Mission: Impossible to Deny (The Impossible Mission Romantic Suspense Series Book 7), Jacki Delecki [polar express read aloud .TXT] 📗

Darcy startled, unaware of Nick Jenkins’s presence. It irritated her that she had missed the approach of a large man who was not trying to hide his movement.

“I never pegged you as a mom-type.”

Nick ran his hand through his thick hair. “When our dad died in Iraq, I inherited the role of parenting my hell-bent brothers. There weren’t many days when one of the Jenkins boys wasn’t injured from pushing the limits. I had to grow up fast.”

She hadn’t pegged him as a man to share either. She had never thought about the cost that her brother Mike paid by being forced into the role of head of the family.

“My oldest brother was my rock after our dad was killed. He was the one who helped me get my head screwed on right by enlisting. From what I’ve read and heard about the Jenkins brothers, it looks like you did a good job too.”

She and Nick had one thing in common: neither liked receiving praise for doing their job.

“You should take a break. You’ll do Reeves no good …”

Cutting too close to the truth, Darcy snapped, “Sure, I’ll go take a nap, maybe take a hot bath. That will really help.”

“Take a break, soldier. It isn’t a choice.”

He was a big man who was trying to intimidate her, but his intentions were honorable. She had to remind herself that he wasn’t the enemy, but right now, she needed a punching bag. And Nick Jenkins looked as if he could handle whatever she threw at him.

“I’m in charge, and I’ll take a break when we have actionable intel. And not before.”

“Suit yourself, but I’m in charge of the assault. And I won’t take a team member who is a risk to herself and my team.” He emphasized “my” with his deep voice.

She should be thanking Nick—for allowing her, injured as she was, to be part of the team to recover Reeves. Nick didn’t do it because she was charming or compliant or was as skilled as him. She was sure it was because of Nick’s regards for Reeves. For a reason she couldn’t comprehend, Nick believed Reeves cared about her and would want her there when he came out.

She pushed herself up from the chair with one hand and faced him. “I can’t do nothing.”

“I get it, but you’ve got to trust the team. Everyone is working their asses off to find something. Izzy is using some secret NSA software to find which of the hundred cars left the parking garage in the time frame when they transferred Reeves from the ambulance. And Molly is monitoring all the traffic out of Palo Alto, airports, bus stations, and gas station cameras. Every possibility of how and where they transported Reeves. NSA and CIA and FBI are using their superpowers to find him. And then when they get us the intel, we’ll go in. And I need you to be in good shape, or Reeves will threaten to kick my ass again.”

Black humor was standard practice among military types for coping with high-risk threats. Darcy wasn’t prepared for the effect serious and grim Nick Jenkins’s attempt to make her laugh in the middle of a shitstorm had on her.

Tears welled behind her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hold in all the fear and pain. She never cried. Not since her father had been killed. She swallowed hard and brushed at the tears, hoping to hell that Nick wouldn’t try to console her.

“Any word from the FBI on Ramirez yet?”

Darcy’s respect for Nick Jenkins grew exponentially. She was grateful that he hadn’t offered any comfort.

“Nothing from the FBI yet. It will take time—time we don’t have.” Darcy tried to bring her hands together and was stopped by the damn sling.

When Darcy had contacted the FBI, the conversation immediately became a pissing match since kidnapping fell into the FBI purview. But after a phone call between her boss and the FBI director, the CIA was still in the lead. From their ongoing investigation into organized crime, the FBI identified Raoul Ramirez as one of Sureños’s lieutenants working in Palo Alto. The FBI was running everything on him and all his associates—credit cards, travel, bank accounts—to find where he did his business.

“The Palo Alto Police Department’s gang unit wasn’t useful. Nothing that we didn’t already know. Of course, the police chief wanted to send SWAT helicopters to search all the industrial areas. The chief is jumping at the chance to use his SWAT team since they don’t see a lot of action. The FBI nixed the locals from alerting the kidnappers into acting rashly.”

Nick paced, running his hand through his hair, a tell of his stress. Like Darcy, he hated sitting around. “Anything from the Sureños CI in Santa Barbara?”

Every agency was doing their thing, but it wasn’t enough—every time she thought of Reeves, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t concentrate.

“I think he’s our best bet for information on what warehouses they use along the coast to ship between Mexico and the rest of the states. The detective who handles him sent the message to make contact, but it could be hours or even days before the CI can communicate. He can’t just break his cover and disappear to contact his handle.”

Darcy was well-versed in all the ways connecting with an asset could go wrong. Her CIA heart told her that the CI might be the break they needed. If he was able to get away from the gang.

“What the hell?” Nick rushed away to the sound of a woman’s voice. “How the fuck did they get here?”

Darcy followed Nick toward the entrance of the house but lagged behind, not knowing what to expect. Had Reeves’s sister arrived? Nick wouldn’t bring her here, would he? Anxiety about meeting Emily, whom Reeves deeply cared about, made her more off-kilter than should be possible right now when her world was twirling. How could she explain to his sister that it was her operation that