Seating herself at the kitchen table, she raised an eyebrow at Aliyah, who studiously ignored her as she forked up a bite of her lunch and shoved it in her mouth. Claire cleared her throat for emphasis.
Aliyah’s eyes darted up to hers, expression all innocent. “What?” she demanded around a mouthful of noodles.“Exactly,” Claire countered. “You got something going on with Duke that I don’t know about?”She snorted and forked up some veggies. “He wishes.”Okay then. Claire hid a smile, enjoying the opportunity to rib Aliyah and glad to be talking about something so normal for once. “Just checking, because I seem to recall you saying something about swearing off men for cats for the next six months. Of course this just means I like you even more.”Aliyah paused and gave her that cool look Claire had no trouble seeing through now. “What are you talking about?”Claire knew her co-worker wasn’t used to dea
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Risen To The Top CHAPTER 100
They all made it through the meeting without falling asleep, though Claire looked ready to pitch face first onto the boardroom table at any moment. Marshall shifted and leaned back farther into his seat, trying to mask his annoyance for her sake.The meeting he’d thought would be so pivotal to this entire investigation had unfortunately turned out to be a total fucking waste of everyone’s time. Acting on an anonymous tip that had precipitated Luke’s previous meeting with all the agency higher-ups in the first place, the FBI team on scene had reported that the man they’d found was not Paulo.After two hours of useless effort, no one was any closer to knowing the bastard’s whereabouts or plans, nor could they find any further trace of him via cell phone towers or credit card info. So far he’d been smart enough to use cash and stay below the radar. For now the investigation was at a standstill and both Luke and Alex were just as frustrated abo
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 101
Something was up and it was making her damned nervous. They should’ve all been inside by now, relaxing. Instead Alex had her well back from the safe house and Marshall and Sean hadn’t given the all clear yet. And despite his calm exterior, Claire knew Alex was on full alert. His posture was tense, his eyes watchful. Her nape tingled in warning.“What’s going on?” she demanded, half turned in her seat so she could see the safe house behind them a block and a half down the street. The neighbors had been talking to Marshall and Sean a minute ago, then they’d bolted back into their garage and closed the door like a rabid animal was chasing them. Marshall and Sean had disappeared into the backyard. Now Marshall had come back around the front of the house, only this time she could tell from the position of his arms that he was holding a pistol in his hands.What the hell? “Did they find something?” Her heart rate accelerated. If Marshall was in any danger, she
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 102
Marshall was doggedly up on one knee now, still sucking in air. He was bleeding from dozens of little gashes across his chest, probably from flying glass and other debris, and she could already see bruises forming beneath his skin. God, he was a total mess. The burns on his face looked painful and had to hurt like hell. Why wouldn’t he just lie down? He managed to get both feet underneath him, though he wobbled a bit. Claire automatically shot out a hand to grab his upper arm and for a moment she was sure he would shake her off like an angry dog but instead he turned his head and looked straight into her eyes.“I’m all right,” he gasped out, loudly, though the effort of speaking clearly cost him. He was pale, way too pale for her liking.“You’re not all right,” she snapped, on the verge of tears again. “Your fucking ears are bleeding.”He frowned and stared at her mouth and she realized he couldn’t understand her because he couldn’t hear her
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 103
Sean and Alex were across the street directing the crowd back from the safe house and doing an initial sweep of the property when the first responders finally arrived. Police cruisers roared up and cops swarmed the area. One officer came over to her and Marshall to help and she filled him in on what had happened and explained that they were working for the L.J Corp, while others talked with Alex and Sean and worked to get all the bystanders back to a safe distance in case another device went off. Marshall’s ID was in his wallet but hers was back in her purse, on the floorboard of the SUV she’d been in with Alex.When the ambulance arrived Marshall was none too pleased about being herded toward it but she and the cop assisting her gave him no choice. He flat out refused to get on a gurney though, and stubbornly sat on the tailgate while the paramedics checked him over. She stood back a ways with the officer and overheard one of the medics say something about a chest tub
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The cops swarmed the yard. Alex let out a vicious curse and kept going for another few seconds before Sean reached out and stopped him. Alex snarled in disgust and stood up, running a bloody hand through his hair. “Fuck, we needed him for questioning. God dammit.”Marshall walked over and pointed to the remote. Alex’s gaze shifted up from the device into Marshall’s face. He shook his head in disbelief. “How the hell’d you get here, anyway?”“Piggybacked,” he gasped out, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the cop who’d helped him. The rest of them were securing the scene, taking possession of the body and questioning Sean. Alex would be next, but at Marshall’s wisecrack the team leader’s harsh features transformed into a broad grin.“Hardcore, man.”“Yeah.” Shit, he barely had the strength to stay upright now. “Give me…a ride back …so I can…see Claire?” He paused to wheeze in another breath, clammy all over and shaky as hell.
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Marshall glowered at her, like a kid pouting because he didn’t get his way. “This is fucking stupid.”Stupid? Really? Sighing, she stood and walked to the window that overlooked the parking lot to get a grip on her emotions. It was dark out now, a bright half moon hanging in the clear night sky. Everything was so calm out there. Made it twice as surreal considering the hell they’d been through today. She’d come so close to losing him forever. So close. Her throat tightened.“Claire.”Schooling her features into a calm mask, she turned her head to look at him. “What?”He reached out a hand, his expression contrite. “Come here.” He said it so softly, his deep voice holding that intimate tone she couldn’t refuse, let alone ignore.Crossing to him, she sank down carefully onto the edge of the mattress close to his hip and slid her hand into his. Marshall closed his fingers around hers and stroked his thumb over the ba
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 108
Claire kissed him. Set her hand against the uninjured side of his face to cradle his cheek in her palm and settled her mouth over his. “I love you,” she murmured, “no matter what you do.”Marshall made a rough sound and slid his fingers into her hair to cradle the back of her head, deepening the kiss. “You won’t run out on me this time?” he muttered against her lips when he pulled back an inch.“No,” she vowed, meaning it and surprised by how good it felt to say aloud.“Even though I’m way older than you and I have a teenage daughter and I can’t have any more kids and I do dangerous shit for a living?”At one time she’d convinced herself that scarlet and his vasectomy were yet more reasons why they couldn’t be together, but now she realized how stupid she’d been. She wanted Marshall more than she wanted anything, even the chance to be a mother. Maybe somewhere down the line they could talk about adoption but if not, i
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 109
It was a dusty day as the silver plane nosed down through billowy clouds on its way to kiss the ruined earth. A united gasp went up from passengers as they saw the raw, brown, smoking soil that would normally be covered in patchwork patterns of an industrious agricultural people. But what was missing was the green. Sean clenched his jaw, grinding ice, and rocked to the loud metallic music of selection number seven on the in-flight radio. He held his breath.Looks like a flooded and bombed-out valley.He wasn’t used to seeing Alaska look like a wasteland. Wastelands got you killed or killed your friends. They never healed. Nobody loved them.He stared down at the remains, and, as incredible as it was, he still loved this place.He’d never felt alone before. Completely alone. He’d missed so much, being away on deployments, but he had always had home to come back to. Even as he clowned around on new york, home was always