Maggie paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room until Nikki pushed her into a plastic chair.
“I should have stayed,” Maggie said for what felt like the millionth time since they’d been in the Hoffmeier house two days ago. She’d gone over and over it in her mind, that moment she’d chosen to chase after Hoffmeier instead of staying beside Grant.
“He told you to go,” Nikki reminded her. “So stop beating yourself up.”
“She’s right,” Scott said, and Maggie glanced over at him, his hand clutching Chelsie’s.
“You need to stop beating yourself up about all of it,” Chelsie ordered. “And don’t look at me like that. I’m fine.”
Chelsie had been discharged a few hours earlier. She was moving more slowly, and she’d be off work for two weeks, but doctors didn’t expect any lasting problems from her injury.
“Logan’s fine, too,” Ella put in, probably seeing guilt still on her face.
Maggie glanced from Ella to Logan, sitting close together on the uncomfortable hospital couch.
Logan nodded his agreement. “My injury just looked bad. But head wounds always bleed like crazy. And hey, we caught the three guys Hoffmeier paid off for those hits.”
Maggie couldn’t help smiling a little. Only someone in law enforcement could make light of having a bullet graze his head. But he was right—the injury itself had been minor, and he’d actually been released within a few hours.
“And it really worked out for me,” Chelsie joked, wiggling her left hand, where a brand-new diamond sparkled.
Next to her, Scott rolled his eyes. “I already had the ring. But seeing you in the hospital, I just couldn’t wait.”
“See?” Nikki said. “Everyone is fine. And it’s finally over.”
“It will be,” Maggie agreed.
Local police had dragged the Hoffmeier lake and found Jeff’s body. And his family had been forcibly returned to DC to answer questions.
Apparently, Lorraine had been completely ignorant of her son’s criminal activities. She’d simply thought he was spoiled and difficult. She’d had no idea he’d left DC ten years ago at her husband’s insistence. She was back home in DC, cloistered alone in her house and avoiding the press camped out in her yard.
Frederik and Claudia were in custody, awaiting a hearing on bail. Clive predicted it would be denied, because of their resources and the amount of money they’d thrown at Jeff ten years ago, to make him go away. They were being charged as accessories in nine sexual assaults, and four assaults on law-enforcement officials, along with obstruction of justice, and a slew of other charges. Even if only some of them stuck, they’d pay.
Both had initially insisted they really thought Jeff had been in Europe the past ten years. But the Hoffmeiers were well-known in DC, and the story had broken quickly in the press. A witness had come forward, a friend of Claudia’s from college, who’d said Claudia had tearfully confessed that she suspected her brother had raped Maggie. She’d confessed to telling her father, who’d changed the family logo and paid Jeff to stay away from them. Apparently, Claudia had gone back to that friend a few days later and said she was wrong, and that police had caught the real offender.
Back then, since Maggie was the first to be branded, and there were no other known victims, the friend had believed the story. Since Maggie’s full name had always been kept out of the press accounts, she claimed she’d forgotten all about it until she saw the recent news.
Whether it was true or not, her going to police had broken Claudia’s silence. There was some question to how much the Hoffmeier family actually knew, and how much they’d only suspected, but they’d known enough. They should have turned Jeff in a decade ago, and they could have prevented eight other women from going through what Maggie had. Instead, they’d changed the Hoffmeier Financial logo to get rid of the hook images that matched the brand on her neck. Instead, they had tried to protect the family business, and the family name.
Nikki squeezed her hand. “I talked to Mom and Dad this morning at the hotel. Apologized for telling them I was spending the week with friends, instead of letting them know I was coming here. I know they told you when they got here, but they are really proud of you, you know? For getting through this. For finding the guy and stopping him for good.”
Maggie smiled back at her, but her feet tapped nervously on the floor of the surgical area waiting room. What was taking so long?
“He’ll be here,” Scott said.
Then the door to the waiting room opened, and he was. Maggie sensed everyone getting to their feet, but she couldn’t be certain, because she was already running across the room. She stopped just in front of Grant, resisting the urge to throw her arms around his neck and just hang on and never let go.
He looked awful. His skin was still a little ashy, and pain was etched on his face, his right shoulder looking lumpy under his hospital gown from the bandages. The nurse pushed his wheelchair into the room and as soon as she left, he scolded, “Don’t look at me like that. If all goes well, they’ll release me tomorrow. I’ll be kicking down doors with SWAT again in no time.”
He winked at her, and Maggie felt a grin break free, then she did lean down and throw her arms around his neck, only lightly, barely touching him.
He squeezed back, with more strength than she’d expected after having his heart shocked back into rhythm on the helicopter, then being rushed here for a blood transfusion and surgery to repair his shoulder.
“How long?” she asked him, leaning back to look at his face.
“Probably six months,” he replied. “The shoulder is going to need some rehabilitation.”
Most SWAT agents would be furious at that much time away from the team, at the prospect of that much work to get back into fighting shape. But this was Grant, and he said it not only like a guarantee he’d do it, but with his typical good-natured attitude.
Nothing ever kept him down. It was one of the things she loved best about him.
At that moment, she realized he’d never even heard her say it. He’d almost died for her and Nikki, and he didn’t really know how she felt about him.
She must have gone pale, because he said, “It’s okay. I have a plan.”
“What’s your plan?” Scott asked him. “You taking some time off to heal, and having Clive hold the spot for you on the team?”
“Not exactly,” Grant said, looking up at her.
He patted the chair next to where the nurse had left his wheelchair, and Maggie sat, as he folded her hand in his. It was funny how natural that already felt.
“You’re not leaving SWAT?” she asked. “Because I—”
“No.” He twisted a little in his chair so he was facing her. “But I talked to Martin two weeks ago.” He was the leader of the second SWAT team at WFO. “One of his guys is transferring to the LA field office in April, and I asked about taking that spot.”
“No,” Maggie said. “You waited so long to get on a team. It’s not fair that you be the one to—”
“I talked to Clive last week, too,” he said. “I told him I wasn’t going to be able to stay with the team. I didn’t say why—I figured I’d wait until you and I talked about it first—but he knew.”
Maggie blushed at the idea that the team already knew what was happening between her and Grant before she’d had the chance to tell them, but they were practically family. It shouldn’t have surprised her. “Did Martin guarantee you a spot on his team?” She held her breath.
“No.”
“Then I should be the one—”
“But he’ll give it to me,” Grant insisted. “As soon as I get through rehab and can prove to him my shoulder’s back to one hundred percent.” He brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. “It’s perfect timing, Maggie. I should be through the rehab right when a spot opens up. I’ll get it.”
She grinned at him, not believing they might actually be able to date and still both have a place in SWAT. Although she’d miss running into missions with him by her side. “Are you sure?”
“I’m determined,” he said. “I don’t give up on something I want.” He smiled back at her and asked, “It worked on you, didn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah.” She leaned in to kiss him, and just before her lips met his, she corrected, “But I think it was me who went after you until you couldn’t resist any longer.”
His mouth covered hers, showing her that determination. When he kissed her like that, she could almost forget he’d been shot. She could almost forget all of it. When he kissed her, there was a lightness in her soul that she’d never had before.
“Mmm,” she mumbled against his mouth a few minutes later. “Don’t ever stop that.”
He smiled back at her, a glint in his eyes that promised he’d do more than that as soon as he healed up.
Suddenly remembering where they were, Maggie glanced over her shoulder and saw that everyone had cleared out to give them a little privacy.
But she didn’t need it. She was ready to tell everyone, including the Bureau, that she and Grant were forming their own team now.
Before she could say it to him, he stroked his hand down her cheek and asked, “How are you doing?”
She knew exactly what he was asking. Four hours had passed while she’d waited frantically to hear about Grant’s condition. Another two days had gone by while she sat in this waiting room with Scott, Nikki, Ella, Chelsie and Logan for Grant to be well enough to leave ICU.
Now it was September 1. A day she’d never thought would be anything but painful, even after they’d finally caught Hoffmeier for good.
She squeezed his hand and told him honestly, “It’s a good day today. A really good day.”
He leaned down to kiss her again, and she pressed a finger to his lips. “You haven’t let me finish what I was trying to tell you before,” she told him softly.
Realization washed over his features, then a slow smile spread across his face, even before she said, “I love you, Grant.”
Then he did kiss her again, and his lips were full of promise.
Today was the first day of a new start for her. A fresh new life with Grant, and she was going to grab hold with both hands and never let go.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from AGENT UNDERCOVER by Lisa Childs.