Susan Sleeman - Emergency Response

Looked like Noah’s take on the significant others was on target.

Footsteps sounded above, then Noah heard the click of shoes coming down the stairway. He crossed the room to see Darcie slowly descend. She was long and lean, with legs that didn’t seem to quit. She’d changed out of her work uniform of black pants and polo shirt into jeans and a bright blue sweater with a high collar. The color highlighted the generous red tint to her hair, something he’d often thought was related to her fiery personality. And the neckline covered the bruises on her throat—a choice that he figured was probably deliberate.

“You poor thing.” Cash’s fiancée, Krista, rushed over to Darcie and led her toward an open chair as if she was a fragile teacup. “I can’t imagine having a guy try to choke me. And bullets? I’d faint.”

Morgan joined them, her blond hair standing out in contrast to the dark-headed pair. She patted Darcie’s shoulder, then squatted next to her. “It’s terrible. Just terrible. What can we do to help?”

Darcie shrank back from their enthusiastic concern. She started turning a small silver ring around and around on her pinkie finger. The ring had belonged to her daughter, Haley, and Noah knew she played with it when she was nervous. She hated being the center of attention like this and rarely let people focus on her. She usually sidestepped questions about her life and her past, but the attack seemed to have rattled her more than she was letting on, as she simply stared into the distance.

“This is crazy,” Noah said, purposefully pulling the attention from her.

“What is?” Krista pushed her hair from her face to look up at him.

Noah forced a lighthearted tone to his voice. “For the first time ever, someone is mothering Darcie instead of her taking them under her wing.”

“Noah’s right.” Jake Marsh smiled down on Darcie from where he stood by the blazing fireplace, his stance wide and ready for action, as usual. Jake was tough and in charge, but Noah also knew how much he cared and that he would put his own life on the line for his team members.

“Guess it’s a side benefit of having more women around.” Cash smiled up at Krista, and Noah couldn’t help but gape. The former Army Ranger and bomb tech seemed to have mellowed out, too.

“What does that say about me, then?” Skyler got up and stared at Cash. Petite, with curly red hair, she was a lot tougher than her pint-sized stature made her seem. And she was one of the finest negotiators and detectives Noah had ever met.

“Don’t take offense, sweetheart.” Logan claimed his wife’s hand. “You have a heart of gold, but most of the time you’re more in a round up criminals and take names’ kind of mode.”

Noah expected Skyler to get mad, and he waited for her response.

She wrinkled her nose. “I kind of am, aren’t I?”

Logan smiled fondly at Skyler. “As an FBI agent, I appreciate that, as do your teammates. Krista and Morgan, on the other hand...?”

“Hey.” Morgan snapped her head up. “Don’t put words in our mouths. We like Skyler just fine, don’t we, Krista?”

“Well.” Krista’s face suddenly lit with mischief. “Maybe she could shrink an inch so I’m not the shortest person in the group, but yeah, otherwise she’s great.”

Skyler scowled in mock offense and the teammates broke out in laughter. Even Darcie smiled, once again proving to Noah that this team acted more like family than coworkers. Darcie was blessed to be a part of the group. He wished he had the same thing on the job, but most of the guys he hung with were married and focused on their own families, and he was like a fifth wheel.

And his real family? They hadn’t spoken much since they’d learned about Ashley. About his son, Evan. Her parents had raised the baby and they wouldn’t let his parents anywhere near their only grandson. Noah deserved their reproach, but it stung. And to make matters worse, they’d recently learned that Evan wasn’t brought up in the Christian faith. It weighed heavy on Noah’s mind, night and day. And put a boatload of guilt in his heart, too.

“I may not be the soft and squishy type,” Skyler said, transferring her focus to Darcie, “but I can make a mean cup of tea. I’ll get you one.” She went straight to the adjoining kitchen.

Jake dropped into a recliner and pushed it back, his focus locked on Darcie. “Noah gave us the basics of your attack, but I’d like to hear about it in your own words.”

Her face blanched. Noah grabbed onto the fireplace mantel to keep from crossing over to her to offer comfort. Not only wasn’t it a good idea, but she’d also hate the extra attention.

Krista took Darcie’s hand. “Take your time, sweetie. I understand. I’ll never forget the creep who tried to kill me, but it gets easier to deal with as time passes. I promise.”

Noah had heard something about Krista’s abduction six months ago when Cash had saved her life, but Noah didn’t know more than that.

Darcie extracted her hand, leaned back in her chair and started in on the details of her attack. She described the suspect and her breathing intensified as tears started to form. She was a strong woman, but even strong women cried after a harrowing attack, and it was going to take Darcie time to get over the experience.

Her voice faltered and she blinked hard. “I don’t know this creep, but Noah wonders if it’s related to someone from a callout who didn’t like the way I treated him.”

Brady scoffed. “I expect you’d nearly have to kill someone to cause this extreme reaction. Anyone whose care you botched lately?”

“Brady,” Morgan scolded. “I’m sure there’s a more delicate way to ask.”

Brady smiled at her. It wasn’t hard to see he was head over heels in love with the woman. “Never claimed there was anything delicate about me, honey.”

“Subtlety was never Brady’s strong suit.” Archer grinned at Morgan. “And you’re the one who chose to get engaged to the guy. We inherited him.”

“Thanks a lot.” Brady fake slugged Archer’s arm.

Archer laughed. “No problem, man. What are friends for?”

“Focus, people,” Jake interrupted, to keep the team on task. “Darcie, can you think of anyone who might want to retaliate—not because you did anything wrong in their care, but because they just weren’t happy with the results? Someone who was left permanently disabled, maybe?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about it since Noah mentioned it, and I’m coming up blank.”

“I’ve already got my team pulling the callout records from dispatch,” Noah offered. “But I’m also wondering if this is gang-related.”

“Gang.” Jake sat forward, slamming down his leg rest and fixing his gaze on Noah. “How so?”

“This is just a hunch, mind you. I didn’t get a close look at the shooter, but he wore Nuevo gang colors. And we all know about the gang problems in that neighborhood.”

“Never heard of the Nuevo gang,” Cash said.

“They’re a recently formed offshoot of another faction. Nuevo means new. Hence the name.”

Darcie frowned. “But I’m not involved with or connected to a gang.”

“Regardless,” Noah replied, “I’ll talk to our detective on the metro gang task force to see if he has any thoughts on the attack.”

“I don’t like this uncertainty.” Morgan twisted her hands. “There’s got to be a connection to narrow this down. Or how else will we know whether or not everyone here is in danger?”

“This isn’t related to the team, is it?” Krista shot a questioning look at Noah.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I think it’s less likely than some of the other options.”

Jake narrowed his gaze. “Could be related to the Vargas family.”