She sucked in a deep breath, her hand shaking in his. Seconds ticked by, a tension-strained minute, before she finally opened her mouth to respond. She tugged her hand from his, that invisible guard slamming back into place as her shoulders stiffened. “You love me, but you want me to choose between you and your family or my duty to save lives.”
“I know what I’m asking, and that this won’t be an easy choice for you, but as much as I want you in our lives, I also have to think of Owen and Olivia. I wasn’t strong enough to protect them from their abductor, and I won’t submit them to another layer of trauma if I can prevent it.” Benning read her decision as coldness swept over her expression, and the heat she’d ignited in his veins iced.
“You know why I do this job, why I push so hard. I can’t just give that up, Benning.” She took a step away from him, and the world threatened to rip out from under his feet. She was... She was choosing her job over him, over the twins. She was leaving. Again. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded, not really knowing what he was agreeing to, but it didn’t matter. He took the gun she’d offered, the steel heavy in his hands. They had a lead, and any ideas or fantasies about what kind of life he and Ana would have had to wait. “I guess that’s it, then. When this is over, you’ll go back to Knoxville, and I guess... I’ll finally have the chance to move on with my life.”
He maneuvered around her toward the bedroom door, the muscles in his jaw aching. Owen was still out there, and Benning wasn’t going to stop looking until he found him. With or without Ana at his side.
Chapter Twelve
Over an acre of uneven green grass stretched between them and the light gray rambler on Maplewood Circle. Sevierville PD’s SWAT team took position with a single wave of Ana’s fingers toward the east side of the house as she, Agent JC Cantrell and Agent Evan Duran arced wide through a patch of trees at the opposite side of the property. No cars in the long driveway alongside the opposite end, nothing to suggest Claire Winston wasn’t in Afghanistan with her military unit as Director Pembrook had reported, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t home. Or waiting.
The low crackling of static from the device in her ear kept her focused, her movements steady despite the pain in her leg. She’d left Benning in the SUV for his own protection with an armed officer, but knowing he was on the other side of that signal still didn’t settle her nerves. He’d asked her to give up a shot at redemption for the chance of being with him, with Owen and Olivia, a sacrifice he had no right to demand of her. She’d spent the past seven years trying to atone for her sins, and he just wanted her to walk away? To forget the people out there who needed her help?
She forced herself to focus. No matter what happened out here, he’d be safe. The wound in her chest ached as she pressed the stock of her rifle against her shoulder, but two bullets and a pane of broken glass wasn’t going to stop her from finding Benning’s son. Gravel crunched beneath her boots as she and her team slowly broke from the trees. “Our suspect has been trained in weapons and combat and has a .45 caliber Beretta M9 registered in her name. Eyes and ears open.”
“Copy that, Ramirez,” JC said.
Both JC and Evan had been military trained. If there was anyone from Tactical Crime Division she’d want at her side, it was them, but tension still crept across her shoulders as they closed in on the back door of the house. Red wood shudders groaned as a brush of wind barreled down the thin section of patio between the back door and the fence, and Ana raised her hand to signal the team to stop. The fence intersected with the back-east corner of the house, cutting off their access to the SWAT team and vice-versa. Her instincts screamed for her to get the hell out of there, but they hadn’t gotten the chance to search the house yet. They had to keep moving. Owen’s life depended on it. She motioned toward the back door. “Break it down.”
Agent Evan Duran climbed the four stairs to the small back deck and tested the doorknob. With a single shake of his head, he adjusted his rifle, then slammed the heel of his foot near the knob. The crack of wood seemed overly loud as the wind died in an instant, and a shiver chased across Ana’s shoulders. The door slammed into the wall behind it. Silence. No alarm. No explosion of gunfire. Nothing but the darkness waiting inside. Maybe Claire Winston really was serving with her unit overseas, but they had to be sure. Someone had stuffed Samantha Perry’s killer’s skull behind all that drywall, and the only motive that explained why was to hide something the killer hadn’t wanted them to see.
Ana nodded to breach, taking up the rear behind her team, and swept into the house. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the low light, but it was clear nobody had been here in a while. Stale air dove deep into her lungs, a hint of moisture clinging to her face and neck. Dust floated in front of
