Avenged (Hostage Rescue Team Series) (Volume 5) by Kaylea Cross Page A

me,” she murmured against his shoulder. “I appreciate it.”
    He gathered her close, trying and failing to ignore the way his body reacted to the feel of her soft curves pressed against him. He’d thought about holding her this way so many times. Just the two of them, away from prying eyes. He didn’t care that others were waiting for her in the next room. Nothing mattered but her standing so trusting and warm in his arms. “You don’t have to thank me for that,” he said. “And I meant what I said. Anything comes up that you’re not sure about, call me.”
    “Okay.” She pulled back and put on a brave smile. “See you later?”
    “Yeah.” Even if he didn’t end up on her detail, he still planned to see her again. Whatever it was he was searching for to slay his personal demons, closure maybe, he knew Taya was the key. But now he was beginning to think he wanted a whole lot more than just closure, and that was dangerous. For both of them.
    He was still thinking about her an hour and a half later when he entered his kitchen from the garage. His phone rang while he was fishing a beer out of the fridge. With the bottle in one hand he pulled out his phone and checked the screen. DeLuca.
    “Hey,” he answered, phone wedged between his ear and shoulder as he twisted the cap off. “Perfect timing, I just got home. Taya was meeting with the prosecution when I left.”
    “You need to come in to HQ,” his commander said. “Rest of the team is on the way down, including Vance and Cruz.”
    Oh, shit, this had to be bad, for him to pull everyone in. Nate straightened and set the beer down on the counter, a sense of foreboding sweeping through him. “Why, what’s happened?”
    “Three of the prosecution’s star witnesses have just been kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight. Their security details are either all dead or wounded.”
    His heart rate shot up. For the attackers to locate witnesses in WITSEC and then take out the U.S. marshals assigned to them, they had to be incredibly well trained.
    He gripped the edge of the counter, his fingers curling around the cool granite. “What about Taya?” he blurted. If the attackers had gotten to the other three—two of whom were supposed to have been in special holding facilities that were heavily guarded—then it stood to reason that they either knew where she was staying, or had a pretty good idea. And if Cruz and Vance were being called in to HQ, that left only regular FBI agents to guard her. That wasn’t good enough, not for Nate.
    “She’s fine, no incidents reported at her hotel. Celida’s already placed an extra detail there and everyone’s on alert.”
    No. Nate shook his head, concern for her overriding everything else. “She can’t stay there—”
    “I know. Her temporary detail is moving her out of the hotel shortly. I’m gonna have Vance and Cruz swing by to meet them and bring her down here with them until we can decide what the plan is.”
    Nate breathed out a sigh of relief. “All right. Have you let her know yet?”
    “No. I thought it’d be best if she heard it from you. She’s got a temporary burner phone.” He gave Nate the number.
    “Okay, thanks.” He was glad DeLuca was letting him be the one to break the news. “See you in ten.” As he rushed for the garage he dialed Taya. She answered in a groggy voice that told him he’d woken her. “Hey, it’s me.”
    A short pause, then, “Nathan?”
    God, hearing his name in that sleep-husky voice had him imagining her sitting up in bed, her curls all tousled. Did she sleep in anything, or naked? “Yeah, sorry to wake you.”
    Sheets rustled on the other end. He pictured her pushing her curls out of her face with one hand. “It’s okay. Is something wrong?”
    “There’s been some recent developments that I can’t go into over the phone,” he explained calmly. “Cruz and Vance are going to head over and pick you up soon, then bring you down to our headquarters in