Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (30 page)

D
evyn fell forward
when Brian shoved her away as he reeled in pain from the leg wound, but nothing went as planned after that. She’d conjured up enough courage to imagine herself moving out of the way while Trigger shot him in the shoulder, disabling the man in order to make an arrest. She wanted more than anything to see this man rot in jail for the rest of his life. She had quietly opened the blade with one hand while he was focused on Trigger and she was successful in sinking the razor sharp lock-blade knife into Brian’s thigh…only the rest of what she’d pictured hadn’t gone as planned.

The blast of the shotgun still had Devyn’s ears ringing and she couldn’t hear anything above that painful high-pitched tone. She thought she’d known terrible gripping fear the moment she met the emotion upon walking into the bank, but it was nothing compared to the absolute terror overwhelming her at the sight of Trigger dropping to the ground from a point blank shotgun blast to the chest.

“John!” Devyn yelled as loud as she could, unable to hear herself. Had she even called his name as she scrambled across the floor to reach him? She was crawling over to him on all fours, not caring if Brian was still standing over her. Her only thought was to make sure Trigger didn’t die alone. “John! Oh my God! John!”

Devyn managed to get to Trigger just in time for him to collapse back against the floor with his eyes closed. She was so focused on seeing where he was bleeding that she didn’t notice anything else. The black vest he was wearing had a ragged hole the size of a soccer ball, but there was no puddle of blood. Her own hands were covered in blood, but she couldn’t see where it was coming from.

Trigger’s hands grabbed hers and in her haze of distress, she finally realized he had opened his eyes and was staring at her, trying to speak. Maybe he was, but she couldn’t hear him. Hands were suddenly at her shoulders, but she refused to look away from Trigger or let go of his body. He was still alive.

“Vest,” Trigger managed to say as Mr. Dixon leaned around her and helped his son release the Velcro straps of the bulletproof vest. He struggled to sit up and rest back against the counter. The ringing in Devyn’s ears started to fade and she was finally able to catch some of the words. “…hit in the vest. I’m fine. Just can’t breathe…”

Devyn breathed for him, inhaling so deep that her lungs literally hurt. Her relief was palpable and her knees finally gave out. She sat beside him, never letting go of his hand. Their fingers were both covered in blood, but it hadn’t been hers or Trigger’s.

“He’s dead,” one of the tellers announced after having felt for a pulse. She looked over at Trigger with such gratitude that it reminded Devyn this was what he did for a living. It was awe-inspiring and yet terrifying at the same time. “I’ll go get some help.”

“Son, are you all right?” Jack Dixon asked, patting Trigger on the leg in approval when he got the answer he wanted. “You should have seen Devyn, John. She was a fighter and…”

Devyn glanced over at Brian’s body, realizing the small pocketknife was still protruding from his leg. This man, this monster, was responsible for taking Joey away from her. She thought she would have felt some sense of relief to know that he no longer walked the face of the earth, but she felt nothing but sadness for the families who had been destroyed by his twisted evil mind.

“Hey,” Trigger whispered, squeezing her hand. Devyn had rested her head back against the laminate panel of the counter, but she let it roll until she was staring into the brown eyes she wanted to be looking into on her deathbed at the age of ninety. Even that wouldn’t be a long enough time to spend with the man who owned her heart. “You okay?”

“Yeah, but my ears are ringing real bad,” Devyn replied, grateful to have some of her hearing back to catch the gravelly tone of his voice. It was a sound that was more pleasurable to her heart than any requiem could ever be. “I’m more than okay. Do me a favor though and never, ever, ever scare me like that again.”

The sob in Devyn’s chest rose up out of nowhere, but she was able to control it with a smile. Trigger sat up a little straighter, looking slightly panicked at the thought she was losing it. She didn’t make it any better when she started spouting nonsense.

“What am I going to do in San Diego?” Devyn laughed with bewilderment, pulling her legs up and wrapping her free arm around her knees. “I’m sure they have enough dive bars, but that’s the only thing I know how to manage. I mean, can you imagine me taking up surfing? That’s not going to happen. You’re—”

“In love,” Trigger finished, wrapping an arm around her. He pulled her to him and gently kissed her on top of the head. “I love you, Devyn Wilde. Everything else is secondary to that.”

Devyn slowly removed herself from his embrace, ignoring everyone around them as they all tried to do their jobs. Gunny and Doc had walked over to make sure their friend was okay, Detective Chaisson was talking into his radio to report what had taken place, and the SWAT members had just arrived from Memphis and were taking the hostages outside one by one. She’d have to deal with the fallout of what happened eventually, but right now she needed Trigger to know something.

“I love you, too,” Devyn whispered, reaching for Trigger’s face. She pulled back at the last second upon seeing the blood. She rested her hand against his heart instead, feeling each beat and knowing it was in rhythm with hers. “I don’t want to be alone anymore, John. I want to walk by your side, wherever that may be, and take a hold of what I’ve been so scared of all my life. I want to step out of the shadows into the sunlight. I want you in my life, to make new memories while we cherish the old ones. I’m ready, John.”

Diesel came out of nowhere, interrupting a moment that would forever stay in those memories she’d been talking about. He licked her cheek multiple times while squeezing himself in between them to share in this triumph. They were all safe now with the tango out of the picture.

“We’ll figure it out together, Devyn,” Trigger promised, pulling her to him and stealing a kiss in front of everyone while holding both her and Diesel, who was wagging his tail in approval. “There’s nothing that can stop the three of us.”

“Well, you might want to hold off on saying something of that nature. Starr’s got her work cut out for her,” Gunny said, interjecting himself into the conversation. His smirk let Devyn know just what had happened and she looked forward to getting to know him and Jade, as well as the others. “We technically interfered with a hostage situation without Detective Chaisson’s supervising sergeant’s permission. He just pulled up and let’s just say he isn’t in the most pleasant mood given that we acted outside of our mandate.”

“He’s always like that,” Detective Chaisson said, coming to stand beside Gunny and Doc. “I’ve got this handled. It was my decision and the end result means hostages who are going home unharmed today. I’d say Red Starr performed just fine for not officially being on duty, wouldn’t you?”

Devyn leaned back against Trigger as she wrapped her arm around Diesel. Mr. Dixon had just exited the premises, no doubt to go out to the street to find his wife and daughter. They wouldn’t be allowed inside the crime scene, but Trigger, Devyn, and Diesel would soon make their way out and join the rest of the family. Gunny went on to explain that Dalton had died as a result of the explosives while the bomb squad had been able to disable the one set at Micah’s residence, leaving Devyn to be grateful for what she had left.

Family. For having only six letters, it sure was a big word. Joey had been a part of this one. He still was. There had always been room for her, but she just hadn’t opened her eyes to see the doorway Joey had been holding open for her. His presence was amplified, guiding her to where she belonged…to where they all belonged. He would always be in this family, no matter where he was calling the shots from.

“You ready to have that celebration?” Trigger spoke low enough that no one else heard him but her.

She pictured Joey raising a beer in approval. Devyn smiled and nodded her readiness to have a celebration with family in Joey’s honor.

It was long overdue.

‡

T
rigger excused himself
from the festivities and the loud noise the patrons were making while reflecting on their favorite Joey story inside the crowded tavern. He punched in the code into the keypad of Devyn’s office, opening the door when the lock clicked and gave way to his gentle shove. Gunny and Doc were already on their way to Washington D.C. and he would follow suit in the morning. There was one last mission they had to take care of before starting fresh back in San Diego.

“Starr, were you able to speak with that elusive CIA liaison?” Trigger asked after having picked up the receiver. He made himself comfortable in the new desk chair, pleased when it didn’t tilt off balance like the old one had. He’d resolved that problem yesterday, amongst the many other items he’d had on his agenda…one of them being hiring Mr. Ashbaw to manage the garage. Trigger didn’t want to give it up just in case he and Devyn decided to move back to Amberton once his contracts with Red Starr HRT ran their term. That was a ways off with many missions waiting to be completed successfully. “Did she give you a location?”

Trigger didn’t want to end that last inquiry with
of Red’s body
, so he closed off the question where it was appropriate. Starr had been dealing with this for a few years and it wasn’t fair for others to obtain closure when she couldn’t get some herself. It was time for that to change and the team was ready for what lay ahead.

“We have a problem.” Starr never stated such a fact unless the issue was dire. It appeared it was. “Brienne Chaylse’s identity was just deliberately leaked to the press.”

Trigger didn’t respond right away, more so because he wasn’t sure he’d heard right. The leaking of a CIA agent’s identity was few and far between, not to mention against the law. It violated everything the Agency stood for. They protected their agents to the nth degree. The fallout of this wasn’t just on the agent, or the Agency, but that of all of her cases and those other agents she’d developed and worked closely with.

“I’ll catch the first flight out,” Trigger replied, hating that he had to leave Devyn so soon. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t understand, but simply that he’d wanted more time with her before day-to-day life intervened. It was as if he’d called to her and she answered. He heard the beep of each digit entered before the door opened. “I take it Daegan and Stick are already on their way?”

“Yes.” The numerous emotions coming through the line was a surprise, considering Starr didn’t often emit what she was feeling. She cleared her throat and just like that…returned to her old self. “I’ll have her personnel file sent to your SAT phone, but she’s gone underground. We need to find her and I just might have a way to do that before whomever is attempting to eliminate her gets there first.”

“I’ll review everything on the plane.” Trigger held out his hand, having said that before disconnecting the line. Devyn came right over to him and curled up in his lap. He could get quite used to this intimacy and he didn’t want to let it go just yet. It was nice to know that Devyn would be waiting for him when the mission was complete. “I’m sorry, wild one. Starr needs the team in D.C. ASAP.”

“It’s okay,” Devyn said, giving her hair a toss so that the long black strands were out of the way as she laid her cheek against his shoulder. Her green eyes were shining with happiness and he wished Joey were here to see it. “I still have things to sort out here, such as giving Isaac fifty percent ownership of The Laughing Griffin, packing everything upstairs to be shipped to San Diego, and spending a little more time with my new family. What do you say about a road trip when you wrap things up on the East Coast?”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Trigger said, pulling her close and appreciating her understanding that his job was a part of who he was. “Diesel has to come with me though. Speaking of which, where is he?”

“He’s in the kitchen with Erwin, waiting for another strip of bacon to hit the floor that’s meant to go on the hamburgers,” Devyn laughed when Trigger furrowed his brows and thinned his lips. “He won’t want his dog chow anymore if Erwin keeps spoiling him. I guess he deserves all the treats he can get before you whisk him away to be put on a dog food diet again.”

“Please,” Trigger mocked with a laugh of his own, “Starr sneaks that boy more treats every chance she gets.”

“I admit to having a little jealousy when Ms. Starr came to take you away, but after hearing you, Gunny, and Doc talk about everything she’s gone through…I have a feeling we’ll get along rather well.”

“I think so too,” Trigger said a little distractedly, other things on his mind.

Devyn was wearing another red blouse he’d come to love. It cradled her breasts just right, but he was thinking she would look even better with nothing on at all. He glanced at the door and saw it had closed sufficiently behind her. The only other person who had the code was Isaac and he was busy with the large group of customers and guests who’d arrived for the celebration of Joey’s life. Isaac would also knock before punching in his own personal set of four digits, so the coast was clear for what Trigger had in mind.