“Happy?” he asked, looking down at her.
“Yeah,” she said. Only then did she look back to the were wearing the uniform and waiting for answers. “I’m a junior agent, working under Burnett James. He and several other agents should be here in less than ten minutes. We’ll be taking Damian Bond.”
He must have recognized Burnett’s name, because his eyes that had started to brighten faded back to their hazel green. “Well, they’d better hurry. And have the proper paperwork. They,” he nodded to the other officers, “aren’t going to just let him go. And if you two don’t want to be dragged into this, you’d better disappear.”
Chase looked at Della. “I think that might be best.”
Della frowned. “Not until Burnett has Damian.” He was their last link to Natasha and Liam, and Della wasn’t going to risk losing him.
Chase looked back at the officer. “I guess we’ll be staying a while.”
* * *
An hour later, they were all at the FRU headquarters. Burnett had arrived at Cooper Airport less than five minutes after everything went down. He was followed by two official cars, and three other agents, who showed off their badges, and their authority, managing to piss off the Oak, Texas, police department.
Face it, this was probably the first time their tiny police department had caught a bad guy, especially two at once, and they hadn’t wanted to lose any of the credit.
However, Burnett, with paperwork in order, wasn’t about to walk away empty-handed.
He also got Della and Chase out of having to go down and give their statements—insisting the local police leave them out of the paperwork and media hype because they worked undercover. But before they left, the mother of the child who Damian had held hostage came up to her and offered a tearful thank you.
A sense of rightness filled Della right then. This was what she wanted to do. But was she willing to lose Chase for it?
Burnett had a doctor waiting at headquarters to look at Chase’s arm as soon as they walked into the building. Of course, Chase tried to get out of it, but Burnett wasn’t taking no for an answer. He told Chase to see the doctor … or leave.
Chase glanced at Della, huffed, and then went into the room to see the doctor.
After the door closed, Burnett approached her, concern etched in his frown. The airport had been crazy, and this was really the first chance she’d had to speak—not that she hadn’t seen him visually checking on her—since he’d threatened her career. She felt an achy sensation, a mixture of hurt and love, right in the middle of her chest.
She looked at Burnett and her throat grew thick.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“You saved that baby’s life. Seems you’re good at doing that,” he said, referring to her delivering Hannah.
“Just lucky,” she said.
She looked back at the door where Chase had disappeared. “He took that bullet for me.”
“I heard. Which is the only reason I care enough to make sure he sees the doctor.”
Della nodded, but she didn’t buy it. She knew he had some major problems with Chase, but somehow she also sensed a level of respect. She could only hope that came in handy when the case was over and Burnett put pressure on her to end things.
Because honestly, she wasn’t sure she could.
If push came to shove, would she choose him over her career? She prayed she didn’t have to make that choice.
“Go on into waiting room six, I’ll be interviewing Damian in about five minutes and you can watch.”
She looked back up at Burnett and thought of Natasha again. “Make him tell us where they are.”
“That’s my plan,” he said.
* * *
Damian Bond didn’t want to talk. Burnett slammed down photos of Liam and Natasha on the table. The were refused to look at them. Della’s blood pressure rose and her canines extended just watching him.
Someone had given the were a sling, and he sat there with his broken arm held as tight as his lips. Burnett, looking pissed, turned to the wall where they watched. “Do you know who’s in there?” he asked.
Damian didn’t respond, but Burnett answered anyway. “An agent with the Vampire Council.”
The were’s eyes widened just a bit, but then he went back to pretending he didn’t hear. But Della did see him glance at the photos on the table.
Did he know them?
Burnett continued. “Have you heard what they do to weres in the Vampire Council prison? It makes going to one of our facilities seem like a day at the spa.”
Della looked at Chase. “Is that true?”
“We don’t believe in segregation,” he said. “And since most of our prisoners are vampire, the were will have it rough.”
Della shuttered, wondering what “rough” included.
“And if you don’t talk,” Burnett continued, “we’ve agreed to pass you over to them.”
The were looked up at Burnett and snarled. “Good try. But since when do the FRU and Vampire Council work together?”
Burnett dropped in the chair across from him. “Since over thirty fresh turns came up missing, and were being sold into slavery. You’ve got three seconds to start talking, or I’m turning you over to them.”
“If Burnett’s serious, we’ll get the answer out of him,” Chase said.
Della swallowed and told herself it was the right thing. But the thought didn’t settle well in her stomach.