No More Games

Chapter Ten

D ducked back out of sight, resting his back against the wall as he met the gazes of Bobby and Myles. They looked at him in question to which he gave a nod of acknowledgement before checking his weapon.

Levi had alerted Sue to their presence and in turn discovered that everyone else inside was, indeed, safe. They were probably terrified though.

And Jack, though he probably didn't even realize it, was proving to be the perfect distraction. All he needed to do was keep Tedesco occupied for a few more minutes while they waited for Tara's okay to move in.

"What do you want, then?" They heard their team leader ask Tedesco. "Whatever it is, you'll get it, but you have to let the hostages go first."

"There is only one thing I want." The icy tone of Tedesco's voice sent a chill down their spines. Bobby couldn't help but grip tighter at the barrel of his gun to make the feeling go away. He could guess what that one thing was and it made his heart grow cold.

Shannon's scream a few seconds later confirmed his theory.

"Let me go!" It sounded like she was fighting against him, to which Bobby silently praised his sister, but it turned out he was much too strong in the end.

"I want her."

"I meant within reason," Jack growled in response. How could this psycho actually believe that he would make a deal like that? "She's not part of the deal."

"Then there is no deal."

Jack rolled his eyes in frustration. There was just no getting through to this guy. His obsession had completely blinded him to the point that he couldn't see what he was doing. But how could he make him see that?

Hands on hips, Jack glanced around the lobby as he fought to think of something that could maybe get through to him. And then he spotted it. The gold ring on Shannon's finger sparkled brightly under the fluorescent lights.

"What about her husband?"

Tedesco had been admiring Shannon's beauty close up, caressing the flawless features of her face with his eyes. But as soon as Jack had asked that question, his gaze turned cold and his head shot up. "Husband?"

A sense of accomplishment washed over Jack at that moment. He could visibly see the chinks appearing in the other man's emotional armor at just the mention of the word "husband". Apparently that was something about the woman in his arms that he didn't know about.

Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on his sudden plan to backfire. Tedesco threw Shannon to the floor, rage setting his eyes ablaze. "You're married?" The girl tried to cringe away in fear, but he wasn't going to let her get far. Jack mentally cursed himself as he watched the other man reach out to her and acted on instinct. He jumped in front of Shannon, forcing himself between her and her attacker.

Tedesco reached out to shove Jack out of the way, but the agent only pushed back. He watched as the other man struggled to stay on his feet, his arms waving as he fought to regain his balance. Jack took that time to check on Shannon and when he was satisfied that she was all right, he turned back only to come face-to-face again with the barrel of a gun.

"I'm getting real tired of you," Tedesco ground out, his chest heaving as the anger continued to blaze in his formerly cool blue eyes.

"Funny," Jack swallowed thickly as he stared into the menacing gaze of the other man, "I could have said the same thing about you." It was a poor excuse of a joke, but he realized that the more he angered the other man, the better of a chance he was going to have to wrestle the gun away from him. Of course, then he would have to worry about that contraption strapped to his chest.

He rolled his eyes and sent a prayer heavenward. He needed a miracle and fast.

"FBI! Freeze!"

As if right on cue, Bobby, D and Myles burst into the room, guns drawn and aimed directly at Tedesco.

A sigh of relief whooshed from his chest as his eyes shot upward. Someone up there must really like him this week.

Jack winced as he rolled his shoulder and a shot of pain exploded through his body. The paramedics had given him the all clear—along with a couple ibuprofens—before sending him on his way. That knock to the jaw hadn't hurt him much; he would be sporting a bruise and a split lip for a few days that was for sure.

It was the tumble to the floor that had worried the medical staff. He'd landed pretty hard and they'd discovered that it had hurt him worse than anyone had originally thought. He was definitely going to be sore for a few days now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off and the painful aftershock was settling in.

Climbing down from the ambulance, he looked up at the building where today's nightmare had taken place.

Tedesco had been taken away an hour ago. He hadn't given up without a fight, flipping the switch that would begin the countdown on his "suicide vest" had been his last ditch attempt. He'd never counted on Bobby knowing what he'd actually strapped to his chest.

Jack had never imagined that the bomb would have been a fake. He knew he should have considered the fact, but he'd been so focused on protecting the rest of the hostages that most of his agent instincts had gone out the window.

He hated to admit it, but Tedesco had frightened him. Just the sight of the insanity in the man's eyes sent an icy chill straight down Jack's spine. He'd been so desperate for attention and notoriety that he would have gone to any lengths to achieve it.

And the worst part about it was that he'd succeeded. This whole ordeal had been media gold!

Jack still couldn't wrap his head around it.

Shaking his head, he made his way over to where Bobby, D and Myles were talking. The three of them were watching the happy reunion in front of them. Shannon's husband, John, had been out of town, but as soon as he'd gotten word about what was happening back home, he'd caught the first flight back to DC. The moment he'd seen his wife, he'd run to her, wrapping his arms around her and swearing never to let her out of his sight ever again.

"Lucky man," Jack heard Myles mutter as Shannon openly cried into John's chest.

"In more ways than one," D agreed.

"I just hope he remembers that," Bobby added for good measure before noticing his best mate. "Hey, mate," he acknowledged him with a hearty slap on the back, "all mended up?"

Jack grunted at the pain that shot trough him from Bobby's enthusiastic greeting. "Never better, Crash," he reassured him, despite the wince of pain that graced his features. Clearing his throat, he motioned to the couple of the moment with just a nod of his head. "She okay?"?

Bobby nodded as his eyes landed on his sister and brother-in-law. "Yeah. The medics said that she was probably in shock, but she'll be okay."

Nodding, Jack slipped his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket as he noticed that their team was two members short. "Where are Sue and Levi?" Checking his watch, he silently hoped that they hadn't gone home. He hadn't forgotten the promise he'd made to himself this morning. And after what the two of them had gone through today, he wasn't really in the mood to waste any more time.

"Uh, the wonderdog had a bit of personal business to deal with," Myles replied with a chuckle.

Jack released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Everything okay, Sparky?"

He wanted to pretend like everything was okay, that today hadn't affected him any more than the rest of the week had. But, the entire time Tedesco had held them hostage, he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. Everything he'd done today was because of her and also for her. And he needed her to know that.

The jingling of Levi's tags caught his attention. Turning, he saw them heading back from the direction of the park. He smiled. No everything wasn't okay. Not yet. "It will be," he promised himself and at the very same time answered his best friend's question.