Redemption

Chapter Fifty

The welcome from her parents was heart-warming as they both hugged Danni with vigor. They were both so excited to see their little girl so happy and after the display in the parking lot, they saw that she was extremely happy. Nicholas shook hands with Bobby, admiring his grip and noticing how rough his hand was. It had become that way because of gunfire. It was a casualty of the job to lose the baby-soft skin that it once was and be replaced by calluses and the like.

While her husband was so willing to greet the Aussie, Charlene remained unsure about the large man standing in front of her. She didn't trust men this handsome, they usually spelled trouble, but she couldn't help but admire his boyish good looks. She was amazed by his chiseled jaw and the youth in his eyes. This man was in the FBI—surely he shouldn't look so marvelous.

She was so mesmerized by his features that she didn't realize he'd spoken to her. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said, it's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Talbot. Danni's told me so much about you."

"All wonderful things, I'm sure." There was an undertone of sarcasm to her voice, but she wasn't sure if any of them caught it. She was positive they hadn't when she received a look of warning from her husband. "It's nice to meet you too," she continued. "You- uh- you look different than your picture. I hardly recognized you."

"Well, you can't really miss me," he quipped, flashing his most swoon-worthy smile. He wasn't disappointed when he saw Charlene's breath rate increase. He'd flashed that smile for that very reason. No woman was immune to his charms and he milked that fact for all it was worth.

Charlene's hand flew up to the collar of her sweater, where she played with the hem as she tried to not become victim of Bobby Manning's charms. They seemed the deadly type. He was dangerous to women everywhere. It was no wonder why her daughter had fallen for him, though it showed that he could be one of those men who were only after one thing. It wasn't very easy to tell at this point, so she would make judgment later. For now, she would give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Are you all right?" he asked when he saw the flush rise to her cheeks. He managed to hide the wide smile that wanted to appear on his lips, but a short, side-smirk made it through his defenses.

She nodded. "It's just... you sounded different on the phone. I hadn't realized you had an accent. Australian, isn't it?"

He nodded. "I suppose you can blame Mum for that. She's an Aussie." He glanced at Danni and smiled. She still looked as though this wasn't going to go well. He, on the other hand, felt it was going much better than expected.

Both couples took their seats, opposite one another before their waitress came to take their orders. It was after that that conversation became scarce. None knew how to begin and no one wanted to make the first move. Every minute or so, Bobby would nudge Danni's shoulder to get her to open up and strike a conversation. Only, he was usually greeted by the cold, steel of her eyes as they narrowed at him.

He rolled his eyes in aggravation. This was getting them nowhere. "So, how long are you in town for?"

"Until tomorrow afternoon," Nicholas replied.

"Did you get the chance to see any of the sights?" Danni inquired after a poke to the ribs, which made her jump slightly. She was very ticklish there and Bobby knew that. Luckily, neither Nicholas, nor Charlene seemed to notice. They were too busy looking at their menus to pay attention to their little poking game.

Her father nodded behind his menu as he examined the warm sandwiches. "Beautiful. I haven't been to DC since before I met your mother. I'm amazed at how much it's changed since them; so many more sights to see and very little time to actually enjoy them."

Danni nodded. She understood whole-heartedly what he meant. She'd lived in the city for almost two years and she had yet to enjoy the various monuments and attractions it had to offer. She needed to make a point to do that someday. Perhaps after she and Bobby had children. She blushed at that thought. She was already beginning to think about children with him and he had still yet to propose. It was best not to dwell on that, though.

"I think we all understand that," Bobby said before taking a sip from his glass of water.

Once again, silence had engulfed the table. This certainly was an eventful lunch, wasn't it? There was so much that both sides wanted to say; the only problem was voicing it. They were given a slight reprieve when their orders arrived, but after that, someone needed to speak. Nicholas glanced to his wife and raised his eyebrows to show that she was the one who should speak first. He and Bobby would not be the only two people having a conversation.

The team had reluctantly given up after hours of nothing. Danni's snitch had been their only hope for information on Dessa or the armor-piercing ammunition, yet she came back empty-handed. Jack and Dimitrius didn't like that he wasn't as reliable as she thought. When one of them asked what she'd learned, her only answer had been: "He flaked on me" before she plopped down into her chair.

She hadn't seemed very worried about it, though. She only gave a slight shrug of the shoulders in response to their unhappy glances. She was acting as if it wasn't the first time he'd done this to her. In truth, it wasn't, but she knew how to handle the situation—they just had to trust her. Of course, trust and sanity were both running thin, lately, so neither had much to spare.

She only repeated her trust option; it was the only one they had available, so they had to take it. She knew how to handle Marty and he knew what she was capable of to locate him. He wouldn't make such a stupid mistake unless it was necessary. She hoped he had a good explanation when he was found. It would take long to find him, anyway. He made sure to constantly visit his favorite haunts to dig up new info; she would get a call from one of her lookouts when he showed. Of course, his biggest mistake could have been revealing that little tidbit of information to her. If he hadn't, she probably wouldn't be able to find him when he wasn't willing to divulge any new information.

Their inside-man did very little to assist them as well. He'd gone undercover again, hoping to discover anything new about this possible terrorist cell, but found nothing. Either nothing dangerous to their cause was going on, or they didn't trust him enough to inform him of the plans. The latter was certainly possible. After all, he was new to the clan and that usually means that they are the last to know, just in case the feds get to them.

Danni let out a heavy sigh as she stared out in front of her. She should have been focusing on the paperwork in front of her, but the photograph of Palmerro had caught her attention. There was something familiar about it and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She'd had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach all day because of it, yet she couldn't figure out if and/or when she had ever seen it. She closed her eyes as she thought. She had been a rookie, she remembered. But, what case had she been working on that reminded her of this man?

A low groan rumbled in her chest, in frustration. Why couldn't she remember? She could remember so many other cases from that year, yet this one escaped her. The one that was most important had to escape her, because she wanted to remember it. She knew it was important, she wasn't just imagining things. She had seen that picture before. But, where?

She had to get her mind off of it; she had to avert her eyes before they crossed inside her head and stayed that way. Everyone was still hard at work, trying to dig as deep as they could go for anything that could help them. They'd brought up the previous cases involving Dessa, yet nothing in his past had ever dealt with revenge. This was all new territory, which led them nowhere.

She couldn't stand it anymore; she was going to go stir-crazy if she stayed cooped-up in the bullpen any longer. She needed to get some air. She stood up, pulling on her coat and slipping her cell phone into her pocket. She needed someplace to think and this certainly wasn't it. Maybe she could figure something out if she went for a walk.

"Where're you off to, Luv?" Bobby asked, looking up from his paperwork to see her ready to head out.

She let out a low grown, so as not to draw attention to herself, although Bobby's question had already done that. "I just need some air. I'm going to go for a walk, or something." Before she had even finished her response, Bobby was already up on his feet and pulling on his jacket. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I figured you could use the company," he shrugged, which received him a roll of her eyes. Honestly, she would rather he stayed behind. The two of them were not exactly on the best of terms after lunch. Of course, that was a whole other can of worms she didn't want to reopen and think about.

Bobby didn't receive a response as she rolled her eyes again and left without him. She knew if she protested he would contest it until he got his way, so she said nothing and just left. He followed only a few paces behind.

Quiet had consumed the bullpen after they left. None of them were sure they should say anything. The air had been tense between Bobby and Danni since they returned and they were sure Marty's failure to meet with her had nothing to do with it. They were curious, but knew better than to ask, yet some weren't sure when to just zip their lips.

Myles had to open his mouth as soon as they left, giving a shiver as if a cold breeze had just flown past them. "Did it get colder in here or is it just me?" For that comment, he was rewarded with a slap on the shoulder from Lucy who was passing by.