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Jose stopped short Stunned And it wasn’t often he lost his cool But fiery denial puh hi he’d er Because somehow he overlooked an Ahtened his grip, un didn’t waver as he pointed it at the supposed student hostage, Sutton Harper
Stella ground her teeth in frustration
She hadn’t made it to the door before Mr Brown blocked her exit When she pushed, he reminded her she wouldn’t make it ht, but with his , odds really weren’t in her favor
Mr Brown and his da off each other’s analytical perspectives Not so much today
Meanwhile, she was stuck inside the co Jose in har she could do about it Her eyes were riveted on his face on the video screen, the caiven the prelis from their military hazmat experts, those containers were filled with toxins every bit as horrific as she’d originally feared The details on the cloth hadn’t been a distraction This threat had been horrifically real, which bolstered her fears that the second cloth could hold even et her hands on that, she would have to play by Mr Smith’s rules And she would
As soon as she saw for herself that Jose was all right
The deconta up in record ti Jose, his PJ teammates, and their captives toward the tents and hoses Jose was struggling and shouting so that was lost in the frenzy She wanted to be out there and shout right along with him
Nobody cared about the fact that the VP’s wife e about the current crisis
She pivoted back to Mr Brown, the guy who’d usually seeht noas not budging
Reining in her teh past cases--had gotten her through her recent hostage horror "With all due respect, sir, you don’t needme secure the second cloth? I’m the person who decoded the first one"
"Yourather than bringing us into the loop right away?" He nudged his glasses, his s you into the loop isn’t going that well forthe interagency love"
Where was Mr Sht, but right now she felt like she was being torn in two She needed to find out as on that pattern--she’d already hedged her bets by asking one of the tech guys to capture up-close ies in case she couldn’t secure the actual cloth
She ached to be outside with Jose She tracked his progress as he and the guy with him ducked behind the decontamination curtain Normally they would have just stripped down and hosed off, but the proprieties here made that impossible… made it impossible for her to see him
She clapped her hand on top of her head, her ball cap still in place Reasonable, be reasonable "I just want to be in the loop I could be wrong There could be nothing there But if I’ you don’t want the hellfire that will rain down on your head if you say no and you’re wrong Sir"
He pushed his glasses up and pinched the bridge of his nose "Interpol agents… pain in the ass"
"Why thank you"
His glasses slid back in place "Go see your boyfriend and by the tia here for you to inspect"
"Thank you, Brown…" Or whatever his real name was She sprinted toward the door, then called over her shoulder, "I could use a dedicated computer and a scanner"
"Want, want, want…" He pushed open a side door and waved her through "Just hurry it up before Smith finds out I let you leave"
"Thanks, really I owe you" She ducked under his arm and out into the cacophony outside
Ropes held back the crowds that had waited for hours to watch the festivities Sirens wailed fro on top of the other security vehicles Flashing her badge, she sprinted across, toward the canvas stalls ater flooding underneath Decontamination units
Her heart kicked harder in her chest She jogged faster, wishing she had Jose’son fumes She’d coe of her life, solve the e to wo a broken heart and barely staying ahead of destruction at every turn
She held up her badge again to a local soldier "I’ with the uys"
He eyed her shieldher through Splashing through what could well be tainted water, she pushed through to a new set of ropes around the shower stalls Men in chemical suits sprayed down a row of totally buff men in their skivvies But she saw only Jose