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I meet his sympathetic gaze and realize I know him. He's the officer who responded to the condo what feels like eons ago, the night Tahani found out about me and Mila. My gaze flickers across his name badge—Evan Arias.
"I won't take her from you. Just let me help you get her to the ambulance," he says again, his voice soft, like he knows exactly what I'm going through, exactly why I can't let her go.
I nod reluctantly.
He quickly shuffles Tahani out of the way, taking her place. He helps hold Mila steady as I climb the stairs, my boots threatening to slip on the wet wood. Somehow, though, we manage to make it to the parking lot. There are police cruisers all over the place, their lights and sirens still blaring.
Uniformed officers and medics rush toward us in a blur of motion. A warning growl rumbles in the back of my throat, every muscle in my body tensing. I know they're here to help her, but I'm hanging on by a thread. I need to get her to the ambulance. Maybe then I'll be able to breathe.
"Back up," Arias orders. His hard voice cracks through the chaotic roar.
Despite the fact that half of the men surrounding us are twice his age, and a few have stripes on their shoulders, signifying that they outrank him, they listen to the command in his voice. They back off a few steps, allowing us to carry her to the ambulance. I have to fight the urge to snarl at the paramedic who takes her from my arms and places her on the stretcher.
A hand on my chest stops me when I try to climb in behind her.
"Steady," Arias says quietly when I turn on him and growl. He watches me with wary eyes. He isn't afraid of me, but recognition burns in his eyes like he knows precisely how close I am to losing it. Like maybe he's been there a time or two himself. "Let them do their jobs, Gregory. She'll be okay with them."
"She's pregnant," I choke out.
"Jesus," he mutters before turning to the paramedic. "She's pregnant, Ben."
"Fuck," the man mumbles quietly but doesn't stop working. If anything, the news has him moving more quickly as he slips an oxygen mask on her face before going right back to tending to the bullet wound.
Another paramedic comes at me, his face grim as his eyes flicker across my face. I don't know what kind of damage Guerrero did to me, but my cheek stings, and my jaw throbs. My ribs are fucking killing me too. None of that matters, though.
"Where's my daughter?" I demand, turning away from the ambulance. My gaze sweeps over the crowd milling every which way around the parking lot. It's organized chaos, everyone moving with purpose. My eyes land on Tahani as a paramedic lifts her into a second ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders.
My girls are safe.
Relief washes through me in a flood that has me swaying on my feet. I pull in my first deep breath since Mila told me that Guerrero had them blocked in. The vise around my heart loosens. Tears prickle at the back of my eyes, but they don't fall. I'm so goddamn tired, I just want to sleep.
"Fuck me," Arias barks, grabbing me by the arm.
"I'm fine," I mumble, but we both know I'm full of shit. I haven't slept in almost forty hours. Without adrenaline pushing me forward, I'm ready to collapse. Not yet, I remind myself. Not until Mila's okay. When she opens those gorgeous green eyes again, I'll sleep.
"Fucking stubborn," Arias mutters when I push myself upright, drawing on every energy reserve I have to stand on my own two feet. "What the fuck happened out there, man?"
Before I can respond, an officer with lieutenant stripes on his shoulder stomps toward us, a scowl on his ruddy face. He's about a foot shorter than I am and bulky. The anger in his eyes makes it clear he's spoiling to make someone's day a hell of a lot worse. I have a feeling it's going to be mine.
"Agent Gregory?" he barks.
I nod reluctantly, glancing down at his badge. Lieutenant Danvers.
"Care to explain why I have two dead bodies on my beach and your SAC breathing down my fucking neck?" he asks, his hands on his hips.
"Not really," I mutter, not in the mood to deal with this shit right now.
His face reddens until he looks like his head might explode.
"Agent Gregory," the paramedic—Ben—calls from the ambulance behind me before Danvers has a chance to blow up.
I immediately turn in his direction, dismissing Lieutenant Danvers. Any other day, I'd play nice with the man and make Finn proud. Federal agencies and local law enforcement agencies get along a hell of a lot better than most people think. We're all one big fucked-up family, and we depend on one another to get shit done. But today isn't that day. Not with Mila in an ambulance and her blood still soaking into my pants.
"Yeah?" I ask Ben, lifting weary eyes to him.
"She's awake and asking for you, sir."
With my heart in my throat, I take the two steps to the ambulance doors and pull myself inside.
