Daring Deception (Off The Grid - FBI #9)- Barbara Freethy Page 0,3

to the second floor and entered the suite of offices that housed her FBI task force. She'd worked as a special agent for over five years now, and her job was truly her life. It was where she felt in control, and that was the most important thing to her.

But as she walked past one empty cubicle after the next to find her colleagues crowded into the glass-walled conference room, she got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Something was wrong.

The meeting hadn't begun yet, but the group's attention was on the television monitor with a Breaking News tag running across the bottom of the screen.

As she neared the room, she could see the screen more clearly—the flames and plumes of smoke behind the reporter. There had been an explosion.

She froze, an overwhelming sense of panic hitting her from a decade ago. No matter how many times she thought she'd gotten past the trauma, it came back.

She'd get through it, just as she always had before. But her stomach twisted as she saw the next headline: Bomb blast at Bolton College.

Her breath came short and fast. Screams of No! No! No! went off in her head. It was all she could do to hold them back.

Not Bolton—not again.

The conference door opened, and one of her fellow agents, Lucas Raines, came out of the room. Lucas had brown hair and green eyes, and his usually friendly, easygoing smile had been replaced by an expression of tense concern. She didn't know what he saw in her expression, but his tall, powerful body was suddenly right in front of her, blocking her view of the screen. His hands came down on her shoulders, and his gaze commanded her attention.

"Breathe," he ordered.

"I'm breathing," she said, as she pulled herself together. She hated looking weak in front of anyone, especially her fellow agents. She'd worked hard to build a reputation as a tough, ruthless, smart agent; one who didn't let her emotions cloud her judgment. Clearing her throat, she said, "Is anyone taking responsibility?"

"Not yet. Why don't you take a minute?"

"I don't need a minute, Lucas. I need information." Determination pushed past the fear in her gut. She'd been looking for years for the bomber who had almost taken her life. It was one reason she'd joined the FBI. "Where did the bomb go off?"

"Outside the auditorium. Six injured, no fatalities yet."

She forced herself to breathe through the images flying through her head of what those injured had just gone through.

Beck Maxwell came out of the room to join them. Beck was second-in-command, and his dark eyes were also filled with concern.

"Who's leading the investigation, Beck?" she asked.

"Rob Carpenter. The San Francisco office has the case."

She wasn't thrilled with that piece of information. She'd worked under Rob for a year in Miami right after she'd become an agent, and he was too political for her taste. He was more interested in optics than in the truth. She'd also butted heads with him over her desire to investigate the Bolton blast on her own time. However, that was inconsequential now. "I need to be there. I need to work the investigation."

"Understood," Beck said. "As you know, I'm running the team while Flynn is on vacation, so I'll call Rob and let him know you're headed his way to consult. But he'll be in charge. You're too close to this, Caitlyn. You need to hang back or you'll be sent back."

She didn't want to agree with him, he was right. "I understand. I'll stay in my lane."

"I doubt that," he said dryly. "But if you need us for anything, we're here."

"I appreciate that. Thanks."

As Beck returned to the conference room, Lucas walked her back to the elevator. "If you need anything, Caitlyn, just say the word, and I'll be on a plane to SF," he told her. "I can imagine how difficult this will be for you."

She knew he didn't have to work that hard to imagine it, because she'd told him in great detail about her past experiences. He'd also helped her look into the case file when she'd first become an agent."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be fine. I'm going to look at this new case as a way to get information to solve the last one."

"I just hate to see you go down that rabbit hole again."

"I can handle it. Hopefully, this rabbit hole will provide some answers."

"Good luck."

She stepped into the elevator and took it back to the parking garage,