“That’s Niall’s job right now.” Josh actually pulled the earpiece out of her hand. “Not yours.”

  “Go back.”

  “No.”

  She balled her fist, teeth clenched.

  “Are you going to hit me? I figure you don’t have the strength to do a whole lot of damage, but there’s a chance.” He shook his head. “Do I need to remind you we just saved your butt?”

  Dakota sat back in her chair. Folded her arms. “Planning to talk until my head explodes?” Sarcasm dripped from her words.

  He made a sound, air pushed out of his nose. Like he wanted to tell her to shut up. He should. What was the point in being nice when things needed to be said?

  “Close your eyes and take a break.” His voice sounded pained. “When I know something, I’ll tell you.”

  Dakota didn’t close her eyes. “I better know the second you find out.”

  Josh reached over and squeezed her hand. “He’ll be okay.”

  “He better be.”

  . . .

  First she got mad. Then it became clear she needed a little compassion from him because she was hurting and worried about her friend. Now she was silent. Evidently if something happened to Sal because Josh hadn’t turned the car around and gone to help the guy, then it was going to be his fault.

  She wanted to go and rescue her friend. A friend who’d been there to rescue her. She was in absolutely no position to be doing anything right now. Unless that was taking pain killers and lying down.

  Josh really shouldn’t be either, considering the bandaged gash just below his neck.

  He glanced at her once, then pulled out onto the road. Her face was a mess. If the rest of her was half as bad, then she might have internal bleeding to go along with that concussion.

  He drove into town and headed to the doctor’s office instead of to the motel. She would probably prefer to not be in the room she’d been kidnapped from.

  Josh ignored the radio and handed Dakota his phone. “Do me a favor and call Talia?”

  She didn’t look at him, or give anything away, but she did dial the number. When she handed it back, it was already ringing.

  Talia answered. “Weber?”

  “Yeah.”

  Before he could say more, Talia interrupted. “Is Dakota okay?”

  Josh answered with, “Rouse the doctor out of bed.”

  Dakota shifted. “No—”

  He ignored her right back. “She needs looking at, and I’m pretty sure I need stitches.”

  “Copy that.”

  “I’m headed there now. Have him meet us.”

  “Uh…” Talia paused. “Looks like it’s a woman.”

  “Then have her meet us.”

  Josh hung up and pulled into the parking lot. The sign outside said, Doctor J Stevens. Probably better for Dakota that the doctor was a woman, as she’d likely be more comfortable being poked and prodded by a woman. Especially considering what might have happened between her being taken and running out of that shed.

  He pulled into a spot right by the door and tossed the phone in the cup holder. He shifted toward Dakota, and fussed with the heater some more so it blew warm on her. “Still cold?”

  He shifted again, trying to get comfortable. Neema set her front paws on the center console and sniffed at his face. She knew how he felt about face licking, so she didn’t try that. Just kept her nose close to his. He scratched under her chin. “You okay, Dakota?”

  She spoke to the window, her body still. Fingers intertwined together on her lap. “Sorry about your truck.”

  “You didn’t ask them to toss a grenade under it. I’m just glad we’re both in one piece.” Except neither of them were all right, if they were honest.

  She sucked in a breath that shifted her chest and couldn’t quite hide the wince.

  “Tell me what they did.” He didn’t want to ask, but maybe she needed to say it out loud.

  “Tied me up. Punched me. Tried to talk me to death.”

  “That’s it?”

  She shrugged one shoulder. A delicate move. One he didn’t think she realized told him more about what had happened than any of her previous words.

  They’d shaken her, despite her strength and capability. The pain she was in, the quiet and dark of the car. Maybe even the fact it was him here and not her team. All of it allowed her mask to slip just a little.

  She was far from okay.

  The clock on the dash read 00:47 when the doctor pulled into the parking lot. She met them at the door and took a look at both of them. She motioned to Josh. “Gunshot first.”

  She showed Dakota to a room, and had her get into a gown while she stitched up Josh next door. When she’d finished up, she headed to check out Dakota.

  Josh paced the hallway while the phone rang against his ear. Dakota would want an update. When Talia answered, he said, “Anything?”

  “Niall thinks they have Salvarez pinned down so that he can’t respond or he’ll give himself away. But Niall can’t get any closer without confronting them. How’s our girl?”

  “In with the doctor,” Josh said.

  “Soon as I get word about Sal, I’ll let you know. So you can tell her.”

  Because they were friends and teammates, or more? Josh didn’t know if he wanted an answer to that. “Are they…”

  “No.” She dragged out the word. “What a nightmare that would be. No way. He would probably shoot her inside of a week, after she first drove him crazy, of course. Dakota needs someone who can settle her. Someone who can bring peace to her life, not more of that Type-A, butt-to-the-flame, win-at-all-costs thing they both have going on.”

  It sounded like she needed an elementary school teacher, or at least someone with a job completely different to hers. Josh wasn’t sure he liked that.

  “She also needs someone capable of protecting her and keeping up with her. Not someone she’s going to railroad, or walk all over. Not that she would do it intentionally, but if they just bend under her strength, then what’s the point?”

  “Mmm.” Josh didn’t really know what else to say. Equally strong, but not the same? Soft but a fighter? Maybe Talia just knew all the facets of Dakota’s personality, so she had this level of insight. Maybe she saw the contrasting things and knew what would match up to her.

  Would he?

  Did he want to find out? It wasn’t like he was any good at relationships. So far he hadn’t had one that actually worked. And if he admitted it to himself, that actually hurt. He knew it wasn’t totally his fault. Relationships took two people working to make them last, and maybe he hadn’t met anyone willing to do their part. But he was almost thirty. Everyone he’d grown up with was married. Some of them even had kids already.

  He had Neema, and his job. And Eden.

  A dog and an old lady neighbor.

  The doctor pulled the door open. Josh said, “Gotta go,” and hung up on Talia.

  Dr. Stevens closed the door behind her. “One second.” She tapped the screen of her iPad for a few seconds, then locked it. Looked up. “Okay.”

  Josh lifted his eyebrows, leaving the question unspoken.

  “Lacerations and bruising, mainly concentrated on her face. Her hip has a nice-sized bruise as well. She’s getting dressed now.”

  “You’re releasing her?”

  “She doesn’t want to be admitted, so there’s nothing I can do more than what I’ve already done. The concussion from earlier still stands. She needs monitoring, and she needs to sleep. The woman is exhausted. She’s not going to feel better for a few days.”

  By which time he’d be back to work. Long gone with nothing but a gunshot wound to remember this lovely time in his life.

  Yes, Victoria had made his boss sign that paper, but it wasn’t like it extended beyond Monday, right? He needed to get back to his desk. Keep working on those open cases he had.

  “Thank you.”

  Dr. Stevens nodded. She walked away down the hall, and he waited a minute. Then tapped on the door.

  “You can come in.” Her voice was muffled.

  Josh cracked the door and peered in. She was dressed in her jeans and a T-shirt, the other layers beside her on the bed. Her feet were bare. Hair down. Ponytail holder on her wrist.

  Aside from the bruising, she looked considerably younger. It made him want to hug her so she felt better.

  “Can you help me with my shoes?”

  Josh knelt in front of her and assisted. Her socks were thick. He tied her boot laces, and even zipped her coat for her.

  She stood. “Thank you.”

  The words were a whisper between them. “You’re welcome.”

  Her lip was split. Josh leaned close to the other corner of her mouth. Just a tiny kiss. A small amount of comfort for her, when she clearly didn’t feel good at all.

  When their lips were a hairsbreadth apart, his phone rang.

  Chapter 11

  Dakota settled into the chair, not thinking too much about the fact this was Josh’s room and not hers. Her head pounded. She would’ve been grateful for that fact, as it meant she was still alive, had it not hurt so bad it eclipsed everything else.

  “You can lie down if you want.” He even shooed Neema off the bed.

  Dakota said, “No.” It came out too strong.

  He shot her a look. “I didn’t mean anything. You just look like you need to lie down.”

  That soft look was back in his eyes. The same one that had been there before he was going to kiss her. She knew he’d been about to. No one moved their face so close to someone else’s without that being on their mind.

  Then his phone had rung. Niall found Sal, and they were headed back here.

  After that it had been all about getting in the car and arguing about who was worse off, and who should drive. Heading back to the motel. She wanted to take a shower, but that would mean getting her things from her room, and right now, it was the last place she wanted to go. Asking one of the guys to get her stuff also wasn’t going to happen.

  “You do look like you need to rest.”

  Dakota was about to answer him. Someone knocked on the door. She moved to get up, but Josh waved her back in the chair. “Stay there.”

  He had a gun in one hand, and peered out the peep hole for a second before he grabbed the handle and let them in.

  Niall, followed by Sal.

  Relief was enormous. So overwhelming she actually smiled, even though it hurt a lot. Sal looked about as grateful to see her as she was to see him. He strode over and crouched in front of her. “Pierce?” His voice was hoarse.

  Dakota bit her lip against the rush of tears. Why was this affecting her so much? Too tired. Too much headache. She didn’t know why, but she could hardly speak past the emotion clogging her throat. “I’m okay.”

  Josh made a noise that sounded an awful lot like he disagreed with her.

  She ignored him. “You?”

  “They pinned me down, and I didn’t want to be in the middle of a gunfight. I hunkered down and stayed there until they passed by me. Then I ran for it with Niall.”

  Dakota didn’t think that meant they’d come out unscathed, necessarily. But she was going to wait until she could think straight before asking more questions.

  Sal would absolutely refrain from telling her the truth, or the whole truth at least, if he thought she didn’t need it. Or couldn’t handle it. For the first time, she thought he might actually be right.

  And if he wasn’t, she didn’t have the energy to argue.

  “What are we going to do now?” She didn’t want to be the focus. And if she was going to stay awake, then they needed to make a game plan.

  Sal sat on the edge of the bed. Niall’s usually glass-half-full face looked decidedly darker than normal. She didn’t like that at all. He was the happy, hopeful one among them.

  Niall said, “Victoria is on her way.”

  “What?”

  Sal waved at her. “Deal with it. You think she’s going to sit at home when one of her people got hurt?”

  “Guess not.”

  Niall cracked a smile. “When she gets here, we’ll figure out a plan.”

  “Is she getting a warrant for the compound?” Dakota figured the plan would be to raid the place where she was taken, round them all up and start filing charges.

  Sal nodded.

  “You think they’ll be there when we go back?” Josh asked.

  “We?”

  He nodded. “Victoria got permission from my boss. I’m attached to the team. At least for another eighteen hours. I should be back in the office Monday morning.”

  Dakota didn’t know what to say. She glanced at the clock, counting down the minutes until Josh left. It was the middle of the night right now—early Sunday morning. Josh was part of the team? Victoria had pulled strings so that he was attached to the Northwest Counter Terrorism Taskforce.

  Sal said, “Don’t count on going home anytime soon. This is far from over.”

  Josh opened his mouth to say more, but another knock on the door sounded. He pulled the door open without looking this time. Talia strode in, followed by Victoria. The difference between them couldn’t be more apparent than it was just now.

  They introduced themselves to Josh, then Talia sauntered over, her gorgeous thick curves showcased as she peeled off her thigh-length fluffy coat to reveal a pair of skinny jeans and a fitted blouse. Her gold toned makeup was still perfect against her dark skin even though it was the early hours of the morning, and her short bob of tight curls looked just right.

  “You okay?” She cocked her hip and set her hand there for extra emphasis.

  Dakota shut her eyes and nodded.

  Talia touched the sides of Dakota’s head, her fingers warm and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

  She opened her eyes to Talia licking her thumb, then going in to wipe her forehead. Dakota said, “Did you leave a lipstick mark on me?”

  “The purple is bruise-colored as well.” Talia paused. “I’m not sure if it’s fabulous or very very sad. I think I’m done with the eggplant.”

  Dakota smiled as Talia sauntered to sit next to Sal. He sighed and scooted over.

  Victoria had crouched by the door. Her pencil skirt pulled tight across her knees as she held out her hands. Neema sniffed and licked the boss’s hands then moved closer and aimed for Victoria’s face.

  The boss ruffled her hands through the hair on Neema’s sides while the dog slurped kisses all over her cheeks. “What a beautiful girl you are.”

  Dakota glanced at the men. Transfixed. Victoria had that way about her. Long, straight blond hair. Classy. Late forties, but she had something about her that was…timeless. Like European vacations, and those perfume commercials.

  Next to her, Dakota would always be the girl who grew up with dirt under her fingernails and one pair of shoes. A girl who got haircuts at home. And had never been on a vacation in her life.

  Josh called Neema away and then held out a hand to help Victoria stand. Looking a little more smitten than Dakota would’ve liked to have seen on the face of a man who had nearly kissed her not even an hour earlier.

  “Dakota?”

  She blinked and focused on her boss. A woman whose lips had curled up. Like there was anything funny about this?

  She started to get up. There were entirely too many people in this small motel room, and she needed to move.

  Victoria said, “Sit down.”

  Dakota sat back down.

  Victoria surveyed her, mostly her face. Though she knew better than to comment on any of it. Then she glanced around. “The warrant is on its way.”

  “Good,” Sal said. “Then we can haul them all in.” He looked about ready to kill someone, not arrest them.

  Dakota told them everything that had happened in that shed.

  Sal said, “So the woman is in charge?”

  “I think so. From what I can tell she’s the brains and the guys are all muscle.” Maybe they could pin down Austin Crampton again. Get him to talk this time.

  “Unless they’re gone,” Niall said. “Maybe they split.”

  “They have.” Talia pulled an iPad out of her giant gold purse. “Heat signatures moved away in different directions right after you guys took off.”

  Dakota wanted to run her hands down her face, but that would hurt.

  “We can still serve the warrant,” Victoria said. “See if they left anything behind. But we need to find them. Maybe even get someone on the inside of their group to dig up what they’re hiding.” She shot Dakota a pointed look.

  “Austin.” Tomorrow she was going to find him.

  Victoria shook her head, “That wasn’t who I was thinking of.”

  Dakota stared at her boss. Seriously? She was going to bring him into this? “No. I said ‘no’ after the grenade and I’m still saying no. I mean it.”

  The situation didn’t warrant that. It wasn’t a plan to solve this. It was no better than tossing in a nuclear warhead that would destroy everything…and everyone.

  “But—”

  “No.”

  Victoria had no idea what she was even asking.

  . . .

  Josh didn’t ask what that was about. “Is it worth having Dakota look over mug shots to see if she can identify the woman?”

  Talia spoke before anyone else. “I have something that might help.” She swiped at the screen of her iPad, her gold glitter nail flickering in the overhead light. “Austin Crampton, younger brother of Terrence Crampton.”

  Dakota nodded.

  Talia said, “They have an aunt. Their mother’s sister, Clare Norton.” She turned the iPad.

  Josh leaned to the side to see what Dakota saw. Then he looked at her, so he could read the reaction on her face.

  A muscle in her jaw shifted. She gave a short nod.

  “Clare Norton?” Victoria said her name as a question. Evidently that meant something to the rest of them, a question she needed an answer to.

  Talia nodded as she read her tablet screen. “Served ten years in the state of Oregon on drug charges. Got out three years ago. Austin and Terrence have no family, except her.”

  “Maybe that’s why they’re sticking close,” Josh said. “Humoring her.”

 

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