.o.c.ked his head to listen, but still no answer. "Sitrep," he snapped to Ember and Todd.
"Backyard is clear," Ember answered.
"Too much smoke in the front yard," Todd reported. "Looks like someone popped a smoke grenade. Too murky to see. Alex called. ETA in sixty seconds."
Zack held his breath, still on his side and still trained on the deadly silence outside. There was no way he"d killed all the Tigers. Someone grunted. Another cried about someone hurting him, and Zack dared to hope. The police weren"t there yet. Was Alex?
"All clear," David Tao"s friendly voice finally sounded.
"All clear," Zack echoed. "You coming in?"
A ramrod straight shadow evolved out of the smoke into Alex Stewart.
"You sure shoot your mouth off when you"re seriously outnumbered, don"t you, Lennox?" he scolded his agent.
"It"s a little trick I picked up from a sniper friend of mine." Zack clasped Alex"s proffered arm and pushed off the floor. "An old guy once told me what your enemy doesn"t knowyour enemy doesn"t know. Sometimes all you"ve got left is ego. Praying like h.e.l.l doesn"t hurt, either."
"An old guy?" Alex offered an arched brow.
"d.a.m.ned glad to see you, Boss." Zack let Alex pull him into a man hug, more of a shoulder and chest b.u.mp than a hug. The police had arrived. Some of the smoke outside had cleared. It looked like David Tao had the scene under control.
Ember emerged from the smoky kitchen, stepping over the debris from the grenade, her pistols holstered. "Hey, Alex. Took you long enough getting here."
"Where"s Todd?"
"Here." Todd raised one hand from the bullet-pocked picture window. "Mei and Song are in the safe room. We"re all good."
"Where are they?" Alex growled, his nostrils flared as he took in the scene of his now-destroyed safe house. "Where"s that sonofab.i.t.c.hin" reporter?"
Zack turned to the ridiculous scene of a smart-a.s.sed reporter on her hands and knees, hiding behind her cameraman who himself cringed behind his camera, like that was any kind of tactical gear. "Alex Stewart, meet Ms. Victoria Levitt, ace reporter of some piece of s.h.i.t rag in town."
She actually scrambled to her feet and smoothed her hand over her disheveled hairdo, like Alex cared what the h.e.l.l she looked like. Stepping forward with her chin tilted up, she offered a dazzling smile and her hand, which promptly crumpled against the hard wall of Alex"s chest when he stepped into her comfort zone.
"You risked the lives of my team, an innocent woman and a child to get your d.a.m.ned story," he bit out, towering over her enough that she had to take a step back.
"The press has the right to report on any-"
"Your press privileges ended when you set foot on private property, Ms. Levitt," he hissed. "You recklessly endangered civilians. You could"ve gotten killed yourself, not that I give a s.h.i.t about that. There will be consequences."
Again with the chin tilt. Ms. Levitt ran her gaze up and down the angry man in her face. "Freedom of the press," she said. "I know my rights. You can"t threaten me."
"Get the h.e.l.l out of my house," he spat. "I"m not threatening the likes of you. I"m promising."
"I...I-" She straightened her hair again, looking for her microphone. "I was just leaving." It took her all of one second to grab her mike off the floor and catch up with her cameraman, who was already out the door and in police custody.
"Maybe we shouldn"t have saved her life after all," Todd muttered as he nodded toward the reporter, herself now in cuffs and screeching up a storm of protest.
Zack headed down the hall to retrieve Mei, but before he did, he needed to make sure. "We all clear?" he asked one last time. If nothing else, he wanted to a.s.sure Mei the battle was over and the good guys won. She might have to hang back until the debris was cleared, but the good news would help her calm down.
Todd stepped to the front door, now blackened and hanging off its hinges. He waved to David. "Hey. How"s it going out there? You need a hand?"
Zack glanced back. Leave it to Todd to always ask if he could help. The d.a.m.ned kid would be senior agent in no time. Zack never heard David"s answer. All he saw was the hit. Todd jerked backward, his hand to his chest and his mouth opened in surprise like he was horsing around. Like he couldn"t believe what was happening. Like he wasn"t shot.
Alex grabbed him before he hit the floor.
Ember screamed. "Todd! Oh, my G.o.d! Todd!" She was suddenly across the room and on her knees beside him, her hands covered in dark red blood, the kind of blood that pours out of a man"s pulmonary veins. Alex cradled him, checking for pulse and hope. Zack caught the bleak stab of pain that flashed in his boss"s eyes.
"No!" Ember had her hands frantically all over Todd, her cheek to his cheek, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to his chest, her mouth on his mouth, trying to pour life back into him. She cupped his chin. "No, no, no! Don"t leave me, baby. Don"t go!"
Zack moved away from the safe room in slow motion, his body turned to lead and heartache. Mei didn"t need to see this. G.o.d, no.
Todd lifted a b.l.o.o.d.y finger to Ember, tracing her lower lip. His mouth moved. Zack wasn"t close enough to hear what he said. The pain on Ember"s face was bad enough. Todd"s hand dropped. The sound that ripped from Ember stopped Zack cold. He"d heard it before, an angry, pain-filled keening hurled heavenward from the shattered heart of a buddy or a loved one left behind.
Alex pulled her against him, his eyes dark and hard.
"He"s leaving me, Alex," she sobbed. "He"s...already gone." She collapsed on top of Todd, and suddenly Zack heard the sound of triumph from the front yard.
"I got him! I got Lennox!" a man"s voice crowed.
Zack stepped around Alex and Ember with murder in his heart. When he cleared the door he saw the braggart; a Tiger with his face to the ground while two policemen muscled him into submission. Still he yelled. "I got him! I got him!"
"Who are you talking about?" one of the officers asked.
"Five K for Lennox." The braggart"s sweaty face glistened with pride. "That"s the deal. Sweet. It"s all mine."
"Oh, yeah? Who"s paying a bounty for Lennox, tough guy?" The officers handcuffed the killer and pulled him to his feet.
"Who do you think?" the gangster sneered.
Zack barreled into the gangster, taking him back to the ground with his fists in the man"s ugly face. "That man you just murdered ain"t Lennox, you freaking dumb a.s.s! You killed the wrong man!"
The police pulled him off and pushed him away, but Zack launched himself again, this time his hands at the man"s neck, choking him with all the strength his mangled fingers had left.
"You"re Lennox?" the fool gasped. "You?"
"He was my friend," Zack growled when David Tao pulled him away, his hand in the middle of Zack"s chest. "He was a kid! You killed the wrong man!"
"Settle down," David said, his own dark eyes glistening. "Ember needs you. Mei needs you. We all need you. Settle down."
"No!" Zack choked, raking his fingernails over his head, full of anger he was not yet ready to release. But David was right. Ember"s sad lament echoed from the inside of the house.
"He"s dead," Zack told David. "Todd is...dead."
David nodded. No more words were necessary. Zack swallowed his anger and turned to the awful scene where Alex still cradled his newest agent and the woman who"d loved him. Todd never felt the bullet that pierced his heart, that left him gasping for life already gone. Sirens wailed in the distance, bringing medics for whom there was no longer a patient to save.
"G.o.d." Zack rammed his back into the wall behind him, still ready to fight the world. He couldn"t breathe. He couldn"t swallow. Worst of all, he couldn"t face Ember.
Paramedics scrambled around the crime scene. Alex relinquished his hold on the young man, crushing Ember into his arms until she had no choice but to let Todd go. There was no miracle cure this day. No way to change the awful thing that had happened.
Junior Agent Todd Chandler had fallen in the line of duty.
TWENTY-FOUR.
The only one missing was Ember.
Zack stood with Mei at the grave, the rest of his somber teammates all within arm"s reach. Together they watched the honor guard present arms and take the twenty-one shots with such perfect accuracy that the sound of their report evolved into three single volleys.
Job well done, reservists.
Thirteen folds to the flag of glory, and twenty-one sh.e.l.ls tucked within the heart of the red, white, and blue.
Good job, Marines.
A short but precisely measured walk to the grieving parents, and the flag that had covered Todd"s heart was now pressed against the bosom of the mother he loved. And who loved him. Her son. Her boy. Her darling baby. Silent tears fell into the folds of color. His father held his mother tight.
G.o.d bless you, Agent Todd Chandler. Fellow soldier. Hero. Friend.
Mei sniffed. Zack steeled his heart. He"d stood here too many times in the past. It always hurt. He saw her step out from a small black sedan then, her slender shape shrouded in billowing black. Ember. She didn"t join the rest of The TEAM. His heart ached so much worse with her all the way over there, alone.
At last, the leaden December sky relinquished its hold on all the sorrow of the day. The ice cold rain fell on restless and resting alike. Ember pivoted on her heel and walked in the opposite direction. Uphill. Toward the Arlington Amphitheater. And solitude.
Zack stood with Mei, watching her go.
"Poor Ember. I must talk to her," Mei offered.
"No. Let her go. You know how it is. She wants to be alone."
He turned with Mei and walked away.
Arlington was quiet once again.
Two new agents were a.s.signed to guard Mei and Song. Junior agents Rory Dennison and Connor Maher were a couple of the best. Alex had moved everyone to a secure hotel suite in Alexandria, not far from The TEAM"s office, so Zack went back to work. He was the early bird, like Alex. It was just the way some folks were made, hard-wired to greet the morning sun and start the day. No more lying on the couch. No more downtime. Injured or not, Zack was a man at war.
The office was silent when he arrived. Mother sat staring at the blank screens in front of her. She was the privileged one. She had to know it. Alex pretty much gave her whatever equipment she asked for without question or hesitation. He trusted her implicitly and because of that trust, her works.p.a.ce became the heart of The TEAM, the place where everyone eventually came for technical expertise, support, and sometimes gossip. She excelled at it all. Not today. Zack avoided her. She might want to chat. He didn"t.
Want to or not, he watched her. For the first time in a long time, some of her screens were dark, while others transmitted static and snow. Only a couple relayed images, and even they were muted. Nosy, I-know-something-you-don"t-know Mother didn"t seem to see them. She shrugged out of her black suit jacket, letting it fall to the floor.
Only a week ago, he"d watched Todd sitting with Mother and Ember as they unraveled the mystery of the Black Dragon Conquest. Zack could still see the unmasked delight in his friend"s green eyes when he"d discovered the Easter eggs. And now he was gone.
After the hours they"d worked, after all the good they"d accomplished, karma should have been a h.e.l.l of a lot kinder. Absentmindedly, Zack rubbed tender fingers over his ragged lips. Everything hurt. His hands. His mouth. His heart most of all.
Mother sniffed. Great. The last thing he needed was to hear someone releasing their grief while he bottled his inside.
"I"m sorry," she said sadly. "I didn"t know you were already here."
Zack looked at her to see who she was speaking to. He should have known. Alex was already here. He must"ve spoken to Mother. She answered, "I"ve usually got more energy. In no time at all I"ll be able to leap tall buildings again, and run faster than a speeding bullet and...and..."
Zack cringed. Mother"s overabundance of words had just sabotaged her.
"I"m sorry, Boss," she cried. "I can"t do this today."
I should"ve stayed homeif I had one.
"Why don"t you come into my office?" Alex offered gently, nodding toward his open office door. "Zack? You too. Come on."
No. Not yet. Not now.
He saw the glint in his boss"s eye. Alex wasn"t asking.
"Coming," he growled.
"I"ll be okay." Mother blew her nose into a couple tissues. "I just need a minute."
"Come on, Sasha."
Great. Mother grabbed her box of tissues and followed Alex like a whipped puppy. It was a rare day when anyone called her by her real name. Alex was being kind today, the last thing Zack needed. Kindness offered was the toehold that would crack the door to everyone"s grief, and he did not want to go down that road. Work was a better remedy.
Work your guts out. Try to forget. Never let "em see you cry.
Zack followed anyway. He"d barely sat down at the smaller conference table when Murphy entered, quiet and somber. Then David. Within minutes, Alex had everyone in his office except poor Ember. Who would have ever guessed her sweet love affair would end this way?
Kelsey must have baked because there were homemade cinnamon rolls on Alex"s table, and he"d made a pot of coffee. It smelled good, but no one made a move. The frosted rolls sat waiting for Todd to show up and snag the first one. Like he always did. Before....
"I"m proud as h.e.l.l of you guys," Alex said.
Good way to start, Boss. Kick us when we"re down.
Zack clenched his fists in front of him at the table. St.i.tched and broken fingers complained at the pressure. He did it again. Everyone"s morale was low. He"d lost enough people and friends in his life to understand where their heads were right now. They"d done their best. d.a.m.n it. They should be doing a victory dance instead of mourning. But life can change on a dime. That"s just the way it was. He stared at his hands, clenched them again, and planned revenge.
"How"s Chai Yenn, David?" Alex turned to the senior agent at his side.
The question must"ve surprised David as much as it did Zack. He looked sheepish, like he"d been caught. Zack watched the cat and mouse game begin that Alex was so good at.
"She"s...she"s living with my family," David said, gulping as he faced Alex. "Once Nancy heard-"
"You"re her foster parents then, right?" Alex asked calmly.
"Yes." David looked guilty. "She never went into a foster home. I couldn"t let her."
Mother reached over to squeeze his hand.