Special Forces Saviour
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But looking at the smoke from the forensic lab, so much more than from the house fire today that had been minutes from taking his own life, Derek realized no one could’ve survived in there.
Derek steeled himself, forced himself to cut off emotions altogether. It was one of the things he’d become an expert at over the years.
The fire department captain turned back to Derek after his radio conversation. “Sorry. Yes, one confirmed dead. But the good news is that the fire doors in the building instantly shut after the explosion. So there should be very limited causalities outside of the immediate blast site.”
Some part of Derek knew that was good, but the biggest part of him didn’t care if everyone else in the building survived if Molly had died. He managed to nod at Captain Brandal.
Brandal continued, “Based on what the firefighters closest to the blaze reported, it looks like there was an explosion in the lab, which is why we asked about hazardous materials.”
“I’m sure there were flammable items in the lab, but the safety record there is exemplary. Never been any problems reported whatsoever,” Derek told the man.
He had a hard time imagining meticulous Molly being anything but completely safe in her lab. But she was overworked and overtired. Anyone could make a mistake under those conditions.
The Captain shrugged. “It only takes one time.”
Derek felt guilt threaten to overtake him as the man’s words echoed his thoughts. But he ruthlessly tamped it down. There’d be time for guilt later. Right now he had to know the answer to the question burning a hole in his gut.
“Has the body been identified yet?” he asked through gritted teeth. Then an ugly thought hit him. “Can it even be identified here on scene?”
Maybe there wasn’t enough left of the body to be identified visually. The thought made him sick to his stomach.
“Hang on.” Captain Brandal spoke into the radio again and waited for a response. “The body is over by the paramedics. I’m sorry for your loss, but truly, with an explosion of this size, it’s nothing short of a miracle that only one life was lost.”
Nothing felt further from the truth to Derek. He wiped a hand over his face. “Thanks,” he murmured.
“Paramedics said you should probably be able to ID the guy visually. If not, we can use other means.”
Derek’s head jerked up. “Guy? Paramedics are sure the victim is a man?”
Brandal spoke into his radio once again, then turned back to Derek. “Yep. Young black male. Midtwenties.”
Definitely not Molly. Derek felt relief flood through him.
But where was she?
* * *
THE EXPLOSION ROCKED the whole building. Molly had been staring at the vending machine in the break room outside the lab, feeling guilty because she had promised Derek she would eat hours ago in the cafeteria, when she found herself thrown back against the wall and crumpling to the ground.
For long, panicked moments she couldn’t hear, couldn’t see. She struggled to get her bearings, feeling around along the floor. The emergency generator lights kicked on, casting a ghoulish gray light around the break room. But at least she could see.
The vending machine lay broken on the floor, the chairs and table knocked over and scattered across the room. The coffeemaker was hanging precariously off the side of a shelf, held by just its cord plugged into the wall. Dust floated around everywhere, like snowflakes in slow motion, moving in all directions.
Molly began moving toward the hallway, trying to shake off the ringing in her ears. What had happened? Not an earthquake. It was too loud. Definitely some sort of explosion.
She needed to get back to the lab, but once she rounded the corner from the break room she realized the lab was on fire. In all the chaos it took her longer than it normally would’ve to realize that the explosion had come from the lab.
Oh, no. David had been working in there.
Molly rushed forward, but after only a few feet ran into the clear fire wall. It had automatically lowered, as it was meant to do, to keep damage from spreading. Looking into the area where the lab had once stood, she knew there was no way the young tech had made it out of there alive.
And if the explosion had happened five minutes earlier, Molly would’ve been in there with David.
She knew if this door was closed, others around the building would be, too. All she could do was wait for the firefighters to do their job. She sat back on the floor and tried to figure out what had happened. Her ears were still ringing and the room still seemed to spin slightly.
Had something in the lab caused the fire? There were always hazardous materials around, but everyone who worked there—including David—was trained in lab safety. She couldn’t think of anything they’d been working on that could’ve caused something this damaging, but right now it was too hard to even get her thoughts straight.
And, oh gosh, David was probably dead.
Molly just closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. Eventually rescue workers came through and led her out. They wrapped her in a blanket and she was now sitting in the back of an ambulance. Still dazed.
She had been questioned multiple times. What did she think had caused the explosion? What hazardous elements had been in active use in the lab? Had there been anyone else working besides herself and David?
She answered each time as best she could about the causes, but just like when she had been sitting inside, she couldn’t figure out what would have triggered an explosion of that magnitude.
And no, no one else had been there besides her and David. The young man’s death had already been confirmed.
She didn’t know what to do, who to call. It was even more chaotic and loud out here than it had been inside near the explosion. The rescue workers were all moving at a brisk pace, yelling to one another, coordinating the best they could to do their job.
Molly liked order and quiet, not the cacophony of havoc currently swirling around her. She resisted the urge to put her hands over her ears and close her eyes.
And then she saw him.
Derek was walking directly toward her, determination in his eyes. He radiated a definite purpose in his walk, because no one got in his way; instead, they stepped around him. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of her.
She wanted to jump into his arms, to beg him to take her from here. But this was Derek Waterman. Jumping into his arms wasn’t an option.
She was shocked when he put his large hands on either side of her head and tilted her head back so she was looking into his blue eyes, and found them searching her face intently.
“Are you okay?” His voice was deep, gravelly. “Injured?”
“No, I’m fine. But David Thompson, the new lab assistant, is dead, Derek.” Molly could feel herself begin to cry. To her shock, Derek pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her.
“I know. I identified the body a few minutes ago.”
She leaned into Derek’s strength. He’d never put his arms around her in public before, but Molly didn’t question it. She needed his strength right now.
“I heard they’d found a body in the lab and I thought it was you, Molls. How did you get out?”
“I wasn’t in there when the explosion happened. I’d gone out to get something to eat.” She leaned back from his chest so she could look at him. “Like you told me to do.”
“I told you to do it hours ago.” He pulled her back against his chest. “Thank God you suck at following directions.”
Everything going on around her, all the noise and chaos, all the danger, didn’t seem quite so overwhelming against Derek’s chest. “Actually, I’m quite good at following directions,” she murmured. “I just lost track of time.”
She heard him chuckle before confirming with the paramedic that she hadn’t sustained any injuries needing further medical treatment.
“Oh, thank God!” Molly found herself ripped out of Derek’s arms and hugged against the even larger chest of Jon Hatton. “You cannot believe how glad I am to see you, Molly.”
Molly liked Jon just fine. And heaven knew he was attractive enough—six-four of solid gorgeousness—but right now she just wanted to jump out of the man’s embrace and back into Derek’s. But the moment had passed. Derek had turned to talk to Director Drackett and wasn’t even looking her way anymore.
As if it had never happened.
As usual.
“Are you okay, honey?” Jon released her from his hug, but kept one arm around her. “When we heard someone from the lab was dead...”
“David Thompson. The new tech.” Sadness filled her again. Nobody that young should die.
“I’m sorry, kiddo.” Jon squeezed her before letting her go. “But I’m glad it wasn’t you.”
As she stood watching the firefighters put the last of the flames out, Molly knew how lucky she’d been. And although she was heartbroken over David, she was glad it hadn’t been her, too.
Chapter Five
Derek was listening to what Steve Drackett was saying while trying to force himself not to punch Jon in the face. Seriously, the man had been his colleague and one of his closest friends for over five years, but when he had snatched Molly out of his arms and into his own...
Derek reminded himself that Jon had no romantic intentions toward Molly. And even if he did, Molly was free to date whomever she wanted. Derek had no claim on her.
But damned if he wasn’t totally relieved when Molly stepped away from Jon. Derek pretended not to pay any attention to them whatsoever as he spoke with his boss. But he knew exactly where Molly was.
Of course, he always knew where Molly was if she was anywhere in his vicinity. It was as if he had an internal radar set solely for her. Not that he could do anything but keep a watchful eye on her. Anything else wasn’t acceptable.
“Based on the preliminary report, the fire department feels like it was definitely something from the lab that detonated. Not caught on fire. Actually blew up,” Derek told Steve. “One confirmed death. Protection walls came down, so it looks like other damage and causalities are pretty minimal.”
The director nodded, then turned to Molly. “You okay?”
“Not physically hurt. But sick about David’s death.” Molly’s voice was strained. Derek had to resist the urge to wrap an arm around her again.
The one good thing about the trauma of the explosion was that it seemed to have made Molly forget to be nervous around him. At least she wasn’t stammering.
“Can you give us a report? Do you know what happened?” Steve asked her.
“We were working.” Molly shrugged one delicate shoulder. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Our caseload had heightened, so I called David and asked him to come back in. But we weren’t working with anything hazardous or explosive.”
Molly ran a hand over her face, exhausted. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was shaky. “I’m trying to figure out what it could’ve been. But I don’t think it was anything we were working on. I—” She rubbed a hand over her face again.
“Molly, it’s okay,” Jon said to her, coming to stand close to her again. “We’ll get it all worked out. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”
Molly just shook her head, her hand still covering her face.
Jon looked at Derek and Steve, then tilted his head in Molly’s direction. He wanted to take her home. She obviously needed to go and really couldn’t help anything here.
But over Derek’s dead body was Jon taking Molly anywhere. Derek would take her home.
Derek walked over to Molly and touched her gently on the arm. The arm that had been covering her face dropped to her side. Her eyes seemed glassy, dazed.
“Hey.” He bent at the knees so they could be eye to eye. He tucked an errant strand of her long brown hair back behind her ear. “I’m going to take you home, okay? We’ll figure out what happened tomorrow.”
She nodded, swaying slightly toward him. Derek wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He looked back at the guys, ignoring both of their slightly shocked expressions at how he was treating Molly.
Maybe he’d made too much of a show out of never touching her over the past couple years.
“I’m going to put her in the car and will be right back. She needs to sit down before she falls down.” Both men nodded, their gazes flickering to Molly, where she was tucked under his arm. “I’ll take her home in a minute.”
Steve stepped up to Molly. “Get some rest, okay? We’ll work out what happened later. But I have no question that you will be totally exonerated of all blame.”
Molly nodded, but didn’t say a word. Derek walked her over to his car and opened the passenger door, thankful for the balmy May night that wasn’t too hot or cold. But Molly was shivering slightly, so he grabbed a blazer he had thrown in the backseat and put it around her. He knew her reaction was from shock more than cold, but she wouldn’t know the difference.
Once he had her settled in the car, he squatted down so he could look in her eyes again. Hers were still pretty unfocused.
“Hey.” He wrapped the jacket more securely around her, then grabbed it by the lapels to bring her in a little closer. “I’m just going to finish my conversation with Steve and Jon and then I’ll take you home, okay? Five minutes.”
She nodded.
Derek kissed her forehead, then closed the door, jogging back toward Jon and Steve who were walking toward his car. Both of them were still looking at him with odd expressions.
“What?” he barked when they didn’t say anything.
“Nothing.” Jon shook his head. “Just wondering how I can call myself a behavioral analyst and miss certain facts that are right before my eyes.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jon shook his head again. “Absolutely nothing. Is Molly okay?”
Derek glanced back at his car. “Exhausted. A little shaky. Not unexpected, given the circumstances.”
“I believe her when she says that they didn’t have any flammable materials out in the lab at the explosion site. Molly’s record is impeccable when it comes to safety. Hell, when it comes to anything,” Steve stated.
“But she’s been working long hours. Was tired. Could’ve made a mistake she wouldn’t normally have.” Derek’s grim expression matched the other men’s.
The director nodded. “And if that’s the case, we’ll deal with it. I share in that responsibility.”
Jon turned and looked back at the building. “But if human error or some other accident wasn’t the cause of the explosion, then we have to think about what is.”
“What are you thinking? That it was some sort of attack against Omega?” Derek asked.
“Maybe not so much attack as sabotage,” Jon responded.
Each man processed that for a minute.
“It seems a little extreme, I know,” Jon continued.
“Until you take into consideration someone killing himself rather than being questioned, and perps burning that house to the ground today to keep evidence out of our hands,” Derek finished for him.
“Exactly.”
Derek grimaced. “Whatever we took into evidence must have been pretty important to blow up the whole damn lab for it.”
Steve had been quiet up until now. “And if this is all connected, then we also have to think about who knew we had that specific evidence here.” He shook his head.
“Nobody really knew, but us,” Derek said. “Unless you think we have some sort of mole?”
There had been moles in other divisions of Omega Sector in the past. But the Critical Response Division was not a clandestine section of Omega. They worked out in the open, not generally undercover or in the shadows. And although they didn’t talk publicly about investigations, Derek had no idea why a terrorist would keep a mole inside the Critical Response Division. Information was pretty open there.
“Not necessarily, at least not within our division,” Steve responded. “But perhaps amongst the people we’ve been reporting to every day.”
“The government committee?” Derek asked.
“Actually, I was thinking about that very fact last night, after Congressman Hougland was giving you a hard time,” Jon said. Derek wasn’t surprised to hear his friend doing what he did best as a behavioral analyst: piecing everything together.
“What did you come up with?” Steve asked.
“Like we’ve already talked about—obviously there was critical information at the location yesterday, based on the lengths the suspects were willing to go to try and keep us from getting it.”
Both Derek and Steve nodded.
“This lead was also unique because we weren’t here at Omega when you got the info, Derek. We were in the air following up on something else and switched our focus to the new lead.”
They’d been on one of the small Omega jets traveling back to Colorado from a lead in Chicago.
“Yeah, that’s true. We moved quicker on this lead than we have some of the others,” Derek agreed.
“We also didn’t follow exact protocol since we were already out. We hadn’t called in our exact location, just decided to go to Philly, and then the building, immediately, since the option was available.”
Derek was beginning to see the pattern Jon was suggesting. “Unlike every other lead we’ve investigated for the last two weeks. Where we’ve followed protocol pretty much to the letter. And all have led to nothing.”
Steve grimaced. “You’re thinking sabotage.” It wasn’t a question.
Jon shrugged. “It’s hard to believe that every single lead we’ve followed has been completely dead. Although I guess that’s possible.”
“No, I agree with Jon,” Derek told Steve. “Sometimes it felt like the people we were after were one step ahead of us. Almost ready for us.”
They’d had the normal factions attempt to take credit for the bombing, both international and domestic groups. All had been investigated and all had come to naught. Then all other aspects of the investigation—the bomb site, witnesses, the type of explosions—had also led nowhere.
Maybe everything had led nowhere because someone was deliberately running interference on the perpetrators’ behalf.
There were very few people who could have done that effectively. A dirty agent inside the Critical Response Division could, but having one there was unlikely.
And since Derek and this investigation had been under such close scrutiny by high-ranking government officials, any one of them could be responsible, too. Which was uglier, but made more sense in a lot of ways.
“Gentlemen,” Steve said. “It looks like there’s every possibility that we’ve got some high-ranking US official who is tied in with the Chicago terrorist attack.”
Jon pointed at the now-destroyed lab. “And we’re looking at the third extreme example of what that person, or people, might be willing to do to keep us from making any progress on the case.”
“Whoever it is has also put us back at square one in terms of evidence.” Derek could feel his teeth grinding, knowing they’d been so close to a real breakthrough only to lose it. “Nothing in the lab survived that explosion. It was definitely important, but now it’s gone.”
All three men looked at the smoke still rising from the building. The fire was out, but the smoke would linger for a while.
“Well, they may have successfully destroyed whatever evidence we’d gotten yesterday, but they also tipped their hand a little too far,” Jon said. “They’ve given us an edge they don’t know we have by revealing they have inside knowledge. We should use that to our advantage.”
The director nodded at both men. “I agree. I’m going to start keeping much more careful track of what information is going to which offices. The committee we report to every day hasn’t been the only ones requesting information. I’ll see what I can narrow down. And I damn sure won’t be sharing actual pertinent info about the case any longer.”
Steve turned away from the lab. “Go home, get some rest,” he continued. “Tomorrow you guys head back out to the house in West Philly, see if anything there can be salvaged. Track down where the lead came from and see if you can get any further info.”
Derek nodded. He needed to get Molly home, let her rest. But then he’d be coming right back, or at least working out of his house. Sleep could wait for him. He glanced over at Jon and knew the other man felt the same way.
“I’ll let you know when the building is open,” Steve said. “This fire is meant not only to destroy evidence, but to misdirect us. Give us a lot of other stuff to be worrying about. We’re not going to let that happen.”
“Damn right we’re not,” Jon said.
Some of the firefighters were beginning to pack up their equipment.
“I’ve got to go sign off on all this,” Drackett said, shaking his head. “I’ll see you later.”
He began walking toward the fire trucks, but then turned back. “And boys, watch your backs. If this goes as high up as I’m afraid it might, we all have targets on us.”
Derek nodded. He could feel it, too.
He got back into the car and looked over at Molly. She was sitting in the exact position as when he had left, staring straight out the windshield.
“You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” She finally nodded. “I’m just trying to go over in my mind if anything we had out in the lab could’ve caused this.”
He wasn’t sure if he should tell her that it might have been a deliberate attack. “Molly, we’re looking into a lot of possibilities for what happened. But believe me, no one is assuming you’re at fault. You run a pretty tight ship in that lab.”
She seemed to relax just a little bit. “Everyone’s safety is always my first priority.”
“I know that. Everyone knows that.”
She seemed tiny inside his blazer, huddled in the seat as he drove out of the Omega parking lot and toward her house.
“You know where I live, right?” she said in a small voice.
Did he know where she lived? Was she kidding? He was guilty of driving by her condo sometimes even when it was almost the opposite direction of the way he needed to go.
And every single time he wanted to stop and knock on her door like that one night three years ago.
Knowing she wouldn’t slam the door in his face, wouldn’t tell him to go to hell, was the only thing that kept him from doing so. She was too gentle, too kind, too soft to send him away.
And he wasn’t so much of a bastard that he was willing to drag her down into the dark world he lived in. He didn’t want her touched by the ugliness of the sordid things he’d seen and done.
But damned if that wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done.
“Yeah, I know where you live.”
He could almost see the flush move up her cheeks.
“I just mean... The one time you were there you were...not your normal self. A-and I just wondered.”
“Hey.” He reached over and grabbed her hand. “You’ve gone the entire evening without being nervous around me.”
“That’s because I was upset.”
“Then stay upset, at me if you need to. No need to go back to nervous.”
She shrugged. He knew he made her nervous, made her uncomfortable.
Just like he knew the way she looked at him when she thought he couldn’t see. And he cherished it even as he tried to keep himself distant from it.
Her condo wasn’t far from Omega Headquarters and soon he pulled up and into her parking space. She was already opening her door when he came around to help her.
“I’m okay,” she said, and although her voice was soft, it wasn’t shaky. “Thanks for the ride. My purse was in the lab with my keys in it. Let me get the spare.”
He watched as she hunted around her bushes, and saw her pull it out from where she had used electrical tape to attach it to the main branch. Much better than just slipping it under a front doormat.
“Found it!” The small victory had evidently thrilled her.
“May I?” He took the key when she offered it and opened the door for her. “Do you have another set inside?”
“Yes. This is just for true emergencies.”