Maya Banks - Shades of Gray

By the time Cathy made it back, P.J. knew exactly what she was going to do. With Cathy’s help she changed into scrubs and the two took the stairs and ducked out of one of the personnel entrances.

The checkpoints were more challenging. But Cathy told the truth. Sort of. She dropped KGI’s name, said that P.J. was being discharged and that she was giving her a ride out.

“You can drop me anywhere in Clarksville,” P.J. said. “I can get a ride to the airport.”

“Fuck you,” Cathy said rudely. “I’ll take you to the airport.”

“But you just worked an entire shift. The airport is over two hours away.”

“I can run you up to Paducah. Might take you a little longer to get where you’re going, but you know the minute the guys figure out you flew the coop, they’re going to look at Nashville and Memphis.”

P.J. sighed. “You’re probably right. Paducah it is.”

“You know you can stay with me as long as you like,” Cathy added quietly.

“Thank you for being a friend,” P.J. said, a knot growing in her throat. “It means a lot.”

Cathy glanced over at her. “Just as long as you realize that you do have friends, P.J. And that you can lean on them from time to time. It’s in the friend’s codebook. Scout’s honor.”

P.J. smiled. “I’ll remember that.”

“Okay, well let’s get you to that airport. You got money?”

“I have my ID and a credit card. That’ll get me where I’m going.”

“All right then. Let’s hit the road.”

THE war room on the KGI compound was filled with a large group of very pissed-off men. Steele stood to one side with his team—minus one. Noticeably absent P.J. Cole stood shoulder to shoulder with his team leader as he surveyed the other occupants of the room.

Rio and his team, consisting of Terrence, Diego, Decker and Alton, stood looking haggard and tired. They too were down one man. Browning, who’d betrayed Rio’s trust in a previous mission. Rio was a hard, unforgiving bastard and you only got one chance to fuck him over. Browning was lucky Rio hadn’t killed him, but he’d cut him loose and walked away from him.

And then there were the Kellys: Sam, Garrett, Donovan, Ethan, Nathan and Joe. And Swanny, the newest recruit to KGI.

The room bristled with rage and testosterone overload. The silence was heavy but the undercurrents were electric. Cole knew what was on the minds of every single member of KGI.

Revenge.

Vengeance for one of their own.

“What happened, Steele?” Garrett asked, first to break the silence. “And I don’t want any of that I failed my team bullshit. Just the facts.”

“Why the fuck was she left alone?” Rio demanded.

His temper was on edge and he simmered with anger. Cole could see the fear in his eyes and knew he was thinking of Grace, and that once, Grace had been as helpless as P.J. had been.

He also knew that Rio and P.J. were friends of sorts. As much as P.J. allowed anyone to get close to her. She and Rio had hung out in that dive P.J. frequented. It had pissed him off that she’d made it obvious he wasn’t welcome when apparently she and Rio had thrown back a few drinks together.

Sam held up his hands. “Enough. We need to figure out what the fuck went wrong so it never happens again.”

“I should have stayed closer to her in the ballroom,” Donovan said tightly. “I wanted her to get close to Nelson, but he took her out the back, and before I could get over to keep an eye on her, he’d gotten her into a car.”

“It was the fucking traffic,” Dolphin seethed. “We would have been able to intercept her at the hotel. They were there long enough that he took off her bracelet. If we hadn’t gotten caught in the wreck, we would have tagged her leaving the hotel and we would have been in the house as soon as we knew Brumley was there.”

Garrett frowned. “Do you think he made her? Is that why Nelson took the bracelet?”

Steele shook his head. “No, I think this was just routine. If it weren’t for Brumley, Nelson would have just taken P.J. back to the hotel thinking he was going to get some action and we would have been there the whole time. But Brumley saw her and decided he wanted her. He’s a cagey, paranoid bastard and he wanted Nelson to make sure she was clean before he brought her to Brumley’s house.”

“So what now?” Ethan asked, his tone somber.

His jaw was tight as well. His wife, Rachel, had been a victim and had undergone an entire year of captivity in South America before Ethan was tipped off that she wasn’t dead, like the entire family had thought.

They were all on edge. Nerves were frayed. The women that had married into the Kelly family, and the woman who’d married Rio, were all resilient women who’d all experienced tragedy in one shape or another.

Rachel, Sophie, Sarah, Shea and Grace were weighing heavily on all their minds. And now violence—violation—had touched P.J. Their teammate. Partner. A woman that had Cole’s insides so twisted up that his stomach was one giant ball of anxiety.

“We go after those fuckers,” Cole seethed. “That’s what’s now.”

Dolphin, Renshaw and Baker nodded grimly. Even Steele looked like he was in total agreement.

Sam and Garrett exchanged uneasy glances.

Donovan’s cell phone went off, breaking the awkward silence. He glanced down, frowned and then put it to his ear.

Cole didn’t tune in until Donovan swore and said, “She did what? And you just let her walk out of there? What the hell happened? How did this happen? I want some damn answers.”

Everyone focused intently on Donovan as he listened to the person on the other end of the line. Then he cursed again and shoved the phone back into the clip at his side.

“What the fuck is going on?” Cole demanded.

Donovan blew out his breath. “I don’t even know how to say this. P.J. checked out. Or rather she didn’t check out. She just walked out.”

There was an explosion of what-the-fucks that echoed around the room.

“Where?” Cole bit out. He didn’t care about the details. He just wanted to know where to find her.

Donovan looked like he’d just swallowed barbed wire. “No idea. She didn’t exactly inform the on-duty people that she was planning to take off.”

“Son of a bitch,” Steele swore.

The others cast surprised glances in his direction. Garrett raised an eyebrow, but Cole wasn’t as aghast as the others.

Steele may be a cold-blooded machine to some, but Cole knew his team leader was invested absolutely in his team. He considered each and every member his, and he was possessive and protective of them all. He didn’t take shit from anyone, and he expected instant obedience when he gave an order, but everything he did, every decision he ever made, was for the good of the team, and he’d never do anything to compromise their safety.

“Where would she go?” Sam asked softly.

He directed the statement to Cole and his team members. They knew her best, but Cole wanted to laugh at that idea. Did anyone really know P.J.? Did anyone know what made her tick?

Renshaw shook his head. “She’s private, man. She doesn’t talk a lot about personal shit. I wouldn’t have the first clue where to start looking.”

“Get on the phone and start calling the airports. Every one in a hundred-mile radius,” Sam said to Ethan. “See what you can find out. I don’t care what kind of story you have to make up or what kind of strings you have to pull. Just get it done.”

“I’m on it,” Ethan said, striding toward the computer as he spoke.

“And what if we find her?” Nathan asked. “We can’t make her stay where we put her. Or where we want her. We can’t make her accept our . . . help. Or support, even as much as we want to give it.”

No one had a ready answer for that. Cole didn’t need to verbalize his intentions. P.J. needed them. She needed someone. He didn’t give a shit about her lone-wolf status in life.

He wanted to be there for her, to help her get through this. God, he just wanted to make her smile. For things to go back to the way they were when they bantered back and forth, cut jokes and threw insults.

He didn’t want to contemplate a world without P.J. He didn’t want to be on a team where she wasn’t an integral part. He didn’t want to lose any of his team. They were a unit.

They were family.

“Let’s find her first. Then we’ll figure out our options,” Steele said.

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Steele’s assessment. The group broke and Cole headed in Rio’s direction.

“Can I have a word?” he asked Rio quietly.

Rio stared back at him with dark eyes. “Yeah, let’s step outside.”

They left the war room and walked outside where dusk was gently falling over the lake. It was early fall and the evenings were already starting to cool. The wind hinted at impending brisker days. It was usually Cole’s favorite time of year, except now he couldn’t enjoy the changing season because the world—his world—was in complete turmoil.

“Is there anything you can tell me that would help?” Cole asked. “I know you spent some time with P.J. Did she ever say anything to you that would help us find her now?”

Rio looked regretful. “We had a few drinks. I was passing through Denver, looked her up and we had bar food and beer. We didn’t do a whole hell of a lot of talking, and when we did, it was about work stuff. Past missions. Just shooting the shit.”

Cole grimaced. “Yeah, she doesn’t ever talk about herself.”

Cole had a feeling that the one night he and P.J. had spent together had been the most she’d opened up to anyone. Ever. But even then, she hadn’t given him enough to know what she’d be thinking right now.