Deadly Pursuit (SCVC Taskforce) Read Online Free PDF Page A

gun, she was definitely FBI.
    Celina.
    The Fed of Cooper’s nightmares.
    Time magazine’s “New Face of the FBI”.
    Thomas leaned toward the window. “Is that who I think it is? Isn’t she supposed to be laying low?”
    Media darling or no, Celina Davenport didn’t know how to lay low. Wasn’t in her DNA.
    “Shit, shit and more shit.” Cooper tossed the binoculars on the nearby bed, picked up his radio from the dresser. “FBI has joined the party,” he said, alerting his other men scattered throughout the house and down the street. “Deal’s going down now. Everybody in position.”
    As he led Thomas out of the bedroom, Cooper grabbed his own flak vest and black jacket, running the scenario of the next few minutes through his mind. He’d get his man, all right.
    And maybe if he was lucky, he’d find the opportunity to shoot Special Agent Celina Davenport right in her perfect ass.
     
     
    “Take your gun, Davenport.” Chief Forester’s voice was low and ominous, rising out of the back seat of the car where he was hiding. Not an easy thing to do, Celina figured, with so much body mass.
    Bending down, she motioned at her partner Ronni in the passenger seat and shucked off her mittens. “Give me your bag.”
    Celina rarely carried handbags to work. She hung her badge on her belt like her male counterparts and carried her ID in her back pocket. Her gun was always in a shoulder holster. Now her gun, ID and badge were lying on the Fairmont’s floor. “Avon ladies don’t carry guns,” she murmured to her boss. “At least not in Iowa.”
    Ronni handed Celina her brown leather purse and the Avon catalog. “Right behind you,” she said, giving her a wink.
    “Take. Your. Gun,” the chief ground out again. His voice carried as much threat in its low volume setting as it did at its ear-piercing level. “You want to end up a goddamned hostage?”
    That was her plan. Celina knew when she approached the door, Annie would immediately sense something was up. Something in Annie’s world always involved police. Celina could see no other outcome but a dangerous hostage situation. She doubted Annie would even open the door, but if she did, Celina was going to offer herself as a trade for Annie’s kids. Any mother, even an outlaw one, would look for a way to save her children. Celina was prepared to give it to her.
    Slinging the strap of Ronni’s bag over her shoulder, she shut the car door, defying the chief’s direct orders. Not the best idea, but he’d stuck her in a no-win situation and therefore, Celina decided, she was calling the shots. For a split-second she wondered if he and Quarters would transfer her like Cooper had after the Londano case. Where would she end up this time? South Dakota?
    Probably.
    Not the end of the world . If I can get the kids out safely, that will be enough .
    Shifting her shoulders, Celina forced her feet to walk up the cracked sidewalk toward the steps of the duplex. She loved her job, wanted to serve her country, but if there was anything she’d learned in the past year, it was that she didn’t always get what she wanted.
    Ronni’s car door slammed and Celina glanced at her partner. Her hair was a bright apricot color, her skin darker than Celina’s but no less smooth. As they walked down the sidewalk, the sun popped out, glaring off the new fallen snow. Celina started up the stairs, shielding her eyes against the glare and trying to keep her breathing even. There were fifteen of her counterparts hidden around the block, watching the apprehension and scrutinizing every move she made.
    Annie was one honest to God bad girl. Having been on the run for more years than Celina had been legal, Annie was an experienced fugitive. The woman had once shot her partner in his nether region in the middle of a bank robbery because he wouldn’t let her carry the bag of money.
    Clearing her mind, Celina tried to think positive. Ronni was by her side and definitely carrying. Chief Forester