AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Before I die, I need you to know something,” Marin cried.
Griffin couldn’t seem to draw a breath. “Hush.” He had to push the word out around the bolder in his throat. “How many times have I told you you’re not going to die?”
“I love you.”
Her words hit him like a gunshot, shattering his chest and every organ inside of it. He couldn’t breathe; he couldn’t think. He blinked his eyes rapidly to refocus.
All of a sudden, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion around him. Agent Reynolds must have twitched beside Griffin, unintentionally tipping Salenko off that Adam was behind him because Salenko began shouting something in his native tongue. Griffin lunged forward at a run as Adam jumped from the fence. A woman screamed and Griffin felt as if his legs were immersed in wet cement, he seemed to be moving so slowly.
“Marin!” he yelled.
She was on the ground unmoving when Griffin finally reached her. Adam was wrestling Salenko. Leslie was clutching her wrist and breathing deeply. Agent Reynolds went to help Adam as Griffin knelt beside Marin. His heart pounded against his chest.
She can’t be dead.
He brushed his fingers against her neck looking for a puncture wound. Her pulse was strong against his fingertips.
“Marin,” he whispered.
Her eyes snapped open. A slow grin spread over her bruised lips.
“I knew you’d save me,” she said between shallow breaths.
Griffin didn’t bother sharing with her that he’d had his doubts moments earlier. He swept his hands all along her body. “Are you hurt? Did that bastard harm you in any way?” Marin winced at the contact in several places. “I’ll kill him!”
“You’re a little late for that,” Adam said behind them.
When Griffin looked over his shoulder, Salenko was convulsing on the ground several yards away, gasping for breath. He quickly turned his head back and used his body to shield Marin from having to witness the gruesome scene.
“He injected himself?” Marin asked, her eyes wide.
Adam nodded. “A true martyr.”
“I needed him alive!” Agent Reynolds protested, throwing a tantrum that rivaled a two-year-old’s.
“Yeah, well, apparently, he preferred death to life in Guantanamo Bay,” Adam shot back. “And he wasn’t letting go of that syringe. The guy broke Leslie’s wrist when she went for the needle.”
Marin sat up and glanced around at Leslie. “Thank God he didn’t stab her. He had an ugly knife.” She gulped back a sob. “He killed Otto with it.”
Griffin shook his head as he brushed a tear off her cheek with his thumb. “Otto’s injured, but not dead. We used his microchip to track you. Even with a deep stab wound, he wanted to jump into the warehouse and save you.”
The watery smile she gave him made his heart skip a beat. Griffin ached to gather her up in his arms and kiss her senseless. Not here, though. That would have to wait for some place more private.
“An ambulance is on the way,” Ben communicated through Griffin’s headset. “The president is asking about Marin. He wants to know her condition.”
Marin scooted over to where Leslie sat on the ground cradling her wrist. Griffin looked on in amazement as Marin gently rubbed the other woman’s back. His throat grew tight with emotion thinking how easily he could have lost her.
“Tell President Manning she’s fine,” Griffin told him.
She was better than fine. Marin’s resilience astounded him once again. The woman seemed to take everything in stride. She’d make a brilliant agent. Hell, she’d be the perfect partner.
Where the hell had that crazy thought come from?
Griffin jumped to his feet. He needed to get his emotions in check and his head back into the op.
“Ben, you can let the president and Mrs. Manning know I’ll have Marin back in the White House shortly.”
* * *
