A loose cannon. A loner. Unpredictable.
The Incident Commander came into the room and shook his hand, but Dominic had not solved this crisis. He’d just stalled for time which hadn’t been good enough in this particular instance. Then the IC turned to Ava and shook her hand.
“I don’t know if any of that was true, but that was a goddamned beautiful thing to watch.”
“What is Frank Jacobs’ condition? And the warden?” Dominic interrupted. This operation had been a team effort and the fact the Incident Commander didn’t recognize that pissed him off.
“Jacobs has been rushed to the nearest trauma center—he’s alive. The warden is physically unharmed.”
“I didn’t do much, sir.” Ava spoke clearly, interrupting what Dominic had been about to say. Ballsy considering his fuse was so short the slightest thing might set him off and she knew it. “The negotiation team worked tirelessly to prevent the hostage-takers harming the hostages. I was a little shock value at the end.”
Dominic shook his head.
Shock value. That summed her up perfectly. And she totally cut the legs from under him with the power of her convictions and ingrained sense of honor. It’s what Van had seen in her.
The Incident Commander nodded. Goddamn, the man looked infatuated. Hell, they probably all did, except Charlotte who didn’t seem to like Ava, at all. “I’m going to recommend you get a commendation.”
Ava shook her head. Hazel eyes wide and unnerved. “No. No, sir. I’d rather my part in this be forgotten. Scrubbed from the record if at all possible.” She swallowed repeatedly. “I really do have a mother, brother and sister who might be in danger if my name gets out.”
“So, it was true?” the Incident Commander questioned.
Ava grimaced but didn’t answer. Dominic went still for a long moment realizing exactly what that meant. At a young age Ava, or Emmeleia, had watched her father murdered. She’d been hit so hard on the face that she still wore the scar today. Instead of crawling off and hiding the way he had when his mother had died, Ava had fought back. Changed her identity and gone up against one of the most powerful mob families in NY history.
He put his hands in his pockets to hide the fact they were suddenly shaking. The others moved away, and he and Ava stood staring at one another, surrounded by chaos and frantic activity.
“That’s where you met Van?” He had the epiphany out loud.
She nodded.
No wonder they’d been close and the guy had sung her praises. He’d known her since she was a little kid with a target on her back.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything.” She spoke low so only he could hear.
And that was where part of his anger came from, he realized. The fact she hadn’t confided in him. She hadn’t told him her deep dark secrets. Which was hypocritical because Dominic did not trust easily and guarded his secrets like a miser’s gold. WitSec wasn’t your average confidence. Lives depended on not revealing information that didn’t need to be revealed.
He and Ava had known one another five minutes. Five minutes that felt longer than a lifetime.
Eban and Charlotte were clearing up, gathering the notes they needed to make their reports.
“Remove Ava’s name from any of the documents and case notes,” Dominic told them.
Eban nodded. Charlotte kept her lips pressed firmly together in disapproval.
Ava’s eyes told him she was grateful.
“Want to do the walk-through with us?” asked Eban.
Usually Dominic would do exactly that. See if they’d missed anything or could have done anything differently or better.
“You guys go on without us.” He was still trying to put the pieces of his brain back together.
Before Charlotte and Eban could leave though, the warden arrived in the doorway, wearing an over-sized, black HRT t-shirt and the same pants she’d been wearing for days.
She cleared her throat. “I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to the people involved in resolving this siege, the tactical unit but especially to the negotiators.” Her eyes were red, and her hands trembled. The woman knew they’d all seen her naked and at her most vulnerable but here she was, facing them head-on, meeting their gazes with an indomitable spirit. “You kept me from falling over the edge of hysteria in there and allowed me to retain a shred of dignity.”
She shook hands with them all. Joe and Eban both had their jaws clamped so forcefully shut Dominic knew they were holding back tears.
It was impossible not to be moved. He glanced at Ava and although she held herself stiffly, her eyes were glassy. For all her attitude, Ava Kanas had a big heart and had taken a giant risk with her and her family’s safety to help rescue this woman, a stranger to her.
And yet she held back with the group hug while Charlotte dove right in.
He narrowed his gaze because he knew from the way she held herself she wanted to join that embrace but didn’t feel welcome.
Suddenly he wanted to scoop Ava up in a big hug but was afraid if he did so everyone in the room would be able to read his thoughts and feelings regarding this woman, and he wasn’t even sure what they were himself.
He knew he liked her. Really liked her. To the point where he’d compromised himself in a way unimaginable a few hours ago. It appeared he’d taken over from Van in trying to protect her within the Bureau—mainly from herself.
For the first time in days his cell phone started buzzing in his pocket. Comms were back on inside the prison. He’d be lying if he said he’d missed being plugged in.
Mallory Rooney was on the line. “Ballistics from a rifle found in the back of Caroline Perry’s car match the bullet casing found on the roof after the Calvin Mortimer shooting.”
“So, you found her car?”
“Down by the river.” Rooney paused. “Ava didn’t tell you?”