Zack grabbed his boss"s bloodied hand, wanting to kiss the guy, but smart enough not to. "Never thought I"d be so glad to see your ugly face."
"What?" Alex shouted again, his hand fisted around Zack"s. "Speak up. I can"t hear you."
"The blast ruptured his eardrums," one of the medics said, pointing to the blood running down Alex"s neck.
"What"d you say? For h.e.l.l"s sake, speak up." Alex looked from medic to Zack, those bright blue lasers shining out from beneath the soot and blood.
"Where"d you find him?" Zack asked.
"Stairwell." One medic pointed his index finger upward. "Looks like he might have changed his mind after he called the elevator. He was already headed up when the elevator set off the bomb. Percussion threw him into the first floor fire door. Knocked him down and out."
Zack gripped Alex"s hand tighter, but it looked like encouragement was the last thing Alex wanted. He was h.e.l.l bent on getting on his own two feet.
"And he"s got an irregular heartbeat." The same medic grimaced as Alex tried to undo his straps again. "We"re taking him to the emergency room. Is there anyone you can call to meet us there, maybe someone he"ll listen to?"
"Yeah, cuz it sure isn"t us," the other poor medic muttered, wrestling to redo the straps to keep Alex on the gurney.
Zack grinned through his tears. That"s my boss!
"Sonofab.i.t.c.hin Debargio tried to kill me!" Alex bellowed, tearing the blood pressure cuff off for the third time. The medic put it back on. Patiently and firmly, he began the process of inserting an IV line. Alex brushed it away until both medics strong-armed him.
"I"ll call his wife," Zack said. "He listens to her. Where are you taking him?"
"Georgetown," both medics said at once.
Zack almost laughed with relief. The determination on his boss"s face proved it once again. When Alex was angry, all was right with the world.
"You"re going to the hospital, Boss." Zack tapped his shoulder to get his attention. There was no sense talking to him, but just the fact that he"d caught Alex"s attention seemed to do the trick. Alex settled while the medics completed their a.s.sessment and inserted the drip line. The adrenaline in his system made it difficult, he was shaking hard enough to rattle the gurney. Here was a side of the man Zack had not seen beforemad as h.e.l.l but scared, too.
"Get my guys, Zack. Call "em. All of "em!" He was in no condition to give orders, but Alex yelled them just the same. "We"re going to get that sonofab.i.t.c.h Debargio if it"s the last thing I do."
Zack nodded. Yeah, Alex might be a little beat up right now, but he was going to be fine. The man ran on anger and caffeine. They didn"t make "em any tougher.
"David knows what"s going on." Alex still bellowed. "Talk to him. Do it today!"
Zack pointed at the ambulance making its way slowly down the driveway toward the medics and their unwilling patient. "You"re going to the hospital, Boss. We"ll take care of Debargio."
Alex couldn"t read lips. Aggravation glittered in his bleary blue eyes but he nodded, resigned that he was no longer in charge. When he caught sight of the smoking carca.s.s of his truck, he reached for Zack, gripping his forearm wrist to elbow.
"Call Kelsey," he growled. "You be the one to tell her. Don"t let "em scare her."
"You know I will." Zack pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to prove he meant to do just that.
"Zack." Alex"s voice cracked. "Tell her...tell her I love her."
"Shut the h.e.l.l up. Tell her yourself," Zack roared, frowning like a b.a.s.t.a.r.d at that stupid request. Alex better get that through his d.a.m.ned thick skull. He was not going to die.
While the medics loaded him into the back of the ambulance, Zack fulfilled his word. This call he could make.
"Hey, Kels. Yeah, this is Zack. Hey, listen. It"s about Alex."
TWENTY-SEVEN.
"He can"t hear the phone ring, so call me any time," Kelsey whispered down the line. "They gave him something to help him sleep."
"Is Libby staying with you for awhile?" Zack had to smile. It was so like Kelsey to whisper even though Alex couldn"t hear.
"Yes. Mark"s on his way home from Afghanistan today, so she"s keeping me company. She"s pregnant, you know."
"I"ll tell the guys. We can use some good news for a change. Listen, Kels, I"m sending two of our new recruits over to keep watch at your place. I doubt you"ll have any trouble, so don"t worry."
"You sound like Alex."
Zack paused. Was that good or bad?
"He always tells me not to worry, too."
"You shouldn"t. You"ll like these kids. They"re both ex-Marines. Gabe Cartwright"s a big goofball, and Taylor Armstrong"s real quiet. Like I said, it"s only a precaution. Let them keep an eye on things while you take care of Alex. Metro PD offered up an office until we can get back into our building, so if you can"t reach me on my cell, call me there."
"Thanks, Zack. Tell everyone we"re good."
Zack hung up. Kelsey sounded like one of The TEAM. No matter how much they were hurting, they always answered with the affirmative, "I"m good."
He turned to face Murphy, Roy, and David. "What"s the plan?"
Murphy had commandeered office s.p.a.ce from Metro PD when Zack ran Kelsey to the hospital. Metro hadn"t been overly generous, but the broom closet sized office they"d offered up was better than nothing. At the moment, the men of The TEAM were a ragtag outfit gathered around a four-by-six wooden table and a borrowed murder board. There weren"t enough chairs, so no one sat. Mother and Ember were holed up in another part of the station, trying to accomplish their work on borrowed computers. Zack was in jeans and his leather jacket, still covered with soot and mud and smelling of smoke. Murphy, Roy, and David were not as dirty, but their clothes smelled of smoke as well. Emotions ran high.
Murphy nodded toward David. "The plan is we talk with David. Guess he and Alex have been discussing-"
A sharp rap at the door interrupted him. Just as quickly, a tall man in a crisp, black business suit walked in like he owned the place. "So this is where you"re hiding."
Zack"s hackles rose. Whoever he was, this stranger had just jerked the wrong chain on the wrong day.
"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" Despite his words, Murphy extended his hand in friendship.
"Interpol. Director Daniel Peters. You must be Finnegan." The intruder returned the handshake. Peters seemed to know everyone, addressing all four men by name as he made the rounds, shaking everyone"s hand and making direct eye contact. When he was done, he zeroed in on Murphy again. "I"m here to enlist your services, unless you"d rather sit around here wasting time instead of going after the man who d.a.m.ned near a.s.sa.s.sinated your boss."
"Alex mentioned you and he were organizing a three-p.r.o.nged offensive against Debargio, Espinosa, and the 4th Street Tigers," David said. "How close to implementation are you?"
"Today," Peters shot back. "Now. This very minute."
"Good." Roy rubbed his hands together. "I"m ready for a little payback."
"Me, too," Zack admitted. It was time to not be on the receiving end for a change.
"Wait." Murphy held up his hand to slow the conversation. "Let"s hear the plan first. We"re not going off half-c.o.c.ked like-"
"What? You need warrants before you"re willing to make an honest effort?" Peters removed several folded doc.u.ments from his inner suit jacket pocket and slapped them on the table.
Zack caught the sarcasm leveled at Murphy. Peters was a hard charger, and no, The TEAM did not always need warrants to proceed. That was the responsibility of the ent.i.ty hiring them. Alex knew a thing or two about business law. His contracts stipulated proper procedure. It might not always work out, but that was another story.
"Now you mention it, yes, a warrant is exactly what I want to see, especially if we"re throwing in with you Feds." Murphy took a seat at the change in Peters" att.i.tude and pulled his gla.s.ses out of his shirt pocket to read the warrants. "These only cover Debargio"s residence and Espinosa"s hangout. I thought you said this was a three-way?"
"We don"t need one for the Tigers," Peters snapped, his brows wrinkled and his fingers arched into the table. "They reek of probable cause. Didn"t one of them murder an agent of yours recently? A Todd Chandler?"
Icy fingers slithered up Zack"s neck at the way Director Peters tossed out Todd"s name like it suited his purpose. "A Todd Chandler," like Todd was just another statistic. Peters seemed intent on inciting instead of enlisting.
Peters" impatience escalated while Murphy took another long minute to finish reading the warrants. The thing about a confrontation with Murphy was he did it pa.s.sively, but effectively. There was no temper or aggression, although his lack of engagement could be d.a.m.ned aggravating.
Peters drummed his fingers on the table.
Murphy kept on reading.
"What part do you want us to play?" Leave it to David to insert a modic.u.m of diplomacy to take the tension out of the room. d.a.m.n him, anyway.
"Is this all you"ve got? The three of you and him?" Peters nodded toward Zack.
Zack bit his lip. There it was again, the insolent condemnation behind the push.
"I don"t need anyone else," Murphy said. "They"re the best agents-"
"Fine." Peters cut him off. "You four will go after Espinosa. I trust you can stick to the ground rules this time?" He glared at Zack.
"No problem," Zack answered, ignoring the innuendo and trying real hard to follow David"s diplomatic lead and not punch Peters" arrogant face in. "What are they?"
"Simply that this is a synchronized offensive strategy. You will get into position, but you will not proceed until you have my signal to do so." Peters seemed to have a problem and Zack, apparently, was it. He wasn"t addressing Murphy, David, or Roy. No, he was speaking directly to Zack like he was the only one in the room. "All three attacks will commence at precisely the same moment to prevent one of these targets from alerting the other two. Am I clear?"
"Do you want us to get these guys, or are we going to keep playing mine"s bigger than yours?" Zack rolled his fingers into a fist. He got the point. Despite the fact he"d brought down the child trafficking ring, his rep for bungling the ATF Op remained. Didn"t it figure? One screw up had effectively wiped out the good he"d done?
"What three attacks?" Murphy asked.
"Metro PD will apprehend the 4th Street Tigers at their hangout and take them out of the picture," Peters replied. "At the same time, you guys will intercept Espinosa at his place in Anacostia. You know the area. You"ll go in hot. Hit him hard. At the same time, my men will apprehend Debargio at his place in Maryland. If we do it right, we"ll be home for dinner tonight. Understood?" He glanced around the room, making eye contact with all four of them again. "When can you be ready?"
Murphy scrubbed a hand over his chin. "That might be a problem. At the moment, all of our equipment is part of a crime scene. We can"t get to it."
"I can get you everything you need. What else?" Peters retorted.
"Comm links would be good," Roy said.
"I"ve still got the surveillance van," David said. "There should be enough comm links and ammo in there. We may not need any Interpol a.s.sistance."
"Tattle Tales?" Roy asked.
David nodded. "If you"ve got your weapons and gear bags, we should be good to go right now."
"Guess we won"t need your help after all," Murphy said to Peters. "When do you need us in place?"
Peters seemed to relax. He checked his watch. "In two hours. Call when you"re at this location." He tossed a business card to Murphy. "If you can"t follow my orders, I need to know now."
"We"ll be there," Murphy said evenly.
"You are to contact me with any deviation in this plan. Understood?"
Murphy rolled his eyes. "I"ve done a few covert ops before, in case you didn"t know."
"Fine." Peters cast one more disparaging glance at Zack before he strode out the door.
"Whew," Roy chuckled. "Something"s sure got his panties in a twist."
Zack watched the door Peters had exited through. His gut was talking to him. He hated when it did that.
Once again, Zack stood waiting at the place where he"d first met little Chai Yenn. Only now the van lay in pieces at the Metro D.C. evidence garage. Chai Yenn was safely ensconced in the stronghold of a loving family. Hundreds of little girls were either on their way to better lives in foster families, or restored to their real families.
He couldn"t help feeling a little smug this afternoon. The mistake he"d made had turned out to be a very good decision. Following his gut affected so many little girls for the best, including the two waiting at home for him. He smiled. The word had a nice ring to it. Home.
Zack knew the type of man he was after. According to intel, Espinosa saw himself as the G.o.dfather of this particular neighborhood. Untouchable. To prove it, he had planned a horrendous crime wave to supposedly make history, starting New Year"s Eve. Word on the street was there"d be no place to hide. Zack intended it to be truefor Espinosa.
The plan was straightforward. Zack and Murphy would enter Espinosa"s hangout through the front entrance, while David and Roy entered through the rear. As far as The TEAM was concerned, today was the day for good old Vinnie to put his money where his big mouth was.
"You ready?" Murphy asked, as he and Zack flattened themselves to the side of the building. Zack scanned the empty scene. The streets had been plowed and sidewalks were shoveled, but even during the four weeks of undercover work on the ATF Op, he"d not seen the place so deserted.
"We have a go." David relayed the latest word from Director Peters. "Move out."
Murphy went first, edging along the brick building, his rifle tight into his shoulder. Zack had chosen his pistol, a compact Ruger 9mm fitted with a centerfire laser, instead of a rifle. Doorways and corners offered too many blind spots in clearing a building. Close quarters brought risk and death up too close and personal.
He thumped Murphy"s shoulder from behind and took over the lead. They moved in sync, alternating the point position while the other covered the rear. They"d no more than cracked the front door when Zack sensed something wrong. The place was deadly quiet. Hollow. By the looks of it, Espinosa"s hideout had no heat either. The resulting busted water pipes had created a science fiction kind of landscape of frozen spray throughout the inner halls and stairs. Sheets of ice covered the floors. Vapor clung to the men as they proceeded into the building.
"Murphy? Zack?" David"s voice came through loud and clear over their earpieces.
"Yes?" Murphy answered.
"Join us at the back staircase. You"re not going to believe what we found."
"Yeah well, you"re not going to believe what we"ve found either," Murphy muttered.
Zack shuffled his feet, sliding along the slippery, frozen carpet to the side entrance where he and Murphy joined back up with Roy and David. The place was macabre. No sound. No lights. No people. The back staircase was worse. There in lifeless color hung the frozen bodies of Espinosa"s two lieutenants: Gus and d.i.c.k.
"Judging by the holes in their foreheads, they"ve been executed like Carducci," David said.
"Say what?" Zack growled, surprised he didn"t know that development. "When"d that happen?"