Fated Identity (Red Star #6) (12 page)

Brienne took another step out, this one putting her directly opposite Grady’s side of the vehicle and a bit forward toward the bridge railing. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until his voice spoke inside her ears.

“Keep walking to the front of the vehicle,” Grady advised, his soothing tone giving Brienne the encouragement to continue forward. She couldn’t help but wonder where the next attack would come from. “Slow steps. We’re almost halfway there.”

The sun reflected off of something to Brienne’s right, but she didn’t take her eyes off of the agent in front of them. Gus must have noticed it from his location at the back of his vehicle as well, but he maintained position. It wasn’t until another agent’s voice shouted into their earpiece that all hell broke loose.

“RPG! Get down! RPG! Take cover!”

Fight or flight. Those instincts always managed to take over. As an agent, those reflexes were honed to initiate at the right time. It didn’t always happen that way, but their training molded them in a manner where the percentage of success was in their favor.

This wasn’t the time to fight. One couldn’t fight a rocket propelled grenade. One also couldn’t escape the damage that was about to be done. This was it. They would die together in the open between the two armored vehicles.

“Fuck,” Grady muttered over the whir of the drone as it repositioned overhead. The weapons that the teams would use to combat individual targets wouldn’t stop the oncoming boat below them. The likelihood they could eliminate the threat before the RPG struck was impossible. “Move!”

Grady grabbed Brienne by the hand and together they ran back toward the relative safety of the armored SUV without a snowball’s chance in hell of making it to cover before the hiss of the RPG ended in a detonation against the concrete and steel railing directly behind them and showering them with millions of white hot fragments of molten steel. There was absolutely no way they could outrun the shrapnel that was about to rain across the bridge directly into them.

So she thought.

Brienne hadn’t expected Grady to drag her over the knee-high cement barrier opposite their vehicle in the center of the bridge. Neither had she predicted he would use the momentum to take both of them over the tall greyish-blue steel railing on the other side, tumbling both of them off of the structure and toward the depths of the filthy water below.

The explosion that rocked the Key Bridge had most likely been heard for miles. It was the only sound that could be heard resounding through the air as Brienne and Grady continued to free-fall toward the churning brown water. She did her best to brace herself against hitting the cold water below, but nothing could prepare her for the impact of an eighty-five foot drop. She’d done her best to stay upright so that her feet hit first. She wasn’t so lucky and her thighs took the brunt of the bruising.

Even so, Brienne had little time to suck in oxygen as she was submerged in the cold, dark water. The shock had her fighting against the gravity and she immediately kicked her legs and arms, struggling to get to the surface. She tried her best to wrestle against the panic taking hold, as well as the need to breathe again.

Where was Grady?

Brienne couldn’t see anything in the darkness as she thrashed against the water. She was aware that she was rising to the surface, but she wasn’t sure it was fast enough. Her chest literally burned and the fiery flames began to travel up her throat, insisting she open her mouth for relief…not understanding it would be welcoming death instead.

Brienne finally broke the surface, her lips parting automatically and sucking in oxygen faster than her body could process. That didn’t stop her from frantically looking for Grady. She used her feet to spin in the water, her hands clearing away the debris floating around her while avoiding the rubble still falling from above. The churning of the water from their abrupt entrance, along with the boats, shrapnel, and whatever firepower the FBI had used to destroy those who’d had possession of the RPG made it difficult for her to focus on any one thing.

“Grady!” Brienne continued to yell for him over the engines and the whirling of the blades overhead. The pain and horror Brienne had faced in the water below was nothing compared to what she was experiencing now. “Grady!”

“Here!”

Brienne twisted her body, using what strength she had left in her arms and legs to face in the direction of Grady’s voice. There! His handsome, distinguished face was dripping with water, filled with worry, and the most beautiful vision she’d ever seen. He swam to her, pulling her against him as he reassured them both that they were still alive.

“We did it,” Grady professed with absolute certainty. “We did it.”

There was no time for crying, but Brienne couldn’t stop the sob that had gathered in her chest from escaping. She turned it into a laugh of victory, knowing full well she sounded as if she were losing her mind. She wrapped her arms around Grady’s neck and held on as tight as she could.

Life as Brienne knew it was over. She was no longer a field agent. She was no longer a liaison to the Pakistani desk at the CIA. She would no longer be an asset to her country the way she’d once been.

The chaos continued around them as Brienne clung to her future and came to terms with her past. There were no regrets. Her identity might have been compromised, but she knew exactly who she was and where she was meant to be.

Brienne released Grady enough to where their lips were inches apart and she could see for herself that he was all right. He was smiling brighter than she’d ever bore witness. His brown eyes were lit with triumph, happiness, and love.

They’d made it.

Grady kissed her without hesitation, with no regard to who was watching them. Brienne kicked her feet harder to stay afloat, not missing this adrenaline rush for anything.

By now, either the FBI or the CIA had a boat coming in their direction. The drone above was pulling away and sirens could now be heard in the distance. The fallout of this operation would be on the six o’clock news and it would fall on the FBI to do damage control. Nothing would be said in regards to Brienne, her identity leak, the CIA or Shujaat Qalat’s role in all of this, or the fact that a breach had been made to recover a five-year-old boy from a group of ISI kidnappers. There was still one more mission to carry out—bringing home the remains of the former Red Starr unit.

The engine to a watercraft was upon them way too soon. Grady pulled away from Brienne to make sure they weren’t in danger of getting bumped by the large boat. She took the time to glance up at the bridge, unable to see the extent of the damage on the other side. She was able to see Special Agent Gus Wilson looking over the railing, giving them a thumbs up that no casualties had taken place. Agents with FBI vests on their chest were reaching out for Brienne, who Grady had already turned and aided them by putting his hands securely underneath her arms.

Brienne grabbed the agent’s hands and allowed him to pull her aboard, taking the blanket they offered with appreciation. She moved out of their way as they assisted Grady into the boat, but she didn’t sit down until he was at her side. Together, they sat inside the small cabin and waited to be escorted to land.

“Michael Jensen. Was he rescued unharmed?” Brienne asked, directing her question to the agent facing them.

Grady wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer, the warmth of his body invading hers. Her teeth immediately started to chatter, but she forced them tightly shut to hear the answer.

“Yes, ma’am,” the younger agent responded, making a motion with his hand that the driver of the boat should proceed toward land. “The rescue mission was successful. SA Wilson will meet us on shore and you’ll then be taken to Langley.”

Brienne shared a victorious look with Grady, both of them grateful the various agencies had been able to come together to save the life of an innocent boy. Michael Jensen’s life would never be the same, though. He’d had to face the harsh reality of what hatred could do to a group of people.

Bob Jensen would have to serve out a sentence for committing a felony for disclosing an active agent’s identity to a foreign power, though Brienne would do her best to give testimony that there had been extenuating circumstances. She didn’t blame him for what he’d done, although she did wish he’d trusted his own people to be by his side instead of choosing a path that could have taken many more lives, including her own.

“Are you ready to start a new life?” Grady asked as he spoke against her ear. “One with a man who’s pretty well set in his ways?”

Brienne held up her right hand and waited for him to lace his fingers with hers. She tightened her grip on his and then gave her answer.

“I’ve always been ready, Grady. It was you who I’ve been waiting on.”

‡

G
rady removed the
change of clothes given to him by Gus Wilson back when they’d been at Langley. The pants hadn’t been long enough and the dress shirt had been too tight, but the garments had been enough to see them through the debriefings he and Brienne had gone through. The day had been long and grueling, but it had finally come to an end.

Michael Jensen was back home, safe and sound with his mother, while Bob Jensen was being currently being arraigned. Grady and Brienne had yet to speak with Starr in person. She was busy taking care of paperwork since she’d been on hand to provide Red Starr’s services. Every I needed to be dotted and every T needed to be crossed in order to show that no position of power had been abused to resolve the magnitude of the situations that had occurred in the past several days. As a matter of fact, Red Starr had not fired a shot during any of the recent exchanges.

As for SA Gus Wilson, he was awaiting word from SSA Telfer who had contracted CSA to secure Raheela at a safe house outside of Karachi. Everyone was waiting to hear what was occurring on their end. Qalat had been taken into custody and it was only a matter of time before the Pakistani government dealt out their punishment for aiding and abetting groups aligned against their government’s official policy. Gavin Crest was in the process of reaching out to his contacts, who had found Raheela and were now moving her to another location. There was nothing for Grady or Brienne to do now but wait and see what would happen from here.

Grady opened the door to the master bathroom of his apartment. Brienne had not flipped the switch for the fan, so the steam billowed out once he opened the door. She’d been inside the shower for over twenty minutes and he didn’t like her being in there for so long alone. Their adrenaline had worn off and exhaustion was settling in along with the reality of their insane adventure.

“Hey. Planning on using all the hot water?” Grady asked softly, opening the glass door and stepping inside the enclosure. Brienne had been standing underneath the hot spray with her eyes closed in a somewhat relaxing manner, telling him he didn’t have to worry about her wellbeing. A smile lit up her face as she opened those baby blues and he realized he’d walked into her trap. “Oh, you were waiting for me to come in here, weren’t you?”

“Absolutely, Colonel. And here I thought you were a bit sharper than that,” Brienne murmured, sliding her warm hands up his now wet chest. She didn’t stop until she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. “You see, we’ll probably both be in need of a really good masseuse come tomorrow. The impact my body took hitting that water is going to hurt like a—”

Grady kissed her before she could continue, not needing to hear how sore their muscles were truly going to be. He’d already set a bottle of ibuprofen on the nightstand with a glass of water. He made a mental note to call the masseuse Brienne preferred when he got a moment.

“So you decided we should make love in the shower?” Grady asked, finally pulling away and turning them so that his back took the brunt force of the spray. Brienne rested a cheek against his chest, lowering her arms so that they were wrapped around his waist. “I would have thought you’ve had your fill of fun in the water today.”

“The heat feels too good to get out, so I had to wait long enough for you to catch on,” Brienne explained, licking away a stream of water as it ran off of his shoulder. He hardened at the soft feel of her tongue against his skin. “Hmmm, it was apparently worth it. Our muscles are reacting just the way I’d hoped.”

“I don’t even have—”

Brienne held up a small package containing exactly what Grady had been about to name. She must have brought the condom in earlier, meaning this had been her plan all along. She wouldn’t get an argument from him, as she knelt before him before he could take the foil from her hands.

“Brie, your knees—”

“Are just fine. Do you want to catch up here?” Brienne asked with a smile after she’d leisurely wrapped her fingers around his cock. She took her time stroking him, although she needn’t waste the time. He was already hardening up just fine—ready and willing. Grady looked down to see her blonde lashes flutter against her cheeks as she parted her lips and licked his slit with her tongue. It was then he saw the towel she’d placed on the shower floor, but his thoughts were now in a different place. “Hmmm, you taste good.”