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PJ closed her eyes She had no right to feel angry The girls were more important than any sense of justice she felt needed to be exacted

But the fact of the utted Numb While she lay in a hospital bed, Brumley and Nelson were out there Free Unpunished both for what they’d done to her and for what they’d done and planned to do to those babies

She turned her face to the side, biting into her lower lip to keep her elided over her cheek Just one finger The back of a knuckle But she’d know that touch anywhere

She should be angry with hi her any tenderness in front of the others But they were all being gentle with her Things had changed and she hated it all How could anything ever be the same with her team?

This would always be between theile instead of a tea ass with the rest of them All because she’d failed a mission She hadn’t been able to protect herself and she’d been stupid enough and panicked enough to take a drink from a man she knew not to trust

"PJ"

Cole’s voice came out husky, riddled with emotion It was there for everyone to hear

"Look ather eyes to see the tortured look in his own

"We’ll get him, PJ I swear to you we’ll nail his ass to the wall He’s not going to get aith this"

No one in the room denied Cole’s terse vow They all looked just as Cole did Furious Worried Sick at heart

Live as a tea with her

She took a steadying breath, detere overwhel at a ti out to the coone several hours at the most You need to rest We need to knoent down in Vienna We’ll give you whatever intel we receive I promise"

She nodded stiffly

Cole was the last to stand He was still holding her left hand, his fingers twined through hers Then finally he rose and leaned over to brush his lips across her forehead

"I’ to kill that son of a bitch for you, PJ," he whispered

She watched him walk away to join the others as they left her room

"No, you aren’t," she said quietly as her door closed, leaving her alone in the room "I am"

CHAPTER 14

PJ rested for an hour after her teaoing to She was getting out of this place

Hearing that Bru to her soul It was like she’d become a different person at that point Soh the pain and shame of her ordeal

Ti hile came easy She’d learned that early on And she’d been down before She would never have iined she’d reach a lower point than when she’d walked away from SWAT

But here she was, stripped of who she hat made her the woance Her cocky dehabout her

She wasn’t going to lie here a oing claripped her as soon as she put strain on the stitches Holy hell, it hurt

She was sore frohsdaht a duffel bag and dropped it on the counter next to the sink She slowly made her way to it and unzipped it to inspect the contents

There were sweatpants, a large T-shirt that would s her, socks and a pair of scuffed tennis shoes

Her chest softened when she realized that the clothing belonged to one of the guys

But at the bottom was the knife Bru Cole had kept it for her

It took her several long, agonizing es over the cuts stayed in place and then she put the socks and shoes on When she was done, she slipped the knife into the pocket of the sweats

She stared at herself for a longwhat she saw She saw someonebroken And she’d be damned if she allowed those bastards that kind of power

She’d hunt the motherfuckers down herself

No one No one would ever get aith ht

Revenge wasn’t just a concept, some fantasy she drea

The longer she’d lain in this hospital roorier she’d beco the bastards at herfor mercy Mercy she wouldn’t provide

They would die

They would die for what they’d done to her and for what they’d done to countless young girls and for what they’d tried to do to those babies Rio and his teaed to rescue

Thank God, they were on their way home, back to their mothers and fathers Their families

The only family PJ had was her team, and she couldn’t allow theroup She wasn’t about to turn them into one