Page 22 of Rafe’s Future

A shameless smile lifted the corners of her lips, but they quickly lowered as Lena looked straight down. It was impossible to see the exact spot where Rafe’s daughter had been shot from way up here. But he’d pointed it out a few minutes before, while on their way inside the man’s building.

The blood had already been washed away, as if it had never happened. But it did happen. Less than twenty-four hours ago, Alice Garrison had been shot and was almost killed.

Poor Rafe. First, his wife, and now he’d come close to losing his child, too.

As planned, they’d stopped by the hospital this morning before coming to the office. Lena had stayed in the ICU waiting room while Rafe went back to Alice’s room. The eased expression on his face when he’d returned several minutes later was the first real sign that the beloved tech analyst really was going to be okay.

From what Rafe had shared, Alice was awake and alert. She even remembered everything right up until the moment she was shot. Lena had felt her own dose of hefty relief upon hearing the news.

She sent up a quick prayer of thanks, knowing Rafe had been faced with more than his fair share of bloodshed. But despite it all, he was the same incredible man as he’d been years ago. A true warrior of justice and peace.

Unfortunately for Lena, Rafe was also the one man she’d never been able to forget. The proverbial “one who got away”.

You can’t lose something that was never yours.

“Hey, Boss.”

She blinked, her breath hitching slightly as she pushed thoughts of Rafe aside. Spinning around, Lena smiled at the familiar face that had just appeared.

“Hello, Colt.”

Coulter Morgan, the ex-CIA agent who’d previously worked under her command walked over to where she stood.

“Guess I should’ve said ‘former’ boss.” The handsome man held out a hand in her direction. “Good to see you, Agent Price. Or should I say, Director?”

“You can call me Lena now, you know?” Her smile grew as the two shared a quick shake. “Since, as you astutely pointed out, I’m no longer your boss.”

“Maybe not, but you are still an agent.”

“True.” Lena chuckled as her hand fell back to her side. Growing serious, she added a softer, “I’m sorry about what happened to your friend.”

“Shadow’s not just a friend; she’s family,” Colt corrected. “But yeah. Thanks. We’re all relieved as hell that she’s going to be okay.” He studied her a moment. “Is that why you’re here? Do you know something about the shooting?”

“Actually, I⁠—”

She didn’t get the chance to finish because at that very same moment, Rafe’s commanding voice sounded as he walked into the room.

“The others will be joining us shortly.”

Lena and Colt both turned his way.

“Agent . . . er, Lena was just saying she’s here because of what happened to Shadow,” Colt assumed to know why she was here.

“Actually, that’s not exactly⁠—”

“We’ll cover all that once everyone’s here,” Rafe interrupted her next.

Lena clamped her mouth shut and filled her lungs with a calming breath to keep from speaking her frustration aloud.

Tensions were high, which was to be expected given what the team had gone through hours before. Colt and his fellow Tac-Ops teammates were most likely jumping out of their skin with the urge to hunt down and capture whoever had nearly killed one of their own.

Rafe was almost certainly standing on a precarious ledge. One that stood between a desire for justice and the bloodthirsty need for revenge.

As for Lena, she would help in any way he and his team needed to bring down Kozlova any way that they could. Whether the international criminal was behind the recent shooting or not, he still needed to pay for the crimes from his past.

“Bones is parking his car, and then he’ll be up.” Ethan McCallister entered the room.

Known as “Apollo” to his team, the tall, dark, and deadly operator made his way over to the room’s massive table. Pulling out one of several wheeled chairs, he took a seat, crossing an ankle at one of his knees.