Redemption

Chapter Fifty-Nine

The fire department, medics, and D pulled up a few minutes later, lights and sirens blaring as they cut through the silence that had surrounded the group of four. The blaze had decreased severely, but it still continued to burn all of the evidence they'd found. Jack watched from the back of one ambulance as he was wrapped in a blanket, given oxygen and his wrist wrapped to keep it steady. Luckily, all of their injuries were minor, so none of them would have to spend any time in the hospital which they all cheered about. Jack was happy about just going him, but the fact that they'd lost everything in that fire was disconcerting. Someone had planned for them to be coming and though he wished he could blame Danni's snitch, he knew he was just an innocent bystander in all of this. Of course, this incident made the agent want to question and find out who'd fed it to him.

His gaze shifted to Myles whose wounds were being tended to. A large patch had been placed upon the gash on his forehead and he had been given an ice pack for his lip. In reality, his wounds looked worse than they were. After a good night's sleep, he would be right as rain. Bobby could be a different story. He was helping Danni step down from the ambulance, one hand around her waist and the other holding an ice pack in place on the bump on the back of his head. Her leg had been patched with a long, thick, strip of gauze after the debris had been cleared away and the wound cleaned. Bobby didn't have a concussion, but the headache he had would last long into the night.

They were all lucky to be alive. If Danni hadn't heard the ticking of the alarm clock, they could have been trapped in the blaze. He would have to remember to thank her later, but now he had to deal with the terrified hazel eyes he saw approaching him. "What are you doing here?" he croaked before the paramedic forced the oxygen mask back over his mouth. She needed to be back at the Bureau where she would be safe, yet she was standing in front of him, that stubborn jut of her jaw clear.

"D brought me," she said, sternly, her arms crossed over her chest as she hugged her shivering body. Whether it was from fright or the cold, Jack couldn't be sure, yet he had the urge to pull her to him and kiss away the worry in her eyes. Of course, the anger that rose inside of him for her being brought on scene overpowered that feeling, taking over completely.

He turned his gaze to D in his you-shouldn't-have-done-that look to which was answered by a shrug. "She wanted to come. I couldn't say no."

"Well, you shouldn't have." His voice was muffled behind the oxygen mask, yet D could hear him where Sue could not read his lips. "She's a target now, too." Jack's dark chocolate eyes stared at Sue, which allowed her to know that they were talking about her, yet she apparently wasn't allowed to know what they were saying about her.

"How can you be sure?"

A lout hiss of pain leaked from the injured agent's mouth as he removed the photograph he'd pulled from the gun cabinet and handed it to D. "They know about our relationship. I want her kept out of harm's way."

Sue's eyes narrowed as she tried to read Jack's mouth through the plastic barrier, yet there was no way she would be able to understand him. Her aggravation was bubbling up inside of her and if someone didn't tell her what they were talking about she felt like she was going to explode. "Will one of you tell me what's going on?" she finally asked. Her gaze was directed toward D whose mouth she could easily read, yet she had the feeling that he wouldn't tell her what she wanted.

"I agree, Jack," the supervisor said as he glanced toward Sue with a sympathetic air. He saw her ready to open her mouth to ask again, yet he held up a hand to halt her and let him finish. "I will arrange for a safe house to be set up."

Sue now understood. Jack wanted her out of harm's way and though it was commendable, she would never agree to it. She was just as much a part of this as he was and she wasn't going to run like Levi with his tail between his legs. "No!" she protested, though D ignored her.

"Thank you," Jack nodded with relief echoing behind the mask.

"You and Sue will be taken there immediately," he said before he removed his cell phone from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Wait, what? D, no! You can't do that!" he tried to argue as he pulled off the mask, but D was already dialing a number into his phone.

The team's supervising officer's face was pointed at Sue with a sly smile upon his lips. He knew Jack wouldn't agree to a safe house if he had to remain there as well. Sue quietly thanked him for his quick thinking, yet he wasn't finished yet. "Give me a good enough excuse, Jack, because I can't think of one right now."

"Because, Jack and Sue can stay with us," Danni interjected as Bobby helped her limp over to her cousin. They'd heard the entire conversation and knowing Bobby would agree whole-heartedly, she brought the offer up. At least, that way, neither Jack nor Sue would be without agent protection and that was a fact that both parties would be pleased about.

"Yeah," the Aussie added after Danni lightly elbowed him in the ribs. "SOG can be posted around the building, along with Tara and Myles… if he's up to it, that is."

"My guys would be willing to take shifts, too." Though, Danni wasn't so sure about DeMarco these days. Since the merge of the teams, he hadn't exactly been on his game and missing out on a lot of information. Neither Jack nor D seemed worried about his constant absence, which caused her to be suspicious.

D considered the offer; it seemed like a good one and good points were brought up. "Right. They're your responsibility," he pointed to Bobby and Danni in turn before he flipped open his phone and dialed.