Starr turned in a circle in the warehouse. So much had gone down in so little time. She and Brody had met Agent Logan at the valet stand of the hotel. The backseat of the car they were given had a model of Hope sitting in the car seat. At that moment, Starr swore to herself they would take the Thornehearts down. If Patrick actually thought she would give him her daughter, he was dangerous beyond reason.
It hadn't taken long for her and Brody to arrive at the warehouse. Starr had been nervous; she couldn't see any of the agents. Brody had squeezed her hand and whispered where a couple agents were likely to be. They had walked over to the door and knocked. It seemed way to mundane for the actual task, but what else could they do? It seemed to take forever before the door opened, though Starr was pretty sure it had been less than a minute. It was the older man that had come to the house sometimes.
"You're the shopkeeper," Brody said.
"So glad you're enjoying your visit to our little hamlet," he snidely smirked.
"After we get Kelly, I won't be planning any trips back here soon," Brody replied.
"Hopefully, your little girlfriend here agrees."
"I do. I'd like to see Kelly."
"Impatient, aren't you? We need to see the kid first."
Brody shifted from one foot to the other. He wasn't interested in playing games with a doorman. His training had taught him the sooner they were in and out the better. "We know. She's in the car. Have someone go out and wait for us."
The man had a feeling there was a trick in there. However, the boy was never useful so he could easily be sacrificed. "Cole, come out here."
Starr couldn't believe her ears – was Cole really going to be the one to take her daughter from her? She reminded herself that Hope was somewhere protected from Cole and Patrick.
"Yes, sir?" Cole came to the door barely on his feet.
Starr heard the sound of disgust from Brody and felt ashamed for having put up with the situation as long as she had.
"Take the keys and go check that the kid is in the car."
"Starr, what are you doing here? Why are you with Brody? He knocked up both of Viki's daughters so he moved on to you?"
Starr gasped.
Brody moved closer in behind her, "Yeah, Cole, exactly. That's why I'm going to give you the brat so we can be free to do whatever you want." He prayed that Starr would understand what he was trying to do.
Starr pulled Brody's hand so that his arm was wrapped around her waist. "I can't wait."
Cole starred at them appearing to completely buy the act. The shopkeeper gave him a shove, "Go get the kid awhile. You two, follow me."
They followed him down the hall and through a door leading to a large work area. Starr saw Kelly tied in the center of the room with Patrick standing over her. She was about to rush over and untie her when the team burst inside. Patrick turned stunned. His first reaction was to slap Kelly. Brody rushed forward and shoved him away. Patrick tried to fight back but was no match for the former SEAL. In less than a minute, Brody had him on the ground, if he knocked the man's head against the floor, well these things happened. In a moment, the agents had handcuffed all the Men of 21. They moved to question the Men and Kelly. Several EMTs came to make sure that Kelly and the others were okay. Agent Logan came to take a statement from Starr.
Afterwards, Starr moved over near the workbench. The EMT was checking out the bruise to Brody's shoulder. Brody had removed his vest and t-shirt for the exam. Starr wasn't sure how Brody stayed in such shape, especially since he didn't seem obsessed with it like she saw Ford doing when she was dating James. "How are you doing?"
"It's nothing. How are you and Kelly doing?"
"We're fine. Are you sure you are okay?" Starr reached out to touch the bandage on the front of his shoulder.
"It's not really that bad, but I'll be pressing assault charges to help keep him locked up longer. Some ice and a kiss from Hope will make it feel better."
Starr looked down for a second before replying and saw the scar from when he was injured saving Hope and herself from Cole's drug dealers. He really had risked his life for them several times – times that Cole had caused. She really needed to thank him, as Starr looked back up their eyes met. "What if I kissed it and made it better?"
Starr leaned forward and kissed the bandage, then the nook between his shoulder and neck before wrapping her arms around him and kissing his lips.
Brody wasn't sure what had caused Starr's sudden mood change, but he didn't really care at the moment. They had stopped a terrorist cell; he had a beautiful girl in his arms, and after that thought his thoughts shut off.
His hands were still busy though. Brody backed her up against the workbench and lifted her up onto it. Starr's hands kept moving over his shoulders, chest, and back in a continuous loop. Brody reached between them to unzip her bullet proof vest.
Starr arched her back slightly to help him slide the vest off. Breathlessly their eyes met; Starr took a deep breath and leaned forward to kiss Brody again. She felt alive in a way she didn't remember feeling in a long time, if ever.
Brody ran his hands down to Starr's waist, tugged her t-shirt out of her waistband, and ran his hands up the soft, bare skin of her back. His hands met the band crossing her back and easily unhooked it before sliding around between them. Brody felt Starr press closer to him.
At the same moment, they both heard someone clearing her throat. "I hate to interrupt, but I'd really like to get back to the hotel and call Joey."
Starr and Brody broke apart and looked at each other stunned. They didn't notice, but Kelly did, was that while their lips had broken apart, their hands hadn't let go.
The two broke apart, starring at each other for a second before hastily straightening their clothing. Starr recovered a second earlier. "Kelly, are you finished with the agents?"
"Yes, anymore questions can be answered from London. Or on the plane because I have questions as well, Starr."
Starr realized that Kelly had viewed enough of the kiss (Was that what you called it when you have no idea where you would have stopped?) to be incredibly curious. Also, if Starr kissing Brody (She had initiated, right?) was the most important thing on Kelly's mind, then Patrick couldn't have abused her too much. Starr hopped down from the counter to run over and give Kelly a hug, "I'm so glad to see you."
"Same here!" Kelly hugged her back.
"Are we ready to get out of here?" Brody had quickly put his shirt back on.
"Lead the way," Kelly gestured.
Starr hung back for a second realizing she needed a second to straighten her clothes out as well before she quickly followed them out of the warehouse.